>  SOUL
>
> The Physical and the Non Physical
> Is there more to me than I see in the mirror? To see how there is more
> to me than an assembly of physical organs, we have first to define the
> Living and the Non-Living, not merely in the biological senses, but in
> a deeper, spiritual context.
>
> THE LIVING - is that which has AWARENESSS of its own EXISTENCE and
> also that which is able to create its own thoughts. These thoughts
> form the basis of feelings and emotions and only 'I the living' am
> capable of these.
>
> The living is also that which has the ability to JUDGE: Right from
> Wrong, Truth from False Hood, Reality from Illusion. I the living also
> have unique personality, which is totally incomparable to that of any
> other being. Individual uniqueness exists because every living being
> is carrying the full record of all its past experiences, which
> determines the personality. We observe that of another.
>
> The living is also that MEMORY. On the basis of this unique quality, a
> person can establish a relationship. As I remember meeting others, the
> relationship grows.
>
> The Living is also that which DESIRES. These may be limited materials
> ones, which tend to lead one soul into mental degeneration, or desires
> of the highest, altruistic, spiritual kind, that led the soul back to
> its original state of excellence. These desires form the motivation of
> all actions.
>
> THE NON-LIVING - if I relate the qualities of the Living to those of
> the Non-Living, I can see the vast differences between 'I the Living
> Being', and all material objects around me. Similarly, let me apply
> these criteria of the living to my own physical body
>
> Thinking of the body as a separate instrument, is there any part of
> it, which is experiencing, judging, or deciding? I can see that none
> of the physical organs, such as my hands or feet, eyes or ears, or
> even my head, have these faculties. There is something apart from
> these organs that does these things.
>
> Let us take an example: -
>
> Whatever action I perform, although I will use various instruments, I
> am totally separate from them. For instance if I use a knife with my
> hands to chop some tomatoes, throughout the operation the knife makes
> no decision.
>
> If I lose concentration, and cut my fingers with the knife, neither my
> fingers nor the knife became emotionally disturbed - they were purely
> instruments.
>
> It is easy for me to see the knife as an instrument. But I'm so
> attached to these hands, that It is very difficult to dissociate
> myself from them, and realize that they too are only instruments, and
> really nothing more than this.
>
> I have had this pair of hands for as long as I have had this body, and
> I knowthey are the only one pair I will get. So not only personal
> attachment to my hands, but to the whole of my physical body, is
> something so deep, so intense, that I have totally forgotten my real
> identity.
>
> THE MISTAKE - Ever since the moment when I came into the physical
> body, I have been labeled and put into compartments according to my
> physical classifications. It has been instilled into my conscious that
> 'you are a boy' or 'you are a girl', so that I grew up absolutely
> committed to this idea. And in fact if someone were to question this
> today, to question the identity of being a man or a woman, a person
> would probably consider it a great insult. But is that what I am? An I
> be accurately labeled 'young' or 'old', 'man' or 'woman', 'fair' or
> 'dark'? Is there a real indication of who I am simply through this?
>
> Yet this is the mistake we have been making not only have others made
> this mistake about me, putting me into a bodily compartment, but I
> have also been guilty of this same error. Not only I have put others
> into compartments, but I have done this to myself. I have totally
> identified myself with the body, and I have cut out all other
> possibilities my consciousness has become quite restricted by the
> color, the age, the nationality, the religion, the culture, into which
> the BODY has been born.
>
> The Rediscovery of "I"
> I am the living, I am not physical. I know I am not because I can
> experience things beyond physical limitations. My body cannot go back
> to childhood, but I can. Within a second, my mind can race back to
> days of my youth. It can even race forward to the days of my probable
> old age. Past or future, both are equally easy for me to travel in. I
> travel through the three aspects of time without any hesitation at
> all. I am able to travel across an distance in a split-second, as my
> thoughts carry me across to America, to Australia, to India. Where
> there is a pull of, my thoughts will take me there. And all this while
> my body has been seated in one specific place. So my body is physical,
> I am not physical, I am metaphysical, unhindered by the physical
> limitations of time or distance.
>
> Just as I grew up with natural instincts such as eating, breathing
> etc. related to survival in a physical body, I also grew up with my
> own personality which, has been mentioned, is absolutely exclusive to
> me. My own subtle characteristics are quite different even those of my
> physical parents, and so I must have gained this in an existence even
> before this one.
>
> Also, I am definitely invisible. A mirror will show me only my bodily
> features: the shape of my face, the color of my eyes. But all these
> exterior things tell me very little about my real self. I, the being
> within this physical frame, am invisible. Now I can see all these
> things: that I am metaphysical, eternal, invisible.
>
> FORM - what am I? When I dissociate myself from my physical costume,
> and search for my true identity, there is a strange detachment from
> the body, but also uncertainty, because I don't as yet fully now who I
> really am, and I'm leaving behind territory which was familiar. So let
> me go one step further, and think of myself in a non-physical form: a
> tiny point of light, a minute dot of invisible luminous energy. Can
> this really be true? Such a strange thought to have… for so long I
> have thought of myself as a female, Or male, and now I am thinking of
> myself as a tiny dot, as light.
>
> Let me examine this further….
>
> As you think deeply about this, you will become aware of yourself as a
> subtle energy, minute, yet full of power, so small it cannot be broken
> down any further. EXPERIENCE - Let me experience with this….
>
> Yes, it is a dot that is eternal, unique, unhindered by time and
> space. A point that has no geometrical dimensions. The dot -
> invisible. Just with this concept of my deepest identity, and
> experience myself a point of light, located directly at the center of
> my forehead. I have this incredible sensation of this lightness, of
> freedom, of peace, of subtle power, because I am now aware that all
> this is within the point.
>
> POSITION - where am I located?
>
> I the soul am located in the center of the forehead near the organs of
> the control for the body, and near the organs of communication with
> the physical world, since it is from here that I can exercise total
> control.
>
> PERFORMANCE - the brain is an instrument operating by means of
> electrical impulses. I, the soul, make a decision and the decision
> reaches the brain instantly. It is translated into activity via the
> entire body system. Stimuli come in through my senses, and reach the
> brain. From the brain, impulses reach "the soul". Thus from outside, I
> am stimulated into further thought, and possibly further action. The
> intellect makes this decision. I the soul am the controller, and the
> brain is the control room through which I operate.
>
> THE THIRD-EYE - this is also where the third eye of wisdom has been
> shown, Which was once thought to have existed physically. However it
> is nothing physical, because wisdom is not related to any particular
> part of the body. It is the soul that seeks wisdom, and the soul that
> retains wisdom. So when we speak, in spiritual terms, of the 'opening
> of the third eye', we are referring to the awakening consciousness, a
> new awareness, or a soul consciousness.
>
> People only stumble around at night when they cannot see. The eyes
> deceive the mind, and the intellect can only make a wrong decision
> when its knowledge is incomplete. Knowledge is like daylight, it opens
> the third eye, and the dark immediately becomes light. With my third
> eye open, I can see what I should be doing. Up to now, I have been
> using these two physical eyes, which can only see physical dimensions,
> and nothing further. With my third eye I can see beyond the physical,
> and, being able to see, I can now become the complete master of
> myself.
>
> Driver and Vehicle
> It will sound obvious to say "only when a driver is fully conscious,
> can he use his vehicle accurately to take him to his destination". But
> if we now look at ourselves using this analogy, we can see clearly
> just what an enormous difference there is between being 'in control'
> and being asleep at the wheel.
>
> The driver of a car can go anywhere, as long as he remembers what is
> he doing. If he is travelling along the road and suddenly looses
> concentration, allowing the mind to drift off even for a moment, he
> will plunge straight off the road. Accidents happen when people forget
> what they are doing. In exactly the same way, if someone looses their
> self-control, even for a moment, there is an accident (an outburst of
> great anger for instance) which causes sorrows for the self and
> sorrows for anyone else involved. Even onlookers who simply saw the
> accident are very upset by the damage done to the occupants of the
> vehicle. So, awareness of and harmony between both the soul (the
> driver) and the body (its vehicle) is essential. Just as the driver
> must be aware of his vehicle and in harmony with it, the soul must be
> in total control of its body. And yet I have gone to sleep, I have not
> been aware, and so there have been many, many accidents. I have caused
> myself, and those around me, so much grief. But now with awareness,
> the driver wakes up, assumes control once more and begins to use his
> vehicle in the correct way. UNDER CONTROL - in the conscious of "I,
> the soul", I can now see the benefits of using my senses to pick out
> the good from the bad, the useful from the useless, and translate it
> all into positive actions, which helps others and elevate my own
> conscious as well. Being aware of myself, I became the master of my
> physical senses. It is so strange to realize that I have been using so
> little control over my senses, that my eyes and ears are pulling my
> mind in different directions for years, making me literate into a
> slave of there every whim. It really is the situation of the cart
> before the horse, putting the body before the soul. Knowledge is
> power, and wit this knowledge, I can re-establish my true state of
> sovereignty over the physical body.
>
> How the Soul Works
> Having seen, and experienced, the effect of forgetting who I am, let
> us examine what is happening inside the pin-point of light, this spark
> of conscious, that is the soul. Each soul has three separate
> faculties. As they are described, you will be able to see not only how
> so many accidents have come about through lack off understanding but
> also the method of gaining control once more. Although we can give
> each faculty a different name, it is actually the same energy
> functioning on three different levels - these are: the mind, the
> intelligence, and the impressions.
>
> THE MIND - through the mind, one IMAGINES, THINKS, and FORMS IDEAS.
> Our thoughts are created in the mind. The thought process is the basis
> of all EMOTIONS, DESIRES and SENSATIONS. It is through this faculty
> that, in an instant, thoughts can reach anywhere, or relive a past
> experience and produce happiness or sadness. The mind is a subtle
> organ, which should not be confused with the heart, which is merely a
> physical organ that maintains blood circulation. Through Raja Yoga …
> The Mind Is Controlled THE INTELLECT - the intellect is then used to
> ASSESS thoughts. This is the Faculty that understands. Our capacity to
> understand is perhaps the single most crucial ability of all. With the
> deepening and broadening of the intellect, clear understanding of
> anything is possible. …the Intellect is developed and elevated In
> addition to understanding, the intellect REASONS, MEMORIES,
> DISCRIMINATES and TAKES DECISION. As with all faculties of the soul,
> it is subtle and spiritual, not physical, so it should not be confused
> with the brain. The brain is merely the physical focus of the nervous
> system and acts as the control of the soul. Through this physical
> control panel, "I, the soul" am able to regulate the functions of the
> different organs of my body. "I, the soul" am able to alter the pulse
> and respiration of my body, simply by reacting to an external
> situation, which I decide makes me overjoyed or very upset. So my
> intellect is not part of physical brain, but the subtle faculty of
> judgement and understanding of "I, the soul"
>
> THE IMPRESSION - any action that has been performed leaves an
> impression on the soul. We will refer to impressions as: "SANSKARAS",
> which is the precise Hindi word used. HABITS, TENDENCIES, EMOTIONAL
> TENDENCIES, TEMPERAMENTS, PERSONALITY TRAITS are all SANSKARAS
> imprinted on the soul through each action it has performed. All the
> thoughts that occur in my mind are the direct results of my SANSKARAS.
> So my most fundamental features as a soul, my personality, is
> determined by these SANSKARAS. Each action I do either creates a
> SANSKARA (this is how a habit begins), or re-enforces an old one if
> the action is a repetition. This enables us to understand that the
> SANSKARAS contain the COMPLETE RECORD of all my mental and physical
> actions i.e. all my experiences up to this moment. Any thought that
> arises in my head will be due to the influence of one more than one
> SANSKARAS. This makes it clear that I, and I alone, am alone
> responsible for my own thoughts, although we tend to deny this
> responsibility and blame external situations instead. If an action is
> repeated often, it becomes a deep SANSKAR. Rather in the same way that
> the more one digs a hole the deeper it gets and the more difficult it
> will be to erase all trace of it. Old habits die hard for this. ….and,
> with Raja Yoga , the SANSKARAS are purified and become sovereign.
>
> THE EFFECT OF SANSKARAS ON THE MIND AND INTELLECT - Imagine yourself
> as the detached observer of a car accident. A number of people will
> arrive on the scene, but although it is the same sight for each
> person, their different SANKARAS will produce quite different
> reactions to the chaos. For example, one person is examining the
> injured and I can see that he is a doctor. One is calmly questioning
> the onlookers and I can see that he is a policeman. Someone else is
> unhurriedly looking at the damaged vehicles, while another person is
> completely overwhelmed with emotions. The unhurried one is a mechanic
> and I can see that the other probably has a relationship with one of
> the injured. The stimulus is the same, but their reaction are totally
> different. Different SANSKARAS lead to different reactions. Equally, I
> know from past experiences that my own state of mind control my
> thoughts. For instance, one day many things go wrong, and yet a great
> deal of inner strength enables me to remain calm and peaceful. On the
> other day I may lack the stability and the slightest word out of place
> can annoy me. It wasn't the fault of the person who spoke, but my own
> state of being that created the reaction.
>
> Where We Find Ourselves Today
> Gradually, as impure SANSKARAS were formed and were allowed to
> reinforce themselves through repetitions, this instinctive voice gave
> way to the powerful influence of my physical senses.
>
> The strong pull of these senses spurred my emotions to such a state
> that I overruled the decisions of my own intellect.
>
> Consequently, when a similar situation now occurs, the weakened
> conscience has even less influence, and in due course it stops
> speaking altogether. As the conscience was ignored, ignorance
> inevitably followed.
>
> And so we find ourselves often uncertain of separating right from
> wrong. We may even deny the very existence of right and wrong. The
> distinction between selfish and unselfish action has become clouded in
> the intellect, so that a state of a morality prevails.
>
> As action become progressively degraded, the search of happiness and
> fulfillment was only possible on a similarly degraded level. Without
> the knowledge of "I, the soul", body - consciousness became deeply
> ingrained as SANSKARAS and the soul has been forced to look for
> happiness on a material level. Unable to find contentment from within
> the self, the soul has turned all its attention to pleasure derived
> from material sources and found himself in a void of inadequate,
> transitory experiences. In such a vulnerable position, the soul
> mentally grasps at any source of comfort. The level of motivation
> inevitably degrades into sense-gratification, which traps the soul
> into seeking greater pleasure to offset greater dissatisfaction.
>
> This internal conflict has become a familiar scene throughout the
> world. The more we have turned our attention away from our true
> selves, the more we have become entangled in sorrow and frustration.
> The mind has become a slave to the senses, so that I am presently
> unable to comfort it.