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Introduction
Who am I?Now, let us see what happens in our daily life.
For example, I am talking to a friend of mine. He is telling me something but I was lost in my thoughts. I did not listen to what he said.
When I say "I was lost in my thoughts". What exactly do I mean?
I was in front of my friend. Words were falling on my ears as to what my
friend was saying. Inspite of that I did not hear!
What does this mean? I apologize saying, "sorry, I was carried away by my thoughts, what were you telling?" This implies that, there are two entities, my body and myself.The thoughts had temporarily separated me from the body and hence my ears though present could not hear a word without my being present in the body.
This clearly tells that though I identify myself with the body. I am not the body. Though I reside in the body I can be separated from the body. In this incidence,the thoughts were successful in separating me from my body temporarily.
Now, let us consider what happens at the time of death. When a person dies, we say that the soul has left the body.Once the soul has left the body, the body has no significance and we hurriedly try to dispose the 'then' dead body.
In many religions there are rituals and prayers for the 'peace' of departed soul. We pray: "may his/her soul rest in peace". This clearly suggests that in the living being, it is the soul who resides in the body. The body cannot do anything (in above incidence the act of hearing) without the help of soul. It is equally true that the soul also cannot do anything without the help of the body. When the soul leaves the body permanently, the body is considered as dead body.
Who am I? Though it was very simple to understand that I am not the body, my mind does not accept.Hence, first let us start with the statement that I am the body and the soul together. The body is the gross matter. Which can be seen. The soul cannot be seen. Hence it is a subtle entity. As per earlier incidence the soul though resides in the body. The thoughts originated from the mind could separate the soul from the body. Thus, in our body, there lies also the mind and thoughts, powerful enough to carry the self outside the body.
Thus, now there are three things, the soul, the body and the mind.
The question is still unanswered: who am I?
It is definitely established that I am not the body but the soul.
Now, what about the mind? The mind is invisible, hence it is a subtle entity. At the same time mind depends on the part called brain in our body. The thoughts originate in the brain and the mind is nothing but the chain of thoughts. Thus the thoughts are nothing but the produce of brain only. Thus, we come to conclusion that the body is made up of gross and subtle matters. It is also understood that the soul resides in the physical body and is also covered with subtle body like mind, comprised of thoughts.
In reality, I am neither body nor mind but the soul. The person who knows this is called the "Realized Soul". The knowledge is called as "Self Knowledge".
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