✿ Jiv (Living Beings) ✿ ‘What is this soul after all?’ No one has ever seen it. Therefore atheists (people who do not believe in God), who refuse to believe in anything that cannot be perceived or grasped by senses, deny the existence of the soul. Most scientists contribute to this view. They think that the body is a biochemical composition and is made from a peculiar combination of genes from the parents. As long as the composition is active, it is said to be a living organism; and when the activity comes to an end, it is considered to be dead. But science does not clarify what exactly makes it active and why does the activity come to an end. It is a fact that when a person dies, his heart, kidneys and other limbs may still be active but the body is unable to use them and therefore they cease to function. If however, they are removed from that body in time, they can be transplanted in another body and function effectively in the new body. Does it not mean that there was some sort of invisible energy that was activating different limbs of the body while it was alive? That energy happens to disappear at the time of death and the presence or loss of that energy is the difference between life and death. Spiritual science calls that energy soul. There exist an infinite number of souls and every living body has a soul. (Sädhäran Vanaspatikäya has infinite number of souls in the one body). The soul is invisible and has no form or shape. It cannot therefore be experienced by the senses. It is an element of its own and cannot be created by any sort of combination or composition and can never be decomposed. It is eternal and lasts forever. From time to time, worldly soul resides in different organisms through, which it manifests itself. This type of transmigration and new embodiment birth after birth has been going on since the time without beginning. Even though a particular body happens to be its temporary residence, soul tends to take it as its permanent abode and gets happy or unhappy depending upon the type of that body and its environment. Forgetful of its true nature, it aspires to get maximum happiness within the framework of its given embodiment and surrounding situations. This attachment results from the delusion of the soul about its true nature. Attachment gives rise to the disposition of craving for the desirable and of aversion for the undesirable. These craving and aversion are the causes of the bondage of Karmas. Every living being wants to be happy. The deluded sense of being one with the body however causes the soul to feel happy or unhappy depending upon the prevailing situation, as a consequence of its previous Karmas. Our ancient seers have dwelt deeply in search of true happiness. They tried to explore the Self by raising the question, ‘Koham’, which means ‘Who am I’. The appropriate answer that they obtained was ‘Soham’, which means that I am that (soul). They also perceived that the ‘I’ or the true Self is the source of true happiness and the abode of perfect bliss. They realized that lifeless matter does not have the property to make any one happy or unhappy and that happiness is the inherent property of the soul. We however do not experience lasting happiness, because we do not realize the true properties of the soul. After thoroughly exploring the nature of the soul, the seers have concluded that the principal property of the soul that distinguishes it from lifeless matter is the capability to know or capability of being aware. None of the five lifeless substances possesses that property. The scriptures have described this as: Upayoga Lakshano Jivah It means the capability to know is the characteristic of the soul. This attribute is inseparable from consciousness and therefore it is its basic characteristic. As such, the soul should simply stay aware of any given situation without in any way reacting to it because none of the situations really belong to it. This would result in a sense of detachment to any extraneous influence, which will ultimately enable the soul to exist forever in ultimate bliss. It is not surprising that the seers have called this bliss as indescribable. To sum up, the soul is pure consciousness. Infinite awareness and eternal bliss are its principal characteristics. Sanskrit words for eternity, consciousness and bliss are respectively Sat, Chit and Änand. Therefore a perfect soul is variously known as Sachchidänanda, Chidänand or Sahajänand. It is intangible, invisible, colorless, odorless, tasteless, formless, and shapeless. It is therefore described by Neti, Neti (Not this, not that). It can however be experienced by dwelling deep within oneself
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:53:14 +0000
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