We had a few questions come up in Gita Class that I would have to ask you for the answers.
1.) Where did the soul originate?
Souls are eternal, just like Krishna. They originate as “emanations” or “expansions” from Krishna. There is no moment when they were created. Therefore, they are eternal. Krishna is eternally emanating us. Here is a crude example. Imagine a lit candle with a mirror in front of it. When did the reflection originate? Now in the case of our example, someone placed the candle and the mirror. They lit the candle. All this happened at a certain time. But if you conceive of the inconceivable, when the candle, mirror and flame eternally existent… then the reflection originated in the original flame, and will continue eternally. In our case, we are “separated expansions” unlike say Lord Narasimha, Lord Narayana, etc., who are “nondifferent” expansions.
Bg. 15.7
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूत: सनातन: ।
मन:षष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥ ७ ॥mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣatiThe living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/15/
Bg. 2.12
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।
न चैव नभविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥ १२ ॥na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ
na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ
na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ
sarve vayam ataḥ paramNever was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
The philosophy of “achintya bheda abheda tattva”, inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference, is very deep. It can take us many, many lifetimes to fully understand it. But I don’t need to directly concern myself with all that. My job is to be a pure devotee acceptable by my spiritual master. He will cause everything to be revealed to me.
2.) How do people remember their past lives?
The spirit soul in the material world is encased in a subtle body. This body consists of the subtle material elements (mind, intelligence, and false ego). Now, this subtle body encasing the soul is suspended in 5 kinds of air. Each air is more subtle than the previous one: prana, apana, udana, vyana, and samana… This package is placed inside the heart of the living entity by the material nature.
eṣo ’ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo
yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa
prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvam otaṁm prajānāṁ
yasmin viśuddhe vibhavaty eṣa ātmā“The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air [prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, samāna and udāna]. The soul is situated within the heart, and it spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, its spiritual influence is exhibited.”
Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.9), quoted in https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/3/39/
When someone dies, the spirit soul leaves the gross material body. This body is made of the gross material elements earth, water, fire, air, and space. The soul remains cocooned inside the subtle body. It follows the various paths chalked out by Yamaraja into the next body.
Past life memories are usually buried or erased. This prevents trauma in the next life. For example helps avoid Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cases. Consider what can happen if someone was a deer in their last lifetime. Suppose they remember when they were devoured alive by a tiger… Now think about this: If we remembered every single traumatic thing we ever experienced? These experiences span millions and billions of lifetimes… This is the mercy of the material nature under the direction of Krishna that we don’t remember past lives.
Young babies and small children are said to remember their past lives for some time. They forget as they grow up. Sometimes, remembrance of past lives is allowed for reasons that I know. One reason is to avoid the same mistakes again. There are also other reasons.
3.) This was about the impressions that people have based on their desires. We understand that people take another body, and they bring their impressions based on their desires with them. Can a person have a desire to not change into another body, meaning not wanting to come back? If they manifest it, then will it happen?
MBD: There is only so much we can control… “karmana daiva netrena jantar deha upapatti”. Our body is given by higher authorities according to what we desire and deserve, not just what we desire.
ŚB 3.31.1
श्रीभगवानुवाच
कर्मणा दैवनेत्रेण जन्तुर्देहोपपत्तये ।
स्त्रिया: प्रविष्ट उदरं पुंसो रेत:कणाश्रय: ॥ १ ॥śrī-bhagavān uvāca
karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa
jantur dehopapattaye
striyāḥ praviṣṭa udaraṁ
puṁso retaḥ-kaṇāśrayaḥThe Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.
If we act in purely spiritual ways, then naturally the higher authorities will provide us with a spiritual body.
Bg. 13.22
पुरुष: प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् ।
कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु ॥ २२ ॥puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasuThe living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.
This spiritual body has no flaws. Once a material body is obtained, no one can prevent its death. This is unless sanctioned by God or someone empowered by God. Not just by wishing or willing can we escape old age, disease, or death. “jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyuh” BG 2.27 One who has taken birth must die. One who has died must take birth again, until spiritual perfection is reached.
Bg. 2.27
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च ।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥ २७ ॥jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur
dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca
tasmād aparihārye ’rthe
na tvaṁ śocitum arhasiOne who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.
This is why we bless “may you never take birth again”. If a person does reach spiritual perfection, then for one last lifetime, they will be transferred to a specific Universe. In that Universe, Krishna is performing His pastimes. These can be any of His expansions, depending on the love of the soul for a particular form of Krishna. They are born there and trained there. They reach their eternal competence. When Krishna winds up His pastimes, He takes that soul back to the spiritual world. The soul is in the specific eternal form that it has. This return happens without any birth. Then the soul experiences pastimes with Krishna eternally.
There are innumerable universes, and the Lord is appearing in one of these universes at every moment. Therefore His pastimes are called nitya-līlā, eternal pastimes. The Lord’s appearance as a child in the house of Devakī takes place continuously in one universe after another. Therefore, the devotee is first transferred to that particular universe where the pastimes of the Lord are current. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, even if a devotee does not complete the course of devotional service, he enjoys the happiness of the heavenly planets, where the most pious people dwell, and then takes birth in the house of a śuci or śrīmān, a pious brāhmaṇa or a wealthy vaiśya (śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate). Thus a pure devotee, even if unable to execute devotional service completely, is transferred to the upper planetary system, where pious people reside. From there, if his devotional service is complete, such a devotee is transferred to the place where the Lord’s pastimes are going on.
My Guru Maharaja has expressed the desire to stay here till all the souls are delivered back! 🙂 We can see what Krishna does with Him. It is possible for Krishna to do anything. For example, He can keep a soul in the spiritual realm. He can also let them serve Him in the material world. Many of our Acharyas could go into the spiritual realm in their meditation. They could bring back tangible objects back to the material realm. Like jewellery, food, flower, perfume, etc. There are many pastimes where Krishna has done it also… Take for example when Krishna married the 16,100 princesses at once… His parents, priest, wives, and other relatives where all at once attending the 16,100 weddings! 🙂 Krishna’s associates live a most adventurous life!
I know these are deep, but they were discussing it was beyond my capacity of understanding
MBD: This kind of churning is required for a person to genuinely understand the philosophy. Then, when they practice sincerely, they will realize the philosophy for themselves. When someone applies themselves wholeheartedly with a combination of knowledge, action, service and humility, then they reach the Supreme Destination. Our job is to send everyone back home, back to Godhead. Back home to Krishna. Hare Krishna!
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 