Soul And Body

13.32 Those with the vision of eternity can see that the soul is transcendental, eternal, and beyond the modes of nature.

Despite contact with the material body, O Arjuna, the soul neither does anything nor is attached.

13.33 The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all pervading.

Similarly, the soul, situated in Brahman, does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.

13.34 O son of Bharata, as the Sun alone illuminates the entire universe, so does the living entity,

One within the body, illuminate the entire consciousness.

13.35 Those, who see with the eyes of knowledge the difference between the body-mind and the Knower of the body-mind, can understand the process

Are liberated from the bondages of the material nature and attain the Paramatman.

Krishna again and again talks about the true nature of the Self. He tells Kaunteya, Arjuna, that the soul is free from all entanglements. It is eternal and it is transcendental. Krishna says though the soul has come into contact with the material body, it still is free.

In the previous verses, we talked about how the body is a temple of our soul. We saw how the soul takes this body to fulfill the desires of our past birth. The soul actually does nothing. It does not entangle itself in the web of greed and fear. It is the mind that continuously adds new desires to the list and keeps the body running after them. Internally, the soul is always free. It has no bondage.

It is like the lotus plant in a lake. Water droplets that fall on the lotus leaves do not get attached to the leaves. They simply roll off and merge with the water again.

In the same way, the soul that rests inside this body is completely free from worldly joys and sorrows. It is like the drops of water. The soul can simply merge into the supreme Soul. Only the body is related to the worldly happenings. The soul is not involved at all.

Krishna says nirguna. The three attributes of calmness, passion and inactivity are related to mind and body. The soul is free from these gunas. It is neither restless nor is it lazy. It is pure. Actually it is beyond pure. When we say pure, then the soul can be associated with the guna of satva. That is why I say it is beyond purity. Nothing can circumscribe it.

One important thing we should know. Only when something is seen by the mind, do words come out. Words are an expression of the chatter that happens in our mind. When there is no mind, there are no words. When you go to the Himalayas surrounded by mountains, the first thing that happens is awe. No words come out. We are silent. Our being enjoys the beauty. Our being does not try to relate it to anything. Our mind has not yet associated any word to it. After a few seconds we experience the 'wow' feeling; it cannot be expressed.

In the same way, enlightenment cannot be expressed in words. There is no enlightened Master that can adequately explain what enlightenment is in words.

You see, associating even the word satva, calmness, also requires mind. The soul is beyond this guna also. No word can describe it. It just is. That's all. All enlightened Masters are triguna rahita. It means that they have gone beyond the three gunas. They know that the soul is free from everything. They know that the body is a temple of the soul. They know that the body does not affect the soul.

Krishna gives an example to make this point clear. He says the space that is everywhere is unaffected by anything that is in that space. The subtle energy, space or ether, is present everywhere. Every molecule and atom has this subtle energy. Though it is present in everything that we see, it does not inherit the properties of what it resides in. Even if it is in a flower, it does not take up the scent of the flower.

In the same way, the soul is not affected by where it resides. People think that their soul will go to hell if they have committed sins. They think if they have lived a pious life, their soul will go to heaven. They think that the soul is affected by the deeds of the body.

Please be very clear that our external deeds do not affect our soul. One more thing that I will repeat: there is nothing called heaven or hell. They are not physical locations. They are simply psychological states. If we do something without awareness, we are in hell. If we act with consciousness, we are in heaven. Automatically our deeds will be for the benefit of all.

The external deeds of the body do not affect the destination of our soul. Our sins do not affect the nature of our soul. Please understand that by infusing awareness into what we do, we realize that the body only does whatever we do. The soul is completely free from it. The soul is not affected by it.

Krishna says that just as the sun illuminates our whole world, one supreme Self, one kshetragna, illuminates all beings in the universe, whether they are animate or inanimate. He says everything has the same Consciousness.

Krishna gives more and more examples. The Sun sheds light on the surrounding planets. The darkness on the planets is removed by the sun's light. In the same way, the supreme Self, kshetragna, lights up all beings in the universe. The ultimate Consciousness lights up the entire universe. All beings of the universe have this Consciousness.

Krishna says one more thing here. We may think He says the same thing over and over but He is trying to make the concept of kshetra and kshetragna clear to Arjuna. Krishna knows that this is important and He wants Arjuna to understand it completely.

Anyhow, Krishna says something new here. He says that just as the sun illumines the universe, the soul in this body illumines not only this body but also everything surrounding it, the entire universe. He says:

kshetram kshetri tatha krtsnam prakasayati bharata

Kshetri is the Self. This Self illumines all the kshetra, all the bodies. Not just our body or kshetra is illumined but all the kshetra are illumined. The consciousness present in each of us is the hologram of the supreme Self. So there is no separation between the consciousness present in our body and the consciousness present in some plant or a rock. Everything is the same energy.

The sun lights up everything that is around. There is no partiality. It does not discriminate. Whatever comes its way, it removes the darkness from it. In the same way, the supreme Self present in us illuminates everything in the universe. Our ignorance separates the soul from the supreme Soul.

Actually to even use two different words — soul and supreme Soul — is not correct.

There are not two separate entities called soul or supreme Soul. There is only Soul. There is only one. Everything in this universe has the supreme Soul. We can't even say, 'Everything has the same supreme Soul,' because when we use the word same, it means there are copies of the supreme Soul in all of us.

No, it is not like that. There is just supreme Soul and nothing else. Everything in this universe has the supreme Soul. Our mind draws boundaries. It is like creating borders between two countries. So many countries fight over boundaries. One country fights with the other to acquire more land. They are drawing and erasing boundaries.

We think we can draw boundaries between the Self, which is present in us, and the supreme Self. We try to put our soul in a tight container made of greed and fear. We close the lid and are afraid to open it. Actually, we fear losing our identity. We associate ourselves with our individual ego. We want to show others how different we are.

Our mind knows that if it opens the lid, the soul and the supreme Soul will become one. Our mind knows that the soul in this body and the supreme Soul are one and the same; there is no difference between the two. So our mind fears that if it opens the lid, our whole identity will be lost. We will become the same as everyone else. You see, our mind does not want this to happen.

So we continuously hold onto our individual ego. Only when we realize that we are all connected, that everything in this universe is the same universal Consciousness, will we break open the container and merge with the supreme Self.

Here Krishna ends by saying, 'If we can witness as pure Consciousness, we will be liberated from the bondages of the body-mind and achieve the eternal Consciousness.' Krishna gives a technique to realize the eternal Consciousness.

Please know that becoming the witness of the kshetra is the only way to keep us away from the bondages of the body-mind. We must witness as the kshetragna, Consciousness. When we do that we will see the separation of the Self from the body and mind.

Understand that all our movements, reactions and emotions are related to the body-mind system. The way we move our body is a reaction by our body-mind system. Our emotions like anger, laughter, sadness and happiness are reactions of our mind. All of them are movements created by our body-mind system.

When we witness these movements happening in our system, we separate ourselves from the body-mind system. When we watch them like clouds in the sky, when we watch them like a movie on a screen, without getting attached, we see the truth.

Even the thought of witnessing our thoughts and our emotions is a thought that is controlled by our mind. Even that is our thought and our mind is still acting. Only when we go beyond that thought, do we experience the eternal Consciousness.

Let me explain the technique. The technique may take at the least ten minutes.

You are going to witness your body movements, breath movements and mind movements: movements of your body, movements of your breath and movements of your mind. You may ask what kind of body movements do we have? Understand that by inhaling and exhaling, your belly will be moving continuously up and down. There will be a slight movement of your belly during your breathing.

Witness that movement.

Next, watch the flow of your breath during inhaling and exhaling, without any attempt to control.

Third, watch your mind. Thoughts will be going on. Please do not judge your thoughts as right or wrong. For a few minutes, sit next to your mind, like a close friend. Let it tell you whatever it wants to. Let it speak about whatever it wants.

Witness all these with no attachment. Do not stop, control or follow them.

We continuously fight with our body and mind. We cannot get rid of the body and mind by constantly fighting with them. We can only get rid of them by friendliness. Only if we feel deeply friendly towards them, will we be able to go beyond body and mind. If we have a negative emotion towards the body mind, we will naturally abuse and only have a violent relationship with it. Accept the body and the mind. Witness the mind like a friend. Let whatever that is inside come out. There's nothing wrong. Neither support nor suppress. If we support, we'll go behind the garbage. If we suppress, we'll end up analyzing the garbage and pushing it aside. Neither approach is going to work. Just witness.

Witnessing acts like fire. All the thoughts are burned away. Understand, neither suppressing nor supporting your thoughts will work. Only witnessing works.

When we go deep into our being, the witnessing Consciousness automatically creates intelligence. Understand that we don't need to be in that mood throughout the twenty-four hours of each day. Even if we add a few glimpses, that is enough. That energy will guide our whole life. If we understand the silence that happens to us when we are witnessing, even for a few seconds, we will taste it and start acting on it. Only out of these few moments does the energy of great achievement happen.

All great things are achieved from the consciousness and intuition that is beyond the body mind consciousness, whether it is Einstein's Theory of Relativity or some other great scientific discovery. They are products of the witnessing Consciousness. This is true not only in the field of science but in the arts, spirituality or any field. When we are beyond the body and mind, we bring the maximum out of our being. The ultimate expression of our being happens when we are whole. Whenever we are whole, we are holy. Understand that witnessing is the only path to wholeness or holiness.

Let us pray to the Parabrahman, Lord Krishna, the ultimate universal Consciousness, to give us the inner space or the pure witnessing Consciousness, to give us the ultimate experience and establish us in eternal bliss, nithyananda.

Q: Master, why do your disciples and people in your ashram communities wear white? What is the qualification for them to wear the saffron cloth?

Different colors have different physiological and emotional effects. Different colors affect your energy in different ways.

White calms you. White allows you to absorb positive energy easily and retain it. We are not talking about the commonly understood principle of white reflecting light and heat, and black absorbing energy. When you meditate upon the cosmic energy or upon the Master, you can experiment with different colors. You will find that when you wear white, your ability to center and focus is higher. That is the reason we recommend that people wear white during our programs.

On a lighter note, when they wear white, it is easier for us to see if our ashramites have not washed their clothes!

Pastel colors are better for calmness, a satvic state of mind. Brighter colors bring out aggression and passion in you, the rajasic state of mind. Dark colors such as black enhance passive qualities, the tamasic state of mind in you. Depending on what you plan to do, you can choose the color that will help you reach that state of mind.

Similar principles apply with music and sound, with aroma and smells, with food and taste. That is why devotional songs follow a particular rhythm and meter, while rock music follows another. Music such as techno has been tested to be detrimental to mental health, as well as to the hearing.

Saffron, or kavi as we call it, is a one-of-a-kind color. I doubt if this color is popular anywhere except in Bharat. It is the color of renunciation. It indicates that you have surrendered yourself to the Cosmic Energy and have lost your identity. It means that you have lost your mind!

At various levels of renunciation, I give disciples saffron-colored clothing to indicate their levels of renunciation and to remind them of the need to commit to the path that they have undertaken. When energized and given with the blessings of the Master, this cloth has a mystical significance!

This color has its own majesty. I think this color is far more regal and majestic when worn by the right individual than the purple color associated with royalty. The grace that saffron provides cannot be matched by any color. This color makes you one with the Universe. What greater power and energy can one have?