We begin with life. What is life? What is the meaning of life? How does life commence, and how does it come to an end?First of all, let us strive to seek the answers to these questions through reason.Life is a continuous process, never ceasing, never ending. Life is eternal. Life is truth. Life is the very foundation of all activity. Each one of us possesses life, yet we fail to grasp its true significance. We often mistake the body for life itself, while in truth life and body are distinct. There lies a difference between the two; therefore, let us first endeavour to understand what distinction exists betwixt body and life.The body is fashioned by the vital force of life, yet still they are not the same. Let us then inquire first into the nature of the body. It is the vital force that brings the body into being and prepares the conditions suited for its formation.
Upon the earth are found three kinds of bodies:
The first kind – those bodies brought forth through the union of male and female, such as man, beasts, and birds.
The second kind – those bodies wherein no distinction of male and female exists, and which bring forth their own seed, such as trees and plants.
The third kind – those bodies which spring up of themselves without union, such as insects and worms. These arise from within the earth itself, and their span of life is but short.
The human body is formed through the union of male and female. It is the vital force that constructs the body, that sustains it, and, in due time, brings it to its end. The body is built up and is destroyed, but life itself is never ended. Life is an everlasting current, without beginning and without end. Life is a power almighty, infinite, and indestructible. That power is life. It is that very power which governs the universe and holds sway over every body.Life is but another name for Nature. It is the force that hath fashioned the cosmos in its entirety. Every body hath a determined span; when that span is accomplished, the body perisheth. But life hath no such limit, therefore it never perisheth. From the coming into being of the body unto its dissolution there is a process that runs its course; yet life itself hath no such creation, for it is primeval and everlasting.Oftentimes we deem life and body to be one and the same, for we lack self-awareness. With the little knowledge we hold, we are unable to discern the difference, and so we confound them as one. Another reason is this: the body is visible to us, whereas the life dwelling within the body is invisible. Life may be felt, but never seen with the eyes. We sense within us a power that governs our body, yet that power remaineth unseen, for we have not awakened to self-consciousness. Without self-awareness the eye of the soul remaineth closed.All men do acknowledge that some hidden power abides within, exercising full dominion over their frame; yet they neither perceive it, nor know it, nor comprehend it, for without the eye of the soul none may behold it. The eye of the soul openeth only when man attaineth the realisation of self-knowledge.Our body, once born, groweth unceasingly. It developeth continually, yet after a certain span it beginneth to decline. However much we strive, however advanced we become, our body must one day perish. For the power within us is supreme, and no might in all the universe exceedeth it.In the present age, science hath achieved great progress, yet even now it hath found no remedy against death. All the great men of science have themselves succumbed unto death. Never hath there been one who conquered it. Only he overcometh death who hath awakened to the knowledge of the Self.
This is the supreme truth of life: life buildeth the body, and in due season it is life itself that bringeth the body to destruction. Life is immortal, but the body is mortal. The body can never be made deathless.We possess the record of thousands of years of human history. In all that history there is not found a single body that hath endured beyond its destined span. Many great men have arisen, many sages and seers, yet all laid aside their mortal frame. For no law may prevail against the law of the vital force. And the law of life declareth thus: whatsoever is formed must, after a season, be dissolved. This is the highest truth of the vital force.Now, let us proceed further to inquire: What is this vital force, and how came it into being?