why are we called SPIRIT souls

[Haridham]

Hare Krsna, why are we called spirit souls????

 

Isnt spirit and soul similar? Or if its spiritual soul, arent we spiritual to begin with?

 

Your conscioussness or soul(spirit) is the same thing isnt it?

[Guest guest]

Dear Haridham,

In my simple minded opinion, Krishna is the Spirit and soul is you, maybe it is to remind us of Him , that when we say Spirit, His picture pops into our head and soul you come into the picture with Him.

So , when you say Spiritsoul, you get to be with Him. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

-TU

 

[Govindaram]

 

needs a body, all the time whether material or subtle, at the end of the day it NEEDS!

 

compatibiltiy is with another spiritual body,

 

why is that so hard to believe?

 

for people.

[Guest guest]

Spirit evokes the idea of etherialness.

 

Soul is the person.

 

Spirit Soul helps to identify that it is not the body that is the person but the soul.

[gHari]

We are jivatma in the eyes of Krsna.

 

The jivatma is distinguished nicely from the Paramatma in Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.38:<blockquote><center><font color="red">sa yad ajayA tv ajAm anuzayIta guNAMz ca juSan

bhajati sarUpatAM tad anu mRtyum apeta-bhagaH

tvam uta jahAsi tAm ahir iva tvacam Atta-bhago

mahasi mahIyase 'STa-guNite 'parimeya-bhagaH

</center>

saH--he (the individual living entity); yat--because; ajayA--by the influence of the material energy; tu--but; ajAm--that material energy; anuzayIta--lies down next to; guNAn--her qualities; ca--and; juSan--assuming; bhajati--he takes on; sa-rUpatAm--forms resembling (the qualities of nature); tat-anu--following that; mRtyum--death; apeta--deprived; bhagaH--of his assets; tvam--You; uta--on the other hand; jahAsi--leave aside; tAm--her (the material energy); ahiH--a snake; iva--as if; tvacam--its (old, discarded) skin; Atta-bhagaH--endowed with all assets; mahasi--in Your spiritual powers; mahIyase--You are glorified; aSTa-guNite--eightfold; aparimeya--unlimited; bhagaH--whose greatness.

</font>

The illusory material nature attracts the minute living entity to embrace her, and as a result he assumes forms composed of her qualities. Subsequently, he loses all his spiritual qualities and must undergo repeated deaths. You, however, avoid the material energy in the same way that a snake abandons its old skin. Glorious in Your possession of eight mystic perfections, You enjoy unlimited opulences.

 

PURPORT

Although the jIva is pure spirit, qualitatively equal with the Supreme Lord, he is prone to being degraded by embracing the ignorance of material illusion. When he becomes entranced by the allurements of MAyA, he accepts bodies and senses that are designed to let him indulge in forgetfulness. Produced from the raw material of MAyA's three modes--goodness, passion and nescience--these bodies envelop the spirit soul in varieties of unhappiness, culminating in death and rebirth.

 

The Supreme Soul and the individual soul share the same spiritual nature, but the Supreme Soul cannot be entrapped by ignorance like His infinitesimal companion. Smoke may engulf the glow of a small molten sphere of copper, covering its light in darkness, but the vast globe of the sun will never suffer the same kind of eclipse. MAyA, after all, is the Personality of Godhead's faithful maidservant, the outward expansion of His internal, YogamAyA potency. SrI NArada PaJcarAtra thus states, in a conversation between Sruti and VidyA,

<center>

asyA Avarika-zaktir

mahA-mAyAkhilezvarI

yayA mugdhaM jagat sarvaM

sarve dehAbhimAninaH

</center>

"The covering potency derived from her is MahA-mAyA, the regulator of everything material. The entire universe becomes bewildered by her, and thus every living being falsely identifies with his material body."

 

Just as a snake casts aside his old skin, knowing that it is not part of his essential identity, so the Supreme Lord always avoids His external, material energy. There is no insufficiency or limit to any of His eightfold mystic opulences, consisting of aNimA (the power to become infinitesimal), mahimA (the ability to become infinitely large) and so on. Therefore, the shadow of material darkness has no scope for entering the domain of His unequaled, resplendent glories.

 

For the sake of those whose realization of spiritual life is only gradually awakening, the UpaniSads sometimes speak in general terms of AtmA or Brahman, not openly distinguishing the difference between the superior and inferior souls, the ParamAtmA and jIvAtma. But often enough they describe this duality in unequivocal terms:

<center>

dvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA

samAnaM vRkSaM pariSasvajAte

tayor anyaH pippalaM svAdv atty

anaznann anyo 'bhicAkazIti

</center>

"Two companion birds sit together in the shelter of the same pippala tree. One of them is relishing the taste of the tree's berries, while the other refrains from eating and instead watches over His friend." (SvetAzvatara UpaniSad 4.6) In this analogy the two birds are the soul and the Supersoul, the tree is the body, and the taste of the berries are the varieties of sense pleasure.

 

SrIla SrIdhara SvAmI prays,<center>

nRtyantI tava vIkSaNAGgaNa-gatA kAla-svabhAvAdibhir

bhAvAn sattva-rajas-tamo-guNa-mayAn unmIlayantI bahUn

mAm Akramya padA zirasy ati-bharaM sammardayanty AturaM

mAyA te zaraNaM gato 'smi nR-hare tvAm eva tAM vAraya

</center>

"The glance You cast upon Your consort comprises time, the material propensities of the living entities, and so on. This glance dances upon her face, thus awakening the multitude of created entities, who take birth in the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. O Lord NRhari, Your MAyA has put her foot on my head and is pressing down extremely hard, causing me great distress. Now I have come to You for shelter. Please make her desist."</blockquote>

Here is a perhaps timely purport to verse 7.110 of the Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Adi-Lila:<blockquote>SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu, however, accepted the direct meaning of the VedAnta philosophy and thus defeated the MAyAvAda philosophy immediately. He opined in this connection that anyone who follows the principles of the SArIraka-bhASya is doomed. This is confirmed in the Padma PurANa, where Lord Siva tells PArvatI:

<center>

zRNu devi pravakSyAmi tAmasAni yathA-kramam

yeSAM zravaNa-mAtreNa pAtityaM jJAninAm api

 

apArthaM zruti-vAkyAnAM darzayal loka-garhitam

karma-svarUpa-tyAjyatvam atra ca pratipAdyate

 

sarva-karma-paribhraMzAn naiSkarmyaM tatra cocyate

parAtma-jIvayor aikyaM mayAtra pratipAdyate

</center>

"My dear wife, hear my explanations of how I have spread ignorance through MAyAvAda philosophy. Simply by hearing it, even an advanced scholar will fall down. In this philosophy, which is certainly very inauspicious for people in general, I have misrepresented the real meaning of the Vedas and recommended that one give up all activities in order to achieve freedom from karma. In this MAyAvAda philosophy I have described the jIvAtmA and ParamAtmA to be one and the same." How the MAyAvAda philosophy was condemned by SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu and His followers is described in SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta, Antya-lIlA, Second Chapter, verses 94 through 99, where SvarUpa-dAmodara GosvAmI says that anyone who is eager to understand the MAyAvAda philosophy must be considered insane. This especially applies to a VaiSNava who reads the SArIraka-bhASya and considers himself to be one with God. The MAyAvAdI philosophers have presented their arguments in such attractive, flowery language that hearing MAyAvAda philosophy may sometimes change the mind of even a mahA-bhAgavata, or very advanced devotee. An actual VaiSNava cannot tolerate any philosophy that claims God and the living being to be one and the same.</blockquote>

As seen here in Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.13.44, it appears that 'spirit soul' may well be used simply to distinguish it from common misconceptions about the 'soul' from other schools (ideas like the body becomes the soul at death and lives forever, or the soul is subject to being killed by the Devil, etc.):<blockquote><center><font color="red">AtmAnubhUtau tAM mAyAM

juhuyAt satya-dRG muniH

tato nirIho viramet

svAnubhUty-Atmani sthitaH

</CENTER>

Atma-anubhUtau--unto self-realization; tAm--that; mAyAm--the false ego of material existence; juhuyAt--should offer as an oblation; satya-dRk--one who has actually realized the ultimate truth; muniH--such a thoughtful person; tataH--because of this self-realization; nirIhaH--without material desires; viramet--one must completely retire from material activities; sva-anubhUti-Atmani--in self-realization; sthitaH--thus being situated.

</FONT>

A learned, thoughtful person must realize that material existence is illusion. This is possible only by self-realization. A self-realized person, who has actually seen the truth, should retire from all material activities, being situated in self-realization.

 

PURPORT

By an analytical study of the entire constitution of the body, one can surely come to the conclusion that the soul is different from all the body's material constituents, such as earth, water, fire and air. Thus the difference between the body and soul can be realized by a person who is thoughtful (manISI or muni), and after this realization of the individual spirit soul one can very easily understand the supreme spirit soul. If one thus realizes that the individual soul is subordinate to the supreme spirit soul, he achieves self-realization.

 

As explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gItA, there are two souls within the body. The body is called kSetra, and there are two kSetra jJas, or occupants of the body, namely the Supersoul (ParamAtmA) and the individual soul. The Supersoul and the individual soul are like two birds sitting on the same tree (the material body). One bird, the individual, forgetful bird, is eating the fruit of the tree, not caring for the instructions of the other bird, which is only a witness to the activities of the first bird, who is his friend. When the forgetful bird comes to understand the supreme friend who is always with him and trying to give him guidance in different bodies, he takes shelter at the lotus feet of that supreme bird.

 

As explained in the yoga process, dhyAnAvasthita-tad-gatena manasA pazyanti yaM yoginaH [sB 12.13.1]. When one actually becomes a perfect yogI, by meditation he can see the supreme friend and surrender unto Him. This is the beginning of bhakti-yoga, or actual life in KRSNa consciousness.</blockquote>

[Priitaa]

In addition to all of the above, I also suspect that in English, the word "spirit" can also refer to ghots and not just a soul. But you put the word "soul" behind it, and that clarifies it.

[theist]

to like the word spiritself more than spiritsoul. Somehow to me it gives a clearer meaning.

[Guest guest]

Spirit is the nature of the soul.

The body, as far as i know, is also called material 'soul' or which is just an emanation of the spirit soul.

 

Or something like that.

 

das.

[Guest guest]

"Hare Krsna, why are we called spirit souls????"

 

because some philosophies think that mind is the soul... a sort of mental soul, not spiritual (we know that mind is material body, even if subtle)

 

y

a

s

o

d

a

 

n

a

n

d

a

n

a

 

d

a

s

[ShegavichaRana]

because, it is not "material" and cannot be sensed by material senses or means. It is Anadi (without the beginning) and Ananat (endless) and existed always. But anything with the form in the material world is perishable and destructible. Certainly, a spirit cannot be destroyed. To show the similarily, the soul is called Spiritsoul.