The Path to the Soul
The path of joy is the path to the soul.
When you read these words on your screen, can you hear their sound in your mind? Do you see their images in your head? If you hear them or see them, could you say who, or what, is aware of the sounds and images in your mind? Please take a moment to explore that question.
Now take a look at what is around you and notice what you see. A screen, a chair, walls. Once you have become aware of these things, could you say who, or what, is aware of them? What is it in you that is aware of your experience?
When you taste something, who or what is aware of the taste? When you hear something, who is aware of what you hear? Who is aware of what you feel? Take another minute to explore.
Is it your mind that is aware? Is it you? Whatever answer comes will most likely be made of words, constructed by words. Language does this: we use words to define our experience. When we see a screen, we call that thing “a screen,” but that thing is not a screen; it is what it is, and we simply call it “a screen.” A cat is not a cat; a cat is what it is, and we use the word to label it. The label is different from the thing. This is an important distinction.
Our mind uses words to define and make sense of the world, and to communicate with others. It is a valuable skill, one that allowed humankind to develop language and rise above our primitive nature. But there is often a downside: we forget that words are not the thing itself. We forget they are only descriptions of our experience of the thing, not the thing.
“The soul is only a witness.” Paramahansa Yogananda
What is it, then, that is beyond our mind and its descriptions? Existence. And what is aware of our experience of existence? Some call it the Soul: what witnesses our experience, who and what we truly are. Some believe the Soul is eternal, continuing even when the body dies; others believe that what we call the soul is a creation of our brain that gives us a sense of self, and dies with the body.
No matter your belief, I think it is important to be in touch with our Soul, because it may be the closest we can get to experiencing ourselves beyond our body, our emotions, and the structures of our mind. It is the ultimate way to transcend our primitive aspects. The more we experience our Soul, the more we experience our deepest and highest nature, whatever that may be.
And how do we do that? By practicing being aware, and by training our mind, body and emotions. This is the path of Self-Realization, the path of getting closer and closer to our Self, or Soul. I believe this is, if not the most important thing we could do with our lives, then surely one of the most important.
Why? Because most of the things we want in life are just objects we seek to fill a void created by the lack of experience of who we truly are. And because most of our ailments are, I believe, effects of this same lack.
The more we experience who we truly are, the more amazed and in awe we can be of creation, and of whatever may have created us. The more in touch we are with our highest nature, the more we realize we are all part of one living thing, one Universe, one breathing Soul of which we are all part. How could we not be in awe of such an experience? This is the path to our soul, the path of joy, and our journey back home.