Though your parents have endowed you with this physical body (deha), it is the Guru who points out to you the Indweller of the body. To make the gold more amenable to ornament making, it is alloyed by the addition of a little silver or copper. So too in order to manifest the multiple variety of Nature, the Brahmathathwam (Divine essence) is converted into an alloy, with the addition of a little egoism or mamakaaram. The Guru teaches one to regain the pure unalloyed state through the process of Sravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhyaasam (Listening to, recapitulating and meditating on God’s glories). Through this process, one can understand that the individual Self is one and the same as the Divine Self and is infact, facet of the same entity.(Divine Discourse, Feb 25, 1965.)