Soul-realization

The realization of the soul is the ultimate goal of our evolution. Although natural in its essence, to realize the soul is most challenging due to our identification with the personality. It is not the discovery of truth that makes it so difficult, but liberation from the false.

Prior to entering the path, we are totally submerged in the dimension of ignorance, drowning in forgetfulness. Our evolutionary mission is to transform the tiny spark of purity and longing in our heart into awakening. But because our capacity to realize the soul is fundamentally limited, our efforts have to be supported by the grace of the beyond. Since the realization of the soul is a part of the divine plan, anyone who serves it will receive assistance from the whole of existence.

The Body of the Soul: Union of the Personal and Impersonal

We can portray the dimension beyond the mind either as a state we are in or our subjective existence; it can be seen either from the viewpoint of the soul or the inner state. The soul is the I am of the inner state, and the inner state is the internal space within which I am dwells. In other words, we can relate to our inner condition either as our identity or as our internal environment. However, without the consciousness of I am to illuminate it, the inner state is no more than an empty shell.

The evolutionary level of intelligence that inhabits the inner state determines whether its experience is translated as individual or impersonal. A seeker who is in touch with the light of pure subjectivity will recognize the sense of I am inherent to the inner state, but one unawakened to the soul will experience the state beyond the mind only as an external, objectified space of abidance.

We can look at each aspect of the inner state and see how the factors of maturity and conditioning influence the interpretation of our experience. A translation of the state of presence as purely impersonal indicates that we are still identified with the observing intelligence, and not the light of I am. An interpretation of awareness as personal indicates that we have the ability to embody it as our pure subjectivity, but are unable to dissolve in it our self-consciousness. Ultimately, the state of awareness experienced in its fullness by a mature soul reflects both the personal quality of I am and the impersonal quality of the inner state.

In a same way, the heart can be felt as the essence of the soul, or as an energy field. Similar to awareness, the heart, depending on our perspective, contains both the essence of I am and an aspect of the inner state. For those who subscribe to traditions that deny the existence of the soul, even though they may address the heart in some respect, the experience of the heart will naturally be impersonal. On the other hand, those on the path of devotion who do not walk the path of the inner state, will feel the heart as purely personal. The complete experience of the heart bridges the personal and the impersonal by uniting the essence of I am with its abidance in the beyond.

The situation with the being quality of the inner state is somewhat different. Being, by its very nature does not constitute the soul's identity. Although the soul actualizes herself within being, being is essentially beyond any individualized energy. Being is the I am of the supreme reality, not the I am of the soul. However, as the soul merges into being, she integrates it with her sense of I am and transmutes it into her body of pure subjectivity. Being is by nature impersonal and beyond any individual consciousness, but in our process of becoming whole, a portion of its energy is incorporated into the I am of the soul.

When we speak about the need to embody the inner state as a personal experience, we mean that it is personal to the soul, not the ego. If the experience of the inner state is personalized by the ego, the soul is over-identified with the sense of me and cannot realize herself or merge with the beyond; one remains stuck in self-consciousness. On the other hand, if the experience is too impersonal, the soul is bypassed, her essence either absent or unintegrated. A perfect balance should exist between the personal and impersonal aspects of the inner state, by the power of which both the soul is realized and our false individuality absorbed.

We draw a distinction between the inner state and the soul only for the sake of clarity, not to indicate any inner split. As our path unfolds towards its true purpose and we become more whole and integrated inside, the division between the inner state and I am gradually dissolves. At the end of the awakening process, the inner state becomes the very body of the soul, no longer distinct from her essence. Upon completion, the impersonal and the personal, the inner state and the sense of I am, are realized as one.

Levels of Soul-awakening

To be human does not necessarily mean that we have a soul-identity, and to have awakened our soul-identity does not necessarily mean that our soul is realized. Although endowed with human nature from birth, a child needs to grow up in order to become a mature human being. Similarly, even though we all have a soul identity from the beginning of our creation, we need to reach a certain level of evolution before we can recognize and realize it completely. The awakening of the soul is a slow and gradual process; although it differs for each individual, it always involves a long inner journey.

Although the awakening of the soul requires the inner state as its foundation, the presence of the inner state does not guarantee soul-realization. Soul awakening arises from a far more subtle and personal level of our existence, the primordial essence of I am. Ultimately, this awakening occurs on both energetic and existential levels. The energetic awakening is experienced as an inner expansion of our soul-body, the existential awakening as the illumination of our consciousness. It is the existential illumination that gives soul-realization its true meaning and profundity.

The first step in the process of soul awakening is the recognition of the essence of I am in the mind. Through this awakening, the mind begins to relate not only to its own content and ego, but to the soul as well. However, because awareness represents only a part of the soul's identity, the full realization of the soul requires further evolution. In our journey into the soul, we must expand beyond the realization of I am in awareness to its realization in the heart, for the heart constitutes the innermost core of our subjective identity. Like awareness, the heart does not include the complete soul, but it is closer to the essence of our divine subjectivity. For the soul to awaken yet further, I am in the mind and I am in the heart must merge and become one. This unification enables us to experience the soul in a much more holistic and complete way, and becomes the foundation for the realization of her future wholeness.

Transparent Me

The awakening of the inner state can be viewed as the energetic preparation for the crossing of the threshold to soul-realization. The first stage of soul-realization, transparent me, signifies the integration of the soul with the inner state and her circular expansion within herself. Through this holistic expansion, our me fully illuminates itself from within its essence and imbues the inner state with its complete presence. The soul transforms the energy of the inner state into the consciousness of her own existence - she begins to own the inner state as her very body of I am. The attainment of transparent me can be seen as the primary step in transcending the division between the inner state and the soul. No longer does me only dwell in the inner state, it becomes its embodying consciousness.

Due to its holistic nature, transparent me has the seed of wholeness within itself. However, a large gap exists between one's initial entry into the dimension of transparent me and its complete realization. Frequently, a seeker may shift into the state of transparent me, yet remain unable to grasp its true essence. As with the awakening of awareness or the heart, transparent me can be realized either purely on the energetic level, or in combination with an existential awakening. A purely energetic experience of transparent me is the evolutionary equivalent of the state of no-mind or the state of oneness, not the state of pure subjectivity. When lacking the maturity and sensitivity to meet transparent me as I am, one simply has to grow further into this profound realization in order to fully embody their soul.

Transparent me manifests from the uniting of oneself with the environment of the inner state. It is a state of existence in which all the centers of me and the inner state merge into an all-embracing field of I am, grounded in who we are yet simultaneously fused with the beyond. In this state, the circulation of energy is directionless and the soul abides in the all-pervasive space of universal existence. This particular realization points directly to our pure subjectivity in its uncrystallized and non-self-referential condition of non-abidance. It is called 'transparent' because there is no longer any center of me as such; one's energy has reached the purest condition of translucency.

Transparent me describes a state of relative equilibrium between horizontal and vertical expansion. Because it has not reached the final depth of vertical absorption, it is not a condition of complete surrender - not rooted in the dimension of absence. Transparent me can be said to exist between relative consciousness and the absolute reality. Only when the soul crosses over into the realm of absence does she finally move beyond self-consciousness into the realm of samadhi to actualize her eternal self.

Transcendental Me

Although the soul represents a unique, individualized angle of perception, she is impersonal and universal in her essence. However, before the link with personality is severed, the pure existence of the soul is always intertwined with the ego self-consciousness. When she reaches the state of transcendence and samadhi of me, the soul retains her identity, but her ego-essence of self-reference is dissolved. In this new state of being, the experiencer merges universally with reality and no one remains at the center of experiencing. There is no one, yet this no one is none other than one's true self.

Transcendental me is rooted in the dimension of the eternal whole, beyond earthly and human existence. In this state of identity, one moves fully into the realm of non-being to become one with the universal I am. In the space of transcendence, the soul meets herself in a completely new way; she no longer knows herself through her presence, but her absence.

The soul cannot be fully realized prior to transcendence, for her me is still bound by the consciousness of the earth. As she moves through layers of increasing transparency and oneness, shedding her human personality and dissolving into the realm of absence, she becomes more and more free to expand into her ultimate self. Upon transcendence, the gravitational movement of the soul's surrender ceases, and its pure power is harnessed to finally awaken her complete presence.

To Become a Divine Being

To fully realize the soul is to reclaim our essential self, to become a divine being once again. Although a divine being retains a level of individuality and maintains a unique existence, he is free of both self-consciousness and a relative sense of me. He has dissolved into existence, but continues to exist as an inimitable manifestation of the undivided whole. A divine being is one with universal evolution; endowed with the soul's body of pure light and consciousness, he serves the never-ending expansion of truth, love and understanding.