The inner science of the soul

It’s a fact that we all live until we keep on breathing, that is why the phrase ‘till the last breath’ is used very often by us in our day-to-day life. However, we tend to forget a very important fact that the body remains alive so long as the soul resides in it. Hence, in actual sense it is the soul that performs all its activities through the body. However, the world is divided into two major groups as far as the existence of soul is concerned, one of these consists of people who believe in the existence of the soul and are called religious people and the other consists of people who do not believe in its existence and are called non-religious people. The religious people are further divided and subdivided into various sects and cults, depending upon what details they believe in about the soul and the Supreme Soul.

True knowledge of the soul, however, is not a matter of superficial importance nor is it to be left to some philosophers or religious scholars to discuss. Since each and everyone of us is a constant being, it concerns us all individually and severally. So, to deny ourselves the true knowledge of consciousness is to deny ourselves the right and the duty of living a meaningful life. It would be incomplete if we would not touch upon views of a well-known psychologist on Soul or consciousness. He did not believe in the existence of the Soul as an entity, different from the body and the brain. He considered ‘The Unconscious’ as comprising mainly of the repressed desires which manifest themselves in dreams and find expression in the form of neurotic habits and phobias. He called this as Id (or instincts and drive) and said that man’s desires were so censored by his Super-ego and those desires which were considered as not conforming to social norms or to accepted ethical standards were repressed. It was Freud who was the first one in the west to draw the attention of people towards ‘The Unconscious’ even though his explanation of ‘The Unconscious’ is incomplete and has some errors. On the other hand, in the East, religious people of India have, since very ancient times, been believing in Sanskaras which are to some extent, like ‘The Unconscious’ of Freud’s Theory because these do not form the content of The Conscious because man is normally not aware of them or their sources even though his personality and his behaviour, at all times, is influenced by the Sanskaras that he possesses. His sanskaras do not leave him even in his dreams or his spiritual efforts. In fact, these are so intimately related with man’s peace and war or good and bad personality that it would be meaningless to talk of world peace or a social, political or cultural change without talking of and planning and working for a change in the man’s Sanskaras.

A research in, or an in-depth study of Sanskaras and the methods of change will provide mankind with the essential tools for improving relationships among human beings and for making this world a better place to live in. Remember! without the knowledge of ‘The Unconscious’, all the inventions of Science and Technology will not make the world peaceful even though they may make it comfortable. All the scholarship, erudition, religious rituals and mantras will also not help to land man in peace unless and until there is a change for the better in man’s Sanskaras.

(The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK. Till Date 9000+ Published Columns have been written by Him.)