Who Am I?

The Most Important Spiritual Inquiry

Beyond the Temporary Body

From the moment we are born, we are given temporary labels: American, Indian, man, woman, rich, poor. We identify with our bodies, our families, and our professions. But the Vedic scriptures teach that these are all temporary designations. Our true identity is eternal and lies beyond the physical body.

The Bhagavad-gita states that the body is like a set of clothes that the soul wears. Just as we change our clothes, the soul changes bodies from one life to the next. The real "I" is the soul within.

I am not the body I wear; I am the soul within.

jīvera 'svarūpa' haya—kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'

— Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 20.108

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gives the most concise and complete answer: "The constitutional position of the living entity is to be an eternal servant of Krishna (God)."

Our true identity is that we are eternal, spiritual parts of the Supreme Lord, and our natural function is
to engage in a loving relationship with Him through devotional service (Bhakti-yoga).

The purpose of human life is to reawaken this dormant relationship and thus realize our
true self as a blissful servant of the Divine.

The soul is not material. It is described as sat-cit-ānanda:

Sat: Eternal. The soul is never created or destroyed.
Cit: Full of knowledge. The soul is inherently conscious and aware.
Ānanda: Full of bliss. The natural state of the soul is one of perfect happiness.

We are all spiritual beings, temporarily covered by a material body and mind.
The suffering we experience in this world is due to this covering and our forgetfulness of our true, blissful nature.

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Who Am I?

Beyond the Temporary Body

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