The Soul & Its Nature

The soul as conceived in the Christian doctrine is not the pure ātmā. The ātmā referred to in the Veda-śāstra is completely separate from pure materialism as well as from mixed materialism. The Christian ‘soul’ falls under mixed materialism. The mind and all the attributes of the mind constitute the Christian ātmā. However, the pure ātmā is exceedingly higher and purer than the mind. In reality, Christians believe the subtle body to be the ātmā. Following that belief, they have imagined a heaven and a hell, and accordingly, they believe in a God and a Satan.

Foolish people become disgusted with life itself and end up committing suicide. The result is this – just as one who tries to escape this prison-house, prematurely and unjustly, is caught again and confined even more severely, so too those jīvas who commit suicide become bound all the more firmly, along with undergoing various kinds of suffering. There is a proper and lawful method for deliverance – without taking shelter of that method, how can deliverance be possible?

Some may ask that if all benefits can be obtained simply by eating sāttvika food, then why do we not become free from disease, or acquire yogic skills or spiritual abilities after eating only sāttvika food for a few days? The answer is that human nature does not depend upon food alone. Eating, conduct and spiritual endeavours are the three kinds of activities that improve human nature.

…the will of the Supreme Lord is the most powerful of all, and if ever the Lord desires to dissolve the jīva, then its dissolution will certainly take place. That is why the jīva is also called anitya (not eternal)….The jīva possesses existence, but not ultimate eternal existence. The jīva’s existence is dependent upon the will of the Supreme Lord. Therefore, although the jīva exists, it is not eternal existence, and although he is eternal, he is not eternally eternal. This is the distinction between the jīva and the Lord. The jīva is finite consciousness, but the Supreme Lord is eternal consciousness.