Oasis.
Credit: DH Photo
The world is divided into two major groups as far as the existence of soul is concerned: people who believe in the existence of the soul
and are called religious people and people who do not believe in the existence of soul and are called non-religious people.
True knowledge of the soul, however, is not a matter of superficial importance nor is it to be left to some philosophers or scholars to discuss. However, it would be incomplete if we do not touch upon the views of a well known psychologist, Sigmund Freud, on soul or consciousness. He did not believe in the existence of the soul as an entity, different from the body and the brain. He considered ‘The Unconscious’ as comprising mainly of the repressed desires which manifest themselves in dreams and find expression in the form of neurotic habits and phobias. He called this as Id (or instincts and drive) and said that man’s desires were so censored by his Super-ego and those desires which were considered as not conforming to social norms
or to accepted ethical standards
were repressed.
On the other hand, in the East, religious people of India have, since ancient times, have believed in the importance of sanskaras, which are somewhat akin tothe unconscious of Freud’s Theory. These do not form the content of the conscious because man is normally not aware of them even though his personality and his behaviour, at all times, is influenced by the sanskaras that he possesses. His sanskaras do not leave him even in his dreams or his spiritual efforts. In fact, these are so intimately related with man’s peace and war or good and bad personalities that it would be meaningless to talk of world peace or a social, political or cultural change without talking of and planning and working for a change in the man’s sanskaras.
Remember! without the knowledge of ‘The Unconscious’, all the inventions of science and technology will not make the world peaceful even though they may make it comfortable. All the religious rituals and mantras will also not help man attain peace unless and until there is a change for the better in man’s sanskaras. And that is why we must strongly work towards changing our sanskar if we want to have a better sansaar.