Miscellaneous - Religion   

Soul's welfare

CHENNAI: Integral to the quest for liberation is the need to gain Atma Jnana, the knowledge of the soul. Initially this involves an understanding of the soul's relationship with the body — distinct, yet interdependent. Since the embodied soul can experience the outside world only through the body, the analogy of the body to a (fragile) lamp aptly illustrates the body's crucial role in the quest, pointed out Sri K. Sivakumar in a lecture. It is only through the collective faculties of the body, the mind and the intellect that one can probe the purpose of existence. Every birth is an invaluable opportunity for the soul within to pursue its quest for Atma Jnana, with the light shed by the lamp, the body. Once the body is lost, the soul's chance to progress towards the goal is also lost. It has to wait in darkness for another suitable birth to try to make some headway in its journey.

But if an individual chooses to ignore the well being of the soul, the same body can become a hindrance in this quest. It is lack of knowledge (ignorance) that fails to recognise the transient nature of life with its attendant joys and sorrows.

To cure a disease, one needs to go beyond the manifest symptoms and check out the root cause of it. Only a deep analysis will reveal the truth — that both joy and sorrow that recur in one's lifetime are the result of the individual's past karma — and motivate the individual towards devotion to the Lord.

Life on earth makes it possible to engage in worship of the Lord, understand His all-pervasive and all-powerful glory and compassion, and choose to strive to gain access to God realisation. The greatest value is placed on an unshakable devotion to the Lord that leads to liberation of the embodied souls.

In the Tiruvenbavai of Saint Manikkavasagar, the saint poet beseeches the Lord to bless the young maidens engaged in His worship, with husbands who are also steeped in devotion. While this overt entreaty reflects the saint's vision of the social and spiritual needs of an evolving society, it typifies the quest for true knowledge of the soul, the only hope for salvation.

The Lord Himself is the embodiment of Jnana and He has to be understood wholly. Great saints are well aware that but for the Lord's help, any spiritual effort is not possible.

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