Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, May 2013, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday) 

Question: At the beginning of your lecture you spoke about life and you mentioned this is an energy. If we can say that the soul is also an energy, an immortal energy, can we say it’s all the same – the soul and the life? Both are energies, but are they the same energy? Can we say that there is an energy that enlivens the dead matter, like plants? And can we say the same for the rocks and the crystals?

Swami Tirtha: Yes. Even the human body is dead matter. But it is enlivened by the presence of the soul, atma. In the same way if we have the spiritual vision, we shall see the presence of the spiritual spark, life energy, the soul. This is the difference between the scientific world view and the spiritual world view. The scientific explanation will see dead matter even in the presence of life energy. Because they will come with some biochemical explanation about life. But it’s not biochemistry. While the spiritual paradigm will see the presence of life even in so called dead matter. Therefore they say “Mother Ganga”. They don’t see the water of a river, they see the goddess behind. And there are unlimited examples.

So, we should purify our vision and then we can see this life energy even in rocks. This whole Universe is pervaded by God or His emanated energy. So, there is a divine presence in everything. And in one sense life energy and soul energy are very close to each other. Yet, we have to identify that the soul is the primary factor. Life belongs to this soul. It’s like a natural element of the soul. Jiva – it’s a living principle. And consciousness is another symptom of the soul. Don’t forget, we started with this beautiful explanation that consciousness is in the background. And as humans we have limited small little consciousness, expanded only to a limited sphere. Supreme Lord Krishna has unlimited consciousness, His consciousness is unlimited.