Does “Atma” or “Soul” have feelings or emotions?
We usually say when one dies, his or her atma / soul has to be satisfied. We try to do things as per last wish of the dying person. I have read (by Swami Vivekananda) that Soul or Atma is immortal. And also Atma or Soul is not attached to the body. Body only perishes not Atma or Soul.
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The Gita says, Atma is immortal and takes a new body.
However, anyone thinking of the Lord , reaches him, no rebirth.
Thats all I know..rest, is what the shastras say about our
duties toward Pitrukkal.
Only jnanis can throw light upon your thoughts or a book
called Thus spoke Sri Ramana Maharishi.
Try to decipher the difference between PLEASURE and PLEASANT.You will get the answer
‘Pleasant’ the cause precedes Pleasure.the effect.
Body is matter or mass and atma is the conscience(Nearest equivalent of the abstract term). Hence upon death body is rendered as just a bundle of mass and the conscience sustains. Now shakti (energy) manifests itself in three forms names iccha, kriya and gyana. Even in the normal course iccha shakti again nearest equivalent is what we call ashrivatham, irsha, good wishes, jealousy and such similar things. Once a conscience know to us departs leaving behind the body, the conscience then has an symbiotic relationship and its only power thro iccha shakti and kriya and knowledge require the body. Hence, its not about last wishes in particular, but the intent is to get the benefit of iccha shakti of the soul with whom we had relationship in varying degrees hence, fulfiling last wishes, or karma kanda or even tharpanam, or annual shrardha etc are done. This is validated by case studies wherein those who do these things regularly generally find things falling in place at the right time in their material world.
This my understanding of the concept from differrent litreture i have browsed. correct me if i m wrong.
Yes Until the time we obtain the knowledge and realize through a proper guru that atma is pure and peaceful. With Maya being so powerful atmamay appear to carry (mirage) yhe effects of our praraptha karma until we obtain knowledge.
His (Jagan) understanding about atma is correct. the body perishes and it is the atma or soul that is immortal. according to Gita 2.24 “this atma cannot be cut,burnt, wetted or dried. it is eternal all pervading unchanging, immovable and primeval”. therefore it is our duty to take this jiwatma back to the PARAMATMA.
Today i read from ISHCON newsletter as how to prepare for death. as long as we are attached to this material world at the time of death you will get immence fear and you will end being entrapped in one of the 8.4million species in this world according to one’s karma. that is why when we are still alive and conscious we need to focus on the EXISTENCE so that we will be blissful when we take our last breath. Some things are easily said than done.
What we need to do now is to do japa at least we try to have one point concentration and eventually we can slowly go up. as for the last wish . the person may have done this in his body conscious state. one should have no wish other than uniting with the almighty. the question of satisfying one’s last wish i feel is more a tradition / culture and basically ritualistic.
Good Question,
In Gita, Krishna says, just live human changes clothes, aatma changes body. If we accept this as concept then Atma always have body and hence feelings.
Now in the age of science and technology, people may not accept earlier answer so they need technical answer. Now science have proved that life exists in the form of bacteria.
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/nasa-scientists-discover-new-form-of-life-bacteria-that-eat-arsenic/12753
When a person dies immediately a lot of bacterias get formed in the body. So one human life immediately changes the form. That’s what Krishna said in Gita. So that proves Atma (life) is immortal.
Now let’s take one more look at it with science and technology angle. Human reproduction also inherits some of the DNA and properties. That means the new life created with the help of two bodies (live) and also inherited some qualities. So when you perform rites for your parents they get the feelings thru your body. Because the new life from their life exists in your form and body.
So Atma will always have feelings. You have to realize the feelings. Like you might have some qualities of your parents either eyes color, voice, skin color or any other. So your parents even after their death can feel thru your body.
Atman is pure and eternal. It is the karms / vasanas of the previous birth which are insatiable and ever wanting. So in this birth if u realize this (of course through proper guidance ie via a noble soul called Guru ) you attain mukthi. All our texts reiterate only this point.
Asai arumin Asai arumin. Easanodu ayinum Asai arumin – Thirumoolar
Patruga Patru Atrran patrinai Appatrai
pattruga patru vidarku. – Thiruvalluvar.
Devoid of desires is the only option for salvation which is also called veeduperu.
For those who obtain sanyas there is no rituals like ordinary mortals. The question of unsatisfied desires does not arise in respect of realized souls. This is one level.
For a normal jeevan it is impossible to be without any desires. Normal desires are accepted and your reaction to the non-fullfilment of your desires is the point of contention. Lord Krishna suggests a status called STHITHA PRAGYAN. A status in which the person is not at all concerned / bothered about the result of his actions. He is the one who surrenders everything to HIM and does everything without attachment ( don’t mistake attachment with involvement) is a true aryan. For these kind of souls also there is no unfulfilled desires.
Very nice! Thiruvalluvar’s பற்றுக பற்று அற்றன் kural is actually seen in one of Nammazhvar’s slokams on ஸ்ரீரங்கம் Lord: பற்றிலார் பற்ற நின்றானே. [In fact, thirukural and Nammazhwar’s Andhadhi has quite a few common expressions].
Atma is eternal and non-destructive. It is actually sentient i.e. conscious of self (“I think, so I am”: Descartes). In vaishnavism, it is called ‘chith”. But, it is not without attributes. If we do some bad things say steal someone’s property, the karma cannot get ascribed to the body because it is non-sentient (called ‘achith;’ in vaishnavism), and so only the atma has to bear the burden; it will carry it to the next janma if it cannot “cancel” it in this janma itself. So, atma now can be called “atma with bad karma” etc. i.e. it gets qualified, and takes an “achith” in the next janma in acordance with the degree of karma it carries. Essentially because it is eternal the atma carries forward its karmas through several janmas until the time when the atma gets out of this cycle and reach Paramatama. Some atmas never reach that stage. Many of us would fall inthat group, I guess. But then, even in Parmatma’s abode its stay is of limted time. As per vaishnavism, only a few atmas have attained permanent position in Paramatma’s abode; they are called Nitya Suris.
I am not an expert in these things. But I do think about some of these things. My ideas are not well formed and I do have a lot of questions too. But this is how I think of this.
When you say feelings, the 5 senses of touch, hearing, seeing, smelling and talking are part of the body. But when you talk about feelings like emotions, I think of it as the sixth sense and I think that is from the atma. That is why we talk of humans possessing the sixth sense as opposed to inanimate objects. Again, per our scriptures, animals are at a lower level than humans because their sixth sense is not as well developed meaning their atma is not as well developed either.
I repeat, this is my under developed understanding. If you do get an answer, please do let me know. I think you are doing a great job passing on your knowledge about Hinduism.
I only hope our generation and the future generations use this knowledge and pass it on forever!
No, its actually a misconception to think sixth sense is related to aatma. 🙂
but thats okay. you cleared yourself being not clear about the concept. Aatma is pure, it has no sense, no feelings.
A small doubt on the subject on various rites towards the departed soul.in a human body there are millions of parasites,cells,bacteria etc.each one is active,and applying the theory that each and every Atom in universe is activated by the atman(soul)present in them,and that being the case,I wanted to know as to what happens to those billions of Atmas when an soul from any being leaves the body and seeks abode in Paramatman? What happens when a person does not have any children and how is that there is no provision on Shraardham for such departed souls..? If during the lifetime of the Parents if We have taken care of them well ,then ,even after their soul has departed why do shraardham? What is the use of doing shraardham etc and hanging and Garlanding of their photographs when, during their lifetime some do not care to take care of them? Finally in Shrimad Baghawat Gita Shri Krishna explains that the Soul is Fully Contented that Nothing can Destroy the same,Since This Soul is in Every Atom of Living.Nonliving,Movable and Unmovable,Visible and in Invisible form where/whom does that so called offering during the shraardhas go to. although I believe, I am yet unable to understand this.Can anyone throw some light on the subject?
For those who don’t have children or at least a male child, during Mahalaya Paksha, any agnate or cognate (father side or mother side) can include that person name ( who does not have male child) in Mahala Shraddam. But your clarification about atman and atoms are to be researched by me to give you an answer. Thanks for making efforts to be part of this blog.
Can a person who does not have any child,can the couple conduct all rites for themselves,on their own when they are alive? Can those parents who donot have male child,similarly can they perform their own final rites and shraardha for the future prior to their death?
No. Shraadha is for deceased.
OK,Thanks.
Hi, I lost my mother to cancer 4 years ago, Jan 31st is her Birthday and Feb 21st is when she left us. I visit the temple every Saturday. Is there any puja that can be done on my Mum’s birthday? Please advice! Also I’m desperate to connect to my mother. I have a twin who pretty much can sense that Mom is around followed by a few instances which make us believe that she is watching us and protecting us. Is this true or coincidental?