This is the concluding post on the topic and theme about our soul. There were earlier posts which were connected with issues of why it is important to know our soul, and that our real identity is that of a soul and hence we should believe in that identity. But before I begin to go in the details of the next obvious question of how to know our soul, I will have to tell you one of the random, beautiful spiritual experiences that I had in the last fortnight. I just noted it down for the sake of it in my diary because it was so wonderful. I think it will be useful here to tell you about it because it has a lot of grave information encompassed in it. The information provided here is not an ordinary one and it comes to us only as a grace of God sometimes if we are considered by God in some blessed moments. It is a knowledge that we should possesses so that we know who we are and also how we should be careful in what we are creating now in terms of actions that we perform day and night. We will also understand that we are living in a Universe in which there is a Supreme Power and also there are many unseen crucial guidelines laid by it about which we have never known and do not get any opportunity to discover them anyhow. And as this is the wish of Shri Mahavatar Babaji that I should reveal those Truths, I am making it open for you to also know about them and in this way benefit your personal as well as spiritual life after realizing those Truths in your soulful moments.
And if you read the paragraphs below, you will surely feel that discovering these Truths is so imperative and essential. There is nobody but the Divine Masters who have mercy on us and help us salvage our poor lives in order to make them enriched and most useful. The progression of our soul which is so hidden from us, from buried and sunken to the stage of its manifestation is carried out with the helping hand of the Divine Masters.
Part- A
Reflections
On 02.01.13 I was trying to be acquainted with the importance of Palani, my latest pilgrimage, in relation to my spiritual growth and how I am impacted by my recent visits to the places that I just toured. In the evening I fell into deep meditation unpredictably and during the concentrated moments, God told me that Shri Babaji is one of the very rare, brilliant gems amongst mankind for the reason that he is so close to God, extremely near. When I enquired God what must be his state of mind most of the times as it is my desire to peep into it out of genuine curiosity and aspiration. The reply was that he is in godly ecstasy most of the times since he is so near to God. As God was still speaking to me, I put up a spontaneous question. And the question was-“At this moment God, you are speaking to me. Is it that you spoke to Babaji in the same manner as you are speaking to me just now, in a gentle, soft murmur? Is this how you connect and come to us? You had said to Babaji long time ago in Badrinath, “Give me this body……..” as mentioned in ‘The state of Super Consiousness-II’ And has Babaji been living such a long life of penance and service to mankind since then, after listening to your very gentle, satin like Voice erupting from his heart, his soul? Did he make this critical decision relying on this Voice only?
Quoting from that post again to bring home the point.
Babaji again went back to tell me more about himself. He divulged about his tapas and intense spiritual practices done. “After the initiation of the highest level of Kriya, my body became unconquerable and invincible. My senses became extremely acute and I could no longer bear to hear the sound of clatter and any noisy words. Therefore I decided to meditate in a place where there would be no disturbing sounds and I headed for the Himalayas on foot. I found a cave in a place where there was no human soul and I meditated in freezing climate without any cloth over me to test my abilities. Once assured, I offered all my accomplishments to God and asked him to now let me exit the world at the age of just fourteen! God’s answer was, “Give me this body; I shall use it for a purpose that no one has done before. I shall accomplish with it that no one has accomplished before.” I only bowed in front of that Divine Light and uttered, “It is yours.”….
Returning to my reflections.
I paused quickly at this point to think and wondered how such a faint Voice that erupts from within our soul is so crucial and life altering. How powerful this phenomenon is! Based on this Voice and trusting it blindly, Babaji had yielded everything wholeheartedly and has been living a life of a hermit reclusively in anonymity since eighteen centuries!! This goes on to say and proves that I should also appreciate the power of my soul’s Voice and depend on it without thinking twice. It is a reliable source of dependence and hence should be trusted fully.
After my interpretations and knowing, I have understood that the Voice of my soul is extremely powerful and I should depend on it instinctively because it shows me the way and tells me what to do. It gives me clarity, wisdom to understand things rightly and after knowing everything without any doubt, I also act judiciously.
My assumptions go on to show that this silent Voice that is in me appears unannounced and converses with me when it wishes to do so. It comes with a definite purpose and vanishes amusingly back to its source as it had emerged impromptu. At its arrival, it opens the gates of the vast secrets of the unknown sacred cosmic principles!! I am ecstatic and I pour out my passion, secretly hidden emotions and all my unending curiosity at its altar humbly and thankfully!! I want to know and know more. More so because I can tap my resilient source of infinite information and wisdom that explores the concealed and shrouded laws for humanity laid down by God Himself. When the Cosmic Father replies to my queries and irrepressible search for Truth, I am humbled, satiated as well as immensely gratified.
Knowing the Truth with the Divine Father is a very wonderful experience, it is extraordinary…… It is explosive because it fires my imagination and I begin to soar higher. I ascend to the higher realms where the saints and sages rest in interim periods between two lives. I wish and long to stay there as long as I can do. However, the truth remains that the stay is quite short yet the results dynamic and that is why I just said that knowing the Truth is explosive. Even if the stay in the celestial world could be a very short one, the results are going to be very dynamic. Knowing the Truth is an overwhelming experience in itself and it should be tried sincerely by all of us. It should be taken up seriously!
Part-B
How to know our soul?
We can only know our soul when we have already accumulated and earned an extremely large numbers of virtuous and pious karmas which take many lives. Some of the actions in this large reservoir would be what you do out of your own good intentions and good nature naturally and the rest would be as per the guided instructions of the Divine Master given by mere grace from time to time.
What should we not do to know our soul?
Secondly my soul also got to know during my reflections that there are-
Four very serious prohibited karmas. They are-
- Betrayal by children towards their parents and likewise by parents towards their children
- Abandoning of sick persons, more so of our father and mother
- Misusing Dharma and Spirituality for selfish ends
- Deceiving our spouse
What should we do to know our soul?
- Sadhana – they are the daily spirtual practices that an aspirant does in order to make his life more spiritual and pure and pious.
- Tapasya- done by advanced yogis at the behest of their gurus to attain higher goals. It is decided and depends on the yogi’s destiny, the capacity of the yogi, and the guru’s will.
- Meditation- to cleanse our mind. Concentration of mind to dissuade it from losing its focus and purity of intention.
Knowing the soul stops us from doing prohibited karmas and hence the illumination of the soul is the guideline with which we attain the pure spiritual state of mind. After knowing the soul, the jeeva or individual soul liberates itself from falling in the web of unending suffering caused by itself by performing those unwanted actions.
(Because of shortage of time, I have not been able to do full justice to this post. In the coming days, some additions will be made if necessary)
Pranaam to all Gurus,
Humblest Gratitude for the deepest secrets, guidance, and ultimate experiences of this post, all others that have been, and all the ones that will be.
Pranaam.
Dear Sarikaji,
Thanks a lot for sharing such an amazing and divine experience of yours.
Will u please give some more details and guidelines for sadhana and tapasaya?
Pranaam with love and gratitude.
Nirav.
My dear Nirav, what you are undergoing now or shall in future is not less than any tapasya or penance. And after the sadhana is successful and done with great success, the Guru will automatically shift the focus to tapasya with God’s Grace. It is a natural progression.
If you go back to this new post, you will see a line which informs us that tapsaya is done keeping in view the destiny of the disciple, his/her capacity and the will of the Guru.
So your sadhana has begun and tapasya will also be done with the help of your Gurus, until then please wait for the right time.You will be informed directly and in private as you grow and progress.
Love and blessings
Sarika
Feeling very blessed to read your reply. THANKS
soul knows that its on right direction and often it speaks in soft whispers, but sometimes mind makes too much noise ! But at that time i do practice of ‘ Atmabodh ‘ and come back to peaceful state. Its all due to yours and Babaji’s blessings. So once again thanks a lot…
“This goes on to say and proves that i should also appreciate the power of my soul’s voice and depend on it without thinking twice.”
🙂
Thank you Dear Babaji and mom for this wonderful post. The desire to become aware of my hidden soul is very strong now and I do wish to open up to my soul’s presence so that with it’s guidance I can do a lot of good actions to spread joy and beauty around planet earth.
My dear Shahid, the purer you get in your heart, the more desire you shall develop to do those actions which will spread joy and beauty around planet earth.So have this sankalpa and will to do blessed actions and spread divinity where ever you go and always….
God bless you forever,
Mom
ohm namo bhagavade vasudevaya..
as the soul is a part of universal soul or sakti/brahma, the true self has the same quality to guide us, i believe…
as i understood ma,
I only need to drop everything to know my soul, i feel nothing i need to add, it has everything in it, only love and devotion to god and love to other creation is the only way to remove the covered darkness from my soul or njana..
Lord guides me proper way i believe, this blog inspiring me to keep going strongly..and it gives knowledge..
vidhyadhanam, sarika ma, great work, spiritual help is valuable than any other help to human.
विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद् याति पात्रताम्।
पात्रत्वाद्धनमाप्नोति धनाद्धर्मं ततः सुखम्॥
“Knowledge gives humility, from humility, one attains character;
From character, one acquires wealth; from wealth good deeds (righteousness) follow and then happiness”
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
“The way fire burns and consumes the wood, the true knowledge consumes the karma and frees you up.”
अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमः ।
सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि ॥
“Even if you are the most sinful person, The power of true divine knowledge will protect you as a ship protects you from drowning.”
स्वगृहे पूज्यते मूर्खः स्वग्रामे पूज्यते प्रभुः।
स्वदेशे पूज्यते राजा विद्वान्सर्वत्र पूज्यते॥
“A fool is worshipped at his home.
A chief is worshipped in his town.
A king is worshipped in his kigdom.
A knowledgable person is worshipped everywhere.”
न चोरहार्यं न च राजहार्यं न भ्रातृभ्राज्यं न च भारकारि।
व्यये कृते वर्धत एव नित्यं विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम्॥
“It cannot be stolen by a thief.
It cannot taken away by a King.
It cannot be divided among brothers.
It does not cause load. It always increses when spent.
The wealth of knowledge is the greatest of all wealths.”
Love,
Midhun
Thank you very much dear Midhun.I have read all these shlokas in Sanskrit in school. Recalling them was so good. They still evoke such profound wisdom and thoughts. This shloka invoked my most attention and I still like it.It is from Bhagwad Geeta
यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥
“The way fire burns and consumes the wood, the true knowledge consumes the karma and frees you up.” Contemplate on it Midhun.
Ma
You are welcome ma, it is my plessure.
i also love the one you have mentioned, it tells the importance of knowledge.
with love,
Midhun Pk
Tahnk you Ma and Babaji..Few points which i took note are
-It is Divine Masters who have mercy on us and help us salvage our poor lives in order to make them enriched and most useful.
-Voice of Soul is extremely powerful and should be trusted fully. We should depend on it instinctively because it shows us the way and tells us what to do. It gives clarity, wisdom to understand things rightly.
-This silent Voice appears unannounced and converses when it wishes to do so. It comes with a definite purpose and vanishes amusingly back to its source as it had emerged impromptu. At its arrival, it opens the gates of the vast secrets of the unknown sacred cosmic principles!!
-We can only know our soul when we have already accumulated and earned an extremely large numbers of virtuous and pious karmas.
-We should put consistent effort to do our daily Sadhana to make our life more spiritual and pure and pious, do Meditation to gain focus and purity of intention, and as we advances based on our destiny, capacity and Guru’s will we do tapasya to attain higher goals.
with love and gratitude
regards
Paripurna
Ma,
If Sadhak is not destined at birth to realized his soul in current life time then is it possible for him to change his destiny with his will power and effort?
Ma, In the blog Post “Creating your destiny” you do have mentioned that:
-Our destiny or prarabdh is fixed because of our past deeds and released energies in the cosmos.
-Working out and living one’s destiny is sadhana and tapasya. We must go on relentlessly.
-No matter how many times during our sadhana, we are met with innumerable hurdles we must not be afraid to face them and go on relentlessly as this is the only way for the human being to overpower the powerful force of the effects of the karmas created by him before in the past. Along side, we must think, wish and visualize positive pictures and images in our mind to create a pleasant and dynamic future. Whatever is manifested in the physical world is first created in the mental world. All creations are born in the subtle domain first.
-And In this way we can recreate a better and brighter future of our choice and liking with the power of our will.
To me above implies that if we put sincere effort then we can not only increase our capacity but can also change our destiny which are needed to know our soul in this lifetime. Kindly guide
with love and gratitude
Paripurna
My dear Paripurna,
You have written that-
If Sadhak is not destined at birth to realize his soul in current life time then is it possible for him to change his destiny with his will power and effort?
My answer-
Who are destined and not destined is the first question. Those are destined who have walked a lot and have on their way generated innumerable positive deeds in many lives and are still doing it. People who are totally blind and are in the ignorance cannot simply qualify for Spiritual kingdom suddenly because they like darkness and their life is created out of their negative mind.They will not and cannot appreciate divinity.
Now those two qualify are of three types or grades- Fast, medium and slow pace. Their pace is dependent on the pool of their positive karmas or actions. Nonetheless, they all make it now or after but with different intensities depending on the light they have generated inside them because of their performed actions.
Out of these three categories whoever tries sincerely gets it.
Now to go back to your last para-
Your words-To me above implies that if we put sincere effort then we can not only increase our capacity but can also change our destiny which are needed to know our soul in this lifetime.
This last para holds true to those three categories and not masses.The masses will wait till they redeem and bring themselves to a point where they become eligible and start working out their previous karmas and side by side also create very good, noble, pious karmas.
But remember everyone, each and every soul is free to make an attempt no body is debarred by God and it is our birthright but the sad thing is we do not realize how important it is to purify ourselves and become one with God!That is the irony you see.
One point to note-In today’s time or Kaliyug, particularly now, it is easy to reach God because the time is condusive and we all must strive for that. results will be faster to atain. Let us all be aware of this fact and utilize it to the hilt.
Hope there is clarity or else ask me again.
Ma.
Thank you so much Ma for your quick response. It has all the details and clarity.
While today during morning walk, I was thinking about the same keeping me in mind and suddenly a thought flashed that why to worry about whether you are destined or not..Just go ahead on the path with sincerity and rest will be taken care. after that a big smile came on my face :-).
Love to read last para of your response:
“now, it is easy to reach God because the time is conducive and we all must strive for that. results will be faster to attain. Let us all be aware of this fact and utilize it to the hilt.”.
with love and gratitude
Paripurna
Dear Sarika Maam,
Let me ask a question in this regard. In AOY, Yogananda says that philosopher René Descartes famous dictum – ‘I think therefore I am’ is philosophically invalid. Human beings are destined to act in one way or the other according to his or her Karmic debts. But then, you have written so much on ‘Ichha Shakthi’ or will power to change things. You have also written that Yogananda’s life was extended by God pleased by his actions. But then Yogananda’s famous Guru – Sri Yukteswar has predicted many things in Yogananda’s life well in advance. Not only Sri Yukteswar, but many spiritual masters have predicted things like that. So this destiny and ‘Ichha Shakthi’ or will power – how both will go together?
With regards,
Jerry.
Dear Jerry,
On the ground of crystal clarity if you stand, you shall find that the power of will rules our destiny.
No scriptures tell you this because God had willed so; He has now willed that He will spill out all his secrets one by one and slowly so.
The secreted, hidden power of will inherent in humans and other beings too, was not known.
It is the power of will in our minds that has the power to unleash all other powers in the Universe to open and show.
Believe in my words and forego what you have read in books and have stored in your mind for so long.
Use this power in your present life and change it to what you wish it to be and all the stationary words and old thoughts will go.
Destiny is past, will power is present, present more powerful than past, with divine will and your own power of will you should paint your old story new……
Sarika
This is so true:
” Appreciate the power of your soul’s Voice and depend on it without thinking twice. It is a reliable source of dependence and hence should be trusted fully. ”
Thank you all the divine masters <3
Dear Shahid, like any other skills, we should practice listening to our soul, listen to the voice of your soul. Trust in it and depend on it without hesitation or doubt.
Mom