Guiding Light: Awakening Soul Consciousness For Lasting Peace

It has been mentioned clearly in many religious scriptures that the root cause of the peacelessness of the soul is wrong or vicious acts, which in simple words can be called ‘sins.’ It is these sinful acts that make man's nature and tendencies vicious. As a result, man gets entangled in the sorrowful cycle of painful births and deaths, i.e., in the bondage of vicious actions and becomes a sure prey to peacelessness and misery.

Now, if one wants to get rid of peacelessness totally, it is essential that he/she should attain absolution from past vicious acts so that he may not have to suffer as a result of them. And, secondly, he/she must not commit any sin henceforth and ought, in fact, to do good acts so that he/she may reap good rewards. But, before we begin this journey of self-transformation, we should know clearly: what is Karma (Action), what is Vikarma (Vicious Action), and Akarma or good action. Without this knowledge, man can neither attain absolution from past acts nor become viceless now.

Now, the million-dollar question that arises here is: “What knowledge did the human soul forget that led it to fall prey to misery and peacelessness?” Firstly, the soul, because of its reincarnation into a number of bodies, one after another, forgot that it is an immortal soul and, instead, began to identify itself with its mortal body. Secondly, as it identified itself with the body, and forgot its immortal parent— the Supreme Almighty. Thirdly, as it identified the self with the body, it began to look upon this world of matter as its original abode and forgot its sweet silence home, i.e., the Incorporeal World. As a result of all these, it developed the vices of attachment and sensuous pleasures and, therefore, got only sorrow and grief in the bargain.

So, then, what does one need to remember, and what does one need to forget or merge? Well, it’s simple. As mentioned above, all kinds of physical memories associated with one’s body, or to be precise, ‘body consciousness,’ lead us to the path of misery and pain. Whereas if we remain in ‘soul consciousness,’ it will awaken the divine in us, paving the way for sublime and noble thoughts. It is this practice that leads to a long-lasting link with the Supreme. Unfortunately, we forget HIM and remember the mundane world, which is nothing but an ocean of sorrow. So, now we need to undo this wrong by being soul-conscious and forging a love-born link with HIM through HIS remembrance, thereby making the world an ideal place to live in.

The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal and the UK, and has written more than 8,000 columns. He can be contacted at nikunjji@gmail.com / www.brahmakumaris.com