Who am I: Step 9

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To simplify my view about Manam; I will take an egg as an example for an easy explanation. An egg shell is like our material body; if you peel it off you will see a thin layer that is our astral body. The egg white can be taken as our Manam while the yolk as our soul. Wherever the egg white moves it brings the yolk with it. Similarly, our Manam controls the soul by such vibrations caused by thoughts.

Manam can be taken as a body for the soul. It acts as a barrier between God and us and also differentiates an animal from humans. It consists of the thoughts in previous life (karma), arouses the feelings and generates the thinking capability by linking to the mind. Our Manam assists us in our karma and effects of the Manam are reflected in our character (behavior).

Manam is self-conscious. It becomes easily bored and restless due to recurring desires. Involvement in worldly pleasures and too many thoughts weaken/ downgrades Manam while self-control and spiritual enlightenment strengthens/upgrades it. The truth, devotion and love (kindness) in you become the boosting power and ignoring materialistic pleasures prepares you for faster spiritual enlightenment that leads to the understanding of Athma.

One cannot change Manam with the body; it has to change on its own. Chanting Mantras, performing Yoga, Japa and Meditation helps in purifying Manam.

Moral law is like the gravitational power of earth and without it; everything on the earth surface will be floating. The subsiding of moral law affects nature and results in the changes in climate. Natural disasters occur frequently causing major destruction.

On preparing mankind according to the period of modernization, God assists them by his messengers. Like the 'code of conduct', the sacred books guides mankind both physically and spiritually in purifying oneself while simultaneously maintaining moral law.

When moral law subsides to an unrecoverable stage, the messengers of god emphasize on self-purification procedures. This prepares mankind internally to upgrade him for a better birth or salvation in the event of nature's drastic changes. That’s why recent messengers of god update the old sacred books in many ways for the benefit of mankind. Its followers categorize into a new religion.

When a group of faithful followers gather to conduct certain prayers, it is fulfilled immediately. The power of the mind gathered there to request for help from God is answered faster then a single person's request. Similarly, due to the increasing sins when many minds are requesting God for good changes or when many minds starts to curse all the events happening around will invite unexpected destruction too. The mind has the capability to create and destroy things that is actually unknown to many people.

The sacred books or the religion discipline a person by guiding the thoughts of the mind in self-purifying to a certain extend only. This helps to clear the sins, upgrades spirituality, and gives a clear understanding of birth, death and nature. Physically it helps in maintaining unity, peace and devotion among us. This perfection of the mind makes us understand that devotion in God is more than just a religion.

When the body is discarded after death, religion does not follow the soul. The good and bad karma (deeds) and the perfection of the thoughts decides the next birth. Until then, the soul will enter different branded (religion) bodies. Salvation is beside you if your mind is ready for it if not it is beyond reach.

"I am the soul and I am not this body. My duties in the world are done as you wish. My body bears the results of my actions and my soul is not affected by it as I see you and feel you, the supreme in my soul. My body is preparing the soul with the help of the mind for reunion and my devotion in you is motivating me throughout. Once my mind totally surrenders to you; we are one".

The feelings for each other are termed as LOVE. Love is identified in different ways when one approaches God, parents, children, relatives, brothers, sisters, friends, animals and others. In fact, god has indirectly taught us several ways to love him by educating us in such relative manner.

When such love declines, ego, hatred, jealousy and ignorance in understanding the truth only prevails. When this spreads like a disease among mankind it becomes a cause for social unrest. Each individual piling up his sins and becoming partially responsible for the destruction of humanity.

God in the form of soul in everything receives the love from us and similarly he also receives our hatred in other ways. When kind hearts join together we can see peace and harmony everywhere vice-versa we can only witness injustice and destruction at its peak. Such people are the cause of all unhappiness and without understanding this truth some of us are blaming god.

When our mind admits that our body is just a temporary house for the soul then the importance that we give our body subsides. Such clear thoughts encourage us in forgiving and forgetting others mistake. This is the thought that reveals our inner power and capability in spiritual enlightenment. The key to success is devotional love.

Seeking only the love from God and asking for salvation is devotional love. But many have misused divine love by using it for trading purpose, in another word; asking to fulfill vows by doing or giving things in return. The body we have taken is for the purpose of settling our past karma, to maintain moral law during our stay on earth by doing our rightful duty and upgrading ourselves in spirituality. Actually this is what many messengers of god tried to inform us but less importance were given to it and more importance were shown in justifying themselves as true followers of the sacred books.

A person's face is like a mirror. When one is moving on the right track in divinity, the light of spiritual glow will be clearly seen on his face. This also shows that he is clearing his sins during such progress. This is the result of divine love and to attain it one must control his thoughts by meditation and divert the power of the mind towards God. Such restrictions will assist on the path of self-realization and reveals the hidden powers of the mind and the body that is used as a battery, to charge the powers. Lets promote divine love among mankind to save us from rebirth and to upkeep moral law on earth.

n Hindu philosophy, it is believed that God divides the time for his creation, preservation and destruction. The time period of the world is divided into four sectors that pave for his act. God guides mankind through the mind on the path of civilization. The angels were ordered to assist the survival of mankind and as gratitude; ascetics and hermits performed ritual rites to invoke their blessings to carry on this process.

Many centuries have elapsed. God as knowledge guided mankind in many ways on the path of civilization and as divine knowledge upgrades one in spirituality. God's messengers spread the word of God in various ways to guide mankind on the right path according to the time of modernization. However at the end of each yuga, God himself incarnates as a human to prepare us for the changes in the next yuga by making his life on earth an example or guide.

At one yuga, when good qualities of mankind were required to be preserved God indirectly guided us in maintaining such qualities and directly assists in destroying those who were a menace to the good ones. In another yuga, when moral law was declining to an unrecoverable stage; God alerted mankind by revealing his identity in the universal form and preached Bagavad Gita for a spiritual revelation.

According to the four yugas of the world, God preserved the first three yugas (in the form of Vishnu). Since many have misunderstood and misinterpreted the teachings of the holy books, none can stop the downfall of moral law, which is the cause of all natural destruction. Kaliyuga, the time when everyone witnesses much destruction is the present period where we are now.

Decked with ornaments, Lord Vishnu symbolizes the materialistic life of mankind. But when destruction begins God in the form of Siva or Ruthra who only wears an animal skin around his waist and holy ashes covering his body symbolizes the ending of materialistic life (sage's life). However Lord Siva is usually worshipped in the form of 'jothi' or 'divine light' which represents the 'athma' or 'soul' that should be united with the supreme soul (paramathma) upon self- realization.

There is only one GOD who rules the universe. One class of people worship in forms, one class worship him as nature, one worship him in the form of 'light ' and many in other ways. I feel that each way of worship is essential for self-realization. As one moves upward towards salvation, he sincerely accepts god in the form of divine light. It is better to go up step by step in prayers. Without understanding the basic steps, one cannot be qualified for an advance stage. Perfection is only achieved when a person gets experience in all stages. Trying to skip such steps may change their outlook but not their inner self. That’s why even men in sacred clothes seem to make mistakes like other imperfect ones.