What is the definition of a Soul?

Soul is one’s own real form. Soul is the Self, the real Self. Soul is what one really is!

Soul is present in every living being and it is uniform in nature. Every Soul has same properties. The main properties of the Soul are infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite strength and infinite bliss.

Personally,

Soul means Aatma; Aatma means the Self.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan explains:

“The Atma means the Self. You may say, “I am John (please insert your name here)” But John is the name of the body. Should you not know ‘who am I’ in this body? It is that Self which you need to recognize...”

But the Soul cannot be seen with physical eyes nor can it be completely described in words. Therefore, we require a Living Gnani, with whose grace, our Vision (the property of the Soul) opens up. Gnani is the Enlightened One, whose own Soul is awakened and who has the power to awaken other’s Soul too. Only such Living Gnani is able to give us the taste of experience of Soul through Self-Realization!!!

Since the Soul is our real Self, our curiosity to learn more and more about the real Self is quite natural and justified. And we are fortunate that we have amongst us Pujya Deepakbhai, the Living Gnani, to whom today, we can directly ask all our questions regarding Soul and how to awaken our Soul, and get a precise answer in a simple and lucid language that is easy to understand!!! For details, you may check out Satsang: Q & A Session | Spiritual Discourses | Dadabhagwan.org

Scientifically,

Param Pujya Dadashri defines, “The Soul means life energy (chetan).”

Wherever there is feeling of any kind, therein lies the Soul, and decidedly there is life present there. Therefore, you should know that where there are feelings, life is present there. And if something does not show feelings, then it has no life and hence, it is without Soul (Anatma). Even trees and leaves have feelings... One-sensed means it has only a feeling of touch, it expresses the feeling of touch. Every living entity has feelings. Those that have feelings clearly show the presence of Soul. It is not that one to whom feelings arise is itself the Soul; but where there arises a feeling, there, there is Soul. And where no feelings arise; there is no Soul there.

Most scientists today doubt the existence of Soul as yet. Here’s an interesting conversation one of the seekers had with Param Pujya Dadashri in this regard:

Questioner: The foreign scientists have done all kinds of research to determine whether or not there is a Soul. They’ve put a dying man in a glass case and have tried a lot to check how and from where the Soul leaves the body. But they could not figure out anything. Hence they concluded that the Soul does not exist at all.

Dadashri: No. But do they say, ‘this man is non-living’? Is this bag a non-living entity or not? It is non-living only, isn’t it? So then, are this bag and this man the same thing?

Questioner: No. What they meant was that there is no such thing as a Soul that leaves the body.

Dadashri: These scientists make ‘man’, they make new hearts, they make everything, don’t they? So if they make a new man, will that man be able to interact the way we do?

Questioner: No, he would not.

Dadashri: So then on what basis can they say that there is no such thing as Soul?

Questioner: They just placed a dying man in a glass case. But when the Soul was leaving, they did not see anything; so they concluded that there is no such thing as Soul.

Dadashri: Those doubting whether there is a Soul or not are Souls themselves! The one that doubts is a living being, or else he would not have doubts! None of these other non-living things will have doubt. If there is any doubting going on, it is the Soul that does it; there is no other thing that can have doubts. Do you understand this? Will the person have doubt after he dies? No, then what is it that leaves?

“When a person dies, who is it that leaves?” asks Param Pujya Dadashri.

Questioner: The Soul leaves.

Dadashri: Yes, it leaves, yet it is such that it cannot be seen. But it is there for sure. It is light; it is in the form of light. All this (the body that we can see alive) is its light! If it is not there, then everything would end. Have you seen the body once the Soul has gone out of it? Have you seen dead body? Does the body have light in it, then?

Questioner: No.

Dadashri: It means the Soul has left the body. The Soul is in the form of light.

So, Param Pujya Dadashri explains:

What is Soul? It has no feelings or anything like that. The Soul is only in the form of light! But wherever there are feelings, we can find the Soul there… If we say that the basis of feelings is Soul, it creates another problem. The feelings arise because of the presence of Soul! So wherever there is feeling, there is Soul… It is the non-Self complex (John) that gets expressed, but because there is the presence of the Soul there, these feelings arise, the pain arises.

Spiritually,

The Soul is an eternal element made up of knowledge and bliss. And the living beings that we see in various life-forms in the entire Universe are all different phases of the Soul.

Param Pujya Dadashri explains:

Anything that is eternal is called an ‘element’ and anything that is temporary is called a ‘non-element’.

Soul is in the form of Soul only. As an element, the Soul is an abode of infinite properties! And every element, in substance, is accompanied with properties and phases. Anything in which there exists substance-property-phase is said to be an element. Element is eternal. Soul too is an element: it has its own substance, its own properties and its own phases. And those phases arise, remain and pass away. Whatever we can see with the eyes, all of that is a non-element, it is temporary (will get destroyed). And the Soul is eternal; an element. There are six such elements and the world is made up of these six elements. These six eternal elements are revolving around one another, constantly undergoing changes; and as a result the phases are arising. It is because of these phases that this world is seen. In this world, only the phases are visible.

So, the Soul is an element made up of knowledge and bliss. It knows what all is happening. It understands the experience of pain and happiness . How does one know that, “This leg is aching and this one is not.” One may argue it is the nerve or that the brain knows. But who reads the brain?

Brain is only an organ and it exists in a dead body too; but a dead body is not able to know anything. So there is something else due to which we know and understand things. And that something is Soul,

• which when present in the body, a person is said to be living; and when it leaves the body, the same body is called a dead body;

• which when present in the body, a person is able to know things, and when it leaves the body, the same person is not able to know anything.