Surat Shabd Simran is a type of spiritual meditation in the Sant Mat tradition.
102-556: Surat is "attention" or "face", that is, an outward expression of the soul ; Shabd or Shabda has multiple meanings including ‘sacred song’, ‘word’, ‘voice’, ‘hymn’, ‘verse’, or ‘sound current, ‘audible life stream’, and the ‘essence of the Absolute Supreme Being’. The Absolute Supreme Being is a dynamic force of creative energy sent out into the abyss of space at the dawn of the universe's manifestation, as sound vibrations. These vibrations continue and are sent forth through
204-542: A mantra given at initiation), dhyan (concentration, viewing, or contemplation, particularly on the Inner Master), and bhajan (listening to the inner sounds of the Shabd ). The mantra is Guru Manter. These are some verbal words that one gets from living masters and chants in mind, not with the mouth. As the language varies from culture to culture, Guru Manter or Mantra may also vary from culture to culture in spirituality. On
306-423: A Jiva is either samsari (mundane, caught in cycle of rebirths) or mukta (liberated). According to this belief until the time the soul is liberated from the saṃsāra (cycle of repeated birth and death), it gets attached to one of these bodies based on the karma (actions) of the individual soul. Irrespective of which state the soul is in, it has got the same attributes and qualities. The difference between
408-542: A living being that is believed to be able to survive physical death . The concept of the soul is generally applied to humans, although it can also be applied to other living or even non-living entities, as in animism . The Modern English noun soul is derived from Old English sāwol, sāwel . The earliest attestations reported in the Oxford English Dictionary are from the 8th century. In King Alfred 's translation of De Consolatione Philosophiae , it
510-534: A resurrection . The oldest existing branches of Christianity, the Catholic Church and the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, adhere to this view, as well as many Protestant denominations. Some Protestant Christians understand the soul as life, and believe that the dead have no conscious existence until after the resurrection (this is known as Christian conditionalism ). Some Protestant Christians believe that
612-418: A body and a soul. Paul said that the "body wars against" the soul, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit" (Heb 4:12 NASB), and that "I buffet my body", to keep it under control. According to Thomas Aquinas , the soul is tota in toto corpore . This means that the soul is entirely contained in every single part of
714-409: A heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel". Bahá'u'lláh stated that the soul not only continues to live after the physical death of the human body but is in fact immortal. Heaven can be seen partly as the soul's state of nearness to God, and hell as a state of remoteness from God. Each state follows as
816-506: A life force. The concept of jiva in Jainism is similar to ātman in Hinduism; however, some Hindu traditions differentiate between the two concepts, with jiva considered as individual self, while atman as that which is universal unchanging self that is present in all living beings and everything else as the metaphysical Brahman . The latter is sometimes referred to as jiva-ātman (a soul in
918-530: A living body). The Quran , the holy book of Islam , uses two words to refer to the soul: rūḥ (translated as spirit, consciousness, pneuma, or soul) and nafs (translated as self, ego, psyche, or soul), cognates of the Hebrew ruach and nefesh . The two terms are frequently used interchangeably, although rūḥ is more often used to denote the divine spirit or "the breath of life", while nafs designates one's disposition or characteristics. In Islamic philosophy,
1020-623: A modern retronym in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. This meaning is different from that in the Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā , a text of the Natha sampradaya . The method of meditation followed under Sahaj Marg , also called Heartfulness follows Raja Yoga system of practice. This system is in practice formally since 1945 under the name Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM). The Brahma Kumaris ,
1122-483: A natural consequence of individual efforts, or the lack thereof, to develop spiritually. Bahá'u'lláh taught that individuals have no existence prior to their life here on earth and the soul's evolution is always towards God and away from the material world. The traditional doctrine in Buddhism regarding the soul, self, or ego is that it is non-existent as a separate, permanent entity. The non-existence of self ( anatman ),
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#17331054912611224-612: A new religious movement, teaches a form of meditation it calls "Raja yoga" that has nothing to do with either the precepts of Hatha Yoga or Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras . Modern interpretations and literature that discuss Raja yoga often credit Patañjali's Yogasūtras as their textual source, but many neither adopt the teachings nor the philosophical foundations of the Yoga school of Hinduism. This mixing of concepts has led to confusion in understanding historical and modern Indian literature on Yoga. The Shaiva Yoga text, Amanaska , dated from
1326-428: A role in judgments on the morality of abortion . Some Christians espouse a trichotomic view of humans, which characterizes humans as consisting of a body ( soma ), soul ( psyche ), and spirit ( pneuma ); however, the majority of modern Bible scholars point out how the concepts of "spirit" and of "soul" are used interchangeably in many biblical passages, and so hold to dichotomy: the view that each human comprises
1428-432: A shadow. In some cases, it is connected to shamanistic beliefs among the various Inuit groups . Caribou Inuit groups also believed in several types of souls. Shinto distinguishes between the souls of living persons ( tamashii ) and those of dead persons ( mitama ), each of which may have different aspects or sub-souls. Sikhism considers soul ( atma ) to be part of God ( Waheguru ). Various hymns are cited from
1530-498: A similar form of active meditation called spiritual exercises . This movement uses the Sound Current and ancient Sanskrit tones in order to traverse and return to the higher realms of Spirit and into God. The MasterPath is another contemporary American movement of Surat Shabda Yoga. Gary Olsen, the current Living Master of this branch, contends that several historical figures are Sat Gurus of Surat Shabda Yoga as representatives for
1632-641: A specific step in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali . The medieval era Tantric work Dattātreyayogaśāstra explains in 334 shlokas the principles of four yogas: Mantra yoga, Hatha yoga, Laya yoga and Raja yoga. Alain Daniélou states that Rāja yoga was, in the historic literature of Hinduism, one of five known methods of yoga, with the other four being Hatha yoga , Mantra yoga , Laya yoga and Shiva yoga . Daniélou translates it as "Royal way to reintegration of Self with Universal Self ( Brahman )". The term became
1734-473: A spiritual soul with a corporeal soul. Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means inner self or soul. In Hindu philosophy , especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism , ātman is the first principle , the true self of an individual beyond identification with phenomena, the essence of an individual. In order to attain liberation ( moksha ) , a human being must acquire self-knowledge ( atma jnana ), which
1836-546: A typical human concept of lifespan and time. According to Louis Ginzberg , the soul of Adam is the image of God . Every soul of human also escapes from the body every night, rises up to heaven, and fetches new life thence for the body of man. In Brahma Kumaris , human souls are believed to be incorporeal and eternal . God is considered to be the Supreme Soul, with maximum degrees of spiritual qualities, such as peace, love and purity. In Helena Blavatsky 's Theosophy ,
1938-491: Is also known as Sehaj Yoga – the path leading to Sehaj or equipoise , The Path of Light and Sound, The Path of the Sants or 'Saints', The Journey of Soul, and The Yoga of the Sound Current. Surat Shabda Yoga is for the discovery of True Self ( Self-Realization ), True Essence ( Spirit-Realization ), and True Divinity ( God-Realization ) while living in the human physical body. This involves reuniting in stages with what
2040-454: Is an entity or "spiritual spark" or "light" in the human body - because of which the body can sustain life. On the departure of this entity from the body, the body becomes lifeless – no amount of manipulations to the body can make the person make any physical actions. The soul is the "driver" in the body. It is the roohu or spirit or atma , the presence of which makes the physical body alive. Many religious and philosophical traditions support
2142-691: Is an integral part of various other traditions as well, such as being a form of the advanced thogal practice in the Tibetan Dzogchen lineage, and is mentioned by H. P. Blavatsky , founder of the Theosophical Society in her book "The Voice of the Silence". The form of Surat Shabd Yoga, practiced by followers of Sant Mat and the Sikh tradition ( nanakpanthi ), is most commonly related to nāda yoga . Furthermore, nāda yoga resembles and combines elements from
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#17331054912612244-438: Is called animism . In the ancient Egyptian religion , an individual was believed to be made up of various elements, some physical and some spiritual. Similar ideas are found in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian religion. The Kuttamuwa stele , a funeral stele for an 8th-century BCE royal official from Sam'al , describes Kuttamuwa requesting that his mourners commemorate his life and his afterlife with feasts "for my soul that
2346-432: Is called a tzadik . Therefore, Judaism embraces the commemoration of the day of one's death, nahala / Yahrtzeit , and not the birthday , as a festivity of remembrance, for only toward the end of life's struggles, tests and challenges could human souls be judged and credited for righteousness. Judaism places great importance on the study of the souls. Kabbalah and other mystic traditions go into greater detail into
2448-401: Is called good—happiness, wisdom, love, compassion, harmony, peace, and so on. While the spirit is eternal and incorruptible, the soul is not. The soul acts as a link between the material body and the spiritual self, and therefore shares some characteristics of both. The soul can be attracted either towards the spiritual or towards the material realm, being thus the battlefield of good and evil. It
2550-454: Is called samadhi. Some medieval Indian texts on Yoga list Rajayoga as one of many types of yoga. For example, the 17th-century Sarvanga yoga pradipikå, a Braj-bhashya commentary by Sundardas, teaches three tetrads of Yogas. The first group is Bhakti yoga , Mantra yoga, Laya yoga , and Carcha yoga; the second is Hatha yoga , Raja yoga, Laksha yoga, and Ashtanga yoga ; the third is Samkhya yoga, Jñana yoga , Brahma yoga, and Advaita yoga. Of
2652-593: Is called the "Essence of the Absolute Supreme Being", also known as the "Shabd or Word". Attaining this extent of self-realization is believed to result in jivan moksha/mukti , which is liberation/release from samsara and positivity in the cycle of karma and reincarnation . Initiation by a contemporary living Satguru (Sat - true, Guru - teacher) is considered a prerequisite for successful sadhana (spiritual exercises). The sadhanas include simran (repetition, particularly silent repetition of
2754-507: Is considered the movement leader in the 20th century. He came to an isolated cave of Kuppaghat, Bhagalpur (Bihar, India) and practiced Surat-Shabda Yoga from March 1933 - November 1934. He achieved self-realization and attained ultimate salvation during his practice. He wrote books "Moksha-Darshan (Philosophy of Salvation), "Satsang-Yoga", "Shri Gita-Yoga Prakash", "Raamcharit Maanas Saar-Satik", "Maharshi-Mehi-Padaawali" and "Maharshi-Mehi-Padawaali". The Radha Soami movement of Surat Shabda Yoga
2856-464: Is created immediately by God." Protestants generally believe in the soul's existence and immortality, but fall into two major camps about what this means in terms of an afterlife . Some, following John Calvin , believe that the soul persists as consciousness after death. Others, following Martin Luther , believe that the soul dies with the body , and is unconscious ("sleeps") until the resurrection of
2958-685: Is described in chapter 2 verse 28-55, and chapter 3 verse 3 and 54. There are numerous parallels in the ancient Samkhya , Yoga and Abhidharma schools of thought, particularly from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century AD, notes Larson. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras may be a synthesis of these three traditions. From the Samkhya school of Hinduism, Yoga Sutras adopt the "reflective discernment" ( adhyavasaya ) of prakrti and purusa (dualism), its metaphysical rationalism, and its three epistemic methods to gaining reliable knowledge. From Abhidharma Buddhism's idea of nirodhasamadhi , suggests Larson, Yoga Sutras adopt
3060-522: Is disputed within Judaism and the concept of immortality was most likely influenced by Plato . For example, Thomas Aquinas , borrowing directly from Aristotle 's On the Soul , attributed "soul" ( anima ) to all organisms but argued that only human souls are immortal. Other religions (most notably Hinduism and Jainism ) believe that all living things from the smallest bacterium to the largest of mammals are
3162-645: Is expounded in various Hindu scriptures such as the Nadabindu Upanishad , an ancient text affiliated with the several thousands-year-old Rig Veda . The practice of nāda yoga within Hinduism has been widely affiliated within many yoga traditions including bhakti or devotional yoga, kundalini and tantric yogas , laya yoga , and raja yoga . Modern Hindu teachers still emphasizing nada yoga include Swami Sivananda, Swami Rama, Rammurti Mishra (Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati), Paramahansa Yogananda (Kriya Yoga Lineage), and many others. The practice of nāda yoga
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3264-431: Is immortal, and eternal, and capable of receiving a fulness of joy. Latter-day Saint cosmology also describes "intelligences" as the essence of consciousness or agency. These are co-eternal with God, and animate the spirits. The union of a newly-created spirit body with an eternally-existing intelligence constitutes a "spirit birth", and justifies God's title "Father of our spirits". Some Confucian traditions contrast
3366-574: Is in this stele". It is one of the earliest references to a soul as a separate entity from the body. The 800-pound (360 kg) basalt stele is 3 ft (0.91 m) tall and 2 ft (0.61 m) wide. It was uncovered in the third season of excavations by the Neubauer Expedition of the Oriental Institute in Chicago, Illinois. The Baháʼí Faith affirms that "the soul is a sign of God,
3468-407: Is no beginning or end to the existence of soul. It is eternal in nature and changes its form until it attains liberation. In Jainism, jiva is the immortal essence or soul of a living organism, such as human, animal, fish, or plant, which survives physical death. The concept of Ajiva in Jainism means "not soul", and represents matter (including body), time, space, non-motion and motion. In Jainism,
3570-464: Is of greatest value in [them], that by which [they are] most especially in God's image: 'soul' signifies the spiritual principle in [humanity]." All souls living and dead will be judged by Jesus Christ when he comes back to earth . The Catholic Church teaches that the existence of each individual soul is dependent wholly upon God, stating: "The doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul
3672-618: Is only when the soul is attracted towards the spiritual and merges with the Self that it becomes eternal and divine. Rudolf Steiner claimed classical trichotomic stages of soul development, which interpenetrated one another in consciousness: In Surat Shabda Yoga , the soul is considered to be an exact replica and spark of the Divine. The purpose of Surat Shabd Yoga is to realize one's True Self as soul (Self-Realisation), True Essence (Spirit-Realisation) and True Divinity (God-Realisation) while living in
3774-409: Is said to be one whose souls are in harmony with each other, while an evil person is one whose souls are in conflict. The "free soul" is said to leave the body and journey to the spirit world during sleep, trance-like states , delirium , insanity , and death. The duality is also seen in the healing traditions of Austronesian shamans, where illnesses are regarded as a " soul loss " and thus to heal
3876-399: Is said to have mental illness or unconsciousness , while a dead soul may reincarnate to a disability , lower desire realms , or may even be unable to reincarnate. In theological reference to the soul, the terms "life" and "death" are viewed as emphatically more definitive than the common concepts of " biological life " and "biological death". Because the soul is said to be transcendent of
3978-422: Is the belief that humans have two or more souls, generally termed the "body soul", or "life soul", and the "free soul". The former is linked to bodily functions and awareness when awake, while the latter can freely wander during sleep or trance states. In some cases, there are a plethora of soul types with different functions. Soul dualism and multiple souls are prominent in the traditional animistic beliefs of
4080-438: Is to realize that one's true self ( ātman ) is identical with the transcendent self Brahman according to Advaita Vedanta . The six orthodox schools of Hinduism believe that there is ātman (self, essence) in every being. In Hinduism and Jainism , a jiva ( Sanskrit : जीव , jīva , alternative spelling jiwa ; Hindi : जीव , jīv , alternative spelling jeev ) is a living being, or any entity imbued with
4182-707: Is used to refer to the immaterial, spiritual, or thinking aspect of a person, as contrasted with the person's physical body; in the Vespasian Psalter 77.50, it means "life" or "animate existence". The Old English word is cognate with other historical Germanic terms for the same idea, including Old Frisian sēle, sēl (which could also mean "salvation", or "solemn oath"), Gothic saiwala , Old High German sēula, sēla , Old Saxon sēola , and Old Norse sāla . Present-day cognates include Dutch ziel and German Seele . In Judaism and in some Christian denominations, only human beings have immortal souls. Immortality
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4284-443: The material existence, and is said to have (potentially) eternal life , the death of the soul is likewise said to be an eternal death . Thus, in the concept of divine judgment , God is commonly said to have options with regard to the dispensation of souls, ranging from Heaven (i.e., angels ) to hell (i.e., demons ), with various concepts in between. Typically both Heaven and hell are said to be eternal, or at least far beyond
4386-620: The Austronesian peoples , the Chinese people ( hún and pò ), the Tibetan people , most African peoples, most Native North Americans , ancient South Asian peoples, Northern Eurasian peoples, and in Ancient Egyptians (the ka and ba ). The belief in soul dualism is found throughout most Austronesian shamanistic traditions. The reconstructed Proto-Austronesian word for
4488-998: The Contemporary Sant Mat movements article. Sant Kirpal Singh , a contemporary Sant Mat guru , stated that "Naam" ("Word") has been described in many traditions through the use of several different terms. In his teachings, the following expressions are interpreted as being identical to "Naam": The more recently promulgated Quan Yin Method of meditation espoused via the spiritual teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai has notable similarities to Surat Shabd Yoga. Eckankar , an American movement, has many links to Surat Shabd Yoga including terminology, although its American founder Paul Twitchell disassociated himself from his former teacher Kirpal Singh. The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness , also founded in America in 1971 by John-Roger and now with students in thirty-two countries, also teaches
4590-603: The Pātañjalayogaśāstra ("The Treatise on Yoga of Patañjali"). According to Axel Michaels, the Yoga Sutras are built upon fragments of texts and traditions from ancient India. According to Feuerstein, the Yoga Sutras are a condensation of two different traditions, namely "eight limb yoga" (ashtanga yoga) and action yoga ( kriya yoga ). The kriya yoga part is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 verse 1-27, chapter 3 except verse 54, and chapter 4. The "eight limb yoga"
4692-504: The arrival of Islam in India in twelfth century, further development and literature on Yoga philosophy of Hinduism went into decline. By the sixteenth century, Patanjali's Yoga philosophy was nearly extinct. Yoga was preserved by sadhus (ascetics, sannyasis ) of India. Some of the Hindu yoga elements were adopted by Sufi sect of Muslims in India. The Sufi Muslims at times adopted and protected
4794-522: The "body soul" is *nawa ("breath", "life", or "vital spirit"). It is located somewhere in the abdominal cavity , often in the liver or the heart (Proto-Austronesian *qaCay ). The "free soul" is located in the head. Its names are usually derived from Proto-Austronesian *qaNiCu ("ghost", "spirit [of the dead]"), which also apply to other non-human nature spirits. The "free soul" is also referred to in names that literally mean "twin" or "double", from Proto-Austronesian *duSa ("two"). A virtuous person
4896-1264: The 12th century CE or earlier, is a dialogue between Vamadeva and the deity Shiva . In the second chapter, the text mentions Raja yoga. It states that it is so named because it enables the yogin to reach the illustrious king within oneself, the supreme self. Raja yoga is declared as the goal where one experiences nothing but the bliss of the undisturbed, the natural state of calm, serenity, peace, communion within and contentment. The Raja yoga goal and state are synonymous with various terms, such as Amanaska , Unmani and Sahaj . The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (literally, A Little Light on Hatha Yoga ) asserts this as follows, राजयोगः समाधि श्च उन्मनी च मनोन्मनी | अमरत्वं लयस्तत्त्वं शून्याशून्यं परं पदम || ३ || अमनस्कं तथाद्वैतं निरालम्बं निरञ्जनम | जीवन्मुक्तिश्च सहजा तुर्या चेत्येक-वाचकाः || ४ || सलिले सैन्धवं यद्वत्साम्यं भजति योगतः | तथात्म-मनसोरैक्यं समाधिरभिधीयते || ५ || यदा संक्ष्हीयते पराणो मानसं च परलीयते | तदा समरसत्वं च समाधिरभिधीयते || ६ || तत-समं च दवयोरैक्यं जीवात्म-परमात्मनोः | परनष्ह्ट-सर्व-सङ्कल्पः समाधिः सोऽभिधीयते || ७ || Raja yoga , samadhi, unmani, manonmani, amaratva, laya, tatva, sunya , asunya, parama pada, amanaska, advaita , niralamba, niranjana, jivanmukti , sahaja and turiya denote
4998-635: The 19th century. Al Biruni's record has helped modern scholars establish that Patanjali's Yogasutras manuscript existed in India in many versions, each with multiple commentaries by Hindu scholars. Some of these versions and commentaries are either lost or undiscovered. Al Biruni's translation preserved many of the core themes of Yoga philosophy of Hinduism; however, certain sutras and analytical commentaries were restated, making them more consistent with Islamic monotheistic theology. Al Biruni's version of Yoga Sutras reached Persia and Arabian peninsula by about 1050 AD. In Indian historical timeline , marking with
5100-538: The 1st millennium BCE Indian texts such as Katha Upanishad , Shvetashvatara Upanishad and Maitri Upanishad . In early 11th century, the Persian scholar Al Biruni visited India, lived among Hindus for 16 years, and with their help translated several significant Sanskrit works into Arabic and Persian. One was Patanjali's Yogasutras. Along with generally accurate translations, Al Biruni's text has significant differences from Yogasutra manuscripts discovered in India during
5202-577: The Command (Hukam), will know One Lord, we call him the real man. ਸਚਾ ਸਉਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ਸਚਾ ਵਾਪਾਰਾ ਰਾਮ॥ (GGSG-Page No.570) Translation: The True merchandise(ਸਚਾ ਸਉਦਾ) is the Lord`s Naam. Trader Raam is the truth. Above line in the book "Guru Granth Sahib Ji" verifies that during the true merchandise (ਸਚਾ ਸਉਦਾ) when Guru Nanak Dev Ji fed the hungry saints and he got the Naam from them. Whereas in books when we read
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#17331054912615304-685: The Hindu practices of raja yoga , laya yoga , and bhakti yoga . Adherents believe Surat Shabda Yoga has been expressed through the movements of many different masters. However, a basic principle of Surat Shabd Yoga's tradition is the requirement for an outer Living Master to initiate followers onto the Path. The movements whose historical Satgurus have died and their successors do not purport themselves to be Surat Shabd Yoga Satgurus, usually are not considered currently to be Surat Shabd Yoga movements, either by their own leaders or by movements with current Living Masters. Satguru Maharshi Mehi Paramahansa Ji Maharaj
5406-736: The Jewish notions of nephesh (נפש) and ruah (רוח), meaning spirit, (also in the Septuagint, e.g. Genesis 1:2 רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים = πνεῦμα θεοῦ = spiritus Dei = "the Spirit of God"). Christians generally believe in the existence and eternal, infinite nature of the soul. The "origin of the soul" has provided a vexing question in Christianity. The major theories put forward include soul creationism , traducianism , and pre-existence . According to soul creationism, God creates each individual soul directly, either at
5508-448: The Word of God has existed since the beginning of the world, prior to any man-made language. Surat Shabd Yoga arose in India in the last several hundred years, specifically in the Sikh tradition ( Nanakpanthi ) founded by Guru Nanak. The practice of meditation (Shabad), which is the central core practice of Surat Shabd Yoga, is derived from the ancient Hindu practice of nāda yoga . Nada yoga
5610-464: The Yoga tradition of Hindus during the Islamic rule of India, and at other times helped the persecution and violence against those Hindus. The Mughal Emperor Akbar , known for his syncretic tolerance, was attracted to and patronized Yoga philosophy of Hinduism. The yoga scholar Stephen Cope identifies the following similarities between Rāja yoga and Buddhism . He notes that the two philosophies are not
5712-479: The ages, framing all things that constitute and inhabit the universe. Yoga is literally ‘union’, or ‘to yoke’. Etymologically, Surat Shabd Yoga means the ‘Union of the Soul with the Essence of the Absolute Supreme Being’. First is simran, or the repetition of Lord's holy names. It brings back our scattered attention to the tisra til - the third eye (behind our eyes), which is the headquarters of our mind and soul, in
5814-416: The body are the soul of man." Latter-day Saints believe that the soul is the union of a pre-existing, God-made spirit, and a temporal body, which is formed by physical conception on earth. After death, the spirit continues to live and progress in the spirit world until the resurrection , when it is reunited with the body that once housed it. This reuniting of body and spirit results in a perfect soul that
5916-445: The body is a collection of elements and the soul is the essence. Soul or psyche ( Ancient Greek : ψυχή psykhḗ , of ψύχειν psýkhein , "to breathe", cf. Latin anima ) comprises the mental abilities of a living being: reason, character, free will , feeling, consciousness , qualia , memory, perception, thinking, and so on. Depending on the philosophical system, a soul can either be mortal or immortal . The ancient Greeks used
6018-440: The dead . Various new religious movements deriving from Adventism including Christadelphians , Seventh-day Adventists , and Jehovah's Witnesses , similarly believe that the dead do not possess a soul separate from the body and are unconscious until the resurrection. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the spirit and body together constitute the Soul of Man (Mankind), stating: "The spirit and
6120-638: The eternal Inner Shabda Master. A few of these Living Masters of their times include Laozi , Jesus , Pythagoras , Socrates , Kabir , the Sufi Masters, and mystic poets, Hafez and Rumi , the Ten Sikh Gurus beginning with Guru Nanak , Tulsi Sahib, and the Radhasoami/Radha Soami and offshoot Masters, including Seth Shiv Dayal Singh Ji , Baba Sawan Singh , Baba Faqir Chand , and Sant Kirpal Singh . The ten Sikh Satgurus (Nanak Panthis) discuss
6222-412: The exponents of Surat Shabd Yoga and the commonly shared elements related to the basic principles, notable variations also exist. For example, the followers of the orthodox Sikh faith no longer lay emphasis on a contemporary living guru. Different Surat Shabd Yoga paths will vary in the names used to describe the Absolute Supreme Being ( God ), including Anami Purush (nameless power) and Radha Soami (lord of
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#17331054912616324-411: The five senses, and this is how a student turns them inward to experience what is inside of himself. See Vishnu with his four arms and they correspond to these. One hand is holding a circle (chakra) of light, one holding a conch shell for the inner sound (hold it to the ear and a sound is heard), one holding a lotus flower to refer to nectar, and finally the fourth hand is holding a metal club (mace) for
6426-457: The history of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, we find no information regarding true merchandise of Word or Naam of God. This line also verifies that Guru Nanak Dev Ji also interacted with living SattGuru where from he got the Naam. ਏਕੋ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੈ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਤਗੁਿਰ ਦੀਆ ਬੁਝਾਇ ਜੀਉ॥੫॥ (GGSG-Page No.72) ..Guru Nanak Translation: The One "Naam" is the Lord's Command, O Nanak, the "True Guru(teacher)" helped me to guess
6528-501: The holy book Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) that suggests this belief. "God is in the Soul and the Soul is in the God." The same concept is repeated at various pages of the SGGS. Example include that "The soul is divine; divine is the soul. Worship Him with love", and "The soul is the Lord, and the Lord is the soul; contemplating the Shabad, the Lord is found." The atma or soul according to Sikhism
6630-501: The human body, and therefore ubiquitous and cannot be placed in a single organ, such as heart or brain, nor it is separable from the body (except after the body's death). In the fourth book of De Trinitate , Augustine of Hippo states that the soul is all in the whole body and all in any part of it. The present Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "[The term 'soul'] refers to the innermost aspect of [persons], that which
6732-533: The immortal rūḥ "drives" the mortal nafs, which comprises temporal desires and perceptions necessary for living. Several verses of the Quran that mention the rûh occur in chapters 17 ("The Night Journey") and 39 ("The Troops"). And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Rûh. Say, "The Rûh is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind has not been given of knowledge except a little. And remember your Rabb inside your-self Allah takes
6834-566: The impermanence of all things ( anitya ), and the suffering ( dukkha ) experienced by living beings due to attachment to ideas of self and permanence are central concepts in almost all Buddhist schools . The doctrine of Buddha-nature , while sometimes misinterpreted as referring to a "true self" or "soul" of some kind, actually depends upon acceptance of the concept of anatman to be properly understood. According to some Christian eschatology , when people die, their souls will be judged by God and determined to go to Heaven or to Hades awaiting
6936-462: The inner sound and inner light a lot in their scriptures. The first Sikh Satguru was Guru Nanak , but his master (guru) was Waheguru . These masters teach these two techniques. There is a master, [2] Satpal Maharaj , that teaches four techniques that include these two of inner light and inner music. Altogether He teaches inner light (sight), inner music (hearing), primordial vibration (sense of touch), and nectar (taste and smell). These correspond to
7038-779: The inner vibration (if you hit something with it, it vibrates like a tuning fork). Some people refer to this inner energy as the soul. THE LINE OF SUCCESSION FROM KABIR TO PRESENT From Kabir to present, the Masters of the Divine Science of Light and Sound appear and manifest themselves as an uninterrupted line, through which they transmitted to each successor the one knowledge and the one Power. Subsequently, we can trace an exact "family tree" from Kabir Sahib (1398-1518) to Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469-1539) and further as shown below: ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਨੈ ਸੁ ਏਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ਬੰਦਾ ਕਹੀਐ ਸੋਈ॥੩॥ (GGSG-Page No.1350-3)...Saint Kabir Translation: One who will recognize
7140-436: The lamp (light). (Here One Naam means One Word, and Hukam also addresses the Naam of God) ਦੇਹੀ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨਿਵਾਸੀ॥ (GGSG-Page No.1026) Translation: The Naam or Word or Kalma, abides deep within the body. This line demonstrates that the Naam of God is something present in the body. One will get it within his own home i.e body where the spirit lives. Body is the current home of the spirit. After Guru Nanak Dev Ji below are
7242-455: The liberated and non-liberated souls is that the qualities and attributes are manifested completely in case of siddha (liberated soul) as they have overcome all the karmic bondages whereas in case of non-liberated souls they are partially exhibited. Souls who rise victorious over wicked emotions while still remaining within physical bodies are referred to as arihants . Concerning the Jain view of
7344-484: The limbs are active, but when one is sleeping, the soul is active and reveals "an award of joy or sorrow drawing near" in dreams. Erwin Rohde writes that an early pre- Pythagorean belief presented the soul as lifeless when it departed the body, and that it retired into Hades with no hope of returning to a body. Plato was the first thinker in antiquity to combine the various functions of the soul into one coherent conception:
7446-477: The moment of conception or at some later time. According to traducianism, the soul comes from the parents by natural generation. According to the preexistence theory, the soul exists before the moment of conception. There have been differing thoughts regarding whether human embryos have souls from conception, or whether there is a point between conception and birth where the fetus acquires a soul , consciousness , and / or personhood . Stances in this question play
7548-405: The nature of the soul. Kabbalah separates the soul into five elements, corresponding to the five worlds : Kabbalah proposed a concept of reincarnation, the gilgul ( nefesh habehamit – the "animal soul"). Some Jewish traditions assert that the soul is housed in the luz bone, though traditions disagree as to whether it is the atlas at the top of the spine, or the sacrum at bottom of
7650-546: The nine SattGurus (i.e Teachers of truth) of the Sikhs who got the success in the history and lead the community of Sikhs: Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji (1504-1552), Sr Guru Amar Das Ji (1479-1574), Sri Guru Ram Das Ji (1534-1581), Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563-1606), Sri Guru Har Gobind Sahib Ji (1595-1644), Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji (1630-1661), Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji (1656-1664), Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji (1621-1675) and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1667-1708). Among
7752-423: The other hand, Naam or Word of God or Kalma is unspeakable, alive and no one can write it on paper. In the new testament "Hebrews 4:12" states, " For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. " Words which we write on paper are not alive and active. According to Scripture,
7854-681: The physical body. Similarly, the spiritual teacher Meher Baba held that "Atman, or the soul, is in reality identical with Paramatma the Oversoul – which is one, infinite, and eternal ... [and] [t]he sole purpose of creation is for the soul to enjoy the infinite state of the Oversoul consciously." Eckankar , founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965, defines Soul as the true self; the inner, most sacred part of each person. George Gurdjieff taught that humans are not born with immortal souls but could develop them through certain efforts. Greek philosophers, such as Socrates , Plato , and Aristotle , understood that
7956-404: The pursuit of an altered state of awareness. However, unlike Buddhism, which believes that there is neither self nor soul, Yoga is physicalist and realist, like Samkhya, in believing that each individual has a self and soul. The third concept that Yoga Sutras synthesizes into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions of isolation, meditation and introspection, as well as the yoga ideas from
8058-399: The same state of being. Just as with salt dissolved in water becomes one with it, so the union of Atman and Manas (mind) is denominated samadhi, When the breath becomes exhausted, and mind becomes Praliyate (still, reabsorbed), they fuse into union called samadhi. This equality, this oneness of the two, the living self and the absolute self, when all Sankalpa (desire, cravings) end
8160-434: The sick, one must "return" the "free soul" (which may have been stolen by an evil spirit or got lost in the spirit world) into the body. If the "free soul" can not be returned, the afflicted person dies or goes permanently insane. The shaman heals within the spiritual dimension by returning 'lost' parts of the human soul from wherever they have gone. The shaman also cleanses excess negative energies, which confuse or pollute
8262-436: The soul (ψυχή, psykhḗ ) must have a logical faculty, the exercise of which was the most divine of human actions. At his defense trial, Socrates even summarized his teachings as nothing other than an exhortation for his fellow Athenians to excel in matters of the psyche since all bodily goods are dependent on such excellence ( Apology 30a–b). Aristotle reasoned that a man's body and soul were his matter and form respectively:
8364-550: The soul after death. Many within these religions and philosophies see the soul as immaterial, while others consider it possibly material. According to Chinese traditions, every person has two types of soul called hun and po ( Chinese : 魂and 魄 ; pinyin : Hún and Pò ), which are respectively yang and yin . Taoism believes in Ten souls, Sanhunqipo ( Chinese : 三魂七魄 ; pinyin : Sān hún qī pò ) ( 三魂七魄 ) "three hun and seven po ". A living being that loses any of them
8466-412: The soul exists and is able to think. He believed that as bodies die, the soul is continually reborn ( metempsychosis ) in subsequent bodies; however, Aristotle believed that only one part of the soul was immortal, namely the intellect ( logos ). The Platonic soul consists of three parts: Raja yoga Traditional In Sanskrit texts, Rāja yoga ( / ˈ r ɑː dʒ ə ˈ j oʊ ɡ ə / )
8568-610: The soul is "thetan", derived from the Greek word theta , symbolizing thought. Scientologists practice a form of counselling (called auditing ) which aims to address the soul to improve abilities, both worldly and spiritual. Soul dualism, also called "multiple souls" or "dualistic pluralism", is a common belief in Shamanism , and is essential in the universal and central concept of "soul flight" (also called "soul journey", " out-of-body experience ", " ecstasy ", or " astral projection "). It
8670-446: The soul is that which moves things (i.e., that which gives life, on the view that life is self-motion) by means of its thoughts, requiring that it be both a mover and a thinker. Drawing on the words of his teacher Socrates, Plato considered the psyche to be the essence of a person, being that which decides how humans behave. He considered this essence to be an incorporeal, eternal occupant of our being. Plato said that even after death,
8772-399: The soul is the field of our psychological activity (thinking, emotions, memory, desires, will, and so on) as well as of the paranormal or psychic phenomena, such as extrasensory perception or out-of-body experiences; however, the soul is not the highest, but a middle dimension of human beings. Higher than the soul is the spirit, which is considered to be the real self; the source of everything
8874-550: The soul or spirit. In Judaism , there was originally little to no concept of a soul. As seen in the Genesis , the divine breath simply animated bodies. Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being. Judaism relates the quality of one's soul to one's performance of the commandments ( mitzvot ) and reaching higher levels of understanding, and thus closeness to God. A person with such closeness
8976-466: The soul); the presiding deities and divisions of the macrocosm ; the number of outer initiations ; the words given as mantras ; and the initiation vows or the prerequisites that must be agreed to before being accepted as an initiate. Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, the soul is the non-material essence of a person, which includes one's identity , personality , and memories , an immaterial aspect or essence of
9078-529: The soul, Virchand Gandhi said that "the soul lives its own life, not for the purpose of the body, but the body lives for the purpose of the soul. If we believe that the soul is to be controlled by the body then soul misses its power." The Hebrew terms נפש nefesh (literally "living being"), רוח ruach (literally "wind"), נשמה neshamah (literally "breath"), חיה chayah (literally "life") and יחידה yechidah (literally "singularity") are used to describe
9180-452: The soul. In some ethnic groups, there can also be more than two souls. Like among the Tagbanwa people , where a person is said to have six souls – the "free soul" (which is regarded as the "true" soul) and five secondary souls with various functions. Several Inuit groups believe that a person has more than one type of soul. One is associated with respiration, the other can accompany the body as
9282-552: The souls and bodies of the unrighteous will be destroyed in Hell rather than suffering eternally ( annihilationism ). Believers will inherit eternal life either in Heaven, or in a Kingdom of God on earth, and enjoy eternal fellowship with God. Other Christians reject the punishment of the soul. Paul the Apostle used psychē ( ψυχή ) and pneuma ( πνεῦμα ) specifically to distinguish between
9384-403: The souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die [He takes] during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.. In Jainism, every living being, from plant or bacterium to human, has a soul and the concept forms the very basis of Jainism. According to Jainism, there
9486-509: The souls themselves ( Atman and jiva ) and have their physical representative (the body) in the world. The actual self is the soul, while the body is only a mechanism to experience the karma of that life. Thus, if one sees a tiger then there is a self-conscious identity residing in it (the soul), and a physical representative (the whole body of the tiger, which is observable) in the world. Many people believe that non-biological things, such as rivers and mountains, also possess souls. This belief
9588-448: The spine. The Scientology view is that a person does not have a soul, it is a soul. It is the belief of the religion that they do not have the power to force adherents' conclusions. Therefore, a person is immortal, and may be reincarnated if they wish. Scientologists view that one's future happiness and immortality, as guided by their spirituality, is influenced by how they live and act during their time on earth. Scientology's term for
9690-480: The term Rāja yoga is found in other contexts, quite different from its modern usage. In ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, it meant the highest state of yoga practice (one reaching samādhi ). The Hatha Yoga Pradipika , for example, states that Hatha yoga is one of the ways to achieve Rāja yoga. Rāja yoga is discussed in the Yogatattva Upanishad . It is then mentioned in a 16th-century commentary on
9792-450: The term " ensouled " to represent the concept of being alive, indicating that the earliest surviving Western philosophical view believed that the soul was that which gave the body life. The soul was considered the incorporeal or spiritual "breath" that animates (from the Latin anima , cf. "animal") the living organism. Francis M. Cornford quotes Pindar by saying that the soul sleeps while
9894-407: The twelve, Sundardas states that Rajayoga is the best yoga. One meaning of Raja yoga is as a modern retronym introduced by Swami Vivekananda, when he equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali . After its circulation in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, many Indian scholars reviewed it, then published their Bhāṣya (notes and commentary) on it. Together, they form a canon called
9996-430: The view that the soul is the ethereal substance – a spirit; a non-material spark – particular to a unique living being. Such traditions often consider the soul both immortal and innately aware of its immortal nature, as well as the true basis for sentience in each living being. The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly even within a given religion as to what happens to
10098-529: The waking state, whence it has scattered. Second is dhyan, or contemplation on the immortal form of the Master. This helps in keeping the attention fixed at that centre. Third is bhajan, or listening to the Anahad Shabd or celestial music that is constantly reverberating within us. With the help of this divine melody, the soul ascends to higher regions and ultimately reaches the feet of the Lord. Surat Shabda Yoga
10200-544: Was Tulsi Sahib of Hathras. According to the successors Soami Bagh and Dayal Bagh, Tulsi Sahib was a contemporary guru of the same teachings; but being a natural born Satguru, Seth Shiv Dayal Singh Ji himself had no guru. After his death, six immediate successors carried on Shiv Dayal Singh’s teachings, including Huzur Maharaj Rai Salig Ram of Peepal Mandi, Agra, and Babaji Maharaj Baba Jaimal Singh of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). More information on living masters related to Seth Shiv Dayal Singh Ji's lineage can be found in
10302-520: Was both the goal of yoga and a method to attain it. The term also became a modern name for the practice of yoga in the 19th-century when Swami Vivekananda gave his interpretation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in his book Raja Yoga . Since then, Rāja yoga has variously been called aṣṭāṅga yoga , royal yoga , royal union , sahaja marg , and classical yoga . Rāja (Sanskrit: राज) means "chief, best of its kind" or "king". Rāja yoga thus refers to "chief, best of yoga". The historical use of
10404-505: Was established by Shiv Dayal Singh (1818–1878) in 1861 and named "Radhasoami Satsang" circa 1866. Soamiji Maharaj, as he was known, presided over the satsang meetings for seventeen years at Panni Gali and Soami Bagh in Agra , India, until he died on June 15, 1878. Accounts of his guru and successors vary, although he gave verbal instructions on his last day as to how his followers should be cared for. According to Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his guru
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