Discover your mystical dimension – Who Am I? Part 1

by SANGEET P PILLAI March 22, 2021

There are over 767 crore people all across the globe, but no person is exactly identical to one another. Every person in this universe has their own persona, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies. Every person is unique in his own way, we all come from various backgrounds and have different personalities. But on a subtler spiritual plane, are we all still unique and different? Today man is deluded with this sensory diversity on this physical plane, creating a state of mind bound by a state of dualism.

Who Am I?

In accordance with Vedic scriptures, a person is composed of three key entities, the body, mind, and soul. The one you think you are is- 'The Body', the one others think you are is- 'The Mind', and the one you really are is - 'The Soul'. A human soul uses his body and mind as key instruments in order to gain experience over numerous lifetimes. We, humans, tend to develop the feeling of I or mine especially due to the delusion caused by the body attachment. In fact, the identification with the human body is the cause of all attachments and suffering

The Body: A body is made in a way such that it can communicate its likes, dislikes, problems and needs, through sensory perception. All our actions are mostly directed in order to satisfy our desires that are emphasized through the sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing. Our body has the capability to remain in a youthful balance for many years based on certain principles.
The Mind: A human mind can function at different levels. In general, it is our thought mechanism that mainly drives our body to experience. It works along with the soul and the brain and as such determines the state of our body. When we are born, as a toddler or child our mind is pure, clean like a new mirror without the dust of negative emotions such as pride, envy, hatred, jealousy, greed etc., and due to this it has great ability to connect easily with divinity, and it follows all the natural guidance. But as we grow older, the mind tends to slowly wander away from this Universal connect as per the Vasanas (Sanskrit word for behavioral tendency or karmic imprint of previous lifetimes) and again gets deluded. It is important for our minds to stay aligned with our soul in order to make decisions that feel right.
The Soul: The soul also called, "Atma" is the key to our being. It is like the submerged part of the iceberg, the unconscious aspect of our being, whereas the conscious mind and the body represents the tip of the iceberg. Just because scientifically, one cannot observe a soul, or observe it to have any mass or weight, one cannot deny its existence. According to science, the very Universe we exist upon, consisting of billions of galaxies, solar systems, dust clouds, stars, and ever expanding, erupted from a singularity or a spot trillions of times smaller than an atom, and in a fraction of a second expanded to a magnitude as it would in the next 13.8 billion years. But what inflated it? This question still remains unanswered in science.

Where science focuses on getting the answers in the external world through observation, questioning, hypothesis, testing and iteration, the ancient yogis of India discovered an inward journey of self-discovery to find the true nature of our being, Higher Self or self, where in lies all the answers to creation and existence. Symbolically if we are to call our being a tree, the scientist who can visually see the trunk, branches, leaves and other parts above the ground believes only that exists and is the truth by his observation, whereas the yogis through meditation and inward discovery contemplates on that aspect of the tree which cannot be seen by our physical eye, but still exists and is indeed the very origin of the entire tree - the seed or the roots in some plants. Thus the self is not an object of perception. It cannot be perceived by any one of the senses. Therefore, it is un-manifest. The mind can think only about an object perceived by the senses. As the Self cannot be perceived by the senses, It is unthinkable and beyond comprehension.

We can never experience perpetual happiness by suppressing our self or our spirit and only pleasing our mind and body, just like you cannot expect a tree to grow without watering its roots. Our mind needs to feed the soul without which we couldn’t have existed. By creating a connection to our inner guidance system and by raising our consciousness, the human mind nourishes the soul and thereby we are able to attain peace and inner bliss. It is said, “Prayers are the food for the soul”, so if at all you feel an empty void within you in spite of having enjoyed all the materialistic pleasures the senses are capable of, it means your soul feels neglected. It is a spiritual hunger within, which cannot be satiated with just ephemeral possessions, worldly entertainment or relationships. It is time to set aside a little time every day to feed your soul through the various spiritual paths prescribed by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita depending on your individual disposition and personality. Read our next article "Discover your mystical dimension – Part 2" to gain more insight into your true nature and ancient practices to tune your mind to being fearless and in tune with your atma.