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APRIL, 1972
141
all substances. The infinite number of souls (living substance), which inhabit the universe, are likewise eternal and self-subsisting.
The Soul :
We have seen that all substance is divided into two distinct classes, living and non-living. The living substance is the animating energy of life, and is known as the soul. It is the living soul with which we are primarily concerned. When the nature of the soul is known the mystery of life is solved.
What is the soul ? Philosophers of all ages have tried to solve this problem. Some of them have partly hit on the truth. Thus, for example: “That mind or soul is immaterial, is beyond question ; but whether we should say, like Descartes, that it is an immaterial substance is another question.” The first part of this statement is perfectly true-mind or soul is immaterial. The question of whether it is a substance is soon determined. If the soul is real and not just an abstract term, then it is undoubtedly a substance.
The question then arises : is the soul a reality? The fact is, so many people identify themselves with the body, that the term soul is almost meaningless. That which feels, thinks, and knows, in a word, yourself, is not the body. It must be realized that the body is made of matter, and matter in itself is absolutely dead and unconscious. It may now be understood why the soul is called the living substance, separate and distinct from non-living substances.
The attributes of the soul-substance, among others, are life, consciousness and intelligence. The soul, therefore, is life, knowledge and feeling : these three are aspects of one and the same thing, and apart from the soul, they have no meaning whatsoever. You are this living substance, which is, at the same time, knowledge, feeling and energy.
Knowledge and the soul are the same. Where there is knowledge there is the soul, and one is never apart from the other. Books are not knowledge, they are only the records of it. Knowledge is the result of knowing, and it means the awareness of the soul. Most people make the mistake of imagining knowledge to be something which is apart from oneself. This is because, in ordinary humanity, knowledge is only 'evoked' by means of contact with external objects, via the five senses and the intellect. Actually, the soul itself is the knower hence the soul is knowledge itself ; that is why it is called the intelligent substance.
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