Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kuta-stha. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother’s body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval — that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body, namely children, are also different individual souls; and, owing to the body, they appear as children of a particular man. The body develops because of the soul’s presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six changes of the body
Tag Archives: Supereme
Body and body parts, Limbs and living entities
What is this consciousness? This consciousness is “I am.” Then what am I? In contaminated consciousness “I am” means “I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer.” The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer. But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, legs, eyes, and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew, and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by watering its root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in the living entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world.
Free or Forced-will?
Q. Why in the first place did the Supreme Lord of Godhead allow his spiritual fragmental sparks to act on their own and take independent decisions if it was not for good….being the supreme controller he could have prevented creation of this so called maya or material universe in the first place…. Please explain the subject matter without correlating to material things, place, situation, persons etc??
A. This is a very fundamental question.
Supreme Lord has His own free will and He has given a small minute independence to all living entities.
He does not force His own will on any living entity.
Everyone has power to exercise his/her free will in any capacity he/she wants.
It is explained that living entity wanted to become separate from the Supreme Lord by exercising its free will.
Sometimes it is explained that Supreme Lord did not want us to come in this material world.
But when the living entity is very stubborn, then even Lord cannot do anything.
In fact, He stops every living entity to leave His Supreme abode and come to this miserable material world.
And since every living entity has free will, Supreme Lord has to allow us come to this temporary world.
If Supreme Lord would have stopped us, then it would not be free will.
We might have to then call it as ‘forced-will’.
When the living entity comes to this world, Supreme Lord comes with him as Supersoul and sits in the heart of living entity.
Whenever the living entity intensely desires to serve the Lord and remembers Him, He instantly reciprocates.
By constant remembrance and absorption to serve the Supreme Lord, one can transcend the material dimension and rise to the spiritual dimension.
The Supreme Lord has given us the freewill to serve and love Him.
Can we force someone to love us?
Answer is ‘No’
When we develop real devotion to the Supreme Lord, that real love can develop.
So while remaining in this material world, we can exercise our free will and remain on the higher platform.