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It is believed that a human's existence has two parts, namely the body and the soul. The body is the Nashyar(mortal) part, and the soul is the immortal one. A human's body can never be immortal; what can pass on to the afterlife and be immortal is the soul. The main aspect of Spirituality is searching for the inner soul. The emotions in man are said to be in full control of his will through spirituality. When a man has full control over his emotions, he comes close to his inner soul and moves above the feelings of want, desire, sadness, anger, greed, lust, jealousy or happiness. This takes man closer to the immortality of his soul and thus sets him free from the cycle of life.
All great religious leaders and reformers, from Prophet Mohammad and Lord Jesus to Mahavir, Guru Nanak and Sri Chaitanya, sought spirituality to discover their true calling and find purpose to teach people ways of life through religious preachings. While some preach the concept of the afterlife and rebirth, some believe in the instant gratification of actions: you yield what you plant. There is no next chance in life to make amends for your mistakes, and you should live the life you get responsibly. Some treat rebirth as a bane instead of a boon for past sins. But the widely different versions of the afterlife, sins and mistakes are to teach people morals and ethics.
The Egyptians also believed in an afterlife, and this is proved by the amount of time they spent making their tombs and getting ready for death; the Valley of the Kings show many tombs, including the very famous King Tut-Ankh-Amun's tomb, which shows the king's interpretation of the afterlife on the walls. The gods are shown showing paths to the afterlife and giving boons of immortality to many souls. The souls become immortal, but not the body. Immortality makes the soul free from worldly pleasures and the cycle of life and the afterlife.
In Hinduism, too, when a body has died, the soul exits it, and the soul passes over the water of the river of purity into the afterlife. This symbolises the removal of earthly attachments from the soul by way of funeral ceremonies. Once the body is free of its family ties and materials, it travels freely until its positive energy is attracted by another growing body without a soul. A soul can attain immortality and thus be removed from all the pains and sufferings through the different stages of Spirituality.
Yoga, an essential part of the spiritual practice, involves meditation and certain exercises. All the famous Yogis, sages and saints, including Adi Yogi, are believed to be an incarnation of Shiva, and Gautama Buddha, an incarnation of Vishnu, attained peace and power through meditation in the form of yoga. It is shown and described in Hindu religious texts that through yoga, people can attain power both physically and mentally. The power of memory, learning and thinking is said to increase in capacity through yoga. Swami Vivekananda attained more use of his brain capacity through yoga.
Lord Shiva is known as the founder of this art of meditation and attained the highest power through it. He is thus known as Adi Yogi.
When the Gods are described as giving immortality boons, they either came with a clause, or if not, then it can be interpreted as the Gods providing lessons to the people to attain immortality. At that time, religion was the most important part of life. The gods and saints became immortal not only through yoga but also through their deeds. Even today, people know their names because of their bravery or courage and knowledge; their names remain immortal, but not as human beings.
