Our Essence At the simplest level, we humans are solid matter with mass and embedded energy . As children, we consume food, grow, and gain weight. In old age, our food intake lessens, our bodies weaken, and eventually, at death, the body disintegrates. What sustains us throughout is energy—the life force that drives our dynamism . When it is gone, we say the life force has departed . Image Credit: Gemini Our body is a finite system, powered not by a hidden reservoir but by the subtle body —an unseen yet experienced dimension made up of mind, intellect, memory, and consciousness . This subtle body has no mass; it channels vital energy throughout us, animating heartbeat, digestion, thought, and action . Yet this energy is limited. Like a fixed-capacity battery, it cannot be expanded or reduced. When it is fully depleted, the subtle body separates from the solid physical body . At that moment, since the life force has left, the solid body becomes still and finally disintegrates. This ref...
