The Doctrine of the Soul

The title is a contradiction in itself, as there is no doctrine or dogma of the soul. The quality of the soul itself and the knowledge which the soul contains within itself is by it's nature opposed to all rigid doctrine of any kind. By the word doctrine, I mean doctrine in thought rather than doctrine in writing.

The experience of the soul is entirely fluid and flexible. It is not subjected to the concretion of human thought and it is the basis of improvisation. This means that the qualities existing in the soul of a man are used wherever they happen to fit in. The life which the soul has chosen to live expresses this flexibility, even though there are always certain goals which must be met in any life; these goals being set according to the development of the individual.

The personality of a human being is the consciousness which directs their emotional and mental matrix. The soul of a human being is the consciousness which directs their abstract-mental and buddhic-intuitive matrix. There aren't suitable words to express the activity of the soul, except that it is divine. The personality belongs to the soul and is the shadow of the soul. After a certain amount of personality perfection has been attained through Earth life, a special and unique process begins to happen.

Through hundreds of incarnations the human soul has reaped the rewards of experience and wisdom. Throughout all these incarnations the soul has usually set up some kind of primitive connecting link with the personality. The nature of the connecting link varies far too much to go into any detail; it is a personal and private link. In time there will come a life when the link has expanded to such a degree that the soul is able to bathe the personality in its light, and eventually lift it up. The two points of consciousness are slowly drawn closer, eventually meeting and blending, thus transforming the personality. This process can be accelerated through meditation, service and aspiration.

The soul is the reason why the personality is incarnated. The life purpose of every person may be generalised from this perspective. This purpose is to perfect the personality and bring it to a point of integration wherein the higher-self is able to ensoul the personality, with the personality likewise co-operating with the will of the soul. This is a process which takes many lives to accomplish, and is being accomplished in the mass of humanity on an unconscious level.

The conscious soul-infusion brought about through conscious soul-contact is what creates the stories of saints, of people "touching God" and of all similar stories. From the point of the personality, the soul-energy is a feeling of ecstacy, unity and goodwill. From the point of the soul, it is simply a process of "looking down" and giving oneself.

The process of soul-infusion is an act of transforming one's subjective and unconscious inner life into the ordinary consciousness. Any person who has studied the subject understands that every human being is in possession of an internal and intensely personal inner subjective mentality and framework. Soul-contact serves to make this subjectivity "come out" into the waking consciousness. This is an automatic process. We should bear in mind that from the standpoint of the personality, the soul is intensely subjective. This statement can be taken at face value.

The Christian belief of having God "see" and "watch over" your daily actions carries more truth in it than the belief that there is no such thing. When people pass away, it is ALWAYS the will of their own soul. Yet anyone who has achieved a measure of true soul-contact will know through first-hand knowledge that there exists not "your" soul and "my" soul, but that there is One Soul which is ours. The division of each soul does exist, but on higher planes this division is non-existent. The connecting link is love. The soul itself is the lower reflection of something more divine. To be inside someone and yet still retain one's identity is the state of "isolated unity" which the Masters experience.

Soul-love is brought into manifestation during many ordinary activities. Literally anything which you love doing and have intense passion for is a lower expression of soul-love. The activity itself does not matter so much. Things like rapping and dancing can be greater than pouring one's heart out in other ways because it all depends on the amount and the quality of the love brought down in the activity. The love which we have for our children and in true friendships are also lower expressions of higher love. Apart from the consideration of love, the activity of dancing is particularly potent in aligning the soul with the body. When confronted with His Presence, David the psalmist of Israel danced before the Lord in pure bliss.

The process of soul-infusion mirrors, on a tiny scale, the activity of Deity when He uses His love to give life to substance. It is common knowledge that our Sun is the expression of God on the physical plane; the body of God is a fitting expression of the love which exists on less physical levels. Therefore we see that the personality is merely the soul attempting to express itself through physical plane consciousness, kept for a lifetime and then discarded. The reason why the soul itself cannot proceed down into substance without the aid of a personality is one of the secrets of consciousness.

Why are you posting these long descriptions from AAB or other esoteric sources?

Perhaps readers find it interesting.

so why does the soul have to fuse with the personality? And is it really possible for this to occur or continue to be unless the surroundings of the person allow this to be so? Arguably it is easier for this to occur in the mountains of tibet than an inner city neighborhood or corporate america.

Yes you are right, it is very difficult to carry this forth in the maddening bustle of modern life. It is literally the most difficult task a person could possibly undertake.

The best that the modern spiritualist may do is tend to his daily life as best he can without allowing it to drain all his energy away. Again, this is extremely difficult and much easier said than done. If he can get through the day with a bit of energy in reserve, then he will be able to find a quiet moment (even if it's in bed) and devote himself towards aspiration.

It is not an easy process. It is possible, but it is tough and difficult and full of pain. It requires every fibre of one's strength, visible and hidden. However, the more difficult the undertaking, the greater the reward is once the struggle has climaxed. It is absolutely worth it!

We are all in this struggle together and no one is better than another because they are "soul-infused" or for any other reason. As long as we are trying our best and giving all we the effort we can, we are giving enough and we are making progress.

The reason why soul has to fuse with the personality lies within the Will of God and Purpose of spiritual evolution. A very complicated subject indeed. The simplest way to express it is to say that the lower must reach up to the higher and the higher must lift up the lower. It is a process which will happen eventually for all people, but we can accelerate evolution through our combined will to reach God. It is important to accelerate it right now as much as possible because we(the human race) are currently going through a transition period, moving from one stage to another. The karmic implications of this transition period will condition our lives once the transition period is over.

A vast subject indeed!
However, regarding astrology and soul, you might find Charles Carter's little book, "The Zodiac and the Soul", to be of some interest.

Thank you for the book suggestion, it is highly welcome!

mike94 said:

Yes you are right, it is very difficult to carry this forth in the maddening bustle of modern life. It is literally the most difficult task a person could possibly undertake.

The best that the modern spiritualist may do is tend to his daily life as best he can without allowing it to drain all his energy away. Again, this is extremely difficult and much easier said than done. If he can get through the day with a bit of energy in reserve, then he will be able to find a quiet moment (even if it's in bed) and devote himself towards aspiration.

It is not an easy process. It is possible, but it is tough and difficult and full of pain. It requires every fibre of one's strength, visible and hidden. However, the more difficult the undertaking, the greater the reward is once the struggle has climaxed. It is absolutely worth it!

We are all in this struggle together and no one is better than another because they are "soul-infused" or for any other reason. As long as we are trying our best and giving all we the effort we can, we are giving enough and we are making progress.

The reason why soul has to fuse with the personality lies within the Will of God and Purpose of spiritual evolution. A very complicated subject indeed. The simplest way to express it is to say that the lower must reach up to the higher and the higher must lift up the lower. It is a process which will happen eventually for all people, but we can accelerate evolution through our combined will to reach God. It is important to accelerate it right now as much as possible because we(the human race) are currently going through a transition period, moving from one stage to another. The karmic implications of this transition period will condition our lives once the transition period is over.

Click to expand...

It is specifically difficult when the 'personality' is geared toward separation and is attracted to hatred and drama. That is what makes the world how it is at the moment.

The love for drama and the rampant mentality of separateness is an integral part of the mass consciousness of humanity as conditioned by the sign of Cancer. Dealing with all this is definitely the hardest part of living life.

It may seem ignorant of me to say this, but the mass of people today are using their mental faculties in a very limited manner. Their mental vision is narrowed onto the object of their emotional attention. From the perspective of the Spiritual Hierarchy, all people are essentially "stuck" in their own little world, but this situation is embodied most fully in the mass of humanity.

The main objective for the evolution of the young or average personality is to experience the violent feelings of emotional interest and emotional repulsion. This is the hunger for "drama" which is really an unconscious hunger for spiritual growth. No matter how disgusting and unspiritual people may seem, every person is deeply spiritual on the inside. Many people need this emotional experience in order to grow and provide their soul with life experience.

Once they have lived this emotionally oriented life, they will pass onto a life wherein they are mentally oriented through concrete thought. Then later still they will feel the birth pangs of the spiritual life expressing itself through abstract experience, and will therefore find themselves where we currently are now, except for them the process of aspiration will be a bit easier. It may seem fanciful at first to adopt this mentality but once a bit of elbow room has been found it may give you the opportunity to look at others in a much more loving light.

My own method for dealing with this problem is through right mentality and right thinking: the ability to detach myself from the mentality of other people and to look at them from a higher perspective. This is especially difficult when people are constantly demanding personality reaction, and the greatest test is to love a person while he is demanding.

For me, a large part of this detachment is strongly connected with refraining from the personal desire for things to be a certain way. I don't suppress my emotions, but I refrain from that violent desire which is the trademark of most people. Truly we are those who "take the Kingdom of God by force" but this is not done through forceful desire; it is done through mental aspiration and that devotion which enables us to give 100% of our effort without holding back.

I believe that each person has to find their own solution to this problem and all I can give is perhaps some inspiration.

Out of curiosity, how does one go about accomplishing this?

StillOne said:

Out of curiosity, how does one go about accomplishing this?

Click to expand...

There is only one method that I know is public and works on cognitive behavioral psychology. It is endowed in the books by Ken Keyes jr. The most significant of these is a volume called HOW TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE IN SPITE OF IT ALL. If you memorize the 12 pathways, and use them every day, I guarantee that you will be able to do this.

AAB's TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC will explain what needs to be done, but will never go quite so far as to providing a workable everyday method. However White Magic will suddenly make a kind of sense that you never thought possible when you are using "the method".

Z

thank you Mike for your interesting post...for those of us seeking after greater enlightement and individual awareness, such topics are indeed of interest to us!

If you actually own any of the books, rather than having downloaded them on-line, you will notice a reference in using them for meditation and service as a way of life. The meditation is pretty essential to understanding the books. The Arcane School is one of the outlets that provide that meditation, though their methods are pretty general so as to not stress the individual too much. There are other methods that are much more specific. But to use those properly you need to know what you are doing.

For most people, knowing what they are doing requires a teacher in the flesh. But there are other ways, though they take a whole lot of time to gain and certain connections that have to be made to deal. And most of those methods will tell you how, but not why.

Knowing both how and why at the same time is pretty much something you have to develop entirely on your own. Its an esoteric aphorism that, "Those who know don't talk at all, and Those who talk don't know anything." Those who know will talk around the subjects but never directly on. They will give you pieces that you have to integrate into one whole, but no source will give you the whole by itself.

mike94 said:

The love for drama and the rampant mentality of separateness is an integral part of the mass consciousness of humanity as conditioned by the sign of Cancer. Dealing with all this is definitely the hardest part of living life.

It may seem ignorant of me to say this, but the mass of people today are using their mental faculties in a very limited manner. Their mental vision is narrowed onto the object of their emotional attention. From the perspective of the Spiritual Hierarchy, all people are essentially "stuck" in their own little world, but this situation is embodied most fully in the mass of humanity.

The main objective for the evolution of the young or average personality is to experience the violent feelings of emotional interest and emotional repulsion. This is the hunger for "drama" which is really an unconscious hunger for spiritual growth. No matter how disgusting and unspiritual people may seem, every person is deeply spiritual on the inside. Many people need this emotional experience in order to grow and provide their soul with life experience.

Once they have lived this emotionally oriented life, they will pass onto a life wherein they are mentally oriented through concrete thought. Then later still they will feel the birth pangs of the spiritual life expressing itself through abstract experience, and will therefore find themselves where we currently are now, except for them the process of aspiration will be a bit easier. It may seem fanciful at first to adopt this mentality but once a bit of elbow room has been found it may give you the opportunity to look at others in a much more loving light.

My own method for dealing with this problem is through right mentality and right thinking: the ability to detach myself from the mentality of other people and to look at them from a higher perspective. This is especially difficult when people are constantly demanding personality reaction, and the greatest test is to love a person while he is demanding.

For me, a large part of this detachment is strongly connected with refraining from the personal desire for things to be a certain way. I don't suppress my emotions, but I refrain from that violent desire which is the trademark of most people. Truly we are those who "take the Kingdom of God by force" but this is not done through forceful desire; it is done through mental aspiration and that devotion which enables us to give 100% of our effort without holding back.

I believe that each person has to find their own solution to this problem and all I can give is perhaps some inspiration.

Click to expand...

Yes I agree with you and never really looked at it as people experiencing and participating in 'evil' are spiritually compelled to do so in a way.

Zarathu: Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.

kimbermoon: I appreciate the kind comment!

retinoid: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my perspective!

StillOne: It is not necessary to concern yourself with esoteric meditations or anything of that sort. There is no "special meditation" which produces soul-contact without the foundation of a balanced psychology.

The most important "meditation" to perform is to constantly be aware of one's motivations and intent in any and every daily action, no matter how trivial. This builds the humility which is vital in overcoming tasks.

Another important aspect is to submerge oneself into the world of meaning. Naturally, astrology is a great tool to accomplish this task. The interpretation of symbols and the ability to bestow meaning upon inner energy is of prime importance beyond all else. This enables one to better see the inner reality behind the outer form of appearance. In a world where so many people value the appearance, there is a dire need for this re-orientation in those who are capable of it.

Once the individual has gradually progressed along these two lines, the proper form of meditation for that individual will naturally show itself through the guidance of one's Inner Teacher.

I hope that helps!

What may be some recommended reading?

I've PM'd you some suggestions.

First, thank you Mike94 for this thread.

mike94 said:

Yes you are right, it is very difficult to carry this forth in the maddening bustle of modern life. It is literally the most difficult task a person could possibly undertake.

Click to expand...

There are schools of thought that put forth the idea that this is actually the key challenge/lesson of souls who have incarnated in to Western society. To bring the light of full-consciousness down in to the nitty gritty functions of everyday mundane life. Anyone can climb a mountain and find Universal awareness and unity near the sky, removed from the pressures and pulls of society - its something else to maintain that awareness while navigating the office, grocery store, and rush hour traffic.

(I'm not knocking the work it takes to renounce modern society and to live on a mountain top , just saying.)

mike94 said:

The best that the modern spiritualist may do is tend to his daily life as best he can without allowing it to drain all his energy away. Again, this is extremely difficult and much easier said than done. If he can get through the day with a bit of energy in reserve, then he will be able to find a quiet moment (even if it's in bed) and devote himself towards aspiration.

Click to expand...

A modern spiritualist can exceed this "best", I think. One of ways I have heard this put is that the Eastern path is the path of the arrow, the path straight to godhead and away. The Western path (which is difficult to find and some would say does not exist) is one of aspiring to the godhead and then turning back around and bringing that awareness of the godhead down in to everyday activities - by embodying godhead consciousness while meeting the mundane on its level.

If one succeeds in this then there is no concern with being depleted of energy at the end of the day. But, yes it is extremely difficult and requires dedication and a belief that it can be done. Which is rare since most people are of the mind that in order to "spiritually evolve" one must reject the "everyday, workaday world" in exchange for mystical retreats and mantra meditations. Truth is, you can have both.

Words are tricky in these matters and I know no matter what I type, its not exactly what I meant.

mike94 said:

The most important "meditation" to perform is to constantly be aware of one's motivations and intent in any and every daily action, no matter how trivial. This builds the humility which is vital in overcoming tasks.

Another important aspect is to submerge oneself into the world of meaning. Naturally, astrology is a great tool to accomplish this task. The interpretation of symbols and the ability to bestow meaning upon inner energy is of prime importance beyond all else. This enables one to better see the inner reality behind the outer form of appearance. In a world where so many people value the appearance, there is a dire need for this re-orientation in those who are capable of it.

Once the individual has gradually progressed along these two lines, the proper form of meditation for that individual will naturally show itself through the guidance of one's Inner Teacher.

Click to expand...

Agreed. It is heartening to read this. My path is a very narrow one and one of my own making, I call it eclectic. For me it began with a search for spiritual meaning - first in Christian churches, then in paganism, then in druidism, then Western mysticism - and then I stopped feeling a need to give it a name other than my path. This search began so young (I was 5 when I began attending church on my own) I had a head start - I also rejected each one of these premade paths one by one because none of them felt quite right to me - none reflected the truth within. By the time I was 19 I had begun to cobble together my own path, now 17 years later I'm still building it under my feet and although it is incomplete, uncharted, and solitary - it does reflect the truth within and overflows in to the reality around me.

My point in sharing this is in my browsings today on this board I have seen several postings of people looking for the right meditation or the right method to attain spiritual wholeness - and of people who berate themselves for not finding it, for not feeling it, for being too far behind, or too erratic in their spiritual evolution.

I would say to these people that the meditation, the method, the path, the connection lies WITHIN YOU. Really. If you haven't found what works outside, find a way to connect with your inner teacher inside. Every method you may learn from others is just designed to get you in contact with the source within you. So don't give up hope and don't be harsh with yourself if the paths you've tried so far haven't led where you wanted to go. Trust in yourself, trust that you have an eternal self that is within you, that is you, and that will and is guiding you. The more you cultivate this trust, this leap of faith you could say, the clearer your path will become. And it starts with questioning your own motivations and intent in the moment and learning to trust that you are your best teacher and guide - the rest follows.

mike94 said:

It is not an easy process. It is possible, but it is tough and difficult and full of pain. It requires every fibre of one's strength, visible and hidden. However, the more difficult the undertaking, the greater the reward is once the struggle has climaxed. It is absolutely worth it!

Click to expand...

If work was fun they wouldn't call it work. *smile* Although, once pain is accepted as not only necessary but in ways beneficial, the rest becomes simpler. It still hurts, but the pain has a reason (even when you can't see it). Kahil Gibran said, "Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses our understanding." I think he was right.

I needed to see this and be reminded, thank you.

Be well!

So according to this doctrine do dogs not have souls?


"It may seem ignorant of me to say this, but the mass of people today are using their mental faculties in a very limited manner." this is observant as opposed to ignorant.

Gododdin Votadini said:

So according to this doctrine do dogs not have souls?

Click to expand...

Animals have group souls. The door from the animal kingdom to the human kingdom will not open again for about 10 million years, during which time 2/3 of the approximately 66 billion individual human souls must pass out of the human personality sphere of the three worlds of human personality evolution into higher work above the buddhic plane of the cosmic physical plane.