If someone asks us do describe ourselves. We might describe to them our body and features. We may even go as far as to describe certain idiosyncratic traits to be found in our personality, especially if we are somewhat self-reflective and able to introspect enough to perceive our own habit patterns. Curiously though, this body changes with time and similarly the personality, although somewhat set in its ways, can be changed and consciously adapted over time, with a little effort.
However, few of us might be able to describe our spiritual nature or our metaphysical identity and personality. The entire western school of theology, religion or even consciousness does not provide much information to us about our transcendent natures. We doubt that we even have an eternal spiritual personality, especially since we can’t see any symptoms of any side of ourselves beyond this body and mind.
If we are really interested to understand our potential transcendent nature, then we will definitely find information thereon in the ancient Sanskrit texts on yoga and meditation, like Bhagavad Gita, which is considered to be a 5000 year old sacred literature on exactly our spiritual nature. And in the Gita we can find exact description on our nature as spirit soul.
For example our real eternal personality is described as unbreakable, insoluble, everlasting, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. These are specific characteristics of our spiritual personalities. The information is there and has always been there. It’s just that our leaders today don’t really emphasise this kind of education in schools or colleges. Certainly those who wish to inquire about spirit or consciousness can get the information they need, but they have to inquire independently.
And if you don’t care to pursue this kind of self knowledge, then you may never know this side of yourself. You may remain blissfully ignorant of the real you, thanks to the ignorance of oyur leaders and teachers today who are quite happy for you to stay in ignorance, as long as you become a good consumer and a good cog in the wheel of industry. That is an unfortunate state of affairs on the planet today. True knowledge of consciousness and the bigger picture is left out of the education agenda. A less educated populous is easier to control and manipulate, so it pays to keep you in ignorance.
If you knew just how powerful you are, or what your real potential was, you will probably behave totally differently compared to how you currently go about your life. I mean if you knew that you are eternal and have lived many lives before this one and will live more lives after this one, then you will start acting for your eternal best interests and not merely your localized best interests for this body here today. You will think long term and play the long game, rathr than get too caught up with just this innings.
Also, knowing that we are immutable and incapable of being destroyed, will really become much braver, I would think. We might even stand up to the tyranny imposed upon us by our godless government in their short-sighted arrangements for society as a whole. This is why life on earth is sometimes likened to a prison sentence for the eternal and immutable spirit soul. After all, the soul is placed in a limiting and temporary material body, which is subject to disease, old age and death, all of which is totally foreign to the eternal spirit soul.
This is all according to the ancient Sanskrit Vedic literature like Bhagavad Gita. I am not making this up or sprouting anything from my fertile imagination. I’m simply repeating what I read in the Gita directly. It’s not my opinion but that of the Vedas. And the Vedas are the oldest books of knowledge on the planet today. I challenge anyone to present me with a contender to the title of oldest written literature on the planet, other than the Vedas of ancient India. I am always happy to learn something new.
Then find me any other literary work, old or new, that describes in such detail the nature of consciousness and the spirit soul that animates human life, and in fact all life. I have yet to find a better source of information on the subject on the planet today, after decades of exploration. Therefore, this Bhagavad Gita is in a league of its own and deserves the credit for providing us with information regarding spirit, and our eternal identity, as you can read in the verse below.
Bhagavad Gita ch2:24
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २४ ॥
acchedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam
akledyo ’śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur
acalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥ
acchedyaḥ—unbreakable; ayam—this soul; adāhyaḥ—cannot be burned; ayam—this soul; akledyaḥ—insoluble; aśoṣyaḥ—cannot be dried; eva—certainly; ca—and; nityaḥ—everlasting; sarva-gataḥ—all-pervading; sthāṇuḥ—unchangeable; acalaḥ—immovable; ayam—this soul; sanātanaḥ—eternally the same
TRANSLATION
This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
COMMENTARY
All these qualifications of the atomic soul definitely prove that the individual soul is eternally the atomic particle of the spirit whole, and he remains the same atom eternally, without change. The theory of monism is very difficult to apply in this case, because the individual soul is never expected to become one homogeneously. After liberation from material contamination, the atomic soul may prefer to remain as a spiritual spark in the effulgent rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the intelligent souls enter into the spiritual planets to associate with the Personality of Godhead.
The word sarva-gataḥ (all-pervading) is significant because there is no doubt that living entities are all over God's creation. They live on the land, in the water, in the air, within the earth and even within fire. The belief that they are sterilized in fire is not acceptable, because it is clearly stated here that the soul cannot be burned by fire. Therefore, there is no doubt that there are living entities also in the sun planet with suitable bodies to live there. If the sun globe is uninhabited, then the word sarva-gataḥ—living everywhere—becomes meaningless.
Reference: www.prabhupadabooks.com
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