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I am the Soul
'I' leave it, whether you worship it or burn it, it does not matter at all. It is but a carcass. It will not have the disposition of knowing. Well, if there is a big man in status, he is addressed to with great respect and honour only until the atma is in him. Once he dies, he too is a carcass.
The atma says, 'There is no colour, smell, taste, touch or sound in me at all. In the same way I do not belong to any caste or creed. I have not adopted any gender. I am different from all these. The dry-cells that energise the torch-light of life are separate. The torch is not the cell nor the cell is the torch. But the cells work while being within the torch-light. Thus the drycell that energises this body is different. In the same way, I am the atma and the body etc., are all different from me.'
Well, what is the value of the atma? There are so many things in the world. So many things whom we find very useful. Why! Many of them are priced in lakhs and crores, but what are they for? Only because there is atma. Brothers! Assume for a while, that in this entire universe, there is no atma - spirit at all; only the inanimate world. What then will be the price of the inanimate thing? Nothing at all. It is but all dirt. The intellect is active only because there is the atma in the body. The intellect evaluates the inanimate thing. The body and senses are active with the pulsating of the atma and can therefore enjoy the things. So the value of all the things in this entire universe is dependent on the mere existence of one atma.
The beauty of all bodies whether big or small is only as long as there is atma in them. The blooming flower is beautiful because there is atma in it. But a flower without the atma, shrivels and dries up. Then it is not called flower but dirt. We try to decorate the body with ornaments; but the ornaments will offer a beauty only until the atma remains. Once the atma leaves, and if the carcass is decorated it does not look good. It may be for mere custom that you might decorate the dead-body. Thus the
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