What is the soul?
What exactly is the soul?
Religion, philosophy, art and myths all throughout the ages have tried to define or encapsulate what exactly it is about being human that makes it so meaningful or sacred. But is there any truth to what the soul or spirit is? Why do so many different people from all different ages claim to have some kind of insight into what this is? Why do they all say different things, despite claiming to have had some kind of divine revelation (visions, dreams, voices, inner experiences)?
Firstly, all I could personally say about the soul comes from my own mystical experiences and contemplations. People may disagree with me, but that’s fine. It’s up to the individual to come to terms with these things.
Some conclusions I’ve come to about the soul come from my own observation about what everyone claims to know about it. Many claim that their own specific religions hold the truth to what the soul is. A christian could say that only Jesus could heal your soul. A buddhist could claim that the soul is in a constant cycle of birth, death and rebirth until you attain nirvana. A new age or ‘spiritual but not religious’ person could claim that your soul is just the expansiveness of your auric field and that your heart space is the seat of the soul.
What I’m seeing is that there are many different understandings of what the soul is or what it’s about and how it works. All different backgrounds and communities or associates to reinforce shared beliefs, however there is not always a willingness to consider the deeply held beliefs of opposing views. As I write this, I notice that this denial of the reality of differing beliefs without exploration or at least consideration of other beliefs feels like treason to the soul. It’s definitely not the case that everyone within each of these communities denies the exploration, but I am aware that there are people in the world who don’t explore truth. I believe it was the Theosophists who said, “there is no religion higher than truth”. Reality and the soul are of the same ecosystem and are connected to each other. To be real, you would not deny the soul. To be soulful, you would not deny reality. It is up to the individual to explore the deepest, most real and authentic truth that one could possibly comprehend.
One may say, “well they don’t really understand the truth of the soul because they haven’t explored truth or haven’t had the mystical visions or healing that I encountered that implied, with deep conviction, what the soul is. That’s how I know what the soul is.”
I remind myself that whatever conclusion I have personally come to understand about what the soul is, I need to remain humble and know that it is only my perception. There is always a deeper truth, existence is eternal and never ends. My perception is basically my personal religion. Heck, there could even be alien beings who have far more complex brains that understand life to such a higher extent than anyone on this earth! How could I claim to know the absolute truth?!
Jumping back to the realization that many different mystics say many different things about what the soul is, I realize that deep convictions, intense or radical spiritual healing, divine revelations (visions, voices, presence of God, feelings) or even lasting happiness or peace doesn’t imply that you hold the absolute truth of knowing these things. Different people say different things, yet they all experience these results. This is why I believe in contemplation and observing the reality of these things and perceptions. I believe it is important to come to our own conclusions. I believe that genuine contemplation deepens one’s enlightenment.
Finally… What do I believe that the soul is?
I personally try to come to a most secular understanding of what the soul is and what it’s all about. I could describe it in many ways, but to put simply…
The soul is your inner world. Anyone who has ever discussed the soul went within. The part of you that just simply feels meaningful, deeply true or authentic, the beautiful. When you feel that brightness when you have a happy daydream or make beautiful art, it highlights this part of you that can be definitely overlooked if you go unaware of the subtle or finer things within. You feel it when you do an act of purity or kindness or when someone does that for you. The soul can be fierce, like the feeling you get when you see a YouTube video of a lioness protecting an infant gazelle that can’t protect itself. It is morally good.
The soul is also your fate and your purpose. It holds the plan for your life (if you choose to follow it) and is the generator of your highest aspirations and dreams. If you exist only in reality and never in the inner world, you will lack true free will because your unconscious beliefs and feelings will run your life. If you exist only within and deny action or reality, you do a disservice to the divine or God for not taking the responsibility that is asked of you for making these discoveries of enlightenment and/or awakening (which I’m still learning to be dutiful and brave just to be clear).
The hue of your soul, or the type or style of things that you are meant to do in life, can be understood through what I call ‘quantities in quantities’. I don’t know if there is an established word for it, but basically the zodiac signs and myers-briggs personality types are perfect examples of this. In the zodiac signs, there are 12 qualities or energies that are expressions of the numbers 3 and 4. 3 qualities and 4 elements. 3 is cardinal, fixed and mutable energies and 4 are the fire, earth, air and water energies. As the zodiacal cycle ages, you can see how they overlap each other, giving rise to distinct energies or even personalities that one can see in nature, society or in the human personality (sometimes even animal personalities). For example, scorpio is the fixed water sign. It is that person or scenario in nature (or even in the inner world) that is very extreme or intense and seems to have some kind of hidden potential or activity that is subtle and may go unnoticed. A stage magician performing slight of hand tricks, a vision or deep knowing that uncovers the truth about something, or a patient suffering from psychosis in a psych ward (something is highly distressing that they’re experiencing but you can’t see it). A person who has gone through these things or feels a deep enthusiasm or interest in this has that color of their soul. They are meant to be pursuing similar things in life that are worthwhile and excite them, however it may look (it’ll be different for each). Not that one is meant to become a mental patient, but possibly investigating into what that experience is.
These energies or personalities in the zodiac or the myers-briggs personality types are not totally fixed things despite how real they may seem, but rather the only reality they hold is the perceptions and feelings we experience when we come across certain situations in life that reflect them. These specific symbols like Pisces or INFP are really just templates for understanding our inner world, or the color of our soul. You could literally keep breaking it down into different subgroups or sub-personalities within each symbol and they’ll each appear different. You would just add more ‘quantities’ or numbers within them (masculine/feminine, body/mind/spirit, fire/earth/air/water, etc.)
The soul is the most beautiful and pure part of ourselves. all the religions of the world have tried to define it in their own terms, but I can say this; religions do not own the soul… the soul owns the religions. The soul exists beyond the words and phrases we use to describe it. The soul is a country, whereas religions are each state. Pick wisely and honestly, and maybe even make your own religion for yourself or for the world.
