Mind, soul and our true identity

Question: I was reading in the Bhagavad Gita that we are not really the doers of our actions. These are the verses I was reading:

The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature. BG 3:27

The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul — these are the five factors of action. BG 18:14

Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors. BG 18:15

Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are. BG 18:16

If this is the case, which it certainly must be if Krishn says it is, then who are we behind all of that? If we are not the actual doer then who are we? What is our individual identity once we break free from maya? Do we even have an individual identity? Does each jiva have individual characteristics in the spiritual world that define us the way that we do here in the material world?

I know that in essence we are all jivas (souls) but we also have individuality in this world as defined by our personalities and other characteristics that define us materially. I also understand that those characteristics are worldly and temporary. Are we, then, as individual souls, any different from each other once we reach the point of shedding the body or in reality are we all the same/equal in the spiritual sense?

Answer: Our true identity is the Divine soul. The soul, being infinitesimal, has no form (is nirakar), so it is impersonal. Along with the soul, we eternally have a material mind and senses which are part of our personality. The same mind and senses have been with us since eternity and go with the soul when we change bodies (die). The soul has a personal identity when it has a mind. When the soul gets liberation, the material mind and senses are dissolved back into the mayic energy and only the pure soul merges into formless God. In this state, the soul still exists. The soul can never cease to exist. However, the soul no longer has a personal identity, because it has no mind or body or senses. But soul retains its impersonal identity as an individual soul merged within God. This is the situation when a soul receives mokch or mukti and merges into impersonal God (nirakar brahm).

When a soul attains the personal form of God (sakar brahm), then that soul receives a Divine mind, senses and body, and thus retains his personal identity. He enters into the abode of the form of God which he attained. The individual traits of that soul's (Divine) personality are unique to him because they are determined by how he loved Krishn during his devotional period, what his relationship is with Krishn, what kind of desires he had from Krishn while doing devotion, how he likes to interact with Krishn, etc. So the Saints in Krishn's Divine abode are all very individual in their behavior, personality, love for Krishn, etc. In the Divine world, there are tall Saints, short Saints, young Saints, old Saints, skinny Saints, hefty Saints, quiet Saints, loud Saints, playful Saints, serious Saints, bashful Saints, bold Saints, etc. In other words, you are still you, even after God realization. Your personality remains, but you have become Divine.

Regarding the soul being the doer (karta) of actions, or being a non-doer (akarta), we find both kinds of references in our scriptures. Soul on its own cannot think or know or experience or do anything. Soul with a mind can think, know, experience and act. Technically, it is the mind that thinks, knows, experiences and performs actions, but it only does so because the soul is giving life to it. Since the mind cannot do anything unless the Divine soul is giving life to it, so from that point of view, the soul could be said to be the doer. But since it is actually the mind with which we think, and soul cannot think without a mind, so the mind is said to be the doer. The mind is made of maya, and the soul is Divine. Since the mind is made of maya (as are the senses and body), so it means the mind is made of sattva, raj and tam (the 3 qualities of maya). Each person thinks and performs actions according to the quality which predominates in his mind at that time. When sattva predominates, then a person's thoughts and actions will be good. When tam predominates, then a person's thoughts and actions will be bad. When raj predominates, then a person's actions will be selfish, but neither good nor bad. According to a person's quality of mind, so will be the quality of his thoughts and actions, thus the mind is said to be the doer. The soul is beyond sattva, raj and tam because the soul is not mayic. Thus, the soul cannot be sattvic or rajas or tamas, but our mind is. So, the soul cannot be said to be the doer of any sattvic or rajas or tamas action. It is the mind which is the doer. For all of these reasons, our scriptures say that mind is karta and soul is akarta.

However, if we understand the situation more deeply, we see that the mind is not our true self and cannot do anything without the energy it receives from the soul. It is a very subtle matter, and the analogies I am about to give you do not exactly capture the truth of the matter, but they point us in the right direction. First of all, understand that the soul and mind are completely together, like if you pour water (the mind) into milk (the soul), then you cannot visually see any separation between the two. They apparently are one. Like this, the mind is adhyasth (established) in the soul. Secondly, understand that the potential for all thought and action resides only in the soul. The mind is a lifeless energy since it is part of maya. So mind has no life, and it cannot think or do anything on its own. The potential for thought and action lies within the soul, just like the potential to see lies within the mind and the subtle sense of sight (with which you see the dreams). However, just as you cannot see unless your physical eyeball is in place, you cannot think unless you have a mind. The eye is just a physical thing and the real sense of sight is subtle and lies within the mind, yet without the lens of the eye in place, the potential to see cannot be realized. Similarly, the mind is just a lifeless mayic energy, yet without the mind in place, the potential to think which lies within the soul cannot be realized. Another analogy is that of the engine of a car, which produces potential kinetic energy. The firing of the pistons turns the drive shaft which has the potential to move the car forward. However, unless the drive shaft is connected to the axle of the car, the wheels will not move forward. Similarly, the soul provides the energy for all of our activities, but without the mind, that potential energy cannot be put into action. Thus, from this point of view, soul is said to be karta (the doer).

Now that I have laid out these basic points, let me address the specific verses which you mentioned.

The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature. BG 3:27

The meaning of these verses is very abstract is a part of the Sankhya philosophy. It is a very dry and intellectual philosophy which in gist tells us that we are not the mind, we are the soul. If you know that much, it is enough. Nonetheless, I will elaborate a little on these verses to clarify things and eliminate any confusion. When Shree Krishn says that you are not the doer - the 3 gunas of maya (sattva, raj, tam) are the doers - it doesn't mean that you are not responsible for your actions. You are. It means that your mind, which is made of sattva, raj and tam, is the doer. But you are not the mind. You are not a mayic being. You are the Divine soul. Depending on the quality of your mind, you will perform actions accordingly, but the soul is beyond sattva, raj, tam. So the soul cannot be said to be the doer of any sattvic or rajas or tamas action. But the person who is deluded by the effect of maya, who is not beyond ego, believes that he is his mind and he is his body. So he performs all of his actions with attachment in the world. The main point is that you are not mayic, so don't be attached to the mayic world. You are Divine and you belong to God, so love Him. The one who believes himself to be the mind and body believes that he is enjoying the pleasures of the world and suffering the pains of the world. In fact, it is just the interplay of the mayic gunas. Your mayic mind and senses indulge in the mayic objects and then experience pleasure or pain. But none of this has anything to do with the soul. The soul is Divine and desires only God. Therefore, live in the world without attachment, moving through your life and fulfilling your duties with your attachment in God. Then you will not perform any binding actions, because the binding quality of an action is due to the worldly attachment. That means that while performing all of the actions, you will not be performing any actions, because you are doing them without any attachment. This is the "non-action action" of the Gita, which is also called karm yog.

The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul — these are the five factors of action. BG 18:14

Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors. BG 18:15

Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are. BG 18:16

In this sequence of verses from the 18th chapter, Shree Krishn elaborates on what factors are involved in performing an action. As I explained above, soul alone cannot perform any action. Here Shree Krishn mentions five factors: body, senses, mind, cheshta (effort) and daiv, which means destiny (in this case, the destiny being referred to is our sanskars, which affect the state of our mind and influence our moods and desires). All are involved in carrying out any action. Krishn also mentions that not only what we do physically counts as karm, but also what we say and what we think. Then He says that if someone believes that the soul alone can perform actions, then they are mistaken. The soul plus the mind, senses, body, etc. performs the actions. In the 17th verse He tells Arjun again that if he performs his actions without attachment, then those actions are non-actions (they will not bind him).

I will conclude by mentioning that to correctly understand any spiritual philosophy, it is imperative to learn it from a God realized Saint. This is why I strongly recommend all people to read the books and listen to the speeches of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in order to understand the teachings of any scripture, including the Gita. By reading these scriptures directly, we multiply our confusion, not our understanding. Only a true Saint can distill the knowledge of the Gita and other scriptures into a form which is understandable to ordinary souls like us. His book "Prem Ras Siddhant - The Philosophy of Divine Love" and his speeches "Brahm Jeev Maya Tattva Gyan" and "Main Kaun Mera Kaun" are treasures of knowledge which clear all a devotee's confusions and give him correct spiritual knowledge. These are available (or will be available soon) from the JKP bookstore.

The soul is ansh of God, part of jeev shakti, anu chit, ansh of sat chit anand, thus desires sat chit and anand.

Can one accept Lord Krishn as his Guru and do sadhana?

God realization is not possible without a Guru. Shree Krishn Himself has said this in the Gita (chapter 4, verse 34); the Upnishads, Puranas and Ramayan all make similar statements. It would be like trying to get a PhD without the help of a professor. That Guru must be someone whom we can see, talk to and relate to. We should be able to ask them questions and clear our confusions. They will tell us the path so we know how to live our life for God realization.

Krishn helps us by sending a Guru into our life. The Guru helps us to purify our mind through proper bhakti. Once our mind is fully purified and we become surrendered, then Krishn comes to us. (Harihin bhave shuddh jan tohin patit bhave pyare; explanation of the difference between God and Guru from the kirtan "Jayati Guruvar" by Shree Kripaluji Maharaj). It is through the Grace of the Guru that we receive the Divine vision of Krishn (Guru mile kripa Rijhavar, Guru kripa mile sarkar; from the kirtan "Guru charan kamal balihar" by Shree Kripaluji Maharaj). So ignoring the Grace of the Saint and asking Krishn to help you is like the person who is searching for his spectacles when they are hanging on a string around his neck.

One should also know that we not only need to follow the instructions of the Saint for how to do devotions, we also need to open a channel in our heart to receive the Saint's Grace. This is done by surrendering (internally) to the Saint. This allows us to receive the Grace of the Saint, which will redeem past spiritual transgressions and open us to experience bhao in our devotion to Radha Krishn. This is the real devotion. Otherwise, it is like a dry practice of devotion, with no real feelings of affinity. Thus, we see that not only following the teachings of the Guru, but an internal feeling of surrender in order to receive his Grace is required to proceed on the path of bhakti.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.

Santan Dharm is a fully coordinated system of spiritual knowledge

Swami Nikhilanand recently gave a six-day series of speeches on the Devotional Philosophy of the Gita And Upnishads at the Sarva Dev Mandir in Oxford, MA.

According to Swami Nikhilanand, the Sanskrit scriptures of Sanatan Dharm are a fully coordinated system of spiritual knowledge whose aim is to guide the souls to their ultimate good. Among all of these scriptures, three hold prime importance: the Upnishads, the Gita and the Bhagwatam. The Upnishads give the knowledge of supreme God and teach that a soul has to desire God; they also briefly indicate the path to God.

The Gita is the essence of all of these Upnishads. The knowledge of God is scattered throughout 1,180 Upnishads. The Gita, said by Shree Krishn, consolidates the Divine philosophy of all those Upnishads and gives a clear and precise understanding of several important topics: 1) There are three eternal tattvas (existences): God, the souls, and maya. All three of these have existed for ever and will continue to exist forever.

2) The soul is our true identity, not the physical body. The soul remains unaffected by the changes which we experience through our physical body, like birth, maturing, aging and death. The soul can never die. When this body dies, the soul takes another body.

3) This world has a nature to produce situations which are both pleasing and displeasing to our senses; to produce situations which give us both comfort and pain, hope and disappointment. These two situations follow one another in an endless cycle. This is the eternal nature of this mayic manifestation; it will never change. Thus, we must learn to accept the dual nature of physical existence and remain calm in all the situations. Someone who can do this is eligible to become God realized.

4) Following the path of God realization while living in the world is called karm yog. To do this, a person has to decide that the attainment of God is the first priority of his life, and then he simply fulfills his other duties in the world in a detached and efficient manner, with the feeling that his beloved God is always with him. This is called offering all of your actions to God, and this is karm yog.

5) Upon the perfection of karm yog, a person becomes qualified to receive the Divine vision of God. Arjun received this in the eleventh chapter. When Shree Krishn Graced him with Divine eyesight, Arjun saw in Shree Krishn's body what had been described in the Upnishads: that God has a Divine personal form, and within that form He is holding the whole universe, and with that form He is omnipresent in the universe, yet He can also be seen at one place, at one time. This is a very important philosophy which is made clear by the Gita.

6) In the end, Shree Krishn concludes His teachings in the Gita by revealing "the secret of all the secrets" to Arjun: that if any soul comes to Shree Krishn wholeheartedly, it is His promise that that soul will reside with Him forever. If a soul leaves all of his prideful efforts in the world and takes refuge in Krishn alone, Krishn releases that soul from the bondage of maya and gives him whatever he wants in the Divine world: either absolute liberation, or the Divine vision, or Divine love. Thus ends the philosophy of the Gita.

It is said that where the Gita ends, the Bhagwatam begins. The Gita ends with selfless devotion to God (bhakti) and the Bhagwatam explains the real form of bhakti, how it is practiced and what are the indications of true bhakti. Thus, the scriptures of Sanatan Dharm are arranged in a Divine style to systematically guide the souls toward the ultimate goal of God realization.

However, all of the scriptures advise that if a soul wants to receive the real benefit of this scriptural knowledge, then he should seek the help of a God-realized Saint who can explain the true meaning of these Divine scriptures and impart a practical experience of bhakti. The true Spiritual Master, who is one with God, has the ability to teach the process of devotion and to Grace the devotee with relational affinity for God. These devotional feelings purify the heart and ultimately qualify a soul to receive the Divine vision and Divine love of God.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.