Eastern Philosophy and
the Discovery of the Soul

What is the nature of the soul according to Eastern philosophy?

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain"
Bhagavad-gita 2.20


Who am I and where do I come from? According to the great Bhagavad-gita (the Song of God, c.3000 BC) I am an eternal spiritual being that is temporarily occupying a material body. The soul is the conscious force which animates the physical body. Although the body lives only a few short years, the soul always exists. The soul is the possessor: I have an arm, I have a leg, I have a brain, I have a mind, but I am the soul.


So what am I doing in standing in the drizzle beside the bus stop at 7.30 in the morning waiting to go into the office? Or why is someone bedridden at age 77 with colon cancer, never to move again? In the ancient Vedic texts of India it is said that our original position is the be in nirvana, that is, out of material existence. But at a certain point we desired to sever our connection with the ultimate consciousness (God). Then we descended from our position of eternal satisfaction and found ourselves in this world. Yoga means to reconnect and return to our original home.

After describing the essential principals of yoga in the sixth chapter of the Gita, Krishna says:

"Thus practicing constant control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic yogi, his mind regulated, attains to the Kingdom of God by cessation of material existence"

"One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme"

Bg. 6.15, 5.24