Though
there were disagreements among Indian philosophers about the ‘real’ nature of the
soul and whether it is one or many, they seem to be unanimous on one issue.
The Upanishads: In an
interesting story of Vedic seer Yäjñavalkya (in Brahadäranyaka Upanishad), the seer gives an elaborate reason why
one should ask this question and try to understand what the soul is. He says
that that is the only way for eternal peace.
The Sänkhya: The Sänkhya philosophers
said that that is the only way one can come out of the miseries one undergoes
in the world. According to them, the root cause of our miseries is the lack of
knowledge that we are the souls and not the bodies, as we often tend to think
Yoga: Patanjali talks about
‘realizing’ that we are the souls. as the ultimate gateway to liberation. Once
you realize that fact, you are liberated. Reaching ‘samädhi’, at the
culminating step of Yoga, is the way to attain this realization.
So
all these ancient philosophers not only asserted that the soul exists, but also
the need to ‘realize’ the soul without which we will get trapped in endless
cycle of miseries.
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