The Soul — The Self

We have understood:

The soul seeks happiness.
True happiness lies only in God.

But before moving forward, a deeper question must be examined:

Who is the one seeking this happiness?

The Present Condition

The world we experience is constantly changing.

Everything:

appears
transforms
disappears

This world is made of māyā — a real power of God.

The mind is also made of the same material nature.

So the mind naturally becomes attached to the world.

But God is Divine.

The material mind does not feel a natural attraction toward Him.

The Fundamental Question

So we must ask:

Who am I?

You may say:

“I do not know who I am,
but I do know that I seek happiness.”

A Simple Test

If you were material,
then material objects should satisfy you.

But observe your own experience.

Even after:

repeated effort
many achievements
countless experiences

Satisfaction does not remain.

The First Insight

That which cannot be satisfied by the material
cannot itself be material.

👉 So the self is not material.

Are You the Body?

The body changes continuously:

childhood
youth
old age

Yet something remains constant:

the sense of “I.”

We say:

“I am tired.”
“I am strong.”

But we do not actually mean that we are the body itself.

The body changes.
The sense of “I” does not.

Are You the Senses?

In waking life, you see, hear, and experience through the senses.

But in dreams, even without using the physical senses,
you still see, hear, and experience.

So the experiencer cannot be the senses.

Are You the Mind?

In deep sleep, the mind becomes inactive.

Yet on waking, you say:

“I slept peacefully.”

So you existed even when the mind was inactive.

A Simple Principle

We say:

my body
my mind
my senses

What is “mine” cannot be “me.”

👉 This separates the self from all these.

The Conclusion

You are not:

the body
the senses
the mind

Then Who Are You?

The scriptures declare:

You are the soul —
an eternal part of God.

The Nature of the Soul

Because the soul is Divine,
it seeks Divine happiness.

The Ongoing Confusion

Yet the mind continues to believe:

“This object will satisfy me.”

So it keeps running toward the world.

Even after attaining objects,
dissatisfaction remains.

The Reason

The material cannot satisfy the Divine.

👉 This is why the search never ends.

The Root Problem

The problem is not lack of effort.

It is a wrong conclusion:

“Happiness exists in the world.”

The Result

Because of this belief,
the mind continues its search
in the material world.

The Turning Point

Now the situation becomes clear:

The seeker is not material.
The goal is not material.

The Next Inquiry

👉 What is the nature of this material world
that continues to attract the mind?