[6] THE SCIENCE OF SOUL

The whole world is laboring under the illusion that we are bodies. All the activities
that people do is centered around their body. The first thing Lord Sri Krishna teaches
us in Gita is that `We are not these bodies; we are spirit souls'. Even a bit of thought
will make us understand that we are not bodies.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SOUL ?

The soul is a minute particle of spiritual energy that is present in every one of our
bodies. The soul is the life force or the active principle that activates every body and
enables it to function, just like an electric current that gives a shock when passed
through a copper wire. The soul can be compared to a driver and the body to a
vehicle. Without the soul the body is simply a lump of dead matter. The soul is the
spark of life that makes the body appear alive and when the soul leaves the body, we
say the person is `dead'.

SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF SOUL'S EXISTENCE:

We are accustomed to understanding the term `science' only in relation to matter and
energy. There is, however a higher dimensional science that deals with the subject of
the soul and spiritual energy. By nature spirit is `transcendental' to matter. In other
words, the soul is intrinsically beyond material sense perception. The techniques of
material science are inadequate to `prove' the existence of the soul in as much as the
ear is incapable of detecting light. The soul can, however be realized as higher
reality by following the laws of spiritual science. Ultimately, all spiritual truth is
revealed and `proved' from within, by experience. Yet the following points may help
us better understand the presence of soul:

Common Sense: When a person dies, we say,"He has passed away." Now who has
passed away? The body of the person still lies there. The fact is that the source of
life, the soul has passed away from the body and therefore the person is now
considered dead.

Intuitive Understanding: We have an intuitive understanding that the real self, the
`I' is distinct from the body, mind and intelligence. We speak in terms of `my hand',
`my head' etc. This way we can start from the top of the hair down to tip of the toe

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and say every part of this body is `mine'. This indicates that these things belong to
somebody, an owner. The eyes, ears and brain are merely organs through which WE
see, hear or think. These organs in themselves cannot do any activity. There are eyes,
ears and brain even in a dead body. The activities have stopped because the driver,
the soul, has left the body.

Consciousness: There is CONSCIOUSNESS in a living body. Just like sun

spreads heat and light all around, the soul spreads consciousness all around the body,
from the tips of the toes and fingers to the top of the head. It is this all-pervading
consciousness that enables us to think, feel move and so on. Thus,
CONSCIOUSNESS is the SYMPTOM OF THE SOUL. Consciousness is what
distinguishes a dead body from a live one. A machine can easily be built that
responds to red light with the statement,"I see a red light", but does the experience of
seeing red light accompany this mechanical response? As Thomas Huxley rightly
said,"There is a third thing in the universe, to wit, consciousness, which I
cannot see to be matter or force", consciousness gives the proof of the soul.

Near Death Experience (NDE): Examples of findings show that the mind is
independent of the material brain and body. NDEs include Out-of-Body
Experiences(OBE) in which people report observing their physical body and events
relating to it from a perspective outside of the body during severe illness or physical
trauma resulting in unconsciousness. A typical case might involve a person who is
resuscitated from a heart attack and reports that he observed, from a point outside his
body, the medical personnel endeavoring to revive him. At such times, according to
standard medical opinion, the normal functioning of the brain, as indicated by certain
brain waves, is impaired, and the patient should be unconscious, if indeed
consciousness is a manifestation of brain.

There is enough research work in NDE presented by individuals with impeccable

scientific credentials. For e-g Dr.Michael B.Sabom, a cardiologist and professor
at the Emory University Medical School, was openly skeptical of NDEs but
changed his mind after investigating them. Based on rigorous research, Sabom
writes:" If the human brain is actually composed of two fundamental elements--
the `mind' and the `brain'-- then could the near death crisis event somehow
trigger a transient splitting of the mind from the brain in many
individuals?.....The out-of-body hypothesis simply seems to fit best with the data
at hand...Could the mind which splits apart from the physical brain be, in
essence, the soul, which continues to exist after final bodily death, according to
some religious doctrines? As I see it, this is the ultimate question that has been
raised by reports of the NDE."

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Past life memories: Rigorous, unbiased studies have been carried out by serious
researchers on past-life memories. Ian Stevenson, Carlson Professor of Psychiatry
at the University of Virginia has extensively investigated spontaneous
reincarnation memories recounted by children. In such cases, he has been able to
positively corroborate what the child has claimed by thoroughly investigating details
of the place and people they describe, including the dead person they claim to have
been. Stevenson has assembled numerous accounts and verified them, always
taking great care to screen out fabrications. His studies give convincing evidence
that the conscious self can travel from one physical body to the next. Clearly,
when one body dies, the contents of its brain are destroyed, and there is no known
physical process by which they can influence the contents of another brain. The
simplest interpretation is that the conscious self must be an entity distinct from the
brain.

Although the above empirical evidences confirm a conscious self present in this
body, we can get this information from the scriptures directly without any mental
speculation.

Lord Krishna says:

`avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam

vinasam avyayasyasya na kascit kartum arhati'

"That which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one can destroy
the imperishable soul." [B.G.2.17] According to Bhagavad Gita, you are not this
body. You are not the mind. You are not the intelligence. You are not the false ego.
You are beyond the constituents of this mortal form. You are the consciousness that
pervades this body. You are the imperishable soul.
Then He says:

`bhumir apo nalo vayuh kham mano budhir eva ca

ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha'

"Earth, water, fire, ether, air, mind, intelligence and false ego are My eight
separate inferior energies "[B.G.7.4]. These are always subject to change. Then
He says:

`apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param

jiva bhutam maha baho yayedam dharyate jagat'

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"Besides this inferior nature, there is a superior energy of Mine, that are all
living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the
universe" [B.G.7.5]. Thus, the Supreme Lord is like fire, we are like spark, He is
infinite and we are infinitesimal. This is a sastric proof.

`WHO' IS THE PERCEIVER OF PAIN/PLEASURE?

Pain is experienced when a stimulus damages or threatens to damage body

tissue. When agents harmful to the system stimulate the tissues, these nerve endings
(nociceptors) produce some chemicals which generate an electric impulse which is
then transmitted through the nerve fibres. There exists an undoubted "experience"
which occurs when we are subjected to painful stimuli, resulting secondarily into a
specific behavioral pattern like reflex withdrawal of hand on pin pick etc. The
description of passage of pain says nothing about the conscious perception of the
pain. Also the conduction of impulses right upto the neuronal cells in the pain centers
in the subcortical region does not reveal the actual experience of sadness and feeling
of hurt due to pain. The description of brain even if elaborated in greatest possible
details, would consist of nothing more than a list of statements about electrochemical
states of brain cells. Such data might have some relevance on patterns of behavior,
but they cannot explain consciousness because they do not even refer to it.

The reality of our conscious perception is undeniable and our understanding of

all other aspects of reality depends on this primeval fact. We all feel by direct
perception that we have consciousness and it is the cause for our perception of all
other stimuli including pain. There are innumerable examples showing how
conscious awareness is entirely different from the physical behavior associated
with it. For example what happens when a person accidentally strikes his thumb
with a hammer ? Certain specific patterns of behavior result -- the person may shout,
wave his hand etc. The study of the body's reaction may reveal several kinds of
electro-chemical changes like higher concentration of impulse generating chemicals
and so on. While these measurable effects are part of the event, they are distinct
from the experience of the pain itself. Although everyone readily understands the
sensation of pain because it is a common conscious experience it cannot be defined
in physical terms.

If brain is no more than an information processing device of these impulses,

then what makes it any different from the machines used to record the experimental

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data from the brain ? The fact, however, is that a machine cannot feel pain while for
an individual, pain is a reality he cannot deny. In case of human beings endowed with
conscious awareness, PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION IS INADEQUATE TO
DESCRIBE HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

The Bhagavad Gita affirms the presence within the body of distinct entity, the
conscious self and establishes it as an irreducible individual quantum or atom of
consciousness. The conscious self is superior to the brain and its functions. The
situation of this conscious self or `Life atom' can be compared to that of a pilot flying
an airplane on instruments. Since the sensory apparatus of the body is composed of
matter, this apparatus can provide information only about the configuration of
material energy and their transformations.

IS MAN JUST A POWERFUL COMPUTER/ROBOT ?

Computer is only a piece of electronic circuitry, commonly known as

hardware. The hardware is controlled by a series of instructions - commonly known
as software (written in several languages like FORTRAN 77, BASIC etc.). It is
evident that a computer has to be programmed by an "INTELLIGENT" human being.
Whatever ability a computer has, be it number crunching, object identification,
natural language processing etc. is imparted to the computer by a SENTIENT
CONSCIOUS HUMAN BEING. In other words, if the programmer programs his
computer system to sum two plus two as five it would do so. Similarly if a computer
system hooked with a vision system is programmed to recognize square object as
round it would do so. A computer cannot understand anything on its own. Whatever
understanding you impart to it, that is what it understands. By itself, without being
programmed, it is a dumb machine.

For e-g consider a drama, which is being observed by a panel of judges

and is also being recorded by a video camera. The Judge is using his eyes to
record the scene being enacted and the video camera is recording all the
incidents using the lenses which are the machine analog of the eye. Both the
machine and the human observer record the data and information, but the latter
also "experiences" the phenomenon. The judges, for instance, go through a
whole range of emotions like elation, sorrow, anger etc. while they view the play.
The video camera, on the other hand, merely records the play visually. At the end,
the judges make a decision as to which actor was the best based on the series of
images projected in front of the eye. However the video recorder cannot make
any such judgments, although it has recorded every scene of the drama.

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 The difference is that although, both the human observer and the camera are
watching the play, the human being is "CONSCIOUS" of it, whereas the camera is
devoid of any consciousness. Hence consciousness is the difference between a living
person and a machine.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL:

A simple analogy:- Car:driver Body:soul A puppy, if it sees a big car coming in

the road, it may be scared that it is some big animal coming on four wheels. But a
knowledgeable man will know that it is only a dead car, which is driven by a driver.
There are head lights in the car to see the road, you also see with your eyes. The car
makes sound with the horn, you also speak. The car goes left and right, you also do
that. But once the driver has got down from the car, the car cannot budge one inch
even after 100 years. Similarly when a man dies, the body is exactly like a car
without a driver. The body what we see is actually dead. It appears to be lively
because of the presence of soul. When the soul leaves the body, the body
becomes inactive.

Once a scientist took a dead body and separated all the chemical constituents and
reported that the body is worth only Rs.110 /- (if those chemicals were to be sold
in the market). Do you think you are worth only Rs.110 /- ? But when a living
person loses his small finger or has to get his kidney replaced, he is ready to
spend lakhs and lakhs of rupees. What is there in a living body that makes the
body so valuable? The answer is the SOUL.

The soul (living force) is present in plants, animals and human beings. Wherever
there is life there must be a soul , because SOUL IS LIFE. Whether it is an amoeba
or an elephant or a human being the soul is present within each body.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOUL:

THE SOUL IS INDESTRUCTIBLE: Krishna says:`nainam cindanti

sastrani nainam dahati pavakah/ na chainam kledayantyapo na sosayati
marutah' " The soul cannot be cut by sharp weapons; it cannot be burnt by
fire; it cannot be dried by wind; nor can it be moistened by water".

THE SOUL IS AN INDIVIDUAL: Each soul is a separate individual with

separate consciousness. You are aware of your body, mind, intelligence and false

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ego. I cannot perceive your head ache and you cannot know what I am thinking.
But God is aware of every particle of creation. `na tv evaham jatu nasam natvam
neme janadhipah / na caiva na bhavisyamah sarve vayamatah param' " Never
was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the
future shall any of us cease to be " [B.G.2.12]. `mamaivamso jiva loke....' "
The souls in this material world are eternally my parts-and-parcels......"
[B.G.15.7].

MATTER IS FORMLESS - SPIRIT GIVES FORM TO MATTER:

Matter in itself has no form. Matter acquires a form only when a spirit enters it. For
e-g dhoti is formless, but if you put your finger inside then it assumes a form. When
you remove your finger then it loses its form. Similarly, matter (eight elements in
body) assumes a form when soul enters it. At death, when soul leaves the body, the
body starts decomposing and disintegrating and loses its form. A table/chair may
have a form, although it is dead matter. But, matter can assume form only when
spirit soul manipulates it. The table has been given a form by a spirit soul
(carpenter).

THE SOUL IS ETERNAL: Lord Krishna says:`na jayate mriyate va

kadacin / nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah / ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano
/ na hanyate hanyamane sarire ' "For the soul there is never birth nor death.
Nor having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal,
ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain"
[B.G.2.20]. Like the energy, soul also cannot be created/destroyed.

THE SOUL HAS A FORM OF ETERNITY(SAT)-

KNOWLEDGE(CIT)-BLISS(ANANDA): The soul comes from the
Kingdom of God and it has a spiritual body of eternity knowledge and bliss, to relate
with the Lord. But when the soul desires to become an independent enjoyer, he is
despatched to the material world, where he is entrapped in a material body like a
parrot (soul) in a cage (material body). Why do we suffer? Because the `sat-cit-
ananda' soul is entrapped in a `asat-acit-nirananda' (temporary-ignorant-miserable)
body, there is a great amount of incompatibility. So we suffer.

THE SOUL IS SITUATED IN THE REGION OF HEART: The soul

pervades the body with consciousness as a lamp fills a room with light. The lamp
that gives light to the entire room may be in one corner of the room. Similarly the

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soul is situated in the region of our heart. The soul is removed during heart
transplantation, as soul is spiritual. For e-g when stepney/ radiator of a car is to be
changed, the driver is just sitting in his place. One old tyre may be removed and a
new one may be fitted. Once the repair is over, the driver starts driving the car. Heart
transplantation is also like that. When a person sitting in one chair goes and sits in
another chair, the person remains the same.

THE SOUL CHANGES BODIES: `Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya / navani

grhnati naro 'parani / tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany / anyani samyati navani
dehi ' " As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the
soul accepts new material bodies, giving up old and useless ones "
[B.G.2.22]. `Dehino 'smin yatha dehe / kaumaram yauvanam jara / tatha
dehantara-praptir / dhiras tatra na muhyati ' "As the embodied soul
continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul
similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not
bewildered by such a change." This will be explained in lessons to come.

THE SIZE OF THE SOUL: The Svetasvatara Upanishad and the Srimad
Bhagavatam describe the size of the soul (seed form): `balagra sata bhagasya
satadha kalpitasya ca / bhago jivahsa vijneyah sa canantyaya kalpathe' " If you
divide the tip of the hair into 100 parts, and one of those parts you further
divide into 100 parts - that 1/10,000 part of the tip of the hair is the size of
soul " [Sve. Upa.5.9].

THE SOUL IS INCONCEIVABLE: The size of 1/10,000 part of the tip of the
hair is too small to be seen through an electron microscope. But even if man may
design a microscope more powerful than electron microscope, yet to try to see soul
through it will be futile. Even we are unable to quantify/perceive a thought. Even
the mind, the subtle form of matter is unmanifest. The soul, by definition, is beyond
the mind. It is not only unmanifest, but it is also inconceivable. You cannot even
think of it : `avyakto yam achintyo yam avikaryo yam ucyate ' " The soul is
unmanifest, inconceivable and unchangeable " [B.G.2.25].

AM I GOD ?
In India, most major religious organizations preaching in the English language, follow
the monist philosophy--" I am God, You are God, Everyone is God ". Is there any
person anywhere within this universe who is not controlled? God, by definition, is
supremely independent and is never controlled; He is the supreme controller. Srila

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Prabhupada writes:" Some rascals claim that they are not controlled. I
know one such rascal who has a society and is preaching,`I am God'.
But one day I saw him with a tooth ache; he was moaning,`ohhh !'
So I asked him,`You claim that you are God, the supreme controller,
but now you are under the control of toothache. What kind of God
are you ? ' So if you see someone who claims that he is God or that
everyone is God, you should immediately know such a person is a
number-one rascal."

Being indestructible and eternal, unmanifest and inconceivable, could you be God?
This is an important question. The answer could decide the direction you spiritual
life takes. The Bhagavad Gita is clear on this subject. It clearly states that you
are not God. It also unambiguously declares you cannot become God even after
liberation:

` dvav imau purusau loke ksaras caksaras eva ca

ksarah sarvani bhutani kutastho `ksara ucyate ' [B.G.15.16]

"There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the
material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is
called infallible ". We, who are unaware of our spiritual identity are fallible. Any
living entity who has come in contact with matter, beginning from the first created
being, Brahma, down to a small ant, is changing his body; therefore they are all
fallible. But in the spiritual world the body is not made of matter; therefore there is
no change. There is no old age, there is no birth/death. So all living entities who are
one with the will of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world are all called infallible.
`uttamah purusastv anyah paramatmety udahrtah
yo loka trayam avisya bibharty avyaya isvarah' [ B.G.15.17]
" Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Lord Himself,
who has entered into these worlds and is maintaining them ". It is clearly
stated here that, above the innumerable living entities, some of whom are conditioned
and some of whom are liberated, there is Supreme Personality who is Paramatma.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD AND LIVING ENTITY:

So we should understand that: (1) We are jivatmas; God is

Paramatma (2) We are infinitesimal (anu) ; God is infinite
(vibhu) (3) We are cognizant of only our body; God is
cognizant of everyone and everything (4) We are eternally
a loving servitor of the Supreme Lord, and God is eternally

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our loving master. We are one in quality with God but
different in quantity. Our salvation depends on accepting
this reality.

In the Vedas, in the Katha Upanishad as well as in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, it is

said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living
entities, in terms of their different situations according to individual work and
reaction of work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary
portions, alive in the heart of every living entity. Only saintly persons who can see,
within and without, the same Supreme Lord, can actually attain perfect and eternal
peace." : `nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam / eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
/ tam atmastham ye'nupasyanti dhiras / tesam santih sasvati netaresam '
[ Katha 2.2.13]. We are eternal beings, God is Supreme eternal being. We possess
consciousness, God is supremely conscious of everything.
Hare Krishna !

For further information contact :

Radheshyam Das, M.Tech.(IIT),

Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir of ISKCON,
opp. to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
Near Babulnath Temple/Wilson College,
No.7, K.M.Munshi marg, Girgaum Chowpatty,
Bombay-400 007. Ph: 362 5532 / 367 4500.

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