The Jivatma

 

The JĪVĀ or jeevatma as an individual soul is the reflection of the cosmic purusha in the individual, the Jiva above the Prakriti.

The Jiva or individual is kṣara puruṣa, and between him and the Supreme stands the akṣara puruṣa, the bird on the summit of the tree.

The jivaatma is also equated with the angustha purusha. 

Sri Yukteswar Giri sees the seat of Jiva in manas. Here is probably not the higher Jivatma but only the vishnuistic Baddha meant.

The higher Jivatma is also referred to in the scriptures as the divine child. According to Sri Aurobindo, the child is a symbol of the psychological transformation in the heart.

The individual soul is a form - aspect and it does at first not identify with the essence (swabhava) but with the attributes in the area of the koshas (shells).

The developed Jivatma moves as an essence of the soul from incarnation to incarnation and finally realizes the divine Paramatma and thus Moksha first after a long development process.

Trikaladarshi

 

"Oh,  Trikaladarshi (seer of the three times: past, present, and future), you took all the souls with whom you had a relationship in the past lifes. In the new birth you sought them and found them Your heart always longs for these souls. "- Shri Guru Bhagwat (Chapters 31 and 32, Chhand, pp. 17 & 18)

Hinduism

 

The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad says : The Jiva leaves the body after death and later returns to the earth to experience the influence of karma again

The Brahma Samhita says in 5.21 : The same Jiva is eternal and is for eternity and without a beginning.

After the Chandogya Upanishad he becomes unlimited in the state of Moksha or Vibhu, since he is now free of Karma.

The Mundaka Upanishad says : This Atman is anu and recognizable to the mind[1].

The Svetasvatara Upanishad 1 describes the self as infinitely smaller than the hundredth part of the hundredfold divided tip of a hair, and yet unlimited in its extent.

The Bhagavad Gita mentions these living units as well.

Das Bhagavata Purana says in 10.87.30: aparimita dhruvas tanu-bhrito yadi sarva-gatas -- tarhi na sasyateti niyamo dhruva netaratha -- ajani ca yan-mayam tad avimucya niyantri bhavet -- samam anujanatam yad amatam mata-dushtataya)

If the countless living entities were all-pervading and possessed forms that never changed, You could not possibly be their absolute ruler, O immutable one. But since they are Your localized expansions and their forms are subject to change, You do control them. Indeed, that which supplies the ingredients for the generation of something is necessarily its controller because a product never exists apart from its ingredient cause. It is simply illusion for someone to think that he knows the Supreme Lord, who is equally present in each of His expansions, since whatever knowledge one gains by material means must be imperfect.

Vishnuism

 

The Vaishnavism distinguishes three categories of Jiva: Baddha ('tied', by the Prakriti), Mukta ('free') and Nityas ('never tied'), differing in the degree of their attachment by the influence of karma

The development process of the Jivatma out of its essence begins with the Samadhi-step of the path, at whose beginning the divine child (Krishna, Balarama, Dattatreya, Jeshua) is born, which grows up and finally separates from its bonds and goes into the Divine (Paramatma ) and the Moksha.

Jainism

 

In Jainism, the Jivatma (J00/J0069100 jee-vaht-muh, dʒiˈvɑt mə) is the individual soul or monad, stained by karmic matter with different colors or lesyas. The totality of the monads is regarded as the invigorating principle of the universe.

Spiritual Alchemy

 

In the spiritual alchemy, the Jivatma is born on an advanced level and ascends to heaven in the clouds. The divine child is here called 'Filius Philosophorum'.

Alice Bailey

 

According to Alice Bailey, man has several essential atoms up to the divine monad.


The Jivatma, however, is not solely responsible for the path alone. Krishna as incarnation of Vishnu is accompanied by Balarama. Buddha has a son Rahula, but he walks the path himself. Dattatreya as a synthesis of the Trimurti also has no companion. Christian Rosenkreutz walks the path alone in the chymical wedding. He develops the divine body (Paramatma, Dharmakaya) on the path.

Literature

 

References

 
  1.  http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mundak1/mundak1_4.html
  2.  https://web.archive.org/web/20131021142546/http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/7/5/en1

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