I am made of earth, water, fire, air,
ether, mind, reason, and the self.
These eight things are one side of Me.
The other, higher side of Me
is what makes the whole world exist
And is called the “life principle.”

(Gita 7:4, 5)

The self when it pertains to the body or to the material aspect of God means ego. It differs from the Self with a capital letter which means the sense of being. The Self is the life principle or the essence of life. It is God unmanifest. It is the spirit that sparks the eternal soul of living beings. It resides within our temporal minds and bodies but it is not of the mind or body.

The concept of reincarnation underpins the Vedic belief that the eternal soul attains salvation by merging into God. A spark of God’s marvel illuminates the soul which is confidence to the cycle of birth and death until it dissolves into God. When that occurs, the soul’s spark becomes one with the flame that is God and the soul experiences total bliss.

This excerpt is from On Hinduism by Irina Gajjar. To purchase the book, visit our Amazon Link.