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Index Page
Compiled by Richard Stoney
Atma or Atman
"Our individual soul is the immortal and
spiritual body of light that animates life
and reincarnates again and
again until all necessary karmas are created and resolved and its
essential unity with God is fully realized."
"Our soul body was created in the image and
likeness of the Primal Soul, but it differs from the Primal Soul in
that it is immature. While [God] is unevolutionary perfection, we are
in the process of evolving." 1
"Are Souls and World Essentially Good?
The intrinsic and real nature of all beings is
their soul, which is goodness. All is in perfect balance. There are
changes, and they may appear evil, but there is no intrinsic evil. Aum.
The soul radiates love, is a child of God going
through its evolutionary process of growing up into the image and
likeness of the Lord. Goodness and mercy, compassion and caring are
the intrinsic, inherent or indwelling nature of the soul. Wisdom and
pure knowledge, happiness and joy are the intrinsic nature of the
soul. Can we believe the soul is anything but goodness, purity and all
the refined qualities found within super-consciousness? When God is
everywhere, how can there be a place for evil?" 2
Yearning for Divine Self
"Each one of us is God (Atman). Nobody is
deprived of this. When we realize our Infinite Self, we are replete.
There is nothing more to desire. But as long as we do not recognize
our own Divinity, we have a yearning. It is yearning for our Divine
Self but, blinded by the maya ("illusion") of the world, we
mistake this yearning as desire for material pleasures." 3
The Soul and Its Illusion
Atman or the soul is in reality identical with Paramatman
or the Oversoul, which is One, Infinite and Eternal. The soul is, in
fact, beyond the gross, subtle and mental worlds, but experiences
itself as being limited owing to its identification with the Sharira
or gross body, Prana or the subtle body (which is the vehicle of
desires and vital forces), and Manas or the mental body (which is the
seat of the mind). The soul in its transcendental state is One—Formless,
Eternal and Infinite—and yet identifies itself with the phenomenal
world of forms, which are many and finite and destructible. This is
Maya or the cosmic illusion. The soul and its illusion." 4
Suggested Further Reading
Sources:
1. Subramuniyaswami, pp. 79, 81.
2. Satguru S'ivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with S'iva p. 137
3. Kerry Brown, ed. The Essential Teachings of Hinduism , p.132.
4. Meher Baba, Discourses by Meher Baba, The Journey
of the Soul to the Oversoul |
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