Quintessence Monthly newsletter of the Penn State Vedic Society

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Quintessence Monthly newsletter of the Penn State Vedic Society .

Who am I ?

Have you ever wondered "Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is my

relationship to the world and the people around me? How can I be happy? If you

seek answers to these questions, welcome aboard ! This newsletter aims to

address these questions.

Am "I" the physical body? Our physical body keeps changing from childhood to

teenage to youth to old-age. According to scientists, the cells of the body

replenish themselves completely once in every 7 years. In spite of these

changes to the physical body, the sense of ifIle of a 5 year old child is the

same even at the age of 50. Hence the ever changing body cannot be a

person’s identity.

The body is controlled by the mind. A person who is grim or serious at one

moment can have a cheerful disposition or even an agitated countenance the very

next moment depending on the

nuances of the mind. Thus, the ever-changing mind cannot be a person’s

true identity. The same argument also discounts intelligence, which controls

the mind, to be the identity of a person.

If the body, mind and intelligence do not qualify as the immutable identity of a

person, so do the various affiliations such as "American", "Russian", "Indian",

"Christian", "Muslim", "Hindu",

etc. These identities are in essence the identity of our physical body or the

mind. All these affiliations can change at any time. A Christian can convert to

Islam and a Russian can accept American citizenship. Thus, our mental

speculation is unable to come to the conclusion of our true identity.

Ancient Indian texts such as the"Vedas". provide extensive information on topics

such as nature of an individual and its relation to the cosmos and the Supreme.

According to these texts, we are

spirit souls, i.e spiritual in nature and not the physical form, mind or

intelligence, which are all material in nature. In the Bhagavad Gita, which is

a conversation between the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna and a

warrior-friend Arjuna, Krishna says that the soul pervades the entire body as

consciousness and is indestructible. While the material body of a living entity

is sure to come to an end, the soul is indestructible and eternal. The soul is

never born nor it dies, is ever-existing, cannot be cut by any weapon,

unchangeable, and eternally the same (Bhagavad Gita, 2).

The individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, Who is unfettered by

considerations of race or religion. This part and parcel relationship is like

that of sparks of fire to the fire. If we are eternal and part and parcel of

the Supreme, then questions such as "Is there a spiritual realm which is

different from the world we live in?", "Why did the souls enter the material

world?", "What happens to the soul after the death of the material body?", "Why

do I not realize that

I am eternal?", etc arise. Vedas and Bhagavad Gita address these questions in

detail. We aim to dis cuss these questions in the subsequent issues.

(Article by Sriram N. Kizhakkemadam, snk110 (AT) psu (DOT) edu)

Inquiries into the Absolute

Q.1) What are the "Vedas" and the "Bhagavad Gita"

"Vedas" are books of knowledge written in the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit

.. These books of knowledge are the bible for the followers of ‚Sanatana

Dharma‚ (loosely translated as

‚Eternal Constitutional Position), now known by the name of "Hinduism".

Tradition believes that the knowledge in these books are divine in origin, and

were revealed to sages eons ago. These

books contain interesting and accurate details of cosmology, creation, astrology

and ritualistic sacrifices. They also give vivid description about God and soul,

that are beyond sense

perception . It is for this reason, that Vedas are held in an high esteem. The

entire text of Vedas are codified into four divisions known as Rg, Yajur, Sama

and Atharvana.

The Bhagavad Gita is a 700 verse section of the largest epic in the world called

Mahabharatha, comprised of 100,000 verses. The Bhagavad Gita records the

conversation between the Supreme

Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna and a warrior-prince Arjuna in a battlefield

around 3200 B.C. The Bhagavad-Gita contains the essence of the knowledge given

in the Vedas.

Q.2) What is the relation between soul and body; soul and mind; body and mind:

sufferings of soul; suffering of body?

Ans: The body is like a vehicle or machine upon which the soul is seated. There

is a nice analogy in a Vedic scripture called "Katha Upanishad" which describes

the body as the chariot, the senses as the horses, the mind as the driving

instrument, the intelligence as the driver of the chariot, and the soul is

riding on this chariot. The soul has to utilize the intelligence to guide the

mind in controlling the senses and reach the destination, the Supreme Lord. The

body is the chariot needed to reach the destination. Proper care of the body is

required to reach the goal. But, one should not identify the soul in the

chariot with the chariot (body). The soul actually experiences neither

enjoyment or suffering in this material region, because it is spiritual by

nature, and is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. However, the soul

experiences the pains and pleasures of the body, which are just material

interactions, because he is thinking he is this body. The suffering or

enjoyment of the soul is just like one's suffering in a dream; it has no

reality. Cf Bhagavad Gita 13.21 and 22

..

Quotable Quotes

_ The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.

( Bhagavad Gita , Chapter 2, Text 11)

_ The non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their

disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance in due

course of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, and one

must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. ( Bhagavad Gita , Chapter

2, Text 14)

_ As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly

accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. ( Bhagavad

Gita , Chapter 2, Text 22)

_ Even one moment of life spent cannot be regained for millions of gold coins.

Therefore, what greater loss is there than wasting time? (Chanakya Pandita in

Nitishastra , Text 34)

Objectives of Quintessence

1) To present the essence of the timeless wisdom of ancient Indian scriptures

such as isVedasle and Bhagavad Gita in its pristine form, and demonstrate its

practical use and efficacy in our modern day lives,

2) To share the (spiritual) knowledge that will help people lead a life of real

happiness, peace and greater purpose, 3) To provide information about the

programs of the Penn State Vedic Society.

Please send us your comments/suggestions to: snk110 (AT) psu (DOT) edu ,

Sriram N. Kizhakkemadam, (Editor-in-Chief )