We are not our bodies. We are the soul. We have the unfortunate habit of identifying with our physical body or mind all our lives. This creates separation of us from our real self which is the Soul. The Soul is a spark of God. We live our lives in denial of our real nature which is the bliss of the soul. The reality of soul is acknowledged by all when the soul leaves the body. At that time, we say Mr Xyz has left his body and then the body is buried or burnt as per the customs and rites. What has left the body is the soul. After that the body is lifeless and becomes a piece of rotting meat which cannot be kept at any residence for even few hours.
Hinduism teaches that the soul dons a new body and embarks on a new life in order to fulfil its wishes and desires and to reap the fruits of past karma and also perform new karma. We keep on making same mistakes and finally we learn through pain that there is no permanent joy in material life and we reach out to God in order to get eternal bliss. The Soul which is within us does not change. It reaches out to us every time and reminds us that life on earth is not permanent and we must seek only eternal bliss. Our basic nature does not change and we are driven finally on spiritual quest and inner knowledge and wisdom which reveals to us our true nature of bliss. Whether we are born dark or fair or brown or pink or tall or fat or thin- we all ultimately search for our true nature which is unending bliss. Every soul that is there in universe ultimately yearns for bliss which is the true nature of soul.
Let us see the story of a sage and the mouse which shows that our basic nature does not change:
A sage was performing worship in middle of a river with his hands outstretched. An eagle which was flying overhead dropped a baby mouse into the outstretched hands of the sage. He took it home and converted the baby mouse into a baby girl. He and his wife took great care of the child and she grew up to be a beautiful loving daughter. Years passed quickly and she was soon sixteen. It was time to get her married. The sage and his wife decided that the Sun God would be an ideal husband for her.
The sage invoked the Sun God and He appeared. The sage asked Him if he would marry his daughter. The Sun God was agreeable but the girl said refused as she feared that she would be burnt to a crisp by the heat and light of the sun. So the sage asked the Sun God to suggest a suitable partner for his daughter. The Sun God suggested the name of the Lord of Clouds as He had the power to hide the brightness of the Sun.
The sage prayed for the Lord of the Clouds to appear and He appeared in front of the sage. But the daughter refused to marry Him as He was dark and thundered. So the sage asked Him to suggest a suitable husband for his daughter. The Lord of the Clouds said that the Wind God would be good as He had the power to push away the Clouds. When the Wind God appeared in front of him, the girl rejected Him as she did not like to marry anyone who was always on the move. The Wind God suggested the name of the Mountain God as the mountain can easily block the wind. When the Mountain God appeared in front of the sage, his daughter rejected him as he was cold hearted. The Mountain God suggested a mouse be selected as the mouse was soft and could easily burrow a tunnel through the mountain.
This time the girl was very happy and ready to marry the mouse. The sage converted her back into a mouse and got her married. The basic nature of a person does not change. The mouse became a girl who again became a mouse. We are part of God and became human and we will again merge with God and bliss. So let us do our SitaRam Mantra and dhyan daily with great zest and attain our basic nature – that of bliss.
