139 - Atman – The Light of all Lights| Swami Tattwamayananda

<b>Title: <i>Atman</i> – The Light of all Lights</b><br /><i></i><br /><i></i>15th Chapter: Verses 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15<br /><br />10th verse: “In this body, there are physical senses. There is a perceiver who uses these senses to perceive sense objects. Those who are deluded equate that perceiver to the body-mind complex. Those who are enlightened see him as separate and as the real perceiver.”<br /><br />Those who identify with the physical body continue with the transmigratory cycle of birth, old age, death and rebirth. The 10th verse should be understood in the context of the law of <i>karma</i> and the law of incarnation. According to the law of <i>karma</i>, our actions produce two types of results – one that is visible and immediate, another that is invisible. For example, if we help a person, the other person benefits (visible result). But we ourselves feel “I did something sensible” – this is the invisible result, which is stored in our <i>Antahkarana</i> as <i>samskara</i>. We collect these tendencies in our <i>Antahkarana</i> through actions involving the senses and the mind. We are born with the baggage of past <i>samskaras</i> (tendencies) – we cannot disown them.<br /><br />There are two ways of looking upon our experiences. The first is a worldly view where we think: “I (body-mind-complex) is doing this.” Second, a spiritually evolved view, where we think: “There is something within me for whom this body-mind-complex is an instrument.” The soul continues its transmigratory cycle until the wrong notion is gone.Those who are enlightened understand that the soul (the primary and the owner) has a body. Those who are not enlightened, their understanding is that the body (the primary and the owner) has a soul.<br /><br />11th verse: “Those who are not endowed with the power of discerning wisdom identify with the physical body and empirical experiences. They enjoy and suffer. They deceive themselves by wanting a continuing succession of happy experiences. Those endowed with spiritual wisdom look upon ha