Dr Ravindra Nath Sharma
Even though we talk a lot about life, it is difficult to define it. We love our near and dear ones and our friends. We revere great persons, we value humanity and we try not to hurt other people. We do not ask ourselves whether it is their body that we love or is it some other invisible value in them that we love. Surely it is not the body as when the “life principle” leaves the body, we burn it or bury it. That invisible value in them is the “life principle”. The entry of the Universal into the particular is the juncture which we call life. It has the characteristics of both. It is neither individual nor universal. But whatever it be, the principle of life is superior to everything else. It is not what we do every day that is life. Life is something inscrutable. It is what we are. The supreme reality of every visible existence is “life”. It is manifested in some degree in plants, in greater degree in animals and still greater degree in human beings. That invisible entity that animates the body and imparts a degree of consciousness to each tissue and organ of the body is the “soul” of a person. What is the soul? The innermost essence of our personality is the soul. Constitution of our Personality: The personality of a person may be diagrammatically represented by 5 concentric circles. These are (1) outermost layer representing the physical body, (2) Vital layer which is inner to physical body, (3) Layer of the mind which is inside the vital layer, (4) Layer of the intellect which is inside the layer of the mind and (5) Blissful layer or the Causal layer which is inner to the layer of the intellect. And right in the centre of the entire structure is the soul or the Atman of a person.
Our soul is located in our “spiritual heart” whose detailed description is given below. Soul is a conscious entity; it has a light of its own – that is why it is called self-effulgent or self-luminous. From the accompanying diagram, one can appreciate that the intellect and mind are located close to the soul. Therefore, the light and intelligence of the soul is reflected strongly in them. That is why there is the feeling of intelligence in us. Our soul usually identifies itself with the mind and is then led by the mind wherever the mind leads it due to its ignorance and delusion and is known as the “Jeevatma”. However, in its free state, our soul it is that is the powerhouse of consciousness, vitality and life force or the principle of life in us. Anatomy of Principle of Life Our soul is the origin of life force or the principle of life in us and is located in the “Spiritual heart”. The spiritual heart is distinct from our anatomical heart. It is a lotus-like structure of the size of one’s thumb situated in the middle of the chest on the right side of our anatomical heart. It is a common experience that whenever we wish to emphatically assert something, we do so by the gesture of placing our hand on the middle of our chest. That point in the chest corresponds with the location of the spiritual heart. Now, the space inside the spiritual heart is illumined by the light of the soul and is known as “Puritat”. Right at the bottom of this space is our soul – a twinkling infinitesimally small bright speck of light.
Proceeding from the Puritat, there is a fine and subtle network of extremely minute channels or “nerves”, known as “Hita nadis” in Sanskrit, in the astral layer of our personality. There are 72,000 of them. Centrally these nadis are connected with Puritat and peripherally they spread all over the body to each and every tissue and cell. These nadis are exceedingly minute and subtle with a width of the thousandth’s part of the thickness of a hair. These nadis contain within them fluid or serum which is coloured yellow, white, red, grey or blue or a combination of them. Our emotions, feelings, desires and “sanskars” are stored in the serum of these nadis. Our mind normally travels through these channels from the Puritat to the different parts of the body. Physiology of Principle of Life The essence of the soul is the consciousness or the awareness in it. That consciousness is the life principle or life force in us. Our mind when it is resting in the Puritat during deep sleep or “sushupti” derives consciousness, vitality and life force from the soul. When the mind moves from the Puritat along these channels, it carries with it the consciousness, vitality and life force of the soul and transfers it to each and every cell and tissue of the body as it goes along. This is somewhat like a magnet charging an iron rod when the rod gets near it. That is the way how every tissue and cell of our body receives its vitality and life principle from the soul. Ultimately, it is the presence of consciousness within each and every cell of the body which is the essence of life. Brain as a Special Organ of the body: Brain is a special organ of the human body. It is a special instrument of the mind for carrying out its commands. All the energy, intelligence and ingenuity of the brain is derived from the transfer of life force or consciousness to its five billion cells or neurons by the mind as it moves along from the soul through the “Hita nadis” to the brain. It may sound strange to us to know that brain is not the originator of intelligence and other faculties on its own and that it derives all its energy, vitality and life force from the powerhouse of the soul. The ultimate source of all life, energy and strength is the soul within us. To conclude: it is the soul which is the source of all life.
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