Your Soul is Only a Witness

“Raju after playing all the day, comes back to home & falls asleep, as soon as, he lies down on his bed. He is in deep sleep & is enjoying the sweet dream. He dreams about his school friends & about the play in his school. He is actually loving all the dreams when his mother wakes him up with a jolt.....”O! Raju wake up....your friend Dinesh has comes.” Raju wakes up with a jolt & comes back to waking state from the dream state. Raju tells Dinesh that he was actually playing with him only in his dream!!!

While Raju was dreaming, he was like a witness to his dream, just like, when you go to see a movie in a theater, you are a witness to seeing that movie while it plays on the screen. Raju in fact is a Soul who was witnessing the dream played on the screen of his inner consciousness & created by the mind of Raju only. When Raju is waken up from the dream state by his mother then also in seeing this live world, Raju is only a witness who is witnessing the play of the God (this world created by Nature elements of God).”

During sleep state we are not conscious about this gross body of ours. If we dream during the sleep state then we identify ourselves with a dream body of ours & not this gross body which is asleep. Now who is this I or you who was there in such a sleep state, watching this sleep state. Otherwise, who is there in dream state who watches these dreams & on waking up describes that I had very bad dreams or sweet dreams. In fact this is your true Self, your Soul, which is beyond this Gross body or Dream body.

The physical body cannot be considered as your real Self, because even when you are fast asleep and are not conscious of this gross body, still you are existing. So, if you can exist even without the consciousness of a body, it follows from that experience that you can exist without the body. That means you are not the body. One who is the experiencer, the witness, in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, this is pure consciousness, your true Self, your Soul.

Your Soul is Only a Witness in all the states.

Below verse of Bhagwat Gita says about this truth of Soul that it as passive, witness only:

"prakrityaiva cha karmani
kriyamanani sarvasah
yah pasyati tathatmanam
akartaram sa pasyati" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 30)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, One who can see that all activities are performed by the Nature (Prakriti) alone and sees that the Self (soul) does nothing & is Passive, actually sees." (The Self is the silent witness).

So Nature or Prakriti is the Active expression of God & is perceived as a mysterious and majestic expression of Divinity. It is Prakriti only which does creation, preservation, and destruction of this Universe, While Supersoul or God is the Passive entity which though is there within & beyond this creation of Prakriti but still is Inactive & is a witness to the game of Prakriti.

So let's always see ourselves to be that Soul only as it is eternally present. It always remains in our body, be it gross or subtle. So let's not identify ourselves with this gross body but with the eternal Soul. Let's think ourselves to be part & parcel of that Universal Soul (God) than identifying ourselves with this body. Once we do that we shall always be with that Universal Soul (God) & shall always enjoy happiness & bliss in life.

Jai Sri Krishna

Do Not Get Perturbed In Success Or Failure

Once there was a rich family who used to live in a big house with all the amenities of life. It was a beautiful family with lovely children. They were living a happy life when suddenly an earthquake came & due to bad luck they lost their home & business both. All the members of the family, especially the wife started weeping at the loss of home & business but the husband was not perplexed & was as calm as usual.

Seeing her husband so unconcerned about everything, wife said to him: "There is so big a problem that has come upon all of us but you are not worried at all; your heart seems to be that of a stone!! You don’t care that we have lost even our beautiful home also." At this the man said, "O.K. now I shall tell you why I am not worried? Last night, I dreamt that I had become an exalted king, I was having a palace of gold & was having everything of life & was enjoying life to the fullest, when you woke me up. Now I am really wondering whether I should weep for that Kingly status & a palace of gold or to the loss in life that has occurred to us.”

Husband was really an intelligent man & knew philosophical truth that the waking state is as unreal as the dream state. Loss & gain in wakeful state are as real & as unreal as it is in dream state. Both does not remain forever. Only real thing is the one eternal substance, and that is the Self or Atman which never changes. In fact what we call life is nothing but a prolonged state of dream only which dissolves at the end of life.

This dream body of ours is not true as it dissolves when we wake up & dream state is over. Similarly this gross physical body of ours is also not permanent & true as it dissolves at the time of death. But our Self, our Soul which is beyond any type of body, is real & true as it remains even when dream or gross physical body is dissolved. Below verses of Bhagwat Gita says about this truth only.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: The unreal has no existence, and the real (Soul) never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seers of the truth."

As per Bhagwat Gita we should not get disturbed in life due to success or failure in it. We should remain calm at mind in all circumstances. Below are few verse which explain that.

"yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 48)

"Sri Krishna said: Perform your duty equi-poised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such an equanimity is called yoga."

"samah satrau cha mitre cha
tatha manapamanayoh
sitosna-sukha-duhkhesu
samah sanga-vivarjitah"

"tulya-ninda-stutir mauni
santusto yena kenacit
aniketah sthira-matir
bhaktiman me priyo narah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 18-19)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service—such a person is very dear to Me."

So we should have such an attitude in life that we do not get perturbed in all the conditions, whether it is success or failure, loss or gain. We should be equipoised in life. As per Bhagwat Gita such an equipoise person in life can only know the real truth of life.

Jai Sri Krishna

Intelligent Businessman

Once there was a businessman who had a flourishing business. He was a rich man with all the amenities of life. He had a beautiful family with lovely children. He was living a happy life when suddenly due to bad luck he had a big loss in business. Loss was such that he had to mortgage everything & ultimately lost his home also. All the members of the family, especially his wife started weeping at the loss of business & home but the businessman was not perplexed & was as calm as usual.

Seeing her husband so unconcerned about everything, said to him: "There is so big a problem that has come upon all of us but you are not worried at all; your heart seems to be that of a stone!! You don’t care that we have lost even our beautiful home also." At this the man said, "O.K. now I shall tell you why I am not worried? Last night, I dreamt that I had become an exalted king, I was having a palace of gold & was having everything of life, enjoying life to the fullest when you woke me up. Now I am really wondering whether I should weep for that Kingly status & a palace of gold or to the loss in life that has occurred to us.”

The businessman was really an intelligent man & knew philosophical truth that the waking state is as unreal as the dream state. Loss & gain in wakeful state are as real & as unreal as it is in dream state. Both does not remain forever. Only real thing is the one eternal substance, and that is the Self or Atman which never changes. In fact what we call life is nothing but a prolonged state of dream only which dissolves at the end of life.

This dream body of ours is not true as it dissolves when we wake up & dream state is over. Similarly this gross physical body of ours is also not permanent & true as it dissolves at the time of death. But our Self, our Soul which is beyond any type of body, is real & true as it remains even when dream or gross physical body is dissolved. Below verses of Bhagwat Gita says about this truth only.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: The unreal has no existence, and the real (Soul) never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seers of the truth."

As per Bhagwat Gita we should not get disturbed in life due to success or failure in it. We should remain calm at mind in all circumstances. Below are few verse which explain that.

"yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 48)

"Sri Krishna said: Perform your duty equi-poised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such an equanimity is called yoga."

"samah satrau cha mitre cha
tatha manapamanayoh
sitosna-sukha-duhkhesu
samah sanga-vivarjitah"

"tulya-ninda-stutir mauni
santusto yena kenacit
aniketah sthira-matir
bhaktiman me priyo narah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 18-19)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service—such a person is very dear to Me."

So we should have such an attitude in life that we do not get perturbed in all the conditions, whether it is success or failure, loss or gain. We should be equipoised in life. As per Bhagwat Gita such an equipoise person in life can only know the real truth of life.

Jai Sri Krishna

Your Existence in Sleep State

In the waking state we identify ourselves with this body of ours. If someone asks you, who you are, then we generally refer our physical body as our real Self. So as per you, your body is your true self who has a unique name of yours. You always identify yourself with this body of yours.

But what happens to you when you are asleep. During sleep, you are not conscious about this gross body of yours. If you dream during the sleep state then you identify yourself with a dream body of yours & not this gross body which is asleep. Now during waking state you identify yourself with this gross body of yourself ,while in dream state you identify yourself with the dream body of yourself. Now who you are, Gross body or Dream body?

Now sometimes it also happens that you have a deep sleep & in such a state you do not dream also. After such a deep sleep when you wake up, you say, 'I have slept well,' or 'I have slept badly.' So when there is no consciousness of Gross body or Dream body in deep sleep then also you say that you slept well. Now who is this I or you who was there in such a deep sleep state, watching this deep sleep state. Otherwise, who is there in dream state who watches these dreams & on waking up describes that I had very bad dreams or sweet dreams. In fact this is your true Self, your Soul, which is beyond this Gross body or Dream body.

The physical body cannot be considered as your real Self, because even when you are fast asleep and are not conscious of this gross body, still you are existing. So, if you can exist even without the consciousness of a body, it follows from that experience that you can exist without the body. That means you are not the body. One who is the experiencer, the witness, in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, this is pure consciousness your true Self, your Soul.

Now here below is described how your true Self or Soul remains there in three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep.

1) Wakeful state. In the wakeful state, a person sees its own gross body and the gross world outside. It enjoys the world through its mind and senses. It does various types of actions & after hard work when he/she is tired of actions and enjoyments, one goes to sleep and enters into dreaming state.

2) Dreaming state. In this state, Self or Soul remains in a subtle body which is different from the gross body. In the subtle body through imagination, it creates its own illuminated worldly beings and objects. Dreaming world is an imagination of your own being, your mind only. With one's mind and senses, a being enjoys its own dreaming world.

3) Deep sleep state. During waking and dream states, one remains in a state of active mode, i.e. one's Mind and senses remain always active. But as soon as Self or Soul enters into deep sleep, body (both gross and subtle), mind and senses remain in complete rest. Self or Soul remains in its pure state--it remains alone. There is no dualism. There is none other than the Self or Soul. For this, one sees nothing and hears nothing. In such a state of complete rest one enjoys bliss as one's mind is not disturbed by anything. In deep sleep one finds complete happiness & bliss.

So we have seen that this dream body of ours is not true as it dissolves when we wake up & dream state is over. Similarly this gross physical body of ours is also not permanent & true as it dissolves at the time of death. But your Self, your Soul which is beyond any type of body, is real & true as it remains even when dream or gross physical body is dissolved. Below verses of Bhagwat Gita says about this truth only.

"na-asato vidyate bhavo
nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayor api drsto ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darshibhih" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: The unreal has no existence, and the real (Soul) never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seers of the truth."

"avyakto ’yam acintyo ’yam
avikaryo ’yam ucyate
tasmad evam viditvainam
nanusocitum arhasi" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 25)

"Sri Krishna said: It is said that the soul is invisible, unmanifest, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body."

"tamas tv ajnana-jam viddhi
mohanam sarva-dehinam
pramadalasya-nidrabhis
tan nibadhnati bharata" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: Know Tamo-gun or Tamas, the deluder of all those, who look upon body as their own Self, as born of ignorance. It binds the Soul through error, sloth & sleep.

So let's always see ourself to be that Soul only as it is eternally present. It always remains in a body, be it gross or subtle. When the gross body is destroyed at death, it still remains in a subtle body. So let's not identify ourselves with this gross body but with the eternal Soul. Let's think ourself to be part & parcel of that Universal Soul (God) than identifying ourself with this body. Once we do that we shall always be with that Universal Soul (God) & shall always enjoy happiness & bliss in life.

Tamas or TamoGun

"It is chilling cold night. You are cozily lying in your bed inside your quilt. Your room heater is also on to beat the cold. You fall asleep in such a cozy environment. You have a nice deep sleep. Morning dawn has occurred still you are deep asleep. Sleep in such a cozy environment is making you lazy. You do not want to come out of your bed as outside you shall feel cold again. Sun has risen & it's your time to start your daily chorus but your laziness is not allowing you to do anything. You want to enjoy your sleep only in your cozy quilt. You ignore your call for your daily duty also. Your laziness has taken over your call to daily routine duty. Lo, today you have decided not to do anything & ignore your duty. You go back to sleep in your cozy bed."

The above said stanza clearly states that if you are inclined to laziness, inertia, do not do your daily duty & just becomes careless about your life, then you are falling a pray to "Tamas" or "TamoGun". A person falls a pray to "TamoGun" due to his/her ignorance & delusion only which causes indolence, laziness and sleep.

Bhagwat Gita illustrates the "Tamas" or "TamoGun" very clearly & beautifully. As per Bhagwat Gita this Material nature consists of three modes i.e. Sattva, Rajas & Tamas. Out of the three modes of Nature, "Tamas" or "Tamo Gunn" is the one which is responsible for ignorance, delusion, indolence, laziness and sleep. We should not fall a pray to this "TamoGun". We should do our daily duty, coming out of this laziness and sleep, which are born of ignorance. Below are verses of Bhagwat Gita which explains about the qualities of this "TamoGun".

"sattvam rajas tama iti
Gunnah prakriti-sambhavah
nibadhnanti maha-baho
dehe dehinam avyayam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 5)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Material nature consists of three modes—Sattva (goodness), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (ignorance). When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these three modes."

"tamas tv ajnana-jam viddhi
mohanam sarva-dehinam
pramadalasya-nidrabhis
tan nibadhnati bharata" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, know that "Tamas"- the mode of darkness, born of ignorance, creates delusion in all embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul."

"aprakaso ’pravrttis cha
pramado moha eva cha
tamasy etani jayante
vivrddhe kuru-nandana" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 13)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, When there is an increase in "Tamas"- the mode of ignorance, then darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are manifested."

"karmanah sukritasyahuh
sattvikam nirmalam phalam
rajasas tu phalam duhkham
ajnanam tamasah phalam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery, and action performed in "Tamas"- the mode of ignorance results in foolishness."

"rajas tamas chabhibhuya
sattvam bhavati bharata
rajah sattvam tamas chaiva
tamah sattvam rajas tatha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 10)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times "Tamas"/Ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy."

Pl. note that all those people who have a destructive way of life, like those terrorists who struck in Mumbai, killing people mercilessly, were in fact under the influence of "Tamas" or "TamoGun", as their mind & intellect were covered with ignorance due to Tamasic nature. Hence their perverted mind thought that killing the innocent people was their duty, while they were doing demonical work only by doing such killings.

In fact "TamoGun" engulfs one's mind & intellect with the darkness of ignorance & makes a person believe that, whatever, wrong he/she is doing is right, while it is their perverted thinking only which make them do wrong only, the consequence of which shall be misery only in future. So we should not fall a pray to Tamasic nature & should not do devilish acts which lead one's soul to degradation only. To read more about the qualities of people of 'Demoniac Nature' who are under the influence of "TamoGun", read my earlier Blog Post here.......................Qualities of People of 'Demoniac Nature'.