“Philosophers say that the soul has two faces; the superior who always contemplates God, the inferior who looks down and informs the senses. Upper face; cusp of the soul, is in eternity and has nothing to do with time: Nothing knows of time or body.
Meister Eckhart
The soul (1) is the fifth essence of the experiences acquired by the three lower bodies of the human (chemical or dense physical body, vital or etheric physical body and desire or astral body); which implies righteousness in thought, feeling and work. Such essence is extracted by the Ego (The Spirit); and used by Him as sustenance, which is contributed by the concrete mind or body. The soul is triple; and represents the counterpart of the triple Spirit or Ego:
Conscious Soul: It manifests by increasing the awareness of the Divine Spirit; and it grows by the correct action, product of the experience acquired by the dense physical body.
Intellectual Soul: It expresses itself, increasing the power of the Spirit of Life; and it develops with the sublime thoughts when exercising memory (In the negative pole of the reflecting ether, etheric physical body), which is linked to past and present experiences and with the feelings generated by such experiences (Through the negative pole of the luminous ether {Senses}, of the etheric physical body).
Emotional Soul: It is externalized, increasing the effectiveness of the Human Spirit (The causal or abstract mind); and progress by the high feelings generated by the body of desires or astral, in the different actions undertaken.
During the explanation of the technique that; As stated, it can turn the intellectual cult into an intuitive (Spiritual) connoisseur, it is convenient to establish the hypothesis on which the science of meditation is based. During such a process, the different aspects must be recognized (Of nature or of Divinity, whichever is preferred); Of which, the human being is the expression, without forgetting the basic connection that holds humanity together as an integrated unit. The human is an integrated being, but existence means for some more than others. For in some, existence is purely animal; because in itself it represents the total sum of emotional experiences (Accumulated in the astral body) and sensory (Channeled by the negative pole of the light ether, of the etheric physical body). Instead; For others, it includes all of the above, plus that mental perception that greatly enriches and deepens life. And in a few (Among them, the flower of the human family); Being means recognizing the ability to register universal and subjective contacts, as well as individual and objective ones.
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When speaking of the Being of a person, in contradiction with his capacity; It means your soul. And in saying that that Being is the one who decides, it implies that all its expressions are connected to individual life; and that each expression radiates its personality, which is ultimately responsible. ” Keyserling (2)
It can be affirmed here; as a sine qua non condition, that only reflective and compliant people are prepared to apply the rules and instructions that will allow them to make the transition and achieve the characteristic awareness of the enlightened mystic and the intuitive (Spiritual) connoisseurs, compared to the materialist .
The beautiful verses of Dr. Winslow Hall's book (3) point to the goal: 'In all men, the Light hides. In how few it manifests as it should, illuminating from within, our carnal lamp, fanning the cosmic flame, in souls brought from afar! Splendor of God, how few are! But, ours is the fault; because awkwardly, by routine and wrathfulness and without discernment, we muffle and suffocate (With the development of personality) the Divine Spark (Monad) that shines in every child. Every child is by nature a piece of God; and if they had freedom, God would develop in them shading and shaping them, until they bloom like perfect flowers full of unveiled beauty '. In the beginning of life as a child; who practically predominates, is the Ego. But as the child grows and forms his personality, with the experiences (often full of vices and errors) acquired from society (parents, family, friends, education, racial, religious, economic position, etc.), little by little he is oppressing the expressions of the Ego.
This is the goal of the meditation process - leading humans to reach the Light that resides in them; so that in that light, see the Light. Such a task of revelation is based on certain and precise theories about the constitution and nature of the human being. The evolution and improvement of the mental faculty of the person; With their sharpness and ability to concentrate, at this time they offer the West the opportunity to test these theories. This is the most appropriate moment for an intelligent experiment, "the new mind and soul synthesis"; Keyserling says in his book (4): It must originate in the mind; in the heights of the supreme intellectuality, so that something decisive happens. To do this, there must be a clear understanding of three points; upon which, the eastern position is based. And if they are true, they will give validity to everything that supports the student of the oriental technique of meditation. Not forgetting the Chinese proverb that says: If the correct means are employed by the wrong man; the right means act incorrectly. These three premises are:
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First: There is a soul in every person, which uses the lower aspects of the human; simply as bodies of expression, which complement each other. The purpose of the evolutionary spiral process towards higher degrees is to increase and deepen the control of the soul, over this instrument or bodies. As evolution progresses; and the will of the human develops more and more, less accessible is made to external suggestion to free himself and act as he pleases without the persuasion of third parties. So the Epigensis or Free Will; supposes, the independence of the human to realize something new; and no, a simple choice between two courses of action. This is the capital difference between the human and the other kingdoms. Which acted in accordance with the law and with the dictates of the Group Spirit; What we call instinct. As the human being, it is becoming more and more a law in itself. And when he has succeeded, we have a Divine incarnation. Well, to the extent that we use the epigénisis; To altruistically benefit our neighbor, we increasingly enrich the soul and the communication with the Spirit.
Second: The set of these aspects or lower bodies, once developed and coordinated, we call personality; which is composed of the mental, emotional or astral states, the vital or ethereal energy, the response of the dense physical body and the m scara that hides to the soul, aspects that develop successively and progressively according to Eastern philosophy.
And when a relatively high state of development is reached; It is possible for the human to coordinate, and later to consciously unify their bodies with the soul. Then, the soul exercises control; for the constant and growing expression of its nature to take place. This; Sometimes, it is expressed symbolically as the light of a lamp. At first, the light does not shine; but gradually he makes his presence felt, until the words of the Christ are clearly understood: I am the Light of the world, exhorting his disciples to let his Light shine, so that men will see.
Third: When the life of the soul; acting according to the law of rebirth, it has led the personality to such a condition: Where it is an integrated and coordinated unit, an intense interaction is established between the two (Soul and personality).
Interaction, which is only achieved through the process of self-discipline, the active will towards the Spiritual Being, the altruistic service (Modality in which the group's conscious soul manifests) and meditation. The consummation of the task is the conscious understanding of the union, called in Christian terminology unification.
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These three hypotheses should be accepted as essays, if you want this educational process; Through meditation, be effective. Webster's Dictionary (5) defines the soul, according to these theories: “An entity conceived as the essence, substance or acting cause of individual life, especially life that manifests itself in psychic activities; the vehicle of individual existence, whose nature is independent of bodies and whose existence is considered inseparable. ”
Webster (6) adds, a comment applicable to our topic. That “some concepts like Fechner's; that the soul constitutes the entire Spiritual unitary process, together with the entire unitary bodily process, seems to be halfway between the idealistic and materialistic views. The strictly Eastern concept is given in his book by Dr. Radhakrishna (7), from the University of Calcutta, saying:
“All organic beings have a principle of self-determination (Free will), which is generally called 'soul'. In the strict sense of the word, soul applies to every being that has life; and the different souls are fundamentally of the same nature. The differences are due to the physical organizations that obscure and distort the life of the soul. The nature of the bodies; where souls are incorporated, explain the various degrees of oscillation. The Ego is the psychological unit of the succession of conscious experiences; which constitutes what we know as internal life, of an empirical self.
“The empirical self is a mixture of the free Spirit; and of the mechanism of purusha (Spirit), and of prakriti (Matter). Each Ego possesses within the gross material body (physical body); which dissolves upon death, a subtle body (Etheric Body), formed by the psychic mechanism, including the senses (Luminous Ether). ”
This soul is a fragment of the Super-soul; a Spark (or Monad) of the One Flame, imprisoned in the body. It is the aspect that gives the human; as to all forms in manifestation, life or Being and consciousness. It is the vital factor, that something coherent and integral that makes the human being (Compound, however, unified), in an entity that thinks, feels and aspires. The intellect; in the human, it is the perception factor of the Ego, which empowers him to go to his environment during the stages in which his personality is developing. But through proper meditation, it then allows the Ego to orient itself towards the soul, as separate from the mechanism; and thus, towards a new state of perception of Being.
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The relationship of the soul with the super-soul; It is as if it were the connection between the part, with the All. And such a correlation; and its consequent acknowledgments, develop in the sense of uniqueness with all beings and with the Supreme Reality. Of which, the mystics always testified. The connection of the soul with the human is between the conscious entity (The soul), with its means of expression (The body). The soul is the one that thinks with the thinking instrument (the concrete mental body or the mind), the one that registers a feeling with the sensory experience body (Desire or astral body); and the one that relates as an actor, with the physical body (Etheric and dense) - the only means of making contact with that particular field of activity, in the physical world.
This soul is expressed by two types of energy called: vital or fluidic principle; the life aspect, and the energy of pure reason. During life, these energies are focused on the etheric physical body. The flow of life is centered in the heart; and uses, in the blood system as arteries and veins, to animate all parts of the dense physical body (Through the positive pole of the light ether, of the etheric body). The other current; Intellectual energy is centered in the brain. And it uses the nervous system as a means of expression (Through the positive pole of the reflecting ether, of the etheric physical body). Therefore, in the heart lies the principle of life; and in the head, there is the reasoning mind and Spiritual consciousness. Which is achieved, using the mind correctly.
Dr. C. Lloyd Morgan (8) says in connection with the word "soul":
"In all cases; What is commonly understood as 'soul theory' has its roots in dualism. What some want to imply when talking about a 'psychology without a soul', is non-dualistic psychology ... However, there is one aspect that can be said as an appropriate definition; that the soul characterizes that level of mental development, where the concept Spirit is included within the reflective field of reference ”.
Earlier, in the same book (9) it says:
“Each of us is a life, a mind and a Spirit - an example of life, as an expression of the world plan; of mind, as a different expression of such a plan, and of Spirit, as far as the substance of that plan is revealed in us. The world plan in every way, from its smallest aspect to its highest expression is the manifestation of God; in you, in me, and in each one in particular God; as Spirit, it is partially revealed. ”
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This revelation of the Deity is the goal of mystical effort and the goal of the dual activity of the mind - God as life in nature; God as love, subjectively; God as plan and purpose. This is what unification; produced by meditation, reveals the human. Through this orderly technique, every person discovers that unity that is itself, then its relationship with the Universe. And that his dense physical body and his vital or etheric energies are an integral part of nature itself; which, in effect, is the outer garment of the Deity, who perceives her ability to love and feel and makes her aware of the love that throbs, in the heart of all creation. And finally, he discovers that his mind can give him the key that opens the door of understanding; to penetrate the purposes and plans that guide the mind of God himself. Indeed, it reaches God and discovers God as the central Reality; Knowing that he is divine, he discovers that the All is equally divine.
Dr. F. Kírtley Mather, from Harvard University, has said in a very illustrative article: “It cannot be denied that the Universe is administered. Something determines; and continues to determine the performance of natural law, the orderly transformation of matter and energy. It may be the 'curvature of the cosmos', or 'blind chance', or 'universal energy, or' an absent Jehovah ', or an' omni-penetrating spirit, but there must be something. From a certain angle, the question of whether there is a God quickly receives an affirmative answer. ”
Discovering himself and understanding his own nature, the human reaches that center within himself, which is one with all that exists. Discover that it is equipped with a mechanism that can put you in contact with the differentiated manifestations; whereby the Deity tries to express itself. It has a vital or etheric body that responds to universal energy, and is the vehicle for the two forms of mood energy (of life, located in the heart; and of reason, in the brain), previously named. The theme of the vital or etheric body, its relationship with this universal energy and the seven points of contact (Chakras) with the physical organism, were discussed in my book (10); therefore, I will not elaborate here, except to transcribe a paragraph:
“Behind the objective body (dense physicist) there is a subjective form, constituted of etheric matter, which acts as a conductor of the vital principle of energy or prana. This vital principle is the force aspect of the soul; and through the etheric physical body, the soul animates the form (dense physics), grants its peculiar qualities and attributes, expresses its desires in it and finally, directs it using the activity of the mind.
Through the brain, the soul energizes the body (dense physicist), driving it to conscious activity (The reasoning, through the function of the positive pole of the reflecting ether, of the etheric physical body); and through the heart, life (The blood produced by the positive pole of the luminous ether, of the etheric physical body) penetrates all parts of the body. ”
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It also exists; another body (the one of desires or astral), composed of the total sum of all the emotional states, feelings and inclinations that reacts to the physical environment of the human in response, to the information received by the brain through the five senses (Of the negative pole of the luminous ether, in the etheric physical body). Information, which is transmitted to the brain, by the etheric physical body (Negative pole of the light ether). Being thus dragged the person to purely selfish and personal activities; or it can be trained to react first to the mind, considering it (Something that rarely happens) as an interpreter of the Self. This emotional or astral body, characterized by feeling and desire; In most cases, it acts more powerfully on the physical body. By conditioning most humans as automatons, generating impulses towards action by the nature of desire and passions, which are animated by vital or etheric energy.
As the race progresses; it comes into existence and another body, the concrete mental one, enters into activity. Which gradually assumes active and natural control. Similarly to physical (etheric and dense) and emotional (astral body) organisms; This mental mechanism is at first entirely objective in its orientation. And it goes into activity, due to the impacts that come from the external world; by conduit, of the senses (Operated by the negative pole of the light ether, of the ethereal physical body). Each time it is more positive; and slowly, although firmly, it begins to dominate the other phenomenal aspects of the human, until the personality and its four aspects (concrete mental body, astral body, ethereal physical body and physical body dense), they act complete and unified as an active entity in the physical plane. When this occurs, a crisis is reached and new developments and developments are possible.
During all this time, the two energies of the soul, life and mind, acted through the bodies (ethereal and dense physicist), without the human being realizing their origin or purpose But as a result of this activity; He is now an intelligent, active and evolved human. But, as Browning (11) says: In the whole man the tendency toward God begins again, and is impelled by a Divine restlessness towards a conscious perception and contact with his soul, an invisible factor that Presiente and of which he is personally unconscious. Thus begins the process of education itself and intense research, of its true nature. Your personality; until then oriented with attention focused objectively towards the world of physical, emotional (Astral) and mental life, it goes through a process of reorientation and goes inward, to the Self. It is subjectively focused; and its purpose is to bring to the manifestation that ser be more profound, of which Keyserling speaks.
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The conscious union with the soul is sought, but not only emotionally (from the astral body) and sensory (Of the five senses operated by the negative pole of the luminous ether, of the body f Ethical physicist) of the devotee and the physician.
The direct experience is sought, the knowledge of the Divine Self (The Ego or Spirit); and mental security, of the existence of the immanent Son of God, which becomes the goal of all effort.
This is not the method of the mystical devotee who; For the impulsive love of his emotional (Astral) nature, he has sought God. It is the method of intellectual approach and the subordination of the whole personality, to the impulse to move towards Spiritual realities. All the purely mental types (Scientists, thinkers, etc.) and the truly coordinated personalities (Legislators, governors, etc.), are deep-rooted; and they went through the mystical period sometime, or in a certain life.
As the intellect affirms and the mind develops, this mysticism can temporarily fade into the gloom and be relegated to the subconscious realm for some time. But; Finally and inevitably, the emphasis is placed on the will to know. And life (to which the external and visible aspects of the manifestation do not satisfy), is driven towards the knowledge of the soul; and to use the mind, in the understanding of Spiritual truth, as some are doing now by focusing their attention on the present study.
In this effort he joins, in the head (Brain) and in the heart. Mind and pure reason merge with love and devotion, making a complete readjustment of personality in a new sphere of perception. New states of consciousness are registered; a new phenomenal world is gradually perceived, and the aspirant begins to understand that the focus of his life, like his conscience, can rise above his former field of effort. Discover that you can walk with God; dwell in the heavens and know, a new world within the familiar external forms. Begins to be considered as a conscious inhabitant of another kingdom of nature; the Spiritual realm, as real, vital, orderly and phenomenal, as any of today known.
Persistently assumes the attitude of the soul towards its instrument, the human body. Stop considering yourself as a human dominated by your astral emotions, driven by energy and directed by your mind; he knows that it is the I, who thinks through the mind, feels through the astral body; and acts, consciously through the physical body. As this awareness stabilizes and becomes permanent, the work of evolution is consummated; the great unification has been effected, and the union between the I and its expression bodies is established. Thus, consciously embodies a divine Son of God.
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Thanks to education in all its branches, personality coordination has been accelerated extraordinarily. The mentality of people constantly ascends towards the scale of realization. The humanity; Through its vast groups of educated and mentally focused individuals, it is prepared to assume its self-determination and be directed by the soul. The intensive culture of the individual can already be undertaken, as taught in the eastern system. The education and reorientation of the advanced human being must find its place in our mass education system. Therefore, he advocates in this study; and for that, it has been written. How can man discover his soul or prove the reality of the existence of that soul? How can man readjust himself to the conditions of soul life, and begin to act consciously and simultaneously as soul and as man? What must you do to achieve the union between the soul and its instrument, an essential condition to satisfy the impulsive yearning of its nature? How can you know and not simply believe, wait and aspire?
The experienced voice of oriental wisdom responds with one word: Meditation. The question logically arises: "Is that all?"; And the answer is yes". When meditation is practiced correctly and perseverance is the tonic of life, increasing contact with the soul is established. The result of this contact translates into self-discipline, purification and a life of aspiration and service. The meditation; In the Eastern sense, as we shall see, it is a strictly mental process, which leads to the knowledge of the soul and enlightenment. It is a fact in nature that "as man thinks, so is he."
Notes:
1. Rosicrucian Fellowship Dictionary
2. Creative Understanding, p. 180
3. Illuminate, p. 218
4. Creative Understanding, p. 180
5. Webster's New International Dictionary, Ed. 1923.
6. Idem.
7. Indian Philosophy, T. II, p. 279, 283, 285.
8. Lie, Mind and Spirit, p. 35
9. Idem, p. 32
10. THE Soul and Its Mechanism. Chapter III, of Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul and Alice A. Bailey.
11. Paracelsus.
Information extracted and interpreted from the book: From Intellect To Intuition (Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul and Alice Ann Bailey), at:
Blue Books or Books of Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul
