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Who am I ? Nature of the SOUL Who am I ? My real identity is NOT this temporary BODY, but... the eternal SOUL !!! Proof for the existence of the Soul Common sense Intuitive understanding Difference between the dead body and the living person The real self �I� distinct from body, mind and intelligence Astral body travel Consciousness - the symptom of the existence of the soul Near Death Experiences (NDEs) Past-life memories Consciousness distinguishes a dead body from a living one Consciousness gives circumstantial evidence of the soul Knowledge of the Soul The Soul is : indestructible BG 7.7 nainam chindanti sastraninainam dahati pavakahna cainam kledayanty apona sosayati marutah The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind individual BG 2.12 na tv evaham jatu nasamna tvam neme janadhipahna caiva na bhavisyamahsarve vayam atah param Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be BG 15.7 mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah manah-sasthanindriyani prakrti sthani karsati The living entities in this conditioned world are my eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with 6 senses, which include the mind. sat-cid-ananda Eternal, full of knowledge, full of bliss Body is asat, acit, nirananda changes bodies BG 2.22 vasamsi jirnani yatha vihayanavani grhnati naro 'paranitatha sarirani vihaya jirnanyanyani samyati navani dehi As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones BG 2.13 dehino 'smin yatha dehekaumaram yauvanam jaratatha dehantara-praptirdhiras tatra na muhyati As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change infinitesimal Kesa agra sata bhagasya Satadha kalpitasyaca The size of the soul is 1/10,000 the size of the tip of hair. inconceivable BG 2.25 avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yamavikaryo 'yam ucyatetasmad evam viditvainamnanusocitum arhasi It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body. Material energy is formless. But form, and all properties, are inherent in spiritual energy, and are perversely reflected in material energy. Why can it not be argued that there are no qualities of one's own nature, at all, but all qualities are merely acquired by association? For several reasons; some of them are: While there are instances of qualities being acquired, there is never an instance of the property of having qualities itself being acquired. An entity that has no quality similar (even in being opposite) to the one being acquired, cannot even form the association necessary to effect the acquisition. Considering that the qualities of good, indifference, and evil cannot be said to reside in the Lord or in inanimate nature, the question arises as to where they are being acquired from. Material qualities are inconceivably different from the spiritual. dwindles Dies stays Produces offsprings Grows Takes Birth Material energy undergoes transformations. Transformations occur under the influence of the Three Modes of Nature, and Time Spirit soul does not undergo these transformations. It is transcendental to the Modes, Time, etc. BG 2.20 na jayate mriyate va kadacinnayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyahajo nityah sasvato 'yam puranona hanyate hanyamane sarire For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain can never become GOD Am I GOD ? We are : not GODS Qualitative oneness The unitive aspect of religious doctrine is a qualitative monotheism, not a numerical unity! Soul Infinitesimal (anu) Cognizant of one�s body A loving instrument Supersoul Infinite (vibhu) Cognizant of everyone and everything Eternally a loving predominator BG 18:61 isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. Marginal Free Will Ablative, Causative, Locative omnipresence We are one in quality with GOD, but different in quantity. Our salvation depends on the acceptance of this reality. False Ego is the antithesis of this. Simply saying is not enough, one should act accordingly By chanting mantra, Person becomes �Brahmabhuta prasannatma� BG 16:8 asatyam apratistham te jagad ahur anisvaram aparaspara-sambhutam kim anyat kama-haitukam They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control� �Krishna as Object of worship is one-Half, and, as the Support of His worshipper, He Himself is the other Half of the Whole. The variety of reciprocal activity of these Two Moieties constitutes the Fullness of the Divinity. Krishna is the complete realization of the Support of His worship. � �The Prime Cause of all effects should not be mutilated or manufactured through the agency of our unblossomed prerogatives. We are limited entities, but the Unlimited Infinity minus our infinitesimality would give us, as a result, an almost infinite gulf.� < H.D.G. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati H.D.G. Bhaktivedanta Swami > If one gives up his subtle body before the time of death, he gets liberated SOUL Intelligence Mind Senses False ego-consciousness God-consciousness