The nature of self

The self (I or soul) is eternal and always existed in the past and will always exist in the future. We will never cease to exist. Just like we change garments, the same way we (the self) changes bodies. The soul goes through birth, childhood, youth, old age and finally, death and passes on to another new body. It goes through the cycle of birth and death commonly known as reincarnation. The soul never dies or can never be destroyed by any means. The eternal (sat) always exists and the transient (body and bodily objects) have no factual existence. The self remains unchanged amidst the changes in body and bodily objects. The transient happiness and distress are like summer and winter seasons. They come and go and the self remains the same among all these changes. Therefore, the yogi who understand the true nature of the self don't get overwhelmed or disturbed by these changes and remain steady and equanimous amongst dualities of happiness and distress, pain and pleasure, victory and defeat, honor and dishonor & profit and loss.