{"id":120969,"date":"2024-01-15T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T15:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=120969"},"modified":"2024-01-16T12:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T16:24:01","slug":"parts-of-the-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/parts-of-the-self\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2 Parts of the Self: Karma and Life Energy (Sadhguru)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the parts of the self? Are they mortal or immortal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you die, only one part of you dies. And, that part isn’t really you. That’s the view of Sadhguru, a spiritual teacher based in India. In his book Death: An Inside Story<\/em>, he explains his concept of the self and its components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the two parts of the self and why Sadhguru’s perspective might give you some encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The 2 Parts of the Self<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sadhguru contends that, to be free of the fear of death<\/a>, you must become aware of certain spiritual truths. Specifically, he asserts that the individual self is an illusion<\/a>. What you perceive to be \u201cyourself\u201d primarily consists of two parts: karma<\/a> and life energy. However, the part of yourself that\u2019s conscious\u2014who \u201cyou\u201d really are\u2014is life energy alone<\/strong>, and this energy persists beyond death eternally. Let\u2019s break down Sadhguru’s concept of the parts of the self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Component #1: Karma<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sadhguru explains that \u201ckarma\u201d isn\u2019t a means of universal judgment, as some may assume. Rather, he defines karma as a broad category of information from the past that builds up over time and manifests in some form. Your genetics, personality, atomic structure, and conscious memories are all different kinds of karma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Karma Relates to Justice<\/strong>

Sadhguru holds a broader view of karma than some other spiritual practitioners, who describe it in a way that more closely relates to universal judgment or justice. According to the Buddhist monk Mahasi Sayadaw, every moral action returns beneficial results and every immoral action yields harmful results<\/a>\u2014either in this life or in future lives.

For instance, if you live a life of greed, you\u2019ll likely suffer more in this life (perhaps by hurting and pushing away loved ones). You\u2019re also more likely to be habitually greedy in your next life, perpetuating your suffering. In the same way, the conditions of life you\u2019re experiencing now\u2014including your genetics and personality\u2014are the direct karmic results of your actions in past lives.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Component #2: Life Energy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Sadhguru, the other main component that makes up who you are<\/a> is life energy, or consciousness. This word describes how self-aware someone\u2014or something\u2014is. Sadhguru asserts that everything in the universe is self-aware to some degree. The more self-aware a part of the universe is, the more of this kind of \u201cenergy\u201d we can say it has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you die, Sadhguru says, almost all of the karma that makes up your identity is destroyed. Your body, mind, and memories of past experiences no longer exist. However, your life energy\u2014the part of you reading these words right now\u2014lives on everywhere else in the universe.<\/strong> Because of this, Sadhguru goes as far as to say that death doesn\u2019t really exist; it\u2019s just a transition to a different form of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only reason you fear death is because you mistakenly believe that \u201cyou\u201d are karma rather than life energy.<\/strong> You believe that your body is \u201cyou,\u201d your emotions are \u201cyou,\u201d and your memories are \u201cyou.\u201d Once you realize that these are all things that occur outside of \u201cyou,\u201d you\u2019ll understand that losing them won\u2019t be painful, and you\u2019ll no longer be afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nature of Consciousness in Hindu and Buddhist Philosophy<\/strong>

By describing consciousness as a unified energy that makes up the entirety of the universe, Sadhguru echoes the teachings of Advaita Vedanta<\/a>, a school of Hindu philosophy influenced by Buddhism but more aligned with Hindu scriptures. In Advaita Vedanta, the life energy Sadhguru discusses here is called \u201cchaitanya<\/a>.\u201d

Chaitanya takes multiple forms<\/a>, and Sadhguru\u2019s description of life energy corresponds to two of them: brahma-chaitanya, an all-encompassing universal consciousness<\/a>, and j\u012bva-chaitanya, the individual consciousness inside you. To paint a more complete picture, Advaita Vedanta identifies two more forms of consciousness: isvara-chaitanya, the intelligent, godlike consciousness of the universe; and s\u0101ksi-chaitanya, the consciousness within individuals that observes<\/em> your conscious thoughts and feelings<\/a>.

On the other hand, by echoing Advaita Vedanta, Sadhguru seems to be leaning away from traditional Buddhist teachings. The Buddha<\/a> rejected the idea that the universe was made of a cosmic oneness<\/a>. Instead, one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is the belief in \u015b\u016bnyat\u0101, or the fundamental emptiness of all things<\/a>. That is, Buddhists believe that everything in the universe is constantly changing. Thus, nothing that exists has any true, permanent form\u2014everything is \u201cempty\u201d of intrinsic identity.

Like Sadhguru and Advaita Vedanta, Buddhist philosophy teaches that death is nothing to be afraid of. Buddhists argue that people fear death because they\u2019ve irrationally built an attachment to their lives and everything in them. Because the fundamental essence of the universe is change, attachment to any part of it will inevitably result in suffering. By accepting the fundamental emptiness of the universe and living your life accordingly, you can cease your attachment and free yourself from the fear of death, along with all other suffering. The Buddha put these ideas at the center of his teachings\u2014they constitute his \u201cFour Noble Truths<\/a>.\u201d

The distinction between the Advaita Vedanta and Buddhist views of consciousness can be a little hazy and confusing. What\u2019s the difference between formless, universal consciousness and fundamental emptiness?<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the parts of the self? Are they mortal or immortal? When you die, only one part of you dies. And, that part isn’t really you. That’s the view of Sadhguru, a spiritual teacher based in India. In his book Death: An Inside Story, he explains his concept of the self and its components. Keep reading to learn about the two parts of the self and why Sadhguru’s perspective might give you some encouragement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":120977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,6],"tags":[1367],"class_list":["post-120969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","category-spiritual","tag-death-an-inside-story","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 2 Parts of the Self: Karma and Life Energy (Sadhguru) - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What you perceive to be \u201cyourself\u201d consists of two parts: karma and life energy. 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