Question:

What exactly is the soul? The soul has been described as essentially, an individuated expression of the Universe, or the Source, but my question is: If the Soul is unlimited and infinite and has no boundaries, then how is it an individuated aspect? I mean it is exactly as the Universe which would imply it is one with everything, and therefore has no distinction from anything else. If comparing to a drop of water to the ocean, although the drop and the ocean both have all the same properties but are different, the drop compared to the ocean still has obvious and determinable boundaries, and size. I've been trying to think of a metaphor to explain how the Soul could be the Same as the Universe, yet still be individuated, what do you think?

Thank You.

Response:

In Vedanta, the highest expression of the soul is called atman. It is consciousness as pure individuality. With full awakening, this atman is directly known to be the essence of universal existence. This is conveyed in the teaching Aham Brahmasmi—I am Brahman. So how can individuality be universality? Think of your atman as a kind of whirlpool of water in a river. This whirlpool has a kind of center to it that allows you to conceive of it as a separate individual entity, with a center of perspective and action. That is the sense of individuality of the atman. From another point of view, the whirlpool is just the river, it is only a modulation of the water. There is no real boundary where the whirlpool begins or ends, it is all just one river with apparently separate and individual whirlpools. With self-realization, we recognize that the modulation of our consciousness that we call “I” or atman, is really just a perspective of the wholeness of consciousness, and that in truth, our consciousness is the same as universal consciousness.

Love,

Deepak

0sho...
Sannyasin is one who knows that he knows not,
the sannyasin is one whose commitment is not to truth
but to the inquiry into truth..