3.5 Characteristics of Our Soul
Our soul lies in the deepest dimension of our being. It is our soul that breathes life into the other four bodies. The soul body was created by God who is the Uncreated and Original Soul, the Primal Soul (Paramatma). The Scriptures explain that God created our soul in His likeness as emanations of Himself, just as a spark of fire emanates off a larger fire. Our soul body is a body that is filled with light.
It is ever shinning, never growing weaker, only stronger through its lives on earth. It is our soul that gives rise to our individual awareness. Individual awareness allows us to 'be' a person who is independent and endows us with free will. Our higher functions of intelligence, willpower and love originate from the soul.
Our soul body does not die nor does it feel pain or sorrow. The soul body cannot be hurt nor be destroyed nor diseased nor can it be sullied or tainted by sin, or bad karma that plagues the other bodies. It is our most permanent body and identity. Our soul incarnates and reincarnates on earth many times. With each life on earth it gains wisdom through experience and grows brighter. As the soul grows older it gains greater control over the emotions and thoughts and begins to direct individual pursuits toward spiritual goals. When we are intouch with our soul nature, our mind is filled with inspiration and joy.
By performing spiritual disciplines and worship we get closer to God and become more intune with our soul nature. Our soul is also the source of our conscience, which is the knowing voice within us that directs and warns us of consequences of our actions or inactions. You have probably experienced the power of your conscience and discovered how things worked out perfectly when you went along with your conscience and vice-versa, may have experienced going against your conscience and suffering the consequences.
Having been created out of God's image our soul is God-like. The soul shares God's qualities of immortality, self-effulgence and indestructibility. The main difference between God and our soul is that God is uncreated while our soul is created by God. The soul also doesn't have the power to create another soul while God does. To better understand the similarities and differences between God and our soul we need to explore the structure of our soul.
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