The Ultimate Freedom
5 November 1969 am in Opera House, Bombay, India
A few questions have been asked, seeking clarification of certain points I discussed in last nights talk.
Question 1
A FRIEND HAS ASKED: IF A MAN AND A WOMAE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SOUL TO TAKE BIRTH, THE MEAN THERE ARE MANY SEPARATE SOULS AND NOT ONE UNIVERSAL SOUL? ALSO, ON MANY OCCASIONS YOU HAVE SAID THERE IS ONLY ORUTH, ONE GOD, ONE SOUL.
ARENT THESE STATEMENTS TRADICTORY?
There is no tradi.
Of course, God is one.
The soul is essentially ooo, but the body is of two types.
One is the gross body which we see, and the other is the subtle body which we ot see.
At the moment of death, the gross body falls away, but the subtle body remains intact.
The soul resides within two bodies -- the subtle body and the gross body.
At the time of death the gross body dies.
The body which is made of earth and water, the body which sists of flesh, bones and marrow, drops, dies.
Subsequently, the body prised of subtle thoughts, subtle feelings, subtle vibrations, subtle filaments, remains.
This body, formed of all these subtle things, along with the soul, once again proceeds on a journey, and agaiers a gross body for a new birth.
When a new soul ehe mothers womb, it means this subtle body enters.
In the event of death only the gross body disies, not the subtle body.
But with the occurrence of the ultimate death, what we call moksha, the subtle body disies along with the gross body as well.
Then there is no more birth for the soul.
Then the soul bees oh the whole.
This happens only once.
It is like a drop merging into the o.
Three things have to be uood.
First, there is the element of the soul.
Whewo types of bodies -- the gross and the subtle -- e in tact with this element of the soul, both bee active.
We are familiar with the gross, the physical body; a yogi is familiar with the subtle body, and those who go beyond yoga are familiar with the soul.
Ordinary eyes are able to see the gross body.
The yogic eye is able to see the subtle body.
But that which is beyond yoga, that which exists beyond the subtle body, is experienced only in samadhi.
One who goes beyoation attains samadhi, and it is iate of samadhi that one experiehe divine.
The ordinary man has the experience of the physical body, the ordinary yogi has the experience of the subtle body, the enlightened yogi has the experience of the divine.
God is one, but there are tless subtle bodies and there are tless gross bodies.
The subtle body is the causal body; it is this body that takes on the new physical body.
You see many light bulbs around here.
The electricity is ohat energy is one, but it is maing through different bulbs.
The bulbs have different bodies, but their soul is one.
Similarly, the sciousness maing through us is one, but in the maion of this sciousness, two vehicles are applied.
One is the subtle vehicle, the subtle body; the other is the gross vehicle, the gross body.
Our experience is limited to the gross, to the physical body.
This restricted experience is the cause of all human misery and ignorance.
But there are people who, even after going beyond the physical body, may stop at the subtle body.
They will say, "There are an infinite number of souls.
" B