Truth of Life – Part 3

In continuation to – Truth of Life – Part 2 & Truth of Life – Part 1

Going forward, Let’s understand what Human Mechanism is…..

Each human being can be broadly classified into two categories – The Matter and The Spirit. The body, mind and intellect are formed of matter and are insentient (Lifeless). The Spirit is the life in the human being. The spirit is also called the “self” or the “ätma”. It is only the body, mind and intellect that becomes restless. The Atma is ever blissful and in peace. One can relate this to the three components mentioned in Part 2.

The body or physical body also called as “Sthula Sharira” is formed of five gross elements or materials viz. Akasa, Vayu, Teja, Apas, Prithvi (Sky, air, fire, water and earth). This body is also called the gross body or the outer most body of the man. The five elements combine to make the body dependant on the actions of one’s past karmas. It has five organs of perception and five organs of action. The organs of perception being (as everyone knows) eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue which get stimuli from the external world and send it to the mind for comprehension.

The mind or the Intellect then discriminates and sends the required response to the organs of action (being speech. Hands, legs, arms and genitals). A person who does not use his intellect acts impulsively and does not take correct actions. The person feels happiness and sorrow in his lifetime through his physical body alone. Through his body only does he enjoy all the sensual pleasures he feels resulting due to the contact of objects which are outside his body. This physical body has certain essential properties – it is born, it grows, it suffers from diseases and it perishes. It changes every second. We are not what we are a second earlier.

The subtle body or the fine body or “Sukshma Sharira” (defined as memory or intellect above) contains the organs viz. the mind, manas, the intellect (buddhi) and the ego (Ahamkara). Organs (Indriyan) means the centres in the brain. Each sense action has a center in the mind. Those who cannot hear have ears (the instruments of hearing) but have damaged center of hearing in the brain. That is why we cannot hear someone calling us when our mind is engaged in something else and does not react to the call. When the mind reacts do we connect to the sound. The actions and thoughts through this fine body or Sukshma Sharira (also called as Karan Sharira) have a direct impact on the soul/Atma/Ruh. At the time of death, the Ruh/Atma separates from the other two body forms and takes a new form based on past karmas.

More about ‘Soul’ in our next post…