We hear at times that some people meditate and see their soul or energy source travel from within their body upwards till their forehead and so on. But, is that possible? Can anyone see their Soul? The answer is – No! The soul can be realised, meaning it can be understood of its nature and form. But, it cannot be seen with naked eye. It is not in a form that can be seen. It is in a form that can be perceived through the grace of higher power, God. Why cannot it be seen? Because, it is not made of the material that an eye can see. Then, what is it made of?
Let’s take Misri or a Sugar crystal as an example here. What is it made of? It is sweet in taste. And is made of sweet substance called sugar. Is there any other ingredient? No, there is no other ingredient. When it is added to water, and it dissolves – it gives the taste of sweetness to water and leaves nothing behind.
Another example is ‘Deepam, or Diya’. The light that is in the form of diya is ‘concentrated thejas’ and the light that it spreads is in the form of ‘distributed thejas’. But it is only light and nothing else.
Third example is ‘Sun’. The Sun that you see is the same as the heat and light that you experience. Intensity decreases as it spreads. But, it is the same ingredient. The form and the attribute of Sun is the same, ‘light, or thejas’.
The above examples have their limitations but can be used to let us understand the nature of Soul.
So, the form and the attribute of Soul is only ‘Jnanam or Knowledge’. When this knowledge traverses positively towards God, it transforms into Aanandam or Joy, the boundless Joy. Vedam clearly says that the destiny of Knowledge is ‘God’. Any other knowledge is only very insignificant.
It is said, ‘Sa: vidya ya vimukthe:’ Knowledge is that which can help you untie a knot that you are caught into. God is the only one who can untie or basically free us from the state of limited and temporary experiences.
If Soul is knowledgeable, then why is it not free? Let’s check if we are free or bonded? Can we become free by ourselves? Not really. We are bonded, just like a fish in a pond. It can move, but it hits boundaries that it cannot cross by itself. We have conditioned freedom. So, the soul can only be free if it seeks refuge of God because it is only HIM who can let you come out of the bonded state. Prakruthi (nature) and Jeeva (soul) are both under the control of HIM. If the soul tries to free itself, it is equal to the effort made by someone stuck in a quagmire to come out by themselves.
The soul belongs to God. It has knowledge but can only be activated to use the knowledge when God gives the soul a body to use it. For example: A battery is a power source, but can it act if it is not connected to a unit? No. Similarly, the soul needs to be placed into a body (prakruthi) for it experience ‘a bonded state’, ‘free state’, or any other state. This is done by HIM, the Sriyahpathi.
Nammalwar is a great devotee whose knowledge about God, Soul and Nature have come out in the form of sweet and very deeply connected love filled songs. While there are few more such devotees, Nammalwar remains the core of such devotion.
-From the discourses of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji on Bhagavad Vishayam, 19th July.
It is HIS (Nammalwar’s) work, Bhagavad Vishayam that Swamiji is giving discourse on from 8:00am to 9:30am at JIVA, Sri Ram Nagar. Hope you can share this news and listen in person to the most knowledgeable and the most compassionate spiritual leader of current times, Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji.
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Source: Varija News