Discover the Soul
There is a Power within,
It is the Spirit, Atman or Soul.
To discover the truth of this Energy,
Is our life's Ultimate Goal.
Who doesn't want to be happy? Every human being seeks happiness but we all suffer. Any person born on planet earth passes through a cycle of pleasure and pain. There is only one way to escape from this suffering – to realize the truth that we are the Divine Soul.
Most of us know nothing about the Soul. The only thing that we talk of is 'good' Soul and 'bad' Soul - whether our Soul will go to heaven or hell. When somebody dies, people often say, 'Let's pray for the departed Soul,' but unfortunately, we know nothing about the Soul.
The Soul is the power that gives us life. It is the energy that is present in each of our over 30 trillion cells. The moment we are conceived, the Soul seems to be present, although many wouldn't agree with this theory. They believe that the Soul arrives later, anytime between the fourth and ninth month of our journey in the womb. While people have different opinions about when the Soul enters, nobody denies that the Soul departs at death.
Therefore, the journey of the Soul is from birth to death. Just like a computer has the hardware, software, and the power supply, the Soul is the power that causes our existence. There can be no life without the Soul. Unlike the power in a gadget, we have no idea where the power of the Soul comes from and where it goes. Over 5,000 years ago, the Rishis and the sages living in the Himalayas realized the Divine truth that the Soul is Divinity that manifests as you and me. Thus, they folded hands when they met one another as they bowed down to the Soul that exists in everybody. However, over the centuries, this got diluted into a religious practice that prayed to a God with name and form. The significance of the Soul as the Divine got lost as it gave way to rituals of myth and superstition.
Most of us are so busy in this material world that we don't have time to discover the Soul. We are so consumed by the cravings of the body and the wandering of the mind, that our ego stops us from realizing the truth. While we believe that we have a Soul, we think that it is just another aspect of our life. Little do we realize that without the Soul we are nothing.
The Soul is the cause, we are just effects. Our body doesn't receive a Soul after it is created. Rather, it is around the Soul that the body is formed. Where does the Soul energy come from and where does it go? To understand the Soul, one should take two pieces of dead rubber balloons. They seem to have no life. But suddenly, when we blow air into them, they distinctly stand out as blue and white balloons, both bouncing with life. If we deflate the balloons, can we retrieve the air that was in the two balloons separately? 'Impossible!' you would say. The air in the balloons has merged with the air that is everywhere. So is it with the Soul! When the Soul leaves the 30 trillion cells, it departs in a flash to merge with the Soul that is everywhere. It is Maya
- the cosmic illusion that makes us believe that there is a Soul within us. It would rather be more apt to think that we are in the Soul. The Soul is everywhere, inside us and outside of us, just like air is not just in the balloon, but also all around it.
Somehow, we think of the Soul as a distinct entity. We don't realize that it is one power that makes us all live. It is just like the power that comes to our house. The power is distributed to the lights, the television, the air-conditioners and all the other gadgets in the house. Each of these is a separate entity, but the power is one. So it is with us. You and I seem to be different, but the power within us, the Soul, is the same.
If we truly want to live life, we must decode the mystery of the Soul. We must not believe that we have a Soul as is most commonly thought but rather realize that we are the Soul. The moment we realize this truth that we are not this body that is constantly changing, nor are we the mind that seems to have a subtle existence, we will evolve in our life journey. It is when we realize that we are the Divine Soul, that we will truly learn to live life. This realization is not easy. But reading this book may open the door to such enlightenment. If we don't overcome our ignorance and realize that we are the Divine Soul, we will continue to live as a physical body and a subtle mind, and will continue to suffer as the ego. We must go on a quest of the truth to realize who we are and why we are here. This will help us discover how to live life.
Because the Soul is such a mysterious subject, people believe in the mummifying of bodies and perform all kinds of rituals after death, believing that the Soul is present as a ghost. The mysteries of the Soul have created so much confusion that what the Soul is and what its real power is, elude us. The Soul is God, but those who read this will never understand this. We have to realize this truth by overcoming ignorance. When we proceed on this journey as the Life Manual unfolds, we will hopefully reach a point of our spiritual 'aha' and see the light of truth. Then, we will realize the Soul as the God power within.
IN A NUTSHELL