SOUL

What use is it for a human being even if he conquers the whole world and loses his soul? – New Testament.
The Bhagavad Gita, the most revered scripture of Sanathana Dharma defines “Soul” as an ethereal essence that is immortal and indestructible.Ironically, we human beings whether it is our ancestors or contemporaries had overlooked and are further ignoring the veracity of the very existence, whatever the reasons are.

Interestingly, the word “Soul” was coined in the Western world as late as early 10th Century and pioneering work in this field was attributed to Pluto. Soul can be trifurcated in to the following categories:

Logos: The conscious part of the soul wich essentially dictates course of one’s life and has significant control over Thymos and Pathos.
Thymos: The part of the soul which essentially controls the emotions in the human beings. The two most important emotions that govern a human existence are “Greed” and “Fear”.
Pathos: The part of the soul which essentially controls the requirements of the corporeal body which is a vehicle to the soul during the very existence on the earth.
Incidentally, all living beings in this planet have souls with all the three components as defined above. However, what differentiates other living beings with human being is carrying out an act consciously and changing the living patterns.(It may be noted that EVOLUTION of a species is an unconscious adaptation and transformation to the altering conditions on the planet.) All animals do exhibit “Fear” and “Greed”, but their emotions are confined to countering the imminent short term threats. They do not have cognitive abilities to change their living patterns.
Why do the sacred scriptures, prophets and Religious gurus propagate the importance of Self realisation and Consciousness? In an unconscious state and un-realised state, Thymos and Pathos take control of this corporeal body and mis-guide the very course of this existence. Ironically, when Thymos and Pathos take control of a human being, it can either lead to a unprecedented devastation either of the self, or the family(Examples: Psychopaths, egocentric, devious and cunning individuals), or the society (Examples: Religious fundamentalists, Regional fundamentalists, Anti-social elements viz., Naxalites, Terrorists, Corrupt individuals etc.,) or a country (Examples: Saddam Husain, Robert Mugabe, Zia-ul-Haq etc.,) or even the world (Examples: Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte etc.,) depending on the influence of the individual on the civilization.

The goal of every individual shall be towards achieving HARMONY WITH SELF, SURROUNDINGS & ENERGIES OF THIS COSMOS. (The spiritual believers christen it as DIVINE UNION.)

Hence, it is very important for each individual to act consciously through genuine introspection and self realisation. Self-realisation can be comprehended through finding solutions to the following simple questions:
• What I am?
• What do I value?
• What I want?