Soul, its Journey & Empowerment

The purpose of this article is to explain soul, its journey through various bodies and gradual empowerment.
As Lord Buddha has rightly said, life is full of miseries. Even if you desire to take birth in a super-rich family and if the Creator grants your request, don't think that you will be free from miseries. There, miseries will be plethora and, as a human being, you will have to undergo misery for innumerable births.
Everyone has a karmic account and the better we understand it, the easier our lives will be. The soul gets liberation upon the karmic account is being exhausted.

Soul & Bondage –
According to Hinduism, souls are eternal and are not created, but are rather part of the supreme soul, Brahman. The soul, or Atman, is the essence of a living being and is present in all living things. The Atman is the basis of every living creature, and without souls, everything would cease to exist. 
 
Due to actions (Karmas) done in past lives, Soul is burdened and is in bondage with physical body. The bondage creates ignorance (Avidya) of its true nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).
 
According to Vedanta Darshan or Brahma Sutra of Shankaracharya (around 5th century BC), Soul is agent of Brahman (Supreme Consciousness, commonly known as God or Parmatama).
Shree Krishna has explained the attributes in Chapter 2 of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita as under:

1. Soul is imperishable, indefinable and eternal is soul and all bodies are perishable (verse-18).
2. The soul is never born, nor it ever dies; nor does it become after being born. For, it is unborn, eternal, everlasting and primeval; even though the body is slain, the soul is not (verse-20).
3. As a man shedding worn-out garments, takes other new ones, likewise, the embodied soul, casting off worn-out bodies, enters into others that are new (verse-22).
4. Weapons cannot cut it nor can fire burn it; water cannot wet it nor can wind dry it (verse-23).

According to Ramanujacharya, Nimbakacharya and Madhvacharya, the medieval period saints, souls are countless quantitatively. Individual souls are qualitatively different in capacity. Souls are classified based on their bondage of karma and Samsara. Souls who are oblivious to spiritual values and are wallowing in worldliness, are in bondage. They are open to three gateways of Naraka – sexuality, anger and greed. Highly evolved souls are liberated. Some souls strive for the liberation.  Ignorance is the cause of bondage, and liberation is attained when ignorance is removed irrespective of whether the body is alive or not.
Soul & Consciousness –
Taittiriya Upanishad has described that soul has five sheaths or layers which is called as Panchkosh viz. Annamay kosh (Food Sheath), Pranmay kosh (Energy Sheath), Manomay Kosh (Mind Sheath), Vigyanmay Kosh (Intelligence Sheath) & Anandmay Kosh (Bliss Sheath or Casual Body). Due to ignorance, the soul identifies itself with the physical body and its constituents – mind, ego and Intellect which are products of Prakriti.
Everyone has three levels of mind - Conscious, subconscious and the Super conscious. Consciousness is the awareness of internal and external existence of the physical body. The subconscious mind is the hidden consciousness which records every thought, action and past deeds the individual soul. The Subconscious mind of all individuals is interconnected. Super conscious mind is the level at which each individual soul is aware of its relationship to God. This is what we try to tap into through meditation.

Soul & Karmic Account –
All souls are linked to other souls through a vast and complex network of karma, desires and debts.  Our interactions with others are largely determined by these three factors.  As a result, sometimes we like or dislike a person in an instance because of the karmic bonds that extend across several life times.  When we meet someone new, intuition kicks in and all the shared experiences we have had with that soul resurface to recreate the emotions we felt at our last meeting.  Whether we understand it or not, those deep-seated emotions will try to drive our relationship in this life as well.
According to Patanjali Yoga Sutras 12, 13, 15 & 31 -

1. Karmic account is the root cause of miseries in current birth or future births. Karmic account is piling of karmas.
2. Karmic account decides next birth, age and pleasures and pains. Till karmic account remains birth, death and re-birth continues.
3. As per karmic account, person experiences miseries caused by natural calamities, diseases and other living beings. Miseries are created -
   1. by nature by earthquake, flood, cold & heat waves, tsunami, etc.
   2. by the seven types of waves created in mind - Lust or desire, anger or hatred, greed, delusory emotional attachment, ego or pride, passion and envy or jealousy.
   3. In the body by diseases, pain, infirmities etc.
   4. by other living being.

Soul Journey & Rebirth -
Depending on the sort of life we desire, the things we want to do, the sort of people we want to be with, provided we have the requisite karma balance, we take birth to carry on enjoying what we have enjoyed in the past. 
Depending on the karmic link between the souls involved, the child can be friend, foe, debtor, creditor, advisor or indifferent to the parents.  Some children bring happiness, success and wealth to their parents because that is what they are destined to deliver to their parents.  That is the karmic debt they have to pay off.  Some children cause unending misery to their parents, costing them time, money, anguish and worries because that is the relationship they have to fulfil with their parents.  We have to accept that nature is delivering the right results of our karmic debts. 
If a soul has sufficient karmic bonds to be ‘born’ of a couple but not enough bonds to stay with them, the resulting child can be born to a couple but won’t remain with that couple.   Bound by debt, and karma, the soul moves from one family to another.  Sometimes, the karmic links are such that a soul is born to poor, unmarried couple in one part of the world, spends some time in an orphanage, gets adopted and ends up living with a rich family in another part of the world.  Karmic links propel the soul from one stage of life to another till it is sufficiently mature enough to start creating new karmas.  
According to Madhva, souls are different in the stage of evolution as under -

1. Souls who are positively evil in nature, go on degenerating more and more by their indulgence in evil actions, until the accumulated load of sins finally leads to eternal perdition (punishment). Their capacity of consciousness and bliss is completely effaced and reduced to inertness characteristic of material substances.
2. Souls who delight only in worldly values and feel no need for ethical and spiritual life. Reaping the fruits of their own actions they pass through births and deaths eternally.

​Soul Empowerment –
Souls who are receptive to spiritual values, and through repeated embodiments they evolve into better and better person, and finally through concentrated spiritual disciplines and God’s grace gain salvation.
According to the chapters 23, 26 & 27 of Section 5, Uma-Samhita of Shiva Purana discuss about impure body and means purify it. Performing Japas, sacrifices and eulogies after purifying the soul with pure emotions a man acquires perfect knowledge and after death, he attains the worlds of persons who perform many sacrifices.
 
In Mahabharata epic, Yudhishthra, the eldest of Pandavas informed as under:

1. By killing pride, one becomes dear;
2. By destroying anger, one is free from sorrow.
3. The destruction of desire is wealth;
4. The greatest austerity in human life is to fulfil one’s own duties. Sympathy is wishing for the happiness of all. Straightforwardness is equanimity of mind.
5. The absence of greed alone is happiness.

Souls are constantly improved & empowered by persistent practice of Truthfulness, Purity, Control over the Senses, Simplicity, Devotion, Service to needy, Compassion & Generosity, Equanimity and Contentment & Blissful state.