EVOLUTION OF THE SOUL

   Growth is natural for all beings.  It happened in the previous births, happens in this birth and will continue in the coming births.  After taking many births we have evolved as human beings.  Even among human beings growth and evolution are taking place. 

   Our knowledge and understanding are according to the level of our growth or evolution.  Accordingly the grib of anavam gradually gets loosened.  Soul's evolution can, therefore be considered as the weakening  of the grib of anavam.  This evolution continues till liberation or mukthi is attained.

   The concept of the soul going to eternal heaven or eternal hell is not in Saivism.  According to Saivism, liberation and bliss are the 'birth right' of every soul.

Original State

   At the beginning period, before taking births, souls were enveloped in the darkness of anavam.  They were inactive with their capabilities dormant.  Anavam has a natural association with the souls, like the vedagiris in copper.  This state of the souls is called kevala state.

   The all merciful God helps the soul whose capabilities are impaired by anavam, by giving it a subtle body formed from maya.  This body is called puriyattakayam which is made up of eight constitutent elements of maya.  They are the three tatvas of mental and psychological faulties called mind, budhi and ahankaram, and the five intrinsic elements of taste, vision, touch, hearing and smell.  This subtle body moves with the soul from birth to birth till it attains liberation and bliss.

   On getting the subtle body initially, the soul enters into a state of action.  Its power of knowing, acting and desiring is awakened.  According to its desire of likes and dislikes, the soul acts for the first time.  By God's Grace, the soul then gets a gross body suitable to experience the fruit of its action or vinai.  While the subtle bodies given initially were of the same type for all the souls, the gross bodies differ according to their actions.  With the gross body the soul acts.  According to its action it gets another body in the next birth, and this process of action (karma) and birth continues one after another.

Karma and Evolution

   As mentioned earlier, the soul moves from birth to birth with the puriyattakayam.  In the buddhi tatva of it, soul's karma forms imprints as punniyam and bavam according to its good and evil deeds.  In the next birth or births to come, these imprints come to experience causing happiness and sorrow to the soul.

   After death and before the next birth, the soul, sometimes stays in an intermediate stage and experiences pleasure or pain according to its karma.  This stage when it experiences pleasure is called heaven or sorkam and pain is called hell or narakam.  Sometimes the soul also lies dormant without any experience, like a rock or stone.  St. Manikkavasakar refers to this stage as the'birth of a stone' in his Sivapuranam verse.

Overcoming Karma

   Karma leads to birth and birth to karma.  A question may, therefore, arise as to how one can overcome this chain process of karma and birth.  How can one be liberated?

   Every religion stresses on the need to follow certain basic ethics in life.  Love, aram or dharma, good conduct etc., form the basic ethics to be followed.  St. Thirumoolar says "Love is Siva".  All the Saiva Saints encourage showing love to others in whom Siva resides.

   Along with good qualities, one should engage in good deeds.  The Saiva Saints engaged themselves in social service while entrenched in love of God. St. Thirunavukkarasar says 'My duty is to stay in service'.  For spiritual progress, such qualities and services are necessary.  In addition, we should think and act without selfishness.

   Acting in the above manner one should chant.  Thevaram, Thiruvasagam and other Thirumarai works with devotion to God.  In addition to these one should strive to understand the Saiva philosophical works which explain the nature of God, souls and the world and our relationship to them.  This will bring an inner change, helping one to move in the way of God.

   At this stage, our sense of I-ness and My-ness vanish and a feeling that all are according to God's Grace develops.  The grib of anavam completely loosens and soul's true wisdom dawns.  This stage is called malaparipaham in Saiva philosophy.

   Also we develop an equipoise of the mind when we are able to take up good and bad karma, pleasure and pain, unperturbed, as equal.  This stage is called iruvinai oppu.  When these two stages are reached, the soul becomes matured to receive God's Grace develops.  In this matured state, Soul's actions are prompted with God consciousness and not by its inner faculties.  Hence karma does not effect the soul.

   God's Grace then descends on the soul.  It is called Sakthi nipatham which means descent of Sakthy or God's Grace.  The Soul is then free of bondage and liberated to enjoy Siva's bliss.

   Saivism does not accepts the view that we are part of Brahmam or God.  Souls are eternal like God and different from Him.  Even in liberation, this is the state of the souls.  The Tamil phrase 'veedu peru' indicates that the ultimate stage of evolution of the soul is mukthy or liberation and enjoyment of Siva's bliss.