Lesson #1 for neophytes living in the ashram is:
we are spirit soul not the material body
“O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature.” (Bhagavad-gītā 2.30)
The very first step in self-realization is realizing one’s identity as separate from the body.
“I am not this body but am spirit soul” is an essential realization for anyone who wants to
transcend death and enter into the spiritual world beyond. It is not simply a matter of saying
“I am not this body,” but of actually realizing it. This is not as simple as it may seem at first.
Although we are not these bodies but are pure consciousness, somehow or other we have
become encased within the bodily dress. If we actually want the happiness and independence
that transcend death, we have to establish ourselves and remain in our constitutional position as pure consciousness.
Living in the bodily conception, our idea of happiness is like that of a man in delirium.
Some philosophers claim that this delirious condition of bodily identification should be cured by
abstaining from all action. Because these material activities have been a source of distress for us,
they claim that we should actually stop these activities. Their culmination of perfection is in a kind
of Buddhistic nirvāṇa, in which no activities are performed. Buddha maintained that due to a
combination of material elements, this body has come into existence, and that somehow or other
if these material elements are separated or dismantled, the cause of suffering is removed.
Consciousness cannot be denied. A body without consciousness is a dead body.
As soon as consciousness is removed from the body, the mouth will not speak,
the eye will not see, nor the ears hear. A child can understand that. It is a fact
that consciousness is absolutely necessary for the animation of the body.
What is this consciousness? Just as heat or smoke are symptoms of fire,
so consciousness is the symptom of the soul. The energy of the soul, or self,
is produced in the shape of consciousness. Indeed, consciousness proves
that the soul is present. This is not only the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā but the conclusion of all Vedic literature.
The impersonalist followers of Śaṅkarācārya, as well as the Vaiṣṇavas following
in the disciplic succession from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, acknowledge the factual existence
of the soul, but the Buddhist philosophers do not. The Buddhists contend that at
a certain stage the combination of matter produces consciousness, but this
argument is refuted by the fact that although we may have all the constituents
of matter at our disposal, we cannot produce consciousness from them.
All the material elements may be present in a dead man, but we cannot revive
that man to consciousness. This body is not like a machine. When a part of
a machine breaks down, it can be replaced, and the machine will work again,
but when the body breaks down and consciousness leaves the body, there is
no possibility of our replacing the broken part and rejuvenating the consciousness.
The soul is different from the body, and as long as the soul is there, the body is
animate. But there is no possibility of making the body animate in the absence of the soul.
Because we cannot perceive the soul by our gross senses, we deny it.
Actually there are so many things that are there which we cannot see.
We cannot see air, radio waves, or sound, nor can we perceive minute
bacteria with our blunt senses, but this does not mean they are not there.
By the aid of the microscope and other instruments, many things can be
perceived which had previously been denied by the imperfect senses.
Just because the soul, which is atomic in size, has not been perceived
yet by senses or instruments, we should not conclude that it is not there.
It can, however, be perceived by its symptoms and effects.
Source contin.
https://prabhupadabooks.com/bbd/1?d=1
