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Going beyond the body
March 16, 2011  |  radhanath-swami

At Herat Richard (now Radhanath Swami) was shaken by the culture shock. All at once, he found it impossible to connect with anything. The sights, smells, and sounds were foreign to his sense and he felt he was alone in a culture where nothing existed that he could relate to. He was bewildered as he grappled to answer the question, ‘Who am I?’ His prayers transported him into a state where a silent inner presence predominated over the phenomenal world. There he discovered a precious realization, ‘I am the soul, distinct from the world of externals, a child of God’. He felt liberated and flooded with gratitude. Richard knew that Herat would forever remain a sacred place on the map of his heart; this realization had given a new purpose and meaning to his life.

Radhanath Swami says on the basis of Vedic scriptures that the first and most fundamental knowledge that a disciple learns from his guru, spiritual master is, “You are not the body; you are a spirit soul.” This knowledge is the one of the first instructions that Lord Krishna gave Arjuna, when Arjuna surrendered to Him at the battlefield of Kurukshetra where the legendary Bhagavad Gita was spoken. Bhagavad Gita is the principal book of knowledge in the pan Hindu culture of the Indian sub-continent.

Radhanath Swami asks a simple question; doctors dissect and study a dead body. What makes a living body possess emotions and feelings like pain, pleasure, happiness, and distress? He answers that the soul is the spark of life that makes the body appear alive and when the soul leaves the body, we say the person is dead.

According to the Vedic knowledge, the body is always dead. For example, a microphone is made of metal. When electric energy passes through the microphone, the sound is broadcast over loudspeakers. But when there is no electricity in the system, nothing happens. Whether the microphone is working or not, it remains nothing more than an assembly of metal, plastic, etc. Similarly, the human body works because of the living force within. When this living force leaves the body, it is said that the body is dead. But actually it is always dead. The living force is the important element; its presence alone makes the body appear to be alive. But “alive” or “dead,” the physical body is nothing more than a collection of dead matter.

Radhanath Swami reasons that direct experience, inference, logic, empiric observation and religious faith all concur: some sort of conscious self-energy exists within the body. The body is an instrument; the conscious energy, soul is the user of that instrument. I once heard one student of Radhanath Swami give an interesting analogy; Say, I use a bicycle to travel from one place to another. If my cycle is destroyed, I will have to get another one. But I exist apart from the bicycle. Analogically, if my body is destroyed, I, the soul, am not destroyed with it. I continue to exist as much as the bicycle driver continues to exist after the destruction of the bicycle. One bicycle may breakdown, but I can get a new one. One body may grow from childhood to youth to old age and die one day; but I can get another body. If one has a desire to drive a motorbike, then one might change from a bicycle to a motorbike. If one can pay a higher price and wants to drive a car to save himself from the chasing dogs, then one may give up a motorbike and buy a car, etc. The vehicles may change, but the driver is the same. Similarly, the soul, in order to satisfy his unfulfilled desires, leaves the material body at death and acquires a new material body.

Radhanath Swami and his students explain subtle subject matters like ‘soul’ through lucid examples; after all even a spiritual novice like me finds the subject fascinating and easy to understand.

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52 Comments


  1. The Herath experience narration shook me too!

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  2. All glories to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj.

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  3. Radhanath Swami Maharaj helps us to understand the complex truths of the soul through simple examples. Thank you Maharaj.

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  4. electricity :microphone :: living force : body
    what an expert analogy by HH Radhanath swami maharaj

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  5. Radhanath Swami is expert in explaining spiritual topics in very simple way. He is empowered by Lord to preach spiritual science

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  6. Hariii bol. What an analogy of cycle.
    Maharaj each & everything you say is so convincing & so practical. Thank you so muchhhh Maharaj.

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  7. The line that struck me most is that if we can afford a motorcycle we can buy that. So, it is not just the desire but also the buying capacity that decides our life both before and after death. One must, then, not be complacent about the choice of actions and words that one uses in day-to-day dealings.

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  8. Very nice analogy of Microphone and current

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  9. This knowledge of what is body and what is soul is very important to avance in spiritual life.

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  10. This knowledge of what is body and what is soul is very important to advance in spiritual life.

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  11. shyama radhika devi dasi

    very good explanation

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  12. Madana Kishore Das

    Nice explanation of how we are not body.

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  13. Shyam Bihari Das

    “I am not this body”; This is such a powerful statement but very difficult to accept and live by. Once we accept this and live by it we receive immediate liberation. Thank you Maharaj.

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  14. What a deep realization of Radhanath Swami.

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  15. A very touching part of the book

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  16. Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s realization at Herat simply shows how prayerful we should be.

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  17. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj helps us to understand the complex theory of the soul through simple examples and makes it easy to understand. Thank you Maharaj.

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  18. I am sure Radhanath Swami’s students are no spiritual novices. Especially the person writing these amazing realizations from Radhanath Swami’s talks!

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  19. Interesting!!!!

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  20. The analogies of microphone & of bicycle, motorcycle,etc are really convincing about the existence of soul…….

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  21. Radhanath Swami Maharaj motivates us to move beyond the bodily consciousness.

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  22. factually, we are so much conditioned by our surroundings that we never think beyond our bodily concepts of me and mine…but we can sure learn from the experience of Radhanath Swami.

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  23. Arjun K Ramachandra

    Simple yet so sublime are these basic truths of life ” I am not the body but i am the soul!”

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  24. This is the hallmark of the teachings of Radhanath Swami. By coming in touch with him or his students, even the most difficult subject matter becomes easy to understand.

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  25. very nice picture.

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  26. very beautiful article. Thanks to Radhanath swami and his students for the wonderful analogies!

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  27. Going beyond the body – a very deep subject but elaborated so nicely. Thank you very much.

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  28. Radhanath Swami glorifies the greatness of spirit over matter.

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  29. Yogita Jagannathan

    When I read this story of Radhanath Swami in Journey Home book, I was simply amazed at his ability to go beyond the superfluous nature of things and go deep within to find answers to many questions in life.

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  30. A very nice analogy,Highly illutrative.Thank you very much.

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  31. HHRNSM is simply exemplary in all that he does, haribol, rajesh karia

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  32. wonderful analogy, thank you for sharing it with all of us, Maharaj Ki Jai! haribol, bhakti

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  33. I just love Radhanath Swami’s book! I absolutely love it! Every time I pick it up, I have the time of my life.

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  34. Very nice article.The body is an instrument; the conscious energy, soul is the user of that instrument.All glories to Radhanath Swami Maharaj.

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  35. Amazing analogy’s are given in this article.All glories to Radhanath Swami Maharaj.

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  36. Amazing analogy’s are given in this article.

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  37. Radhanath Swami is really expert teacher who can explain quite difficult subject matters in very lucid way.

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  38. amazing analogy of “i am not this body” thank you radhanath swami…

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  39. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    It is simply amazing to read this story of H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj in Journey Home book and his capacity to go beyond the superfluous nature of things and go deep within to find answers to many questions of life.

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  40. Wonderful realizations – All glories to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj for sharing these most wonderful instructions.

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  41. thank u for this…

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  42. Krsna says in Gita that i give the knowledge from within to my devotees and here is the proof for the same..Lord from within revealed to Radhanath Maharaj the true idendity as a soul..similarly the mahamantra was also revealed to Radhanath Swami by mother Ganges herself…Makes us think:’How dear this son must be to the Supreme Lord?’ Its in our favor to follow his instruction to make rapid progress on the path of devotion.

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  43. Dr. Vivekanand Shanbhag

    Radhanath Swami’s ways of telling most sublime things in a simple maaner is very impressive

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  44. Dr. Vivekanand Shanbhag

    Radhanath Swami, reading your thoughts again is always a great pleasure

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  45. vaishali kamat

    Radhanath Swami’s teachings based on the Bhagavad Gita are very crucial for everyone. One who understands that he is not the body but a spirit soul, is the only person who can dare to tread on the spiritual journey.

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  46. Swapnil Gaonkar

    Thank you Radhanath Swami

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  47. Wonderful article with strong points. Thank you

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  48. wonderful explanation

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  49. wonderful explanation and analogies

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  50. Thank you Radhanath Swami for enlightening us about the importance of spiritual knowledge.

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