THE SEARCH FOR THE SELF
NAVIGATING THE APOCOLYPSE #3A
Spiritual laws are operative whether or not we understand them or can explain them or whether or not we even know about them or believe in them.
Apologies for the repetition which is to remind us of the soul's complexities.
The Contents of these several Blogs are below. These are to delineate the crucial factors in the Search for the Self. The Brown color delineates what has been done so far.
ABSOLUTE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS
THE SEARCH FOR THE SELF
SELF-REALIZATION or (“BECOMING”)
FREE WILL
IMPERMANENCE AND NON-ATTACHMENT
KARMA’S FIVE PRECEPTS
SOUL ARCHITECTURE
THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA
THE THREE DEADLIEST OF KARMA
THE HERO/INE vs. THE WARRIOR ARCHETYPE
THE HEALING OF MEANING
"FIELD" – CREATOR, SPIRIT GUIDES, GRATITUDE
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
LOVE - FORGIVENESS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
SOUL ARCHITECTURE
“All the talents of God are within you.
How could this be otherwise when your soul is derived from His genes!” Hafiz
“No human soul is like any other human soul, and therefore the love of God for any human soul is infinite, for no other soul can satisfy the same need in God.” W. B. Yeats
God’s love is not a test. God is not a test of love. Karma is the test. God loves us regardless - even more than a loving parent loves a son or daughter when they misbehave.
The soul's journey is intimately connected with its own, unique destiny (and no one else's.) To be complete we have to search for that and serve it to help others. This can be a lengthy process taking many life times. Mostly our wants rather than our needs and being in a sentient body enable us to go astray. An understanding of the soul's structure can help us on our journey.
“In every person there is something precious which is in no-one else. And so we should honor each for what is hidden within them for what only they have.” Talmud
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
C.G. Jung
The soul is pure and the soul is single. The soul is never split or parted. The soul, however can split from the body due to the unskillful machinations of our Shadow (Evil Inclination), Ego and Monkey mind. This can result in soul sickness or in extreme cases, soul loss. Ego, Monkey Mind and the Shadow all have their rolls and are necessary. They are not there to be eliminated but to be controlled and confined to their respective tasks which are centered around self-mastery and actualization of the lesser self. We are continually in a state of flux between Ego, Monkey (Narrow) Mind, and Shadow (Evil Inclination) versus the Higher Self, Big (or Spacious) Mind and our Good Inclination. We need to subordinate the former three to the latter three. Tricksters are usually present to enhance the dark. Our guides are there to facilitate the light - if we ask to receive. Hence there are eight variables to attend. For most of us beginning the journey. there are mainly six. As we ascend up the energy hierarchy we will start to encounter tricksters. We will need to invoke our guides for support because of the law of free will. A spirit guide practice with the help of an altar will enable this connection. Tricksters come unbidden and disobey this cosmic law. They are there to sabotage our ascent to the light. Our guides can facilitate the light and warn us about the tricksters. The best way to manage this flux is with spiritual practice and knowledge, as well as a spirit guide connection.
“From the sound of my sighing has my essence (soul) cleaved onto my flesh (body.)” King David
The soul’s essence should lodge comfortably in the body.
The soul yearns to do the Creator’s will and clings to the body when all is well.
A body caught up in cravings and attached to sentient pleasures distances the soul. The soul withdraws causing bodily imbalance and sickness. The body’s (sentient, flesh) attachments need to be broken so the soul (essence) can return to the body.
King David was first a shepherd. Before he became king he was nature bound and probably communed with God in the Creator’s masterpiece of wilderness. The “sound of sighing” is when we achieve equanimity and unity and we feel One with our Self (Soul) and our body and the Creator. Sensory, bodily oriented, active meditations can enable equanimity.
The soul's fulfillment is through the experience of the senses.
The soul's conversation is not of the mind. It is best heard with the senses.
Africans say we pray by singing and dancing and there is a Chassidic saying that with song one can open the gates of heaven. Sacred chanting is another way to unite body and soul.
Shed and shie from what keeps the soul from joy.
These six energies within us have to be managed. Three of them contract and are fear based and three expand and are love based. All six of them are essential for spiritual transformation. The negative however, must be subordinated to the positive.
The three that contract, impede or constrain and are fear driven:
1. The small or lesser self or Ego which embellishes our Persona and the image we want to convey to others. The Buddhists call this self-cherishing with an emphasis on the small self.
2. Monkey (Narrow) Mind, our survival instincts arising from the primitive brain creating our unskillful emotions and linked to our Sympathetic Flight or Fight response.
3. The Evil Inclination or the Shadow.
Most are unaware of the wiles of the “evil inclination”
who is a master of disguises all appealing to our lesser self…
The Shadow is like a chameleon changing colors to disguise itself. It projects it's own darkness onto others and then blames them for what resides within itself.
"S/he who cannot see themselves canot be redeeemed. We can only be redeemed to extent we can see ourselves." The Talmud
We have to be able to see our shadow to know where the light is coming from in order to embrace that.
“To confront a person with his own Shadow
(Evil Inclination)
Is to show him his own light.” Carl Jung
Sometimes the bigger the shadow the more the light in term of the Good Inclination,
“The soul is like an orb inside which are two worms, one blue, the other red that move constantly. The blue represents good and the red, evil. These components balance the soul. A balance of the two is essential for all souls to exist. If there is only blue or good, the soul cannot long survive. If there is only red or evil the person deserves not to survive.” Credo Mutwa, Zulu Sangoma or Sanusi (prophet or seer.)
“Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act – falls the Shadow. Between the conception and the creation, between the emotion and the response – falls the Shadow. Between the desire and the spasm, between the potency and the existence, between the essence and the descent – falls the Shadow.” T.S. Eliot
The shadow wants to project its own negativity onto others so that the ego can feel better about its little self. We would not be able to point fingers at another if those bad qualities were not part of our own Shadow. When we point, there are usually three fingers pointing back at us.
It is not the job of our good inclination to do away with our evil inclination nor to overcome it, but rather to balance and guide so that our drives, attitudes and instincts may support our soul's purpose.
While it is true that “Evil Inclination” is a collective name given to the drives and attitudes of our baser instincts, these instincts are necessary for our physical survival and while they can interfere with our spiritual growth and closeness to the Infinite One, it is the Creator who has put within us this inclination just as it is He/She who put within us the inclination to do good.
There is a Native American story about a grandfather talking to his grandson and explaining to him that in every person there are two wolves fighting for domination. The one wolf represents good and the other evil. The grandson asks his grandfather; “which one wins?” He replies; “the one that you feed.”
In the figure below we can see the dynamic flux between, light and dark, expansion and contraction, love and fear, sacred and profane, good and evil and between the purple and the red. The only way to handle the flux is through spiritual practice and understanding which will assist our free will in making skillful decisions.
With all your strength, seek knowledge.
"Only an ignorant person does not fear evil," Hillel
Action must continually be weighed against intent
to make sure it serves honesty and purpose.
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