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Who Are You?

Sikhism, like most eastern religions, teaches that the individual soul (jivatman) is something other than the body. According to Sanatana Dharma and Sikhism, there are 8.4 million types of beings in the world, half live in the water, the other half is divided between the land and air (the physical heavens). All of these embodied life forms are transient. They constantly pass through the processes of conception, birth, aging and death. Through this unending process of transmigration the jivatman passes from one life form to another, gradually working their way up the ladder of rebirth, until the human form is achieved.

According to Judaism, Christianity, Sanatana Dharma, Sikhism and most others, the human form is the highest. Sanatana Dharma and Sikhism, the only form of life from which the soul may attain liberation is the human form. This is confirmed in Gurbani (the Divine Word):

This time having been born as human being.
This is your turn to meet the Supreme Lord.
Your other activities will be of no avail at the end,
Seek the company of holy people and only contemplate God.
Set your mind on crossing the sea of life,
For life is being wasted away
In pursuits of pleasures of the world — Asa Mohalla.

Human life is the door to liberation. In order to utilize this golden opportunity one must resist the temptations of the material world, especially the tendency to see one's self as a material rather than a spiritual being. One must learn to view the soul properly in order to accomplish this. The goal of the Sant Mat is not the attainment of a Christian/Islamic paradise, nor is it the Swarga or 'spiritual realms' of popular Hinduism. The ultimate goal of life, according to Sikhism, is to merge into the Supreme Soul (nirguna brahman) and cease from individual existence all together. Sikh writers refer to the "Uninterrupted Bliss" which one experiences after liberation, however it must be understood that the ego-self is not the one experiencing this Bliss! Once united with the Holy One, all independent existence ceases and one is utterly and eternally "reabsorbed" into nirguna brahman, the only True Reality.

Most Christians believe that upon death the Soul goes to Heaven and lives forever in bliss. In biblical times, the Saducees believe upon death the soul cease to exist. The Pharisees (rabbis) taught at death one either reincarnated or waited in the grave. In either case, the soul is reembodied to live on the earth again. Hinduism varies greatly on this issue. Some believe the soul continues to reincarnate until at last achieving Svarga an incomprehenible realm of light. Others, such as the Vaisnavas, hope for various spiritual realms of bliss such as Goloka Vrndavan. In standard Sanatana Dharma, there are seven higher realms. Svarga is one of these. It is the realms inhabited by the devas or gods. Each of these seven realms are described as "heaven" (not unlike the Seven Heavens spoken of in the Talmud). However these realms vary from each other and may be temporary. Hindus who follow the teachings of Guru Sanchacharya, like the Buddhists and Sikhs, anticipate an end to all individualized existence and complete absorption in Nirguna or non-being.

As shared last time, in what is sometimes called the Bible of India, Sri Krishna addresses this issue. In paraphrase:

Bhagavad Gita 2:22: Just as a person casts off worn-out clothing and accepts new ones, so the embodied Soul [jivaatman] 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, nor 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 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 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, O descendent of Bharata, therefore you should not lament.

Question: Do you believe there is such as thing as a soul?

• Do you believe you are a physical person, a spiritual personal, a combination of these two?
• Do you agree with Sri Krishna that the soul (you) have always existed?
• Do you believe the soul will ever cease to exist?
• After the soul is liberated from duality or enlightened/self-realized, will the Soul (you) continue to exist saguna (with qualities/self awareness) or nirguna (without qualitied/awareness)?

We will discuss the three gunas and the Soul in part 3 of this study.

Who Are You?
The Nature of the Soul, Part 3

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