fire, air and ether. Therefore, we must understand that the real self, the spiritual soul, is distinct from the body it observes, and remains immortal.

When the bodies of dense, ethereal matter covering the embodied soul die, the spiritual entity within resumes its true spiritual identity. The material bodies, qualities and activities of the spiritual soul are created by the material mind. This state of mind is itself created by the illusory power of the Supreme Lord, and thus the soul assumes material existence. Material life, based on the identification of the soul with the body, or bodily concept of existence, also called false ego, is developed and destroyed by the functioning of virtue, passion and ignorance, which are the building blocks of the body. The soul inside the body is self-luminous, (a radiance emerges from its body the envelope) is separated from the visible material body and the invisible ethereal body. It remains the fixed basis of the evolution of bodily existence, just as the ethereal sky is the unchanging background of material transformation. Therefore, the spiritual soul is endless and without material comparison.

By constantly meditating on the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and applying a clear and logical intelligence, we should carefully consider our true selves, and understand how it is located in the material body.

We should know that we are no different from Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, who is also the Absolute Truth, the supreme abode, because like the Supreme Lord we are spiritual in nature. So, when we turn to the Supreme Soul, which is free from any error in material identification, we will not even notice death when it comes. Neither will we see our dying body or the material world around us, because we will realize that we are separate from it.

Logos 23

One who is convinced of his spiritual identity, who knows himself to be a spiritual soul free from all material conception of existence, who has freed himself from all illusion and who transcends the influence of the attributes of material nature (virtue, passion, ignorance), who tirelessly seeks to cultivate spiritual knowledge and who has completely detached himself from the pleasure of the senses, he can return to God, in his eternal kingdom. He is called intelligent because the duality of joys and sorrows no longer affects him.