Let us now embark on our journey to explore the meaning of the soul. There are many paths one can take. I can only begin by choosing one that appears familiar to me. Going along it I arrive at the august portals of Hindu thought and beliefs concerning the soul. For millenia the soul has been the subject of intensive introspection in India, a land immersed in mysticism and the spiritual quest, which produced great thinkers, sages, philosophers and prophets like the Buddha and Mahavir ( the last Jain prophet or ‘Tirthankar’ a contemporary of the Buddha).
India’s quintessential scripture the Gita or Song Celestial, begins its discourse with a definition of the soul. It calls it the ‘Indweller’ (Antaryami), the one that dwells within. It also calls it the embodied one – one that has acquired a physical body. While the physical shell is destructable, its indweller, it asserts, is indestructable, eternal, not manifest, inconceivable and unchanging. It is neither born nor does it die. It describes it as stable, constant, invulnerable and ancient.
The question arises, where does this soul which gets embodied and becomes the ‘indweller’ come from. What is its source? This takes us back to the very fundamentals of Hindu metaphysics and cosmology. We cannot answer the question of the origin of the soul without first understanding the source or backdrop from which it emerges. That source is obviously the Universal Essence, Universal consciousness, the Supersoul, Cosmic Being or God. (more in next post)
Very Interesting. It does somewhat feed my curiosity.
Thank you.
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how are you and Jija?
glad you find it interesting – there is a lot more to come – id appreciate any comments – they always inspire one to write more and better!
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Excellent inputs
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Hi
Glad you are following this – srangely I even learn from what i have written – like, wow I didnt know that! Possibly the inspiration is coming from my soul and i am as much the reader as you are – as i write i appear to understand better – things suddenly pop out of my subconscious – whatever – i didnt expect the kind of response im getting on a daily basis – the wordpress folks have even put in some adds – real interesting exercise.
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