What is a soul? What is a super-soul? What is the conscious mind? What is the subconscious mind? What is a super-conscious experience?  How far can modern psychology reach while solving the mind-related problems?
   Let us try to probe into these confusing and similar sounding terms.

   The Soul


   The consciousness which pervades the whole body is a soul. Is the soul of an elephant bigger than that of an ant? No. The soul has a tendency to pervade the whole body it occupies, just like a bulb fills the room with its light. With Kirlian photography one can see the physical semblance of a soul along with its aura. The soul of a bacteria and that of a dinosaur is the same. Prick a needle to a dead man’s body; he won’t say ‘ouch’. Why? Because, it is just a body without a soul, i.e. without any consciousness. The soul has no form or character or any attributes in itself, but it acts and expresses itself through various gross and subtle faculties which will be discussed later.

  The Super-soul


  The soul is the consciousness pervading one single body and the super-soul is the consciousness pervading the universe. The scriptures state that the soul and the super-soul live in the heart (not physical heart here) side by side just like two birds sitting on the branch of a tree. In the bound state, they are separated by the veil of ignorance, often called Maya or illusion. Upon dissolving the veil, a soul can experience the infinite bliss of a super-soul. This phenomenon is called as ‘illumination’ or ‘realization’. Can a super-soul assume a body? There is no reason it can’t and it won’t. If a soul with limited powers can assume a body, why can’t a super-soul which is the seat of all power, knowledge, intelligence and bliss? If we try to analyze the precision and the power behind any process going on in the universe, we can’t be anything but a spellbound micro-creature to see the harmony behind this orchestration. The king can roam anywhere in his kingdom. The descent of a super-soul in the form of a body is a big event in the course of this world and this is often accompanied by many prophets, angels, archangels and other highly evolved spiritual souls.

   The expanse of the unseen world is infinite times more than the seen or perceived world. Microscopes and telescopes can’t grapple with this!

   Relationship Between a Soul and a Super-soul


   The soul and the super-soul are both qualitatively the same but quantitatively they are vastly apart. Although both are ageless and not time-bound, the soul is extremely minute and it is a part of all pervasive super-soul. The super-soul is independent, it is the controller, it can NOT be overpowered by ignorance, it is all power, all knowledge and all bliss. The soul is dependent. It is under control, it could be deluded by ignorance, it is less powerful, less knowledgeable and always thirsty for bliss. On the highest level of consciousness, both are governed by the relationship of mutual love. On physical level, a glimpse of this love is found in all animals, birds and their offspring. On the level of just existence and non-action, the soul and super-soul are neutral, just like a drop of an ocean merged with an ocean. On the level of actions or karma, the super-soul acts as a judge for the actions performed by the soul and provides the corresponding fruits of those actions.

   How Does a Soul Express?


   As the soul is an attribute-less entity, it needs a ‘toolbox’ to feel and express itself. Like a mechanic or a technician, the toolbox of the soul travels wherever the soul goes, even in the state of dream or after leaving the physical body. This toolbox contains four elements: ego, chitta, mind and intellect. Ego is the awareness of the self we all know. Intellect is the power to decide and differentiate good or bad, to accept or to reject. Chitta, the deepest part of the subconscious, is the subtle memory card which carries past impressions from innumerable life cycles. It is this element which is unique to every individual, other elements being more or less similar. The extent of purity of a chitta is the direct index of spirituality. Any change that is to be made through spiritual discipline must take effect here first which will then be reflected on the other levels. Mind is the platform where the reaction of a soul appears in the form of love, acceptance, lust, anger, greed, hatred, fear, rejection etc.

Depth of Perception of Consciousness


   Let us compare the human consciousness with a flower of multi layered petals. The outermost layers of the flower could be compared with conscious mind while the inner layers with that of subconscious . The more it opens up, the more fragrance it emanates. In most people, the mind is extrovert and it hovers around the outer aspects of the flower. Those who practice regular meditation and other spiritual disciplines, can access the inner chambers of their subconscious terrain. The more one is able to access the subconscious, the purer and more powerful his mind becomes. It is much easier for such a mind to get in tune with the universe and often this harmonious exposition is expressed in the form of extraordinary abilities, artistic expressions or certain supernatural experiences in such individuals.

   It is important to note that the subconscious could be accessed by one’s own efforts but the super-conscious or the super-soul could only be accessed under the guidance of an illumined spiritual guide.

   One day, Swami Ram Tirtha was addressing a group of spiritual aspirants in a hall in Tokyo. Tokyo is a frequent place of earthquakes and one such earthquake began at the time of the gathering and the building began to quiver. Everybody ran outside. After a while the earthquake stopped and everybody returned. The crowd saw the Swami sitting in deep meditation on the same seat. Upon asking why he had’t run outside to save himself, the Swami said, "I did run, not outside but inside".