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You might have read the title of this article and were intrigued, yet at the same time mildly offended. Granted, the title seems like it’s originating from the cynical mind of someone who doesn’t believe in a soul. But before you label me a heretic and an unspiritual person, hear me out for a second.
If you’ve been around the spiritual block you probably have the idea that the soul is something contrary to the ego.
Just like you, I have asked myself what exactly the soul is. I have read so much about it and at times I had the feeling that I was in touch with what everyone was describing. But part of my spiritual practice is being as honest and non-bullshit with myself as possible.
So, instead of just swallowing second- and third- and fourth-hand ideas, I wanted to see if I could get to the bottom of this soul-thing myself.
After all, if we all apparently have a soul why would anyone be an authority about my soul other than myself? If we all have access to it, then we should all be able to draw our own conclusions without anyone telling us what’s what.
The words you’ll read here are not supposed to be dogma or a belief you should sheepishly accept. It’s simply my reflection on the topic of the soul and my own opinion about what the soul might be.
Why Do You Want to Know What Your Soul Is?
Asking yourself why you want to know about the soul is a good point to start I’d say.
It might be out of curiosity or mental masturbation, which is not bad or wrong, of course. After all, spiritual and metaphysical ideas and concepts are fascinating and can satisfy a mind seeking stimulation.
But if you’re in this category, it’s best that you never find an answer. Otherwise, your mind has nothing to occupy itself with anymore and you have to start being interested in more earthly things, like why water wet is, or gravity, or the breeding behavior of hippos.
I’ve been, and to some degree still am, in this category. But being honest with myself, I know it’s just entertainment. And if we’re really honest, the whole cognizing of the soul is mostly just entertainment.
Now the next and more pragmatic reason to ask what your soul is, is to figure out how you can align with it or utilize it to live an authentic life. That’s a good place to be in, knowing you’re not living authentically that is.
Somewhere along our spiritual stroll, we’ve been made to believe that there is a unique purpose in our souls that we need to excavate. Or that we can at least use our soul to squeeze success, wealth, love, and happiness out of life.
But this is where the water gets muddy.
The Difference Between Soul And Ego
When we ask ourselves what the difference between soul and ego is, everything starts to crumble pretty quickly.
Here I was trying to find out what the soul is from an ego perspective. How can anything from the ego perspective not be ego?
I’ve noticed that many in the spiritual arena, including myself, used the soul to justify their egoic attachments and beliefs. We use terminology like soul desires, or young and old souls as if we know exactly what we’re talking about. And as if they’re not just words to pamper our egos and make us feel more unique and special.
I’m not saying that there isn’t a uniqueness in or around or through each of us. But if the soul is apparently this pure aspect of our being, would it be full of vanity and pride and self-satisfaction?
And if it is full of these, in what sense does it differ from the ego? And if the ego is an illusion that has no real existence, in what sense does the soul have any real existence?
Again, we’re not drawing any conclusions yet (ok, maybe a little), we’re just following the thread of inquiry wherever it leads us.
Let’s look at some dictionary definitions of the soul.
“Your soul is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that your soul continues existing after your body is dead.”
“The spiritual part of a person that some people believe continues to exist in some form after their body has died, or the part of a person that is not physical and experiences deep feelings and emotions.”
“An entity which is regarded as being the immortal or spiritual part of a person and which, having no physical or material reality, is credited with the functions of thinking, willing, and choosing.”
Do these definitions, to a great degree, remind you of a certain non-existent someone who claims to be the protagonist of your life?
If your soul is the part of you that… “consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings,” “…experiences deep feelings and emotions,” and “…is credited with the functions of thinking, willing, and choosing,” then I have to wholeheartedly disagree.
Character, thoughts, emotions, and feelings are your everyday experience, is it not? Does this feel like your soul to you? If so, well then that’s great. You’ve found your answer. But if it does feel more like your ego at work, then perhaps your ego is trying to elevate itself by dressing itself in a spiritual garment.
So, what if as soon as you make statements about your unique snowflakey soul, it’s not the soul you’re talking about but glorified ego?
The Difference Between Soul And Spirit
Alright, next point on our agenda. What’s the difference between soul and spirit?
Spirit is another exciting concept that can keep us spinning our mental wheels forever. So, let’s just decide on one unanimous definition, so we have something to work with, ok?
Let me make a suggestion. Let’s just say, for the sake of this discussion, that Spirit (with a capital S) is your true nature—who or what you really are. Spirit = Truth.
Now, armed with this definition, we can see that Spirit and soul are two different paradigms. Spirit cannot be understood by the ego-mind. As soon as we try, we have turned it into something else.
It’s like trying to define infinity. Every definition of infinity is limiting for infinity because it creates a box around infinity. Infinite is not the opposite of finite, it’s beyond all opposites. Infinity includes and transcends the finite.
Similarly, Spirit is not what we are, Spirit is what is. There is no room for “we.” And yet, we appear in Spirit, so it’s not different from it. Can you see how language fails us here?
Let’s use an analogy to drive our point home.
Should we use the screen or the ocean analogy? Meh, let’s Frankenstein this whole thing, whatever.
Okay, so Spirit is the infinite ocean screen—the only thing (although it’s not a thing of course) that exists autonomously. Everything else is a wave appearance emerging/appearing from/on this infinite ocean screen. This includes you, other people, the world, watermelons, and, yes, even the soul.
I know what you want to ask: “Does that mean the soul is not better than a watermelon?” The answer is no and yes. No, because there is no worse or better, and yes because, well…yes.
Many people say that the soul is an individuation of Spirit, kind of like a smaller equally powerful version. But from the perspective of Spirit, the soul is as much individuation of Spirit as is a watermelon.
Appearance is appearance, no matter if it appears wispy and ghostly or if it appears green-skinned, red-meated, and mostly watery.
So in the final equation, Spirit = true; soul and watermelons = untrue.
Ok, But Like What Is The Soul?
The following is my personal take on what I consider to be the soul.
Your soul is your spiritual DNA.
It’s what starts expressing itself when you cut yourself free from false beliefs and attachments. The soul is the way of navigation when you no longer depend on your thoughts and emotions to tell you where to go.
You’re aligned with your soul when you’re aligned with the flow of life, which allows you to read energetic patterns and currents. You know you’re in soul navigation when you’re no longer pushed around by fear. When you can trust life to such a degree that you have no need to control things.
In fact, you know you’re not in control and you never have been. But you believed you were and this created all the problems and struggles. Releasing the illusion of control and seeing how things are taking care of themselves enables trust.
Your soul is expressing itself when you’re walking your own unique untrodden path. You’re no longer influenced by other people’s ideas and opinions about life.
Life feels like you’re sitting in a boat going down a river. You have your paddle in hand and all you occasionally do is gently course-correct. You have no resistance to life, you don’t fight against life, and everything works out perfectly, no matter how it works out.
And the more you are aligned with your soul, the more effortless your life feels. It’s your intended way of navigating through life and your natural birthright.
But this has nothing to do with trying to become something. You’ve tried to be and become someone or something your whole life and this is what has led to all this mess.
So, this is not about mentally understanding the concept of the soul. This won’t bring you any closer to making the soul your living experience. This is about removing all the obstructions to it and witnessing the expression that always wanted to express itself.
Luka
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Interesting perspective, thought provoking. I love how intriguing our supposed ‘reality’ can be when viewed from different perspectives. Isn’t it ironic that when we finally understand it all we won’t need to anymore.