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The Mirror Of All: The Soul
In yoga teacher trainings across Canada, many times, the topic of the Soul is discussed. It is in my opinion like a constitution that the soul is the mirror upon which everything is reflected; your emotions, your thoughts, and your feelings.
Emotions
You can think of the soul as the sky, in which all kinds of clouds and weather conditions (emotions) can appear, but they have no effect on the sky itself. Another analogy for consciousness is to think of a mirror as mentioned above.
A mirror reflects all things, but remains unchanged. In the mirror or sky analogy above, soul represents only one aspect of its duality similar to light being both a particle and a wave.
In its sky-like function (wave-like), consciousness is unchanging. In its other state (particle-like), consciousness is momentary and arises together with each moment perceived.
Perceptions
These states come with stories, feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and intentions. Depending on the author you read, the ‘soul’ can be named the ‘divine’, with ‘God’.
Humans have been trying to define the soul for years. But the soul is unexplainable as it does not reside in what humans can comprehend. Soul cannot be captured with words since words are just signposts.
The only way to get a glimpse of the soul is to practice silence, practice feeling alive with your inner self; this way you may feel glimpses of your soul as you create space to allow the soul to inhabit you by removing the ‘ego’.
Vibrations
The soul is a vibration of your being that is constantly changing, you feel your vibration, but you cannot explain it (The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, 2004).
Our two dimensions as humans (universal (soul) and personal, wave-like and particle-like) can be mistranslated. As the ‘absolute’ and the ‘relative’, meaning the universal has higher value, but the two are complementary aspects of reality.
Form must be honored as well. If you hold your hand fully open or fully closed to make a fist, it is of limited use. Hands are wonderful because they can close or open in response to specific situations.
Human
The goal is to remind ourselves that part of us as humans, the soul since identifying only as with the ‘ego’ will result in suffering and unhappiness.
Here’s an example of how easy it is for the mind to identify itself with feelings, emotions, sensations. If you have your forefinger and your thumb touching, you can identify with the thumb as the feeler and the forefinger as the object, or vice-versa, just by reversing your mind perception.
Identifies
This goes to show that our mind quickly identifies with roles we play in life. Like we are a father, a scientist, a shy person, a runner. The truth is that we are none of those things as we are nothing and everything at once.
You can play your many roles in life mindfully without identifying with them. Yoga teacher training, yoga and meditation remain the key to live a life as a seeker of happiness through the search for the soul.