Soul living means to live each moment of the daily life with a keen awareness of the eternal part of our Being the Soul. This requires an effort and a discipline on our part to embrace the Truth of our Being at all times and in all circumstances. Yet this kind of work involves, not a discipline of restriction, but a discipline of expansion.
Goal: To be the Divine Self in manifestation upon the physical plane. This means to integrate the energies and potencies of our Soul into the personality life so that we may express the qualities and faculties of our Divine Self at every moment.
The personality is the sum of the physical, feeling and mental aspects of our being, plus that intelligent and coordinating aspect known as the “I” or self-identity. Union with the Divine Self is achieved when the Soul becomes the qualifying element in this totality; in other words, when Love, intelligently expressed and self-sacrificing, becomes the main quality in all aspects of our personal life.
The Discipline of Union is arrived at by cultivating the Discipline of Vitality and Magnetism, the Discipline of Harmony and the Discipline of Universality. Entrance into Union is a gradual process and relatively unnoticeable in the beginning. However, at some point, for further progress on the Path, the Discipline of Union becomes a consciously felt need.
The key notes of the Discipline of Union are TRANSFORMATION, TRANSMUTATION and TRANSFIGURATION.
Transformation is the power to match our deepest aspiration for living as the Soul with a rhythm of daily living that will take us towards this goal. The result of Transformation is a change in our everyday life into a rhythmic, intelligent and illuminated way of living.
Transmutation is the power to infuse our mind, feelings and body with the Light of the Soul and so to change the very nature of their substances. The result of Transmutation is the refinement and the magnetization of the physical, feeling and mental bodies.
Transfiguration is the power to BE the Divine Self in manifestation using all our thoughts, feelings and actions to radiate the Divine Light into the world of humanity. The result of Transfiguration is Service. Yet, it is not service as humanity wants its needs to be met. It is Service as the Divine Plan regards the true needs of humanity and of the other kingdoms of the Earth.
The fundamentals for a life that seeks to live in the Union of the Divine Self include, among others:
- CULTIVATING RHYTHMIC LIVING — Seek to live in a balanced, rhythmic way that includes activities for the four sides of your being (physical, feeling, mental and spiritual). Yet, live a simple life without unnecessary complications; a life that provides enough room for your inner, subjective activities and experiences, as well as for those outer activities that you find fulfilling and that can sustain the needs of the daily life. A balanced rhythm of inner and outer activities creates a momentum of inner strength, courage and power, and this is the source of effectiveness and achievement.By establishing in your daily rhythm regular periods of SILENCE and free from mundane pressures or from “things to do”, you can create an attitude and inner space of SACREDNESS in your life. Enter into this sacred space everyday to experience the Oneness of the Divine in all.
- CULTIVATING STUDY — Study yourself, your tendencies, your likes and dislikes, your abilities and limitations, all from a detached point of view. Regularly review your actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings in the daily life. This needs a quietness and a withdrawal from being the Actor to being the Observer. This practice will foster the progressive identification with your Soul and the progressive de-identification with your physical, feeling and mental bodies. The effect of this will be a life of deep regard and caring for all others, where love and wisdom reign supreme, because you will see things as they truly are and not as we all pretend them to be.Study also to develop the higher mental faculties of the Abstract Mind. Study the Wisdom Teachings. Study the so-called metaphysical principles of the human being, the Earth and the Universe. To do this, follow the injunction: “Seek and you shall find”. Approach this study, not with the goal of accumulating information, but as a way to expand your awareness beyond the parameters of physical plane existence. Seek in this way to comprehend the Divine Reality. Seek to expand your consciousness above the intellectual, concrete mind so that you can begin to understand WHO you truly ARE, as well as the Plan of Evolution of the Earth and your unique contribution to it.
- CULTIVATING MEDITATION — Regularly practice Meditation in its various forms. Meditation is the scientific use of the mental faculty to achieve a focused awareness and intention at the level of Soul. It is called “scientific” because, when the mental faculty is used in accordance with the natural laws of our form and Soul, the intended results are invariably produced. Two kinds of Meditation can be described based on their intention: Alignment and Creative.
- ALIGNMENT MEDITATIONS are an act of “breathing in” the Light of the One Soul into your consciousness and form. The intention is to align your physical plane awareness, mind and feelings with that of your Divine Self in the plane of Soul, as well as, with the higher levels of Spirit).The basic technique is: first, to identify yourself with each of the four sides of your being, seeing them in a balanced, harmonious relationship; and, second, to invoke with the combined power of your thoughts and feelings the flow of your Soul’s Light, Love and Life into your mental, feeling and physical bodies.
- CREATIVE VISUALIZATION MEDITATIONS are an act of “breathing out” in a creative fashion the received Light. The intention is to create thought forms and to handle energies that can be used in building your vision of service and participation in the Divine Plan, as well as, for healing, transforming and magnetizing purposes.The basic technique is: first, to invoke the Light, Love and Power of Divinity; and, second, to actively visualize these energies flowing through your mental, feeling and physical bodies out into the world.
- CULTIVATING SERVICE — Live and BE as your highest truth so dictates. Apply and express your wisdom at every moment in the daily life. True Service is the natural and spontaneous expression of your Soul Life in the everyday life. Therefore, see your daily life, with its highs and lows, as your preeminent field of Service. Live your highest truth, embrace life wholeheartedly and shrink not from being who you truly are. By doing this, you become an example of possibilities that others may discover in themselves. This is the true Light on the Path.Disregard the impulse to act outwardly without discrimination and foresight. Refrain from serving in ways that attempt to impose one’s will upon another or that attempt to change others “for their own benefit”. This is not Service but servitude. Service is neither rendered to an individual, nor to a being greater than oneself. Service is expressed with equality to all. The idea of Service offered by the Wisdom Teachings connotes a clear understanding and a right perception of your evolutionary needs and the needs of all others. Remember, your efforts to grow into the Light and to serve others are more easily accomplished and most effective when these efforts are in alignment with the Divine Plan.
- CULTIVATING SOLITUDE — Create a space in your life and in your consciousness that contains the Silence, both inner and outer. Only in solitude will your Soul reveal its true nature to your awaiting mind and heart. Only in solitude can you create and re-create your being and life conditions as you so desire. Only in solitude is the Master of the Heart contacted and known for what IT is. Only in solitude can you contemplate your participation in the Divine Plan. Only in solitude can you enter into the vastness of the Presence of the One Source.
Commentary:
The Discipline of Union requires change. This is needed in order to adjust the outer things of our lives to meet the increasing needs of our Soul, as we seek to express that part of ourselves more intentionally in the daily life. Staying in balance requires us to face the changes in our lives without too much resistance. The process of Union does not, in itself, produce conflict or pain. It is the habitual aspects of our personal nature which rebel at the increasingly potent energies coming from our Soul.
The key for achievement is a persistent effort. A strenuous rushing forward does not produce any real growth and expansion. It is a sincere commitment to make an ongoing effort over a long period of time which produces lasting results.
There is no quick fix or simple answer for achieving the final human goal of Union with the Divine Self. It is simply a matter of persistent effort to regulate the forces and energies of our being, even in the midst of many seeming failures and personal crises.
Union with the Divine Self is a goal, yet it is also a definite process. Therefore, we must seek to be patient and allow a natural unfolding of our growth into the Light of the Soul.
The objective of the Discipline of Union is to discover the nature of our Soul (our true nature) so that, eventually, we can BE the Divine Self in manifestation. To succeed in this endeavor, we need to completely transform our mental life, feeling nature and physical living — leaving no part of our being untouched.
Summary
Soul Living is to live each moment from the Eternal part of our being. The focus and the intensity of our aspiration towards Living as the Soul will be the measure of our progress.
Not all are completely ready for what the disciplines leading to UNION entail. Yet all can benefit from living with some degree of intelligent self-discipline. Therefore, we need not be overwhelmed with the ultimate task at hand, nor with the infinite expanse of possibility and opportunity.
We simply need to focus on those fundamental practices that each of us deems worthy and can embrace in our lives. The effects of the Light are great and small, just as are the fundamental practices. We can take one step at a time, avoiding undue unbalance and relying on the Presence of the One Source of All.