As we said earlier, Sanskrit for ‘soul’ or ‘self’ is ‘atma’. Remind you of anything, given that our modern language owes an enormous amount, in root and branch, to this most ancient of languages? Any particular word that means ‘the smallest thing perceptible, knowable or imaginable’? – Until our capability of identifying and ‘seeing’ the wonderful quarks and neutrinos was developed (pic here from 1970), the atom was as small as it got. No coincidence that it is pretty much the same word as the one meaning ‘Soul’.
And here’s another thought to be going on with, on top of that; the Atom Bomb was the most powerful bomb known to man, right? Power of ultimate destruction of the world and humanity? Doesn’t get more powerful than that – in a destructive way. How about turning your attention to the Atma Bomb, and sitting in silence – for a minute, or for longer if you can manage – to experience the indescribable power of the Self, the Soul that is you. Just focus on your Self, a pinpoint of pure non-physical energy, the ‘Third Eye’ shining in the centre of your forehead. An Atma Bomb because You are so powerful, but not destructive. You are pure conscious energy, pure con-science, in which there is unlimited power. And, to go with it – two sides of the same coin – unlimited peace. In fact, the deeper you go into this, the more you find that the power is a product of the peace. No power without peace. The peace is the power. And that, good Souls, is the Atma Bomb. The Peace Bomb. Focus entirely inwards, explode outwards, radiate peace.
Yes ,
I agree to what is stated above.Our self is a minute soul , an atom, that exists every where and it is so continuous ( I am sorry but somebody can correct me) that it occupies the entire universe .So as Lord Krishna says in GEETA you are so small that you are invisile and at the same tie you are omnipresent ( Am I correct?)And if we go by the science atom exists every where in every thing living or nonliving.And it belongs to you . So you are the landlord of this universe .Be a king.
Hi Shamsundar
The crucial point is that each and every individual soul – you, me, every human being on this planet – is an eternal, indivisible, unit of conscient energy, the energy of ‘I’, that is unique and pinpoint-specific. Yes, when your body dies You the Soul occupy another one, but you take with you your karma – your sanskars – that have created what you are as a human being. Your actions have created You, You create your actions.
So if you think about it there is no way you can be omnipresent. It makes no sense. You have Your own history in and beyond this life, and Your own destiny likewise; how could that be if You were one and the same as everything else in the Universe? The Atom or Atma cannot exist everywhere. There are countless atoms, but not countless Atmas; at the moment the human population of the world is about 7 billion, right? The World Population Clock at http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html is always counting. It gives the number at 07.44 British Summer Time – as I write this – as 7,045,983,019. That’s 7,045,983,019 unique and individual souls. Not one.
The idea of the Omnipresent Soul – and also, I think, the Omnipresent God – has come about because human souls lost the ability to differentiate between physical and spiritual energy. ‘Body Consciousness’ is another word (two, actually) for it: confusing Your Self with your body. You the Soul are a unique node of spiritual energy, of life force, but conscient – in other words, aware of your Self, aware of your own existence, aware of your own awareness, able to ask the question: ‘Who and what am I?’.
The energy that flows through matter – that in fact, is matter, when you break it down to atom level and below – is non-conscient. It is material. Whatever form it comes in – a brick, a car, a leaf, a CD, a human body – it will change, transform, mutate into something else or some other combination of somethings. Matter can never be created, and it can never be destroyed. It only changes. Similarly, You the Soul can never be created and never be destroyed. Hence You are eternal; but you don’t change. You become different, yes, from life to life and indeed in the course of one life. But you don’t become something else. You are always a human Soul, never a dog soul or a bee soul or a wasp soul. You always remain human. The apple seed doesn’t produce a peach tree, right?
When you meditate, do yoga asanas, or whatever other contemplative practice you follow, you connect to the Prana, the life force that is flowing through your body. It brings you inner stillness and focus, you become centred. But it is not You. You are the one observing the process. When your mind becomes still, on the other hand, is when your conscious mental processes shut down to the extent that Your own spiritual energy – I say Your own, but I actually mean You – is all there is. Stillness, Silence, Bliss, Power, Peace. Your True and Natural Self. That is Soul Consciousness, or the ‘Atma Bomb’ I started talking about.
Hope this makes sense. Try it: Sit in silence, where you won’t be disturbed; listen to your breath touching the sides of your airways right at the back of your throat, where you make a snoring noise; settle your mind, slow your thoughts down. Then concentrate on the spot in the centre of your forehead where the Soul resides – Ajna, the Third Eye – really focus on it – and ponder the idea. ‘I am a Soul, a tiny pinpoint of living light, sitting in this huge physical body.’ I am a Soul. That’s all.
pranam Aidan
You said something that made me sit upright : “The idea of the Omnipresent Soul – and also, I think, the Omnipresent God – has come about because human souls lost the ability to differentiate between physical and spiritual energy.”
It seems you are proposing sAnkhya shAstra (the atheistical version of it) which maintains there are only the various individual purusha (souls or AtmA) and prakRti (material nature).
I do not agree. There is indeed a higher Being, Ishwar, Bhagvan, Who connects the zillion souls together. Like this : jivAtmA paramAtmA jivAtmA which explains telepathy, clairvoyance, Gurus being able to help disciples miles apart etc.
On the other hand, the thought that our “soul” whatever that means can never possibly be omnipresent makes a lot of sense. If at all I the individual soul (not identifying with a body) gain omniscience some day, it would ONLY and ONLY be a result of grace betowed by my Dear Shyamsundar (God, Bhagvan). So the original candle that lights all other candles is this Shyamsundar. However, He says in the Bhagvad Gita that He is 1)that AtmA in all bodies, and 2)pervades the entire existence 3) cannot be cut burnt dried soaked or killed
For all three things to be true at once, it would have to mean that the witnessing me is all-pervading and omnipresent-scient-potent per scriptures, but that i do not understand HOW. HOW can this witnessing me be omnipresent, and worse, omnipotent ?? [Omniscience can be granted TO me BY God as a gift (siddhi – perfection).]
Therefore i thought you were arriving at something here.
Are you really suggesting that there is NO God ?
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
Hi Sah
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
No, of course I don’t suggest there is no God. This site and the book that goes with it focus almost entirely on the Self, the Soul, for readers who seek self-awareness, the first step on the path to God. The Raj Yoga teachings from which I draw the basic tenets of the Ecology of the Soul all culminate in the experience of God, who is the Supreme Soul. A Soul, just like you and me, but karmateet, in other words above and beyond the Law of Karma because He (or She or It) performs no action. In Her (or His) sanskars is the knowledge of the entire story of the human race. He (or She) knows every action in the Drama and sees it with complete detachment and infinite love. Her (or His) knowledge is infinite, but His (or Her) identity is the same as ours – a Soul, an infinitesimal point of light, with location but no size. Mostly She (or He) exists in the non-physical dimension, what some call the ‘Soul World’. But at a certain time of the cycle (now) He (or She) is using a human medium to broadcast Her (or His) message of soul consciousness.
It’s strong stuff, and not for everyone, especially if you have read the Bhagvad Gita all your life, because the omnipresent God and omnipresent Soul have no place in this knowledge. Each individual soul is an individual, with its own story, its own fate, its own karma and its own place in the world, which is never all places at once. God is the same, with the massive, huge and infinite difference that He (or She) is above and beyond the Law of Karma. There is no way She (or He) could ‘grant’ you omipresence and omniscience, and certainly not omnipotence, because a) this would subvert your own karma and hence the universal law, b) He (or She) performs no action – if She (or He) did, He (or She) would no longer be karmateet – and c) that’s like making an apple seed grow a pear tree. You are a human Soul, and for ever shall remain so, with particular human characteristics. She (or He) is the Supreme Soul, with another set of particular characteristics. There is no swapping of powers. God’s power resides in His (or Her) knowledge. If She (or He) got involved in human activity, He (or She) would not be God. She (or He) discloses the amazing secrets of the Law of Karma, but He (or She) cannot interfere. Sounds weird to suggest a limitation on God, but that is Her (or His) eternal nature.
Hope this makes sense. When it comes down to it, like any profound philosophy that purports to carry the secrets of the Soul, Life and the Universe, you don’t respond on just an intellectual level anyway. It’s about your spiritual experience. Either it has power and meaning for you or it doesn’t.