Some of the religious teachings believe body and Soul are one and the same. In ECKANKAR we believe Soul comes in and takes on the physical body as a temple to use so it can move in this physical world.
Sri Harold Klemp – Touching the Face of God
This idea that Soul is the real you, is a novel one. It took me years of study to finally realize the truth of this statement. Whatever you believe is right for you. For me, this quote holds a special importance.
Once I realized that Soul is the real me, I began to realize that the ego or little self was not the real me. The ego is a necessary component of the physical body. Without the ego we would literally be everyone else’s door mat. So we need the ego to survive here, but boy that ego can get us into a lot of trouble.
The ego feels lust, anger, greed, undo attachment, and vanity. The ego loves awards, self-promotion, and badges of distinction. The ego loves to indulge in things. The ego gets angry when it’s slighted or feels insulted. The ego gets wrapped around the mentality of lack, where ownership of things is a zero-sum game. The ego believes its existence depends on looks, clothes, and ownership of things. I could go on and on, but I hope you get the point.
Soul is a happy being, but when it is asleep, the ego takes over and boy can it get us into trouble. You see when fear, anger, lust, undo attachment, and vanity take over, God’s love stops coming. It can’t get through. Feelings of guilt will also prevent God’s love from coming through.
Here’s a short video of Sri Harold Klemp discussing the importance of this life:
Soul, the real you, learns that it is not the body or the ego. It wakes up and realizes that it is the reality. It may take Soul millions of lifetimes to wake up and figure this out. Once it does, however, there is no turning back. Once it realizes the illusion of the ego and the body, it begins to search for a way out of these lower worlds. It knows this is not its true home, but doesn’t know where to go or how to start. This is when the Mahanta appears.
I hope this article gives you something to contemplate today. Life is a wonderful journey. It has its ups and downs, gains and losses, but each time we return to these lower worlds and start a new life, we pick up little things here and there that we take with us. We slowly begin to question this life by asking: “Is there nothing more?”
Then our adventure and journey back to God begins in earnest.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Sunday.
May the blessings be.
Dave