We are made of the stuff of the cosmos. Each one of us larger and more brilliant than our physical limitations have made us think we are. Surrounding our bodies is a complex expanded organism made of subtle energy. This larger self has order and a greater purpose to fulfill. It can be worked with, supported, cleared of excess and healed of trauma. Within the subtle anatomy of our energetic Structure we hold the secrets of all creation, our own histories and personal evolutionary journeys. We are our own ancestors and the future yet to come.
The concept of an anatomy of the soul requires a perceptual shift about who and what we are and gives rise to a new paradigm for understanding human potential. The advent of an organized anatomy, of a Structure made from the subtle energetic stuff of the individuated soul represents a perceptual change of consciousness for anyone willing to entertain the idea. As we learn to interact with this energy, to define it and dissect what it is, our behavior changes. We begin to think of what we are in a larger context. We can learn to use this anatomy, care for it and work to heal the struggles of life held within it. In this way we can begin to own personal transformation anew.
The entire human Structure makes One Body and not many. It is possible to view the human experience from a whole body anatomical perspective and in doing so to reclaim ownership of all of it from the gross viscera of the abdominal cavity to the dizzying heights of our Soul. This is not fantasy or some kind of trick, it is possible to take possession of our birthright, our Structure.
In many religious traditions and dogmas, the ordinary individual must petition their deity through intercessors. This intervention will grant access to their Soul, which may not belong to the individual, but to the overriding wisdom and grace of either the institution or the god. Many different systems share the idea that the Soul does not really belong to the individual but instead, to the paternal or maternal vision of the care-taking god or goddess. Most people think of their traditional system as the best, or only real way that it is. That is religious freedom.
This work has no argument with personal religious choice. Believe what is in your heart and tradition. Worship what you choose. The existence of your One Body and its anatomy is outside of the tenets of religious faith, just like the discovery or the existence of an entire Solar System does not mean that the Earth is not important. These basic ideas espouse a philosophy of wholeness; in a most classic sense of the word philosophy, which is the investigation of the causes and laws underlying reality. As such, this wholistic system, just like physical anatomy, is inclusive of all faiths and excluding of none.
What is the Soul? Where does it come from? How does it function? Does everyone have one? How do we get one? Why do we have a Soul?
Webster’s Dictionary defines Soul as: “The animating and vital principle in man credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.” He also calls it “the spiritual nature of man, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness of misery in a future state.”
I humbly disagree with the sweeping nature of this definition, Mr. Webster. In fact, this is where we have made some cultural, philosophical, and religious assumptions that have set us apart from ourselves and caused us as a species, to experience a deadly kind of imbalance, one that is costing us mightily. We need a new and more contemporary definition of Soul. One that is not based in the ideals of separation, but instead, that is more specific, less subjective, and promotes wholeness.
To suggest that the Soul thinks, or experiences reactive emotion, is a limiting idea. The Soul is larger than this. We are larger than this. This is an 18th century approach, one that keeps us small and out of partnership with the greater whole of creation. No wonder we fight with nature and try to dominate her like an abusive spouse. We actually think that the Soul is subject to our petty actions and conditions and that it somehow does not exist beyond this small view of who we are.
Immortality is not the same as stepping outside of the paradigm of life and death, it is a view that says: it lives forever, not that it is altogether beyond the boundaries of the concept of end and beginning. If a thing has life, it has death. If a thing is outside of life, it may have a larger life and ultimately a larger death or it may have a totally different beingness and not even be a thing at all.
Referred to as the spiritual nature of man, our definition moves into a murky area again. Spirit as a condition, a nature, seems too limiting, yet again. Is Spirit so driven that it is actually the nature of man? No. What drives us is purpose, certainly spiritually based, but not our nature or our spirit. Human nature is more of a composite than this, more a compilation of knowledge, purpose, wisdom and function in action. Human nature contains elements of spirit and soul both, but is not either. Neither is spirit, soul. It is something quite different much simpler, like a container. Soul fuels us, Purpose drives us, Spirit contains us, Human Nature defines us, and Source sings her siren song, these are all different ideas, different stances, and different vibrational frequencies.
The problem with not being clear is that actions based in lack of clarity are expressing some form of imbalance and disease. This fundamental confusion is at the root of cultural disorder throughout the world. Even if this particular definition of Soul is not the definition of the culture of the country you are in, it doesn’t matter; this is the currently accepted greater worldview of the major powers in the world today. It is what western civilization is based upon, why the split is so profound. Even in cultures that do not believe in the idea of Soul or Spirit there is the belief in having what others do, these others are the western world and this way of believing in the Soul is at the bottom of the race to have. Is it not possible that until we of the west are more magnanimous in our definition of this fundamental root of who and what we are, there will be disharmony amongst the people of the Earth?
I suggest the Soul is pure, self-realized intelligence that expresses constantly in the moment. It is not mind, thought, action, or emotion, and it is never joyous or miserable. It has a deep and abiding purpose to express and this expression takes the form of Individuation. Once the Divine filament becomes self-aware, realizing: I am, it achieves consciousness. The very next thing it realizes is: I am not and in that millisecond, individuation is created. This is what we are: individuated filaments of self-realized Source. We are the: I am not to the: I am of the Divine. Without us, without our Individuated Soul, the Divine Source would not fulfill its expression and expression and expression. This is the beginning of our Structure the instant of birth of our Individuation, which is constantly reaching out to the Source or Nature. Anatomically this event has a location in the Structure, it has a home where the power of that millisecond is forever harnessed as the power, which fuels the One Body.
It is the Individuated Soul, which fuels the entire Structure. It exists within each of us as the vibrant Individuation of the Source. From this perspective, every one of us has a unique Soul, functioning within the Structure as the living power that drives our elegant machine. Simply by gaining an understanding of the anatomy of the Structure and the concept of the One Body it is possible to begin reclaiming the Soul as a vivacious and useful part of whom and what we are. Just becoming aware opens the door into the mind and heart and permits a timeless remembering of the scope that we humans embody.
The basic idea is very simple. Each individuated Soul is the driving force of life expressing within the Structure; and so, reclaiming our Soul means using the Soul, relying upon the Soul, for expanded personal ownership of a powerful new sense of identity, a new paradigm. Reclaiming the Soul means becoming a fully conscious partner with your own unique Individuated Soul as it expands and grows. This can be approached through the study of the One Body and its anatomy, which is essentially, embodied self-realization.
For our purposes, the mind is defined as that part of ourselves that represents our consciousness, our awareness, and focus. This is synonymous with the ability to transform the status quo. We use the mind to interact with the individuated Soul, to give it a context and a voice. This, among other things, is what makes us human.
There are as many ways to spark the mind, as there are grains of sand on the beaches of this green and blue planet Earth. The human mind has the capacity to do miraculous things. We invent, we contemplate, we organize, we dream, and we imagine, we believe, we design, we commit and we nurture; all this happens in and because of the human mind. We also manipulate, we scheme, we control, we kill, we deceive, we debauch, we enforce, we obsess and we starve and abuse ourselves and others with these identical minds.
Many of the same ideas that bring possibility and expansive growth into our shared experience also make materially real the darkness of contraction, limitation, and shrinking hope. We are creatures of infinite mind and dynamic ingenious ability. We can create magnificently and destroy utterly. We are the true children of violent universal chaos, the material forces of darkness as well as angels of brilliant shining light. We are both. But it is not our Soul making choices it is our mind. Our Soul fuels the capacity for thought but we have the ability to stand in partnership with the greater vision of what we are or to dive to the bottom of the pool and drown in chaos.
With the development of a One Body philosophy, and the idea of the Individuated Soul, arises the focus to inspire new thoughts, experiences, and awareness for the children of the human species. Our minds can soar when fueled by the power of our Individuation, the Soul that is unique to us. Potent and waking to partnership as we become aware of it surging through our Structure, it brings bright clarity to foster expanded interactive intention, greater intelligence, and an ancient foundation standing tall. We are building new bridges between current reality and what is ultimately possible for each and every being.
