Your soul is the constellation of your being, of your true inner identity. Its peculiar pattern of organization is the result of both inner and outer factors, or put in other terms, of things heavenly and earthly. The colors, shapes, shadings, and textures of your soul are unique to you.

You are an individual for both inner and outer reasons. To begin with, no two beings are alike. Each is a special and singular blend of love and truth. 

Add to that the fact that we each experience and are conditioned by a different set of outer factors—environmental, social, cultural, etc.—and it becomes clear that our souls, these ageless sojourners which step down the invisible to the visible and lift up the visible to the invisible, are as different as the snowflakes which form in the skies above and blanket the earth with their beauty. As such, the soul is the evidence of the presence of being, but it may not be formed entirely in its image and likeness.

Some have said that all you can ever achieve in life is a sense of your soul or that the highest you can feel is inspiration of its possibilities and the wonder of its mysteries. While many might content themselves with this experience or even with the notion that they could aspire to that experience if they one day had the gumption to get to know themselves in a deeper way, I contend that there is something more, a greater experience to be known and revealed than simply gaining a sense of one’s soul. I believe that you are here, I am here, to reveal the true nature of being…on earth, as it was once so elegantly put, as it is in heaven.

If passion and reason are the means by which souls interrelate, then love and truth constitute intercourse at the level of being. To satisfy yourself with passion and reason as the primary means of interacting with the world around you is to judge the book of life by its cover. To go deeper, you must go higher. To go higher you must try less and yield more. In this sense you must lose yourself – the old you who you thought you were – to find yourself. 

The transition from living from the outside (soul) to living from the inside (being) can be a little uncomfortable, but it is well worth the investment. In the process you learn to live radiantly, rather than reactively. You stop letting the world around you determine your expression and you soon discover the deep and lasting peace which comes only as you stop trying to swim against the current of the river of life.

The flow of the river of life is established by the will of love and guiding influence of truth, not by human opinion. Passion and reason eddy the waters of the river of life wherever there are obstacles such as prejudice, misconceptions, ungrounded beliefs, or rigidly held opinions. The more you as an individual or we as a race cling to these obstacles, the bigger and more turbulent the eddy. 

History shows us that we, as human beings, are our own worst enemy. Our passionate belief in (often religious) or fanatical intellectual defense of (often scientific) misconceptions about love and truth have gotten us into trouble more than once. There have been wars and rumors of wars as souls have wrestled with souls. It is not uncommon to see people shrug their shoulders in the face of this and say, “well that is how it has always been and that is how it will always be.” Well, I for one am not sure that is true. I wonder if we’re not looking at the seemingly intractable problem from the wrong perspective. 

What would the right perspective be? Well, for starters: the perspective of being, through the eyes of love and truth. 

From the viewpoint of the soul, the world is a place that needs to be categorized, named, and cataloged. Knowledge is power from the perspective of the soul. It may well be, but where has that gotten us? Is there any more peace, fulfillment, or joy on earth now than there was 50, 100, 1,000, or 5,000 years ago?

From the perspective of being, the world is a canvas upon which the will of love and the pattern of truth are to be revealed. This is “inside-out, above-below” living, as opposed to the “outside-in, let’s see what makes this thing tick” approach which occupies the hearts and minds of so many.

The perspective of being comes as there is centering in love and truth – not in religious or scientific dogma about love and truth – but in the spirits of love and truth themselves. This may seem a tall order if you have been accustomed to fighting your way through the ignorance, prejudice and misconceptions of world culture with the sword of passion and the buckler of reason, but when you put down your weapons, when you relax in love and yield to truth you immediately begin to have a different experience in living. And that, dear readers, is the beginning of the blessing of the revelation of being in you, through you, and to the world around you.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash