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Body vs Soul ( The eternal question )
The structure of the personality of man consists of two entities,
viz., spirit and matter. The material entity is the physical body with
all its organs as well as the mind, and the non-material entity is the
(individual) soul. The also comes under the category of matter because it
is also a product of matter but of subtle matter, while the body consists
of gross matter. The self-conscious faculty of mind is only a result and
product of the reflection of the Consciousness of the soul(spirit) in it.
(i.e., in the mind or in the mind-stuff). It is like moon's luminosity,
due to the reflected sun-light. Consciousness or sentience is not the
innate nature of mind. The soul is pure consciousness, through
individualised; it is an aspect or part of God Itself. The soul is the
very basis, the very core and conscious principle of the personality of
man. It is the soul that bestows sentience to the mind, pulsates the body
with life and activates limbs of the body. As long as soul inheres the body,
we are part of the divine but when soul departs from the body, the body
becomes lifeless, inauspicious and fit only to be cognised to flames or to
be buried in earth or to be thrown out to the vultures. Thus the essence
and reality of of our personality is the soul, the individual Atma, an
aspect, a spark, a ray of God itself, while the mind and body are only its
instruments, equipment and vehicle for its sojourn on earth.
The soul though divine, becomes finite and individual, because being
embodied, it develops a false identification with body and mind. The
mind (ego) usurps all authority and we act as slaves to the mind instead
of being guided by the soul. Through Spritual practices, the process is
reversed and the soul attains back its full divine nature; it regains its
supremacy over mind. It drops off its sense of finiteness and attains
universal consciousness.
