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I am the Soul
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the Self. This experience, this acquaintance happens within, not outside.
There is a great difference between the acquaintance with the Soul and the acquaintance with all substances of this material world other than the Soul. The acquaintance of external substances, people or places is at the intellectual level. If we happen to know a person, then we know his name, address, caste, occupation and his relations with others. Going a step further. we also know what his social status is. If he holds any special powers, we know about them too. But all these identifications are through our intellect.
Perhaps, if we have friendship with some body, if we are attached with affectionate feelings with him, then the acquaintance reaches the heart. We know each other heart to heart. The fibre of attachment that binds us makes us experience happiness or sorrow. In spite of all this, there is no soulful experience in it.
The feelings of the acquaintances that have reached the levels of intellect or the heart are not so deep as those of the experience of the Soul. For experiencing the soul, one has to isolate from everything including the body, senses, mind, intellect, heart and touch the deepest level of the Soul. The realisation of the self can occur only when this level is touched.
Similarly we have felt the experiences occurring at the level of body and senses. We have felt the external joys and sorrows. But the feeling of the soul is such that having experienced it, there remains a sort of satisfaction and permanent happiness, which the jiva relishes. He does not have a bother after enjoying it. After relishing this there would not remain any sort of dissatisfaction or the experience of sorrows. Whereas after the experiences through the senses, there is dissatisfaction. The shadow of sorrow looms large behind joy. Hence Srimadji says -
पश्चात् दुःख ते सुख नहीं
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