The True Self

I believe that the soul is our true Self. It lives deep within us and is beyond the ego and beyond the mind. It is one with and a manifestation of the Universe/God/Source. 

It is the observer, the ultimate witness. It rests in complete silence, calmness and peace. It is warm and full of beautiful bright light. It is what truly brings life and “prana” to the physical body. 

The Mind

When I am in Vancouver, if I quiet the mind, I can hear my Soul speak to me. Rather than an actual voice, it often speaks through intuition and feelings, secretly guiding us to what is meant for us. 

In this day and age of instant gratification, commercialism and perpetual movement, many people find it very difficult to hear their Soul speak, to the point that they do not believe it exists at all. 

I was one of these people, until a life-changing event forced me into realizing that whatever I was doing was not working. I wasn’t living in alignment with who I really was. I looked to meditation and eventually started to hear it. 

The Soul spoke to me so subtlely at first that I questioned what it was. However, the more time I spent on my cushion, the more clearly I could hear and feel the messages. 

Feeling

I have had several experiences during the war in Afghanistan where something just told me to stop, this aching feeling that something bad would happen, so strong I could not ignore it. This, I now know, was my Soul speaking to me. 

Universe

It has saved my life (and my soldiers), because it is all-knowing. It is all-knowing because it is a part of the Universe/God/Source. It has manifested in this particular form for a reason and will guide my lower self to that end. 

Ego

I have personally found that when my lower self (or ego) is in the driver’s seat I tend to stray from my higher purpose. And, if I do not listen to my Soul it will find a way to make me listen. 

The Soul

In light of this, even though I do not know exactly what my higher purpose is. I have learned to – primarily taking a yoga teacher training –  now try and live in alignment with what my Soul is guiding me towards. I often ask it questions, during meditation or right before I fall asleep. 

The answer may not come in the particular form I am expecting, but an answer always comes precisely when it is meant to. 

So what is the Soul? Soul is Universe/God/Source, and therefore so am I.