Question: Who and what are you?
- Are you your body?
- Would you still be you if your arms and legs were removed?
- If a tooth were pulled, would you be less you than before?
- If your bodily hair grows out or is cut off does that add to or detract from who you are?
- Are you your brain? If something happened to it, would you still be you?
- Are you male or female?
- What is your race?
- What is your nationality?
- And for many, a more difficult one, what is you religion?
Consider : Just a little self-evaluation shows that you are not your body not its various aliences. Pratically every religious texts affirms that you are something other than your body. For example, Yeshua of Nazareth advises his followers:
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul - Matthew 10:28So, if you are not your body, logic says the various designations of the body don't apply to you either. Do you have brown hair? Blond or black, or like many of us, gray? Would you be a different person if you dyed your hair? If you shaved your head? No. It would make no difference to who you are, would it? So, what are you? Surely such cosmetic changes would be only illusory. In the Sanatana Dharma such things are known as maya . In this study we will learn from various traditions of light. The term Sanatana Dharma means Universal Truth. The point is, you are not your body. You are a Soul. But what is a Soul?
- The English word 'soul' comes from the Old English word sāwol, which was first used in the 8th century. Sāwol arise from the Germanic word for "soul." The concept of the soul's existence is from time immemorial and is known by different names and designations. Biblical Hebrew refers to the soul as the neshama . This is the ‘soul’ we are currently discussing. The Jewish sages also identify the nefesh and the ruach as types of souls. Therefore, according to standard biblical designation, you are a trinity of souls. And yet, you are one ‘you.’
Question: What is the difference between these three 'souls'?
Rabbinic teacher Eliezer Shifrin from Cape Town, S.A. explains:
A soul is like a chain, with one end linked to the brain and the other to a certain spiritual source. There are five levels of the soul, like five links in this chain, each one parallel to the spiritual sphere where it exists. However, we only relate to the three ‘bottom 'links' because we have no sure understanding about the two top ones. The three are 1) Nefesh 2) Ruach 3) Neshama. The nefesh is the spiritual existence. It resides within the body and keeps the physical metabolism working and the person alive. The ruach is a connection between the neshama and the nefesh. It is the source of feelings and personal qualities. The neshama is the spiritual existence that pulls the person toward God to perform good deeds, to be pious and humble, and to seek knowledge and achievement in spiritual fields. It resides around the head.
When a person dies, it takes seven days before the parts of the soul understand that it's all over and leave the body. Until then, the three hover around the grave and travel to and fro between the grave and the house of the deceased, waiting for the body to start functioning again. The nefesh does not completely leave until the body is decomposed.For simplicity's sake, Jewish authorities view the neshama as the consciousness that says "I am." The neshama is cognitive awareness. It is the neshama that continues to live after the death of the body. According to the Jewish doctrine of gilgul neshamot or reincarnation, it is the neshama that enters the next body and thus contunues to exist. The nefesh and ruach die with the body. A new nefesh and ruach are given upon conception. Our focus in this section is the neshama. When we say 'soul' we are refering to the neshama. We'll discuss the nefesh and the ruach another time.
The Vedic and post-Vedic Scriptures refer to the soul as the atman (or jivatman : jiva-atman: individualized soul).
Who are you? You are a 'soul', an eternal subject of the King, One God.
Question: Who is God?
- This question matters in part because the Hebrew Scriptures say we are created in One God's image. So, One God must also 'be a Soul.' Whether God takes on physical forms like human beings is a topic we will address at a later time.
In English, ‘God’ (with a capital 'G'), is the supreme ‘Soul’ (so spelled with a capital “G” and “S”). Humans are small 's' souls and smalls “g” gods because God is our Parent as shown at Psalm 82.- In the terminology of the Sanatana Dharma (the oldest surviving religious system), we are “atman” and God (Bhagavan) is “Atman.” This is because, in English, we have the convention of capitalization. In India, the same is described in this way: We are atman while One God is Paramatman (Param Atman being Supreme Atman, God when capitalized). As in the biblical literatures, many different Names and titles are ascribed to Paramatman such as Bhagavan, Isvara, and so on. And yet, God is One.
Despite what some believe, it is seriously incorrect to conclude that we (the souls or jivatman) are or will ever become “God,” or “Paramatma.” As Swaminarayan explains in Vachanamrut:
”We saw that the jiv [soul] can grow from strength to strength by doing true devotion [or bhakti ]. The jiv then gains similar qualities to Bhagavan [God], yet the jiv can never become Bhagavan no matter what. There is only one Bhagavan and many jeevs… So, what is the difference between that bhakta [or, one has achieved complete devotion to God] and Bhagavan, whereby the master-servant relationship between them still remains?… The bhakta [devotee of One God] realizes, ‘Bhagavan has granted me [all these] powers… yet Bhagavan’s powers are limitless. Like me, countless others have attained qualities similar to that of Bhagavan, but no one is capable of becoming Bhagavan." (Gadhada Madhyam 67).One God is transcendent of all entities. One God is eternal and completely beyond material existence. We are like God being created in His image, but we are not and will never become God.
“See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand,” (Deuteronomy 32:39).Question: Is it logical to assume finite minds such as ours could conceive of the Infinite Being that is God?
- This is the question all the world's religions and spiritualities seek to answer. Logic says no, it not possible. Each religious ideology attempts to address this according to its own paradigms, however, none fully succeeds because One God alone is Master of all existences material, celestial, and beyond.
To understand who we are, we must grapple with who God is. Why? Because we are created in His image, so without some limited comprehension of One God, we cannot understand ourselves. This is whyevery historic culture has established forms of religion and spiritualities. As Voltaire wrote in his 1769 poem Epître à l'auteur du livre des trois imposteurs:
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him"Question: What are your earliest recollections of yourself? What are your earliest recollections of God?
- If you believe in God, why do you believe?
- Has and if so, how has your conception of God changed as you matured physically and spiritually?
- What does it mean that you are created in the “image of God?”
- How far back can you remember?
- Were your parents religious? Were you raised believing in God?
- Do you believe in God now? What do you believe about God and why?
- Have you ever had an unmistakable experience of God?
Consider: The phrase "created in the image of God" is a theological term meaning that humans reflect God's nature and character in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature as no other entities. The term comes from Genesis 1:27, which says, "God created mankind in his own image".
Question: How can humans reflect God’s nature?
Consider: If you are not your physical body, if you are indeed a soul, a neshama , or jivatman (individual soul), where exactly are you located?
Consider: In what is sometimes called the Bible of India, Bhagwan Sri Krishna addresses this issue for his student Arjuna. I paraphrase from my translation:
Bhagavad Gita 2:22: Just as a person casts off worn-out clothing and accepts new ones, so the embodied Soul [ jivatman ] discards worn-out bodies and enters different ones.
2:23, 24: The Soul [ atman ] cannot be severed by weapons, burned by fire, wetted with water, or dried by the wind. The Soul is unbreakable, unburnable. It cannot be made wet or dry. It is eternal and all-pervading, equable, immovable, and eternally constant.
2:25 - 28: Understand that the Soul is unmanifested. It is inconceivable and unchanging. Therefore, knowing the Soul to be thus, you should not lament. Furthermore, if you conclude that the Soul is constantly born and eternally dying, even then… you still ought not to lament. For those born, death is certain, and for those dead, birth is certain. For the sake of the inevitable, you should not lament. All beings are unmanifested in the beginning, manifested in the middle, and again unmanifested in the end… Where in this is there cause for lamentation?
2:29: Some consider the Soul amazing. Some speak of the Soul as amazing, while others hear of it as amazing. And yet, no one truly knows the Soul.
2:30: The living entity dwelling within the material body is the eternal and indestructible Soul. It is only encased within a material form. This is the situation of all living entities… therefore, you should not lament.As mentioned earlier, according to the Hebrew conception, the knowable soul is conceived as a trinity: 1) Nefesh, 2) Ruach, 3) Neshama. From a more mystical perspective, these three exist within the first and second triad of Adam Kadmon or dualistic existence. Asmentioned, there remain two final supernal aspects of the Soul, conceived within the uppermost triad of Adam Kadmon known as Chokma, Bina, and Da’at. These are Chaya, and Yechida. Those who achieve devekut , Self-realization through complete attachment to One God, realize these final two levels of the soul. One who has achieved such a state is free of fear concerning the body and is not deceived by the power of maya or illusion.
The five levels of the soul:
- Nefesh: The "animal soul," responsible for basic physical needs and life functions.
- Ruach: The "wind" or "spirit" soul, associated with emotions and personality.
- Neshama: The "breath" soul, representing a deeper spiritual awareness as the soul's connection to God is forming.
- Chaya: The "life" soul, a further elevation of spiritual consciousness.
- Yechida: The "oneness" soul, representing the ultimate unity with the Divine source in devekut, Samadhi, Moksha, etc.
While these five appear to be different souls, they are in reality only different levels of soulish life. As they are realized the dualistic illusions of our physical senses fall into into Self-realization.
Defeating fear and misassocitiation with dualism is a major topic of Srimad Bhagavad Gita.
Question: If we are not these temporary ‘houses’ in which we dwell, is it wise to focus so much of our attention on the things of duality? Would it not be wiser to focus on our non-dual Souls and on the Giver of all Souls?
Who Are You?
The Nature of the Soul, 2
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* John of AllFaith January 09, 2025 (updated January 15, 2025)
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