On Hinduism

Hindus believe that there exists a changeless, all powerful intelligent being called the Brahman (aka God or Bhagavan), which pervades through the entire cosmos. An individual is not just the body and mind. Brahman and Atman exist within each human being. Hindus believe it is possible for the Atman in each individual to reach the Brahman at a higher state of intelligence usually achieved through karma yoga or Bhakti yoga.

Who am I?

I am the Atma (aka Jeevatma), which is different from this body, senses, mind, breath, and its cognitive abilities. The relationship between the Atma and the Body is that of Owner/Owned. When the owner (Atma) leaves the Owned (Body) it is called death. When the Owner acquires a new body it is called birth. Atma is eternal and keeps on journeying from one body to another until liberation.

How am I related to God?

God in His Antaryami (Antaratma) form, pervades everything in this universe and beyond. He pervades this lifeless body as well the life (Atma) within it. The relationship between the Antaratma and Atma is one of Owner/Owned. That is, Antaratma is the Owner and Atma is the owned. 

Overall relationship:

God owns the Atma and directs it’s decision making.

Atma owns the body, makes decisions and directs its actions.

While Atma may move from body to body, God never disowns the Atma.

Sources used:  Hindu Community Institute Course materials on Counselor of Hindu Traditions; Book: Many Many Gods of Hinduism by Swami Achuthananda. Meaning of AUM per Sri Pancharatra Agama.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos

Contributor: Seema Garg Murthy and Sudershan

Location of this post (1m): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/who-am-i-how-am-i-related-to-god/

Death is inevitable and deterministic (uncontrollable) according to the Hindu religion. 

Death does not imply the cessation of our existence, but it means a new beginning. Death is just a small milestone on the journey of infinite miles of eternal existence. Thus the phenomena of death is linked to the concept of rebirth.

Hinduism has a deep rooted belief in the theory of rebirth; the idea of rebirth is connected to the idea of the ‘Atman’ or the Soul, the individual’s non-material inner self that is eternal. The Atman cannot be experienced with the five sense organs but it does exist as a spiritual substance. When a human dies, the Atman from his body detaches itself from the literal body and moves out in search of another body and there occurs rebirth. 

How does the Atman decide what it wants to be reborn again as? This question takes us to one of the most basic philosophical theories of Hinduism; the concept of Karma. Karma is the accumulated past actions waiting to come to fruition. One’s rebirth depends on past actions (Karma), good deeds taking you towards better births and immoral deeds taking you towards birth in lower category creatures like animals. 

Thus Hinduism gives a highly positive interpretation to the concept of death and the journey beyond this life. We will always live in the form of an Atman and death is a milestone on the journey of the Atman.

In Bhagavad Gita, Supreme GOD Sree Krishna says to Arjun (Chapter 2, Sloka 22):

vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya

navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi

tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya

nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī

As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand What happens when we die?, What is Reincarnation?, 

Contributor: Mona Raval

Location of this post (14b): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/what-happens-when-we-die/

First, Soul is not Atman.

Think of Atma (or Soul as in this question) as the life energy within you that moves from one body to another body in the cycle of life and death that we call Samsara. This life energy is a part of the infinite,  unbounded energy that prevails the entire cosmos (Parmatama). When one talks about life energy, it is unbounded and not in terms of numbers. 

People ask when more births are happening than death, does that mean souls are coming from other life forms (animals, plans, etc.) and the total aggregate number of souls is constant on Earth?

Please know that numbers are only for the physical world, the life force (atma) knows no such physical limit and its arithmetic as the fundamental life force is unbounded and permeates the entire existence. 

I have one lit candle. Five people come by and light their candles from my one light. Where have the new flames come from? The rules of physical mathematics do not apply to the spiritual realm.

Can we reach infinite by counting 1, 2, 3 to 100, to 1000, to millions and so on? We will keep counting endlessly but will never reach the Infinite. So the question of the finite number of souls on earth would not be a valid one as soul is an infinitesimal part of this unbounded infinite energy and we can not count in terms of numbers. 

Source: Sadhguru Satsang

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Is the soul of an ant bigger than the soul of a whale?,

Contributor: Vikas Gupta

Location of this post (16a): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/if-a-soul-goes-to-a-new-body-where-does-a-new-soul-come-for-increased-world-population/

According to Hindu scriptures, there is no death for the Atman (soul is a wrong term). The human Atman (jīvātma) is considered to be of the same essence as the Divine Supreme Atman (paramātma), also termed as Consciousness. Hence the Atman, in the Hindu context, is eternal, imperishable, changeless, and that which illumines everything. 

The Atman can be thought of as a source of light. While the furniture in a room might keep changing, the reason one can see and experience these items is due to the presence of the light. Similarly, we are able to perceive, feel and think in the world because of our soul.

Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 20:

na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

ajo nityaḥ śhāśhvato ’yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śharīre

The Atman is neither born, nor does it ever die; nor having once existed, does it ever cease to be. It is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. The Atman is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

Thus, Hindu theologians conclude that the Atman does not die. When a person passes on, their body decays, mind stops thinking, but the Atman, however, continues to exist. It leaves the body and moves onto a different realm of experience, based on what that particular Atman needs for evolution. This is valid for all living beings, and not just humans. It is due to this belief system that Hindus propound the theory of karma and reincarnation. The Atman evolves by taking on different births, until it reaches spiritual maturity and finally merges with the Divine Consciousness. This, liberation (moksha), is the goal of life on earth.

Other reading material: Reincarnation: WHO is it that Travels? Atma? Jiva? Subtle body?

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: What happens when we die?, Hinduism Q & A: Can the soul die?, Hinduism Q & A: What is Reincarnation?, 

Contributor: Lakshmi Subramanian

Location of this post (16b): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/can-the-soul-die/

Just as the combination of many strong and weak, visible and invisible forms of energy gives rise to waves in an ocean, the Brahman/Atma (energy, soul is not a right terminology) gives life to entities around us and including us. Why were the waves created? We don’t know. Why were Atman created? We don’t know. It just is. 

GOD didn’t create Atmans. Atmans existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future

na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin

nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

ajo nityaḥ śhāśhvato ’yaṁ purāṇo

na hanyate hanyamāne śharīre

The Atman is neither born, nor does it ever die; nor having once existed, does it ever cease to be. The Atman is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: Why did God create souls?

Contributor: Rajeev Singh

Location of this post (16c): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/why-did-god-create-souls/

Not every soul (Atman is the correct terminology) that is manifested is incarnate in human form at any given time. Aside from the Atmans that are now embodied in the plant and animal kingdom, there are other spheres of existence where Atmans reside. And Atmans are consistently emanating from Divinity. The Hindu scriptures do not place an exact number of Atmans, either in the created universe or beyond.

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Other reading material: Reincarnation: WHO is it that Travels? Atma? Jiva? Subtle body?

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: How many souls are there?,

Contributor: Fred Stella

Location of this post (16d): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/how-many-souls-are-there/

Ātman (Ātmā) is not exactly the same as what is commonly called the “soul.”

• In Christian thought, the soul is the incorporeal essence of a human being. At death, God determines the soul’s eternal fate—reward or punishment. The idea that “soul = God” is considered blasphemous in most Abrahamic traditions. Furthermore, only humans are said to have souls.
  
• In Hindu thought, Ātman is the divine Self—eternal, unchanging, and identical with Brahman (the Ultimate Reality). The Divine manifests in all living beings as Ātman, not only in humans but also in animals and all forms of life.
  

The Bhagavad Gita (2:22 or 2:20) explains that the Ātman moves from one body to another, discarding the old and taking on the new, just as we change clothes. The body is temporary, while the Ātman is permanent and in command.

Unlike the Christian soul, which can be corrupted by sin or the devil, the Ātman in Hinduism is never tainted. It remains pure and divine, beyond birth and death.

Other reading material: Rajiv Malhotra, Academic Hinduphobia, 2016 (p. 49)

Relevant videos:

Contributor: Dilip Amin

Location of this post (16f): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/is-atman-the-same-as-soul/