“One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?” – Sri Isopanisad, Text 7

 When you look at yourself or at others, what do you see? A color? A nationality? An age? A species? What if all these classifications were rendered meaningless? How would that change the planet? We as a society often talk about not defining people by appearance, labels, etc. and discarding the prejudices that go along with those labels. So then how exactly should we see people?

 The philosophy of yoga tells us to see people as souls and not as bodies. This is our real identity. To truly shed the prejudices attached to having this body or that body, we must see past the body altogether. We are spiritual beings covered by bodies made of matter. The material body really literally has nothing to do with who we really are. So much turmoil could be done away with if people regarded all living entities according to their true spiritual nature—as souls. Think about it. How much strife between nations, between people, even within ourselves would cease if we stopped identifying with the bodies we are wearing?

 The illusion and confusion of who we are and how we relate to others melts away when we are able to see everyone for the soul sisters and brothers we are. Ultimately, we are all part of the same family, all children of the Supreme Soul, God. As eternal souls composed of spiritual energy we are alike in quality to the Lord, though we do not approach His magnitude. The analogy is given of sparks generated by the blazing fire. As collective sparks of the same Fire, we share a common source and purpose. Recognizing this, we should respect the true spiritual identity of everyone.