The Anti-material World

The material scientists misconceive the soul, a particle of anti-matter, to be only another variety of material energy. But real anti-matter must be anti-material, or spiritual. If matter is subject to annihilation, then anti-matter must be indestructible. Lord Krsna explains this quality of the soul in the following excerpts from the Bhagavad-gita (2.18, 16, 20):

"An immeasurable particle of anti-material energy is engaged within the material body (which includes the mind and intelligence). The material body is destructible, and as such it is changeable and temporary, as is the material world. But the anti-material force is indestructible and therefore permanent. For the anti-material particle, which is the vital force, there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does it ever cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. When the material body is annihilated, the anti-material particle is never affected." The Lord further explains how the soul transmigrates from one body to another. "The material body progressively changes from childhood to boyhood, from boyhood to youth, and from youth to old age, after which the anti-material particle leaves the old, unworkable body and enters another material body." (Bg. 2.13)

Thus, with some reflection we can understand a few of the characteristics of the material and the anti-material energies. The material energy is unconscious, lifeless, and temporary, being subject to the influence of time. Referred to in the Bhagavad-gita as the inferior or external energy, the material energy has eight divisions: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego. All mundane knowledge is limited to these eight material principles. On the other hand, the anti-material energy stands in opposition to all the material qualities. The anti-material particle of energy is the living force, described in the Bhagavad-gita as the superior or internal energy. The material body is animated by this living force, and when it is separated from the body, the body becomes useless and dies. The nature of the anti-material particle (the soul) is sat-cid-ananda-eternal, full of knowledge, and blissful-and as such it is undoubtedly superior to the material energy.