The soul in its purest form is full of sat (truth), cit (knowledge) and ananda (bliss). Unfortunately due to heavy karmic coverings wrought by centuries of different lives, the soul although always alive, is almost in a state of suspended animation. Although the body is left behind at each death, the subtle body comprising of mind, intelligence and a corrupted ego faithfully accumulates all the debris from past lives and brings its own “akashic records” with it. Surprisingly the subtle body is also of a material nature.

"Ancient scriptures tell us that man is more than the physical body. In fact, we have two bodies: the physical and the astral, or subtle. But we are the soul! According to the ancient Vedic scriptures of India , the size of the soul is 1/10,000 the tip of a strand of hair. It is located in the heart region and is the actual life force. The physical, as well as the astral or subtle body, acts as a covering or costume that the soul wears in its journey throughout the material sphere. As we pass from costume to costume or from body to body through the process known as reincarnation, the impressions of previous lives imprint themselves on the subtle body and are carried with us during each lifetime. "

It is only when you are eligible to be liberated from the “ring pass not” cycle, out of the material plane that you actually dispense with the subtle body as well. This is when your corrupted ego becomes whole again – realising that we are only transitory visitors here, losing our binding attachment to this world for much higher goals. If you don’t make this change you are doomed to repeat the birth/death saga, time and time again until you are fortunate to meet the right person who will help you wake up. Of course you need to do a lot of work on yourself as well and humility is a good start. Not the grovelling on the ground kind, but the realisation that we are eternally servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and everything we use and do should be geared to some sort of service in His honour whilst we are visiting this dimension.

The symbology of taking base metal and transforming it into valuable gold was a job undertaken by the alchemists of the past. However production of gold was a by-product. The most valuable action was to use the simile to understand that transformation was needed in order for the process to work, to wake the sleeping soul, to realise the value of making the changes now.

uttistha jagrata

prapya varan nibodhat

ksurasya dhara nisita duratyaya

durgam pathas tat kavayo vadanti

Please wake up and try to understand the boon that you now have in this human form of life. The path of spiritual realization is very difficult; it is sharp like a razor’s edge. That is the opinion of learned transcendental scholars.

So these carried forward stored records provide the subtle body with a vast database of information to work with. Is it any wonder that we can have some spectacular dreams and how amazing insights come whilst meditating or day dreaming. Very true is the saying that there is nothing new under the sun! Here is where the newer discipline of Metaphysics covers the gap between Philosophy and the paranormal. Interestingly too, correct information can also bridge the gap between different religious traditions.

"Two basic approaches to the problem of religious diversity are the exclusive approach and the inclusive approach According to the exclusive approach, ideas which differ from a given set of accepted religious doctrines are rejected as invalid. This approach simplifies things for those who can fully place their faith in a particular set of doctrines. It can be of great value for some people because it allows them to imbibe the wisdom of their particular tradition without distraction. However, for people who are doubtful and confused by many conflicting claims, religious exclusivism may act as a barrier to spiritual progress,

The inclusive approach attempts to unite diverse schools of thought by combining them together. According to this idea, different traditions are describing the same reality from different perspectives. Even though some accounts may be corrupted or adulterated with false material, one can arrive at a consistent picture of reality by combining different traditions and noting their strong points and their common features. This is the method used in this book. "

We are taught to codify things or events, as positive or negative, based on our current culture. But confusion happens when we are taught something that goes against the grain. That “going against the grain” could easily be a past lesson that we are determined not to repeat even if we don’t quite remember why. On the other hand we are so indoctrinated to believe things that we are taught. How many people believe that because it appears in the newspapers or on television, it must be the truth. Disappointingly we find out later that our lessons were skewed, our mentors were biased and what we thought was true, was in actual fact quite the opposite. A major shock to the system, bringing about feelings of guilt and disillusionment. So how can we actually deal with it. First we need courage to admit that we have been following a faulty system, We need integrity to stay with our purpose of truth and we need to pray for the grace to want to change.

Religious truth should be evaluated on the basis of three aspects:

Authorised scriptures

Living saints

Bona fide spiritual masters

"And the Son of God is dead, which is worthy of belief because it is absurd. And when buried He rose again, which is certain, because it is impossible."

Because the mind has been conditioned to keep you in a state of illusion, do not accept everything the mind brings to you. Remember you are not the mind, merely using it. Check out the information the mind brings, qualify and evaluate it before accepting it. Don’t work on the premise because you have thought it, it must be true. Use your intelligence which is above the mind. Remember the mind is wrapped up in the senses and they are continually giving messages to the mind to have things satisfied on a very basic primitive level. But here is the actual danger point. If the senses are selfishly using all their perceptions just for the use of one person on a very low sensory level, then you are truly immersed in the material world. By teaching your senses to go beyond the mundane, they can be utilised for higher perception on more and more subtle levels of awareness for a much greater purpose.

"The basic claim of religion is that knowledge of spiritual truths beyond our sensory grasp is descending to us from the spiritual world through the aid of various higher beings. At the same time, there are beings more powerful than ourselves who are deceptive and inimical. This means that we ultimately have to develop the power to discriminate between different sources of information. Swami Krishnapada emphasizes the need of personal purification to attain this power of discrimination."

Jiva Jago – Wake up sleeping souls!