... and as the body dies, the atman, the eternal, indestructible essence of the living being leaves the body to go to another body. This is known as reincarnation. So if every thing in the universe, including living creatures, contains an atman that has the essence of Brahman, Hindus should respect it. There are two stories that represent this teaching from the Upanishads, which are Hindu scriptures: A father tells his son to break a fig in half and asks the son what he sees. The son says that he sees seeds and his father tells him to break one of them and tell him what he sees. The son says nothing. The father says there is the subtle essence there although it cannot be seen and that the whole universe is identified by that subtle essence. The son then asks the father to teach him more. The father told him to place ...

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