Prophets and saints spent their lives in life-long penance, meditation and spiritual practices after which they are said to have attained permanent liberation or Nirvana, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji

The phrase “body-mind-soul” has become a modern cliché, in everything from religion to psychology to holistic medicine, when referring to our totality as a human being. However, in most cases people have only a superficial understanding of these words and no concrete idea of their true nature. It is often said that the real self is behind the mind or intellect. It is also believed that we can experience and know the self when we go beyond mind which is like a sheath of the soul. Seers, philosophers and common people have often wondered about the nature of soul, its origin and its qualities. There are as many opinions and beliefs about the soul as there are about God. A lot of people say that the soul is an all pervading universal consciousness and it is everywhere. There are some who say that the soul is part of the universal consciousness, however they do not ascribe any form or identity to it and believe that the soul is a form of energy that is present everywhere. Then there are those who believe that the spirit is the manifestation of God. They say that the soul and God are one and there is no distinction between the two. This belief is central to the proponents of Advaita philosophy. And hence, they say that souls are immune to the effect of actions. As a result, they do not get corrupted by bad actions and remain ever-pure like God and it is the body that bears the brunt of sinful actions. Following from the belief that souls go through rebirths according to the actions of their previous birth, many in India say that a soul goes through births in 84 lakh animal species of which the lucky one is where one takes the form of human species.

Great souls like prophets, saints and holy men are believed to have come on earth to spread the good word and do good actions. Many of them spent their lives in life-long penance, meditation and spiritual practices after which they are said to have attained permanent liberation or Nirvana. There are also souls who are believed to have ascended to higher realms and are said to be guiding their followers from there. According to the true spiritual wisdom revealed by the Supreme Soul, all human souls are his children. Each one is unique. Thus, it must be understood that souls are not God but they have godly qualities. They are sentient and conscient self-luminous star like entities that have the power to think, choose, feel, discern and act through sense organs. However, they can express and experience only when they are in human bodies. It must also be understood that all souls reside in the soul world which is far beyond this physical universe. In that dimension all souls exist in their eternal form of light. Each soul begins its journey on earth at its time and in the beginning they don’t go through any suffering because they are pure. They go through their journey on earth passing through different stages of purity.

We are at the end of Iron Age (Kali Yuga) when all souls have become vicious and have forgotten their true identity and because of body consciousness they have lost their power and become prone to vices. It is the most auspicious period in the journey of all souls that they now have a chance to get enlightened and liberated from all bondages and vices because the Supreme Almighty Himself is imparting the wisdom and power to help us. He is guiding us with his love and blessings to our original pure stage of purity and changing this vicious world to a virtuous one. But, for that we need to become soul conscious and get rid of all kinds of bondages related to our body. This is the easiest way to self realisation and liberation.