What will it be like?- The Soul and its Destiny.......

[Guest guest]

dear dennisji :

 

i found this onderful article on this subject and i thought i will

share the contents with you and others on the subject of Soul and

its destiny !

 

The Soul and Its Destiny

By Swami Nikhilananda

Sri Ramakrishna Centre, New York, USA.

 

The Vedanta philosophy discusses the

nature of the soul from two standpoints:

 

1. Absolute or transcendental, and

 

2. Relative or phenomenal.

 

From the absolute standpoint, the soul is non-dual, immortal, ever

pure, ever free, ever illumined, and one with Brahman. It is

untouched by hunger or thirst, good and evil, pain and pleasure,

birth and death, and the other pairs of opposites. That is the

soul's true nature. The realisation of which is the goal of a man's

spiritual aspiration and striving. From this absolute standpoint,

the soul is calledParamatma or Supreme Soul.

 

But from the relative standpoint, the Vedanta philosophy admits the

existence of a multitude of individual souls called Jivatmas, and

distinguishes them from the Supreme Soul. Attached to the body, the

individual soul is a victim of the pairs of the opposites. Entangled

in the world, it seeks deliverance from the eternal round of birth

and death, and with that end in view, studies the scriptures and

practises spiritual disciplines.

 

The embodied soul is associated with the sense organs, the

mind and vital breath (Prana). There are ten sense organs, all

subordinate to the mind as the central organ; five organs of

perception and five organs of action. The five organs of perception

comprise the organ of taste (tongue),smell (nose), vision (eyes),

hearing (ear), and touch (skin). The five organs of action are the

hands, the feet, the organ of speech, the organs of evacuation and

the organ of generation.

 

The presence of an irrefragable Self or consciousness is assumed in

all acts of thinking. The Self or consciousness, which is the

true 'seer' or subject, is unchanging intelligence, and can never be

imagined to be non-existent. Atman (the Self) in man and Brahman in

the universe are completely identical.

 

The idea of body, senses, and the mind, associated with the non-

self, is falsely superimposed upon the Self, and the Self, which is

of the nature of pure consciousness, appears as a jiva, or

phenomenal being, subject to the various limitations of the physical

world.

___________________

_

 

The Soul

Further explanations by Swami Nikhilananda

 

The Rishis speak of two souls:

the real soul and the apparent soul.

 

The real soul is birthless, death less, immortal, and infinite. The

same real soul, under the spell of ignorance, appears as the

apparent man identified with the body, mind and senses. This

apparent man becomes, on account of his attachment to the body, a

victim of birth and death, virtue and vice, and the other pairs of

opposites.The apparent man is bound to the world, and it is he,

again, who strives for liberation.

 

The enjoyment of material pleasures, and the subsequent satiation

and weariness; the consciousness of bondage, and the struggle for

freedom; the injunctions of the scriptures, and the practice of

moral and spiritual disciplines- all this refers to the apparent

man. Again, it is the apparent man who performs virtuous or sinful

deeds, goes, after death, to heaven or hell, and assumes different

bodies. But it must never be forgotten that rewards and punishments

are spoken of only with reference to the reflected, or apparent

soul. The real soul is forever free from the characteristics of the

relative world.

 

But the real soul is always free, illumined, and perfect.

The real sun, non-dual and resplendent, shines brilliantly

in the sky, though millions of its reflections are seen to

move with the movement of the waves. "

___________________

dennis-ji : this was taken from the following web site

 

http://www.hinduism.co.za/reincarn.htm

 

This is beautiful and you can read Sri Ramana's views on this

subject as well !

 

here are some more quotes from scriptures

 

By means of thought, touch, sight and passions and by the abundance

of food and drink there are birth and development of the (embodied)

self. According to his deeds, the embodied self assumes successively

various forms in various conditions " (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5,11).

 

 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4,4,5): " According as one acts, according

as one behaves, so does he become. The doer of good becomes good.

The doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous

action, bad by bad action. "

 

Just as the self advances through childhood, youth and old age in

its physical body, so it advances to another body after death. The

wise person is not confused by this change called death (2,13). Just

as the body casts off worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so the

infinite, immortal self casts off worn out bodies and enters into

new ones (2,22).- Srimad Bhagavad gita

 

Thanks dennisji for giving me an opportunity to explore this topic !

 

remember

 

" The first condition of immortality is death. "

 

regards

[Guest guest]

Dear Advaitins,

 

There is a lecture entitled " The Real and the Apparent Man " which was

delivered by Swami Vivekananda has a good deal of info. about this

topic and it contains the gist of advaita vEdAnta. The members can

access it with the help of the following link:

 

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_2/jnana-yoga/the_real_\

and_the_apparent_man.htm

 

This lecture is particularly helpful to the beginners and the people

having little or no background in Sanskrit language.

 

Yours in Sri Ramakrishna,

 

Br. Vinayaka.