Quite the Quest

Tag: soul

  • The Chariot Metaphor

    The Chariot Metaphor

    Not a nuance, first mentioned in the Katha Upanishad, where Lord Yamaraj compares the mind, body, and soul to elements in a chariot. Let me first give a brief of this exact metaphor.

    The pathway on which the chariot travels are the sense objects, meaning things in this world that can be sensed or felt. The chariot itself is the body, the physical body. The horses pulling the chariot are the senses. The reins are the mind and the charioteer is the intellect. Where does that leave the soul?

    Let’s say as a dilettante I managed to decipher the distinction of mind, body and soul because each of them can be identified as the self. I would have to bet on the charioteer, probably the most important component being the soul. Don’t I decide where my chariot goes? Apparently not! There’s an even more prime piece to the puzzle. The traveller. The traveller!! The soul, the highest reflection of self is simply the passenger. The senses felt, the road taken, the mastery on the reins, the mindfulness and the calculative turns made doesn’t really matter to the self, the traveller. He chooses the destination and enjoys the ride. The most bejewelled, the fastest, the most advanced chariot would not make any difference.

    The traveller is you taking a ride in this body guided by your mind maneuvered by the intellect. Just enjoy it.

  • The Collective Consciousness

    The Collective Consciousness

    This is no more a thought experiment in my mind. It’s an absolute truth I believe in. The essence of self in all of us is not a figment that happened to take on your body or mind. It’s a continuum of something, something divine so above and beyond energy and mass. The limitations of the english language or any language for that matter oblige me to use the word CONSCIOUSNESS. Not because it sounds grand but because I am evidently aware of its existence.

    This thing that I am in the blood, flesh and bones elevated by my thoughts, memories and emotions brought to life by my soul is comparable to a small cell, the unit of biological life. So we in all our glory make up tiny blocks of the collective consciousness. Many spiritual teachings refer to this as the BRAHMA. It translates to vastness.

    This is not an act to buy you as fresh perspective or to tickle your fancy. I want to surrender to this vast existence, I want to lose my sense of being a separate entity rather fall into the infinity. I think we belong to the infinity so parts of it doesn’t make sense. If not believe at least investigate this idea. Let it become your thought experiment at the least.