I was recently asked, "What is the difference between the body/ego/personality, the soul, and the Higher Self?"
Here is what I believe at this point in my life. The body/ego/personality are tried out and worn by the soul like clothes in a wardrobe. Each lifetime is about the experiences that happen while wearing that persona and body. When the body expires the soul discards the body/ego/personality but retains the experiences of that lifetimes.
Before each life the soul and Higher Self plan out the life plan for the next life. Then as the soul and body enter each new life they are immersed in a form of self-amnesia that makes them forget their divine connection to God. This is for the purpose of experiencing life from a new and unknown perspective during each new life. This allows the persona and the soul to learn new lessons and co-create that life with God/Higher Self through their own thoughts, words, and actions of that body/ego/personality.
After death, the soul eventually merges with the Higher Self (Spirit) which is one with God and is all knowing. This is where the duality of the body and soul fade away and the oneness of the Higher Self prevails. The Higher Self is God. It is you. They are both. God is everything and which means you are part of him too. We all are.
During each life, the soul acts as an intermediary between the body and the Higher Self (Spirit). The Higher Self speaks to us through our intuition. It never lies to us. The truth feels feels right.
So in summary, I feel the body-soul-self are all the same thing just in different segments of polarity. The body/ego and the soul forget their divine nature to experience life from a naive or innocent perspective much like a baby would. At the end of each life the body/ego/personality are left behind and the soul retains the experiences. The soul can be positively or negatively affected by the cumulative experiences it has encountered during all of its lifetimes. At death the soul moves to the polar opposite of the ego to the Higher Self and becomes enlightened to its Oneness before it once again choose to experience new life.
What is your belief about this? Comment below.
Until next time,
Joe Rapisarda
it is a good question, and one that is quite difficult to answer... the Zen equation helps, but that is in itself the difficulty, to understand about ego...to dampen down the ego.
ReplyDelete"The Awakening" as some call it, is perhaps another step in understanding this, though not well understood, I came to understand that 'amnesia' does not form part of this step in the evolution of soul..for "Awakening" is the journey to Soul, and Soul is the Master, the cornerstone, the Gateway to the Source...
You neglected to mention "mind", which I hold (as perhaps you do) to be part of "body", perception / cognition as a physical sense. I take Buddha's view that the mind is in constant flux, and can often mislead us, if we believe everything that we think. But essentially, mind resides in the brain, and without this vital organ, could not be. Ego is the product of the constant struggle we engage in with ourself to find our place in the world. The less ego-driven, the more settled is the mind (and body).
ReplyDeleteI view the soul and the higher self to be one and the same. I suppose the higher self could be the collective self or conscience that all of us share. I believe the soul is our permanent quality that moves between worlds and bodies. It is a vessel that carries our essence which is unique to each of us.