In every living being, there is the element of Soul (Aatma, the real Self), which by nature, is the same for all. However, physically, each is a separate Soul.
Gnanis (the Enlightened Ones) beholds the complete Vision of the whole and complete, independent Absolute Soul (Parmatma) that resides in each and every being.
So come, let’s understand the facts by seeing through their vision….
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an Enlightened being, explains:
By nature every Soul is same, but in existence, our Souls are different
Each Soul is independent. Every Soul’s nature is the same, but they are all separate entities. These bars of gold are all separate, but essentially it is all gold. You can say the same for the Soul; that it is one, but just like these gold bars, they are all separate. There is no other difference between them.
In the Universe, there is not just one Soul; there are infinite living beings, and in each living being there is a separate Soul. But they all, as a Soul, have the same inherent nature. There is never any change in the inherent properties or traits (gunadharma) of one Soul from another.
In these bars of gold, each bar is separate, but it is all called only ‘gold’. Similarly it is said that the ‘Soul’ is one, but just like these gold bars, they are all separate. There is no difference as such in them.
Every Soul experiences one’s own bliss of the Soul
The nature of the Soul is eternal bliss. Every Soul has the same nature. However, our existence is independent and we never merge into each other. Therefore, each of us will experience the bliss of our own Soul, separately… Lord Ramchandraji has gone to moksha, and right now he is enjoying the bliss of moksha, whereas we are here and we have to bear the problems that we have over here.
Thus, although by nature, we all Souls are the same, in existence (astitva), every Soul is different.
Param Pujya Dadashri further explains from yet another perspective:
When by Nature We Are All One, It Is Due To Intellect That the Difference Is Felt
By their inherent nature, the Souls are same, but they appear different through the differentiating intellect. As long as you have this intellect, there will be interference. When the intellect comes to an end, is when you will experience the oneness. What does the intellect do? It creates division. Once the intellect is gone, you will be able to understand this.
There is really no difference between Lord Ram or a Gnani or a Mayor, or a chaste woman, a prostitute, a pickpocket or a donkey, as far as the inner content (Soul) is concerned, because the Soul within everyone is the same in nature.
The only difference is that in the Enlightened beings, the Soul is fully manifest, and hence their vision is clear and absolute, whereas in us, the Soul is veiled with layers of ignorance, hence we are seeing things through the divisive intellect.
It is through the intellect that we can see things wrongly. Otherwise, in the absolute liberated state (free of all coverings), all Souls are residing in their own bliss!… When the intellect stops seeing differences and there is the oneness that, ‘I am God (and so are all!)’, it then becomes enlightened intellect.
By fact, ‘Really’ all Souls are one, ‘Relatively’ all Souls are different
With respect to worldly interactions, all are separate. If we go by one’s name and their outer appearance in the worldly interactions (i.e. relatively), all are different; but really all are one. Relatively, all are separate, but really all are one!
The whole of the Soul is sitting inside a goat; even inside a donkey there sits a Soul. These two Souls are same in nature, so really they are same or one; however relatively they are different – one is a goat and another a donkey.
It is of one nature only. No matter how many ingots of gold you have, if you put them together, the gold is one and the same, right? But if brass gets mixed with it, there is damage! All are God (Absolute Soul, Parmatma); they are in the form of God only. But the reason why they appear to be different is illusion.
It is the very same Soul (be it ours or a goat’s or a donkey’s), but it has not been realized as yet?
One presently is in the stage of ignorance of the Soul (hence the illusion that ‘I am really John’). At the moment, ‘I am John’ is the awareness you have; ‘I am Soul’ is not the awareness that you have!
Jiva (a living being – a mixture of Soul and ignorance) means that it is immersed in illusion (of ‘I really am John’). And when that illusion leaves, the delirium and obsession over impermanent things (starting from ‘John’ and extending to ‘everything that John considers his’) disappears and it itself becomes the Absolute Soul (Parmatma / God)!
When our veils of ignorance are removed, illusion leaves and the Soul is expressed!
How do we remove the veils of ignorance? Meeting Gnani is all that it requires!!!
Through Akram Vignan, one attains Self-Realization in a matter of two hours only, as Gnani, with his divine spiritual powers, breaks the veils of ignorance and gives us a direct experience of the Soul (the real Self). So, let’s go for it!
To know more about Soul, please visit: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/spiritual-science/what-is-a-soul/
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