Just as in this body the soul passes from childhood, to youth and old age, similarly, at the time of death, the soul passes into another body. —Bhagavad Gita
The soul is untouched by what happens to the body that it functions in. Like the clothes that we wear, the body is a garb that the soul puts on and takes off.
The divine soul is who we really are. The personality ‘you’ associated with your body, mind, roles in life and personality is not the real you and cannot affect you in the least.
The body undergoes many changes after it is born growing from a baby, to a child, a teenager and then to an adult. The body then continues to go through middle age to old age. It suffers illnesses and diseases throughout its lifespan.
And as the body ages, it starts to become weak, the senses such as the eyes and ears decline, the internal organs become less efficient, the skin wrinkles, the hair turns grey, and many other changes occur until the body finally dies.
But these modifications are of no consequence to the soul just as what happens to your clothes never affects you, their wearer.
Ancient spiritual writings tell us that that which is born, must die, and that which dies will be born again. The body is born and so, it will eventually die. The soul will then take on another body as it continues its onward journey toward the realization of its divine nature.
While playing the great game of life, our soul purpose is to rediscover that we are eternal and were never born in the first place, and therefore, can never die. We must achieve this realization while we are in a body.
If this doesn’t happen in this lifetime, we are given as many lifetimes as we need to achieve this ultimate goal of life. We keep on taking new bodies and discarding them as necessary.
The Soul is indestructible
Throughout its journey through many lifetimes and bodies, the soul remains unchanging and indestructible.
The elements of air, fire, water and earth which are the only four causes of destruction in the world can do nothing to the soul. Air cannot dry the soul, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it and no weapon (earth element) can ever cut, damage or hurt the soul.
This is because the soul is subtler that anything in creation and transcends the material world even while functioning in it.
And so, when the body dies, there is no real loss or cause for sorrow. Only the body and its relationships with others are lost.
But then again, this loss is only temporary. Another body is taken up after death and even relationships may continue. It is said that souls incarnate again and again in different lifetimes to work out their life lessons with each other. We learn and evolve through our relationships with others. This is because relationships are like a mirror that show us who we really are on the inside.
All through the soul’s journey in many lifetimes, only the outer garb of the body keeps changing; the soul remains unchanged throughout.
And, through the experiences and lessons learned in each lifetime, the personality matures and the individual gains greater emotional poise and balance in life.
This inner preparation is what is required for the soul to rediscover its divine nature in meditation.
The soul is the unchanging inner witness who is always aware of the changes occurring in the body and mind. It is in meditation that we can detach from our identification with these personality aspects and identify with being the unattached inner observer.
Below is a guided meditation on the soul to help you shift your focus from the body and mind, to being the unattached, ever-free divine soul.
Find a time when you are well-rested and it is quiet around you. Give yourself about ten to fifteen minutes of uninterrupted, alone time. Follow along with the words in this guided meditation. Enjoy the peace and inspiration . . .
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