Most of us do not know why we have taken this birth, why we are leading these lives, what happens after death and what the ultimate goal of our lives is. We are all ordinary people without knowledge of the very fundamentals of human life. But a spiritual person knows answers for all these questions. We are all descended from a huge reservoir of energy, called ‘Paramaathma’ or the ‘Supreme soul’. The Supreme soul has divided itself into small quantities of energy and that individual speck of energy is called ‘Jeevaathma’ or ‘Bodily soul’.
This Jeevaathma creates a physical body and starts doing some karma (actions) and these actions will bring it different experiences which finally expand its level of consciousness. When Jeevaathma realizes that there is nothing to know more, it will reach to higher consciousness where it identifies itself with the Supreme soul. This is called ‘Moksha’ or ‘Salvation’. We are all now in the form of Jeevaathma and our mission in this world is to attain salvation. For a normal person, it takes more than 1,00,000 births to reach this state. A yogi or a spiritual person reaches this state in 3 years by doing meditation for 8 hours a day.
In Bhagavad Gita, the Jeevaathma is represented by Arjuna which resides in the physical body which is depicted by a chariot. This chariot is driven by horses which represent the senses. The Paramaathma is Lord Krishna who guides Arjuna to realize that he is Jeevaathma and his goal is to reach Paramaathma. Krishna holds the reins which are nothing but the activities of mind. The battle is between Kauravaas (demonic nature) and Pandavaas (divine nature) – these two are the two sides of the mind. Winning the battle is possible only by controlling the senses and purifying the mind through yoga. Then only Jeevaathma can attain the state of Paramaathma. Such a person who is in the path of becoming Paramaathma is called ‘Spiritually enlightened person’.
Most of us do not know why we have taken this birth, why we are leading these lives, what happens after death and what the ultimate goal of our lives is.
