What Is Death?: What Is Soul?

By Sri Swami Sivananda

There are two kinds of souls, viz., the individual soul or Jivatman or the human soul, and the Supreme Soul or Paramatman. The individual soul is an image or reflection of the Supreme Soul. Just as the Sun is reflected in different pots of water, so also the Supreme Soul is reflected in different minds of different persons.

Soul is spirit. It is immaterial. It is intelligence or consciousness. It is Chaitanya. Individual soul is reflected Chaitanya. It is this individual soul that departs from the body after its death and goes to heaven, with the senses, mind, Prana, impressions, desires and tendencies. It is endowed with a subtle astral body when it proceeds to heaven.

When the water in the lake is absorbed, the reflection of, the Sun in the water merges in the Sun itself. Even so, when the mind is annihilated through meditation, the individual soul merges itself in the Supreme Soul or Paramatman. This is the goal of life.

The individual soul has become impure through cravings, desires, egoism, pride, greed, lust and likes and dislikes. Hence it is finite (Paricchinna), it is endowed with limited knowledge (Alpajna) and limited power (Alpa-Saktiman). The Supreme Soul is Infinite, Omniscient and Omnipotent. It is an embodiment of knowledge and bliss.

The individual soul is under bondage through ignorance and limiting adjuncts such as mind, body and senses. It is mere appearance. It is illusory. When it attains knowledge of the Imperishable, it is freed from limiting adjuncts and bondage. Just as the bubble becomes one with the ocean, so also the Jiva becomes one with the Supreme Soul when ignorance is destroyed.

A dead body cannot speak, cannot walk, cannot see. It remains like a log of wood after the soul has departed from the body. It is the soul that enlivens, galvanises, moves and directs the body, mind and the senses.

The Supreme Soul is self-consciousness, self-awareness, self-delight, self-knowledge and self-existence. It knows itself and knows others. It is self-luminous and illumines everything. Hence it is Chaitanya. Matter does not know itself. It does not know others. Hence it is Jada or insentient.

The Supreme Soul is formless, attributeless, all-pervading indivisible, decayless, timeless, spaceless. There is neither time nor day nor night in the Sun itself, although it creates day and night. So is the Supreme Soul. Soul is Infinite, Eternal, Immortal.

The Supreme alone exists. This world of names and forms is illusory. It is superimposed upon the Supreme Soul, just as snake is superimposed on the rope. Bring a light; the snake in the rope vanishes at once. Attain illumination or knowledge of the Supreme Soul. This world will vanish in toto.

Everybody feels ‘I exist’, ‘I am, Aham Asmi’. No one can say ‘I do not exist’. This itself proves the existence of an Immortal Soul or the Supreme Self. In deep sleep you rest in the Supreme Soul. There is no world for you. You enjoy unalloyed bliss. This proves that the Supreme Soul exists and its essential nature is pure bliss.

Purify your mind. Steady it. Fix the mind on the Supreme Soul. Meditate and realise your essential divine nature. You will be freed from the wheel of births and deaths. You will attain eternal bliss and immortality.

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This was an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. We want to now the truth behind near death experiences and become certain that there really is a life after death.

Many books have been written on the subject of death, but most of the works deal mainly with the astral or other spirit world. It has mostly been the study of the conditions in the Pretaloka which is merely one among the numerous supramundane planes or lokas beyond the grave. Spiritualism, seance and the testimony of recognised mediums have for most part featured prominently in all such works.

What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is a departure from the usual line in that it is based, to a great extent, upon authoritative scriptural texts and upon knowledge derived through reasoning, deep reflection and personal meditation. It throws a flood of light upon all aspects of life after death not adequately dealt with in other works. The book also gives valuable information about the different beliefs on this subject, of the various races and religions.

The book is dealing with rebirth, the soul, reincarnation, moksha, heaven and hell, karma and different lokas. It even includes death poems and death poetry, giving a complete picture and a new face of death. For more material see this link: What Becomes Of The Soul After Death.

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