Origin of Souls
Thursday, August 15, 2013
The generation of souls is a great mystery, and ultimately it is a mystery that cannot be spoken or comprehended in mental consciousness; we can hint at it, and we can circle it, and we can share some truths regarding the arising of souls, and their process of development and evolution, but the essence of the mystery cannot be explained. We can, however, experience this mystery and acquire knowledge of this mystery through direct spiritual and mystical experience, or rather, through the experience of expanded states of consciousness; expanded states of mental and vital consciousness can acquire some insights, but it is in the experience of expanded states of consciousness beyond mental consciousness that deeper knowledge and understanding arises. The awareness of how we emanate from the True Light, and how we are created, formed and made, is an innate part of self-knowledge, as is a deeper awareness of our soul’s journey or evolution through countless incarnations; the very nature of seeking knowledge of God, and conscious union with God, brings knowledge of our origin, or our beginning, as it were, for in this process we recognize that we are an emanation of God, or an emanation of God’s presence and power, and we become aware of how we have individuated, and the deep connection we have as individuals with the universal, and with the Divine.
At the outset it must be said that there is an aspect of the soul that is not “born,” that is without beginning, that is primordial, eternal, unborn; this is yechidah, our unique essence or divine spark, and this is formed of the Light of the Infinite (Or Ain Sof), and is inseparable from the Light of the Infinite. God and Godhead indwell this inmost part of the soul, and it is so radiant and holy, even angels cannot enter it, but only God.
This is the truth of the inmost part of our soul, but it is also true that before a soul individuates and awakens it abides in an unconscious union; there is a potential that is not actualized and realized. Before souls arise, if such may be said, they exist in a primordial unconscious union, and because it is unconscious it may rightly be called a state of primordial ignorance. As souls arise, and individuate, they do so from this ignorance, and arising in this ignorance there is an illusion of separation, an appearance of “self” and “other” separate and apart from one another, and self-grasping and self-will arises, and the play of desire and fear in self-grasping.
All living spirits and souls, all sentient beings, emerge from this primordial ignorance, and as such, this ignorance pervades all living spirits and souls; this pervasive ignorance is called cosmic, or universal ignorance, and its manifestation within each individual spirit or soul is called fundamental ignorance.
The reality of our experience, on every level, is a radiant display of our soul, consciousness or mind, individual and collective, and the arising of our countless incarnations, countless rounds of birth, life, aging, illness and death, and afterlife experiences of heavens, hells and various in betweens, is all the radiant display of the soul, consciousness or mind bound up in this ignorance, this illusion of separation and self-cherishing. As much as we may speak of God, Elohim, as the Creator, as emanations of God, we are all co-creators of this matrix of creation, the reality of our experience, in life and the afterlife states.
We may contemplate God, the Divine, as the One Being-Consciousness-Force, and we may contemplate souls, sentient beings, as emanations, creations, formations and actions of this One Being-Consciousness-Force; the very nature of this Being-Consciousness-Force is emptiness (Ain), and yet, it’s nature is to self-generate, to emanate, create, form and make, and its nature is aware, intelligent. This is the nature of the Divine, or Enlightened Being, or the One Being-Consciousness-Force, and so as emanations of this Holy One it is our nature as well. Therefore, souls arise and individuate because it is the nature of their source, God, and it is their very own nature – hence, the potential for endless self-generation, whether asleep, unconscious, or awake, conscious.
In that all arises from Ain, this emptiness, voidness or no-thingness, at one and the same time, it is fullness; this no-thingness is everythingness!
At the outset it must be said that there is an aspect of the soul that is not “born,” that is without beginning, that is primordial, eternal, unborn; this is yechidah, our unique essence or divine spark, and this is formed of the Light of the Infinite (Or Ain Sof), and is inseparable from the Light of the Infinite. God and Godhead indwell this inmost part of the soul, and it is so radiant and holy, even angels cannot enter it, but only God.
This is the truth of the inmost part of our soul, but it is also true that before a soul individuates and awakens it abides in an unconscious union; there is a potential that is not actualized and realized. Before souls arise, if such may be said, they exist in a primordial unconscious union, and because it is unconscious it may rightly be called a state of primordial ignorance. As souls arise, and individuate, they do so from this ignorance, and arising in this ignorance there is an illusion of separation, an appearance of “self” and “other” separate and apart from one another, and self-grasping and self-will arises, and the play of desire and fear in self-grasping.
All living spirits and souls, all sentient beings, emerge from this primordial ignorance, and as such, this ignorance pervades all living spirits and souls; this pervasive ignorance is called cosmic, or universal ignorance, and its manifestation within each individual spirit or soul is called fundamental ignorance.
The reality of our experience, on every level, is a radiant display of our soul, consciousness or mind, individual and collective, and the arising of our countless incarnations, countless rounds of birth, life, aging, illness and death, and afterlife experiences of heavens, hells and various in betweens, is all the radiant display of the soul, consciousness or mind bound up in this ignorance, this illusion of separation and self-cherishing. As much as we may speak of God, Elohim, as the Creator, as emanations of God, we are all co-creators of this matrix of creation, the reality of our experience, in life and the afterlife states.
We may contemplate God, the Divine, as the One Being-Consciousness-Force, and we may contemplate souls, sentient beings, as emanations, creations, formations and actions of this One Being-Consciousness-Force; the very nature of this Being-Consciousness-Force is emptiness (Ain), and yet, it’s nature is to self-generate, to emanate, create, form and make, and its nature is aware, intelligent. This is the nature of the Divine, or Enlightened Being, or the One Being-Consciousness-Force, and so as emanations of this Holy One it is our nature as well. Therefore, souls arise and individuate because it is the nature of their source, God, and it is their very own nature – hence, the potential for endless self-generation, whether asleep, unconscious, or awake, conscious.
In that all arises from Ain, this emptiness, voidness or no-thingness, at one and the same time, it is fullness; this no-thingness is everythingness!
In the arising of the created matrix of creation, and all beings, it is as though the Holy One is asleep and dreaming, and so the emanations of the Holy One are asleep and dreaming, unaware that they are asleep and dreaming, unaware that they are inseparable from the reality arising and from their source. There is an aspect of the soul within which God indwells that does not sleep and does not dream, and yet, there is this play of sleep and dream arising from ignorance, unconsciousness, forgetfulness. In some way, though, for the greater awakening of souls, or the actualization and realization of the greater potential of souls, there is a need for this arising in “sleep and dream,” and through it souls develop and evolve, awaken and become realized (enlightened). Considering dreams, without the arising of dreams there could be no awakening in dream, or lucid dream, and there could be no transformation of dreams, or conscious dissolution and cessation of dreams, or a conscious awakening from dream to the Real, God.
This play of “sleep and dream,” or unconscious arising, leads to full awakening, but in the midst souls become bound up in various realities, of heavens, hells and all manner of realities in between, and there is much sorrow and suffering until souls awaken and bring the cause of sorrow and suffering to an end.
We may say, it is the nature of the mind, consciousness or soul, to dream, to arise, and to awaken – therefore souls arise in dream and eventually awaken; how they awaken is that underlying, all in a great mystery, there is this enlightened or divine nature all the while, the One-Who-Never-Sleeps.
The Divine is within us, our very essence and nature is Divine, all the while, but we must awaken, and we must recognize and realize our innate union with the Divine; hence, our labor for actual Self-realization.
In this journey of souls, in this development and evolution of souls, in effect, it is true, there are “younger” and “older” souls, or souls of various gradations of evolution, awakening; it is also true that souls pass through many different incarnations before becoming incarnate as human beings, and that from the first incarnation as a human being souls pass through many different incarnations in the process of becoming fully and truly human. Likewise it is true that the present human condition is a transitional state of being, and it is possible, and is destined, that we become more than human. All souls that appear in human incarnation, as yet, are not necessarily human, and among the present humankind there are many different gradations of evolution, awakening, and likewise, among souls that appear in human incarnation there are those that are more than human, that are awakened, realized, or are divine and supernal. In a manner of speaking, from within the present humanity there is a new humanity emerging, or a “species of being” that is “more than human.”
The very nature of the Fiery Intelligence (Consciousness-Force) within and behind creation, the universe, or reality, is an ascent and evolution of forms of life that are more refined, more intelligent and self-aware; this is true on a material level, and it is true on a psychic and spiritual level, or metaphysical level as well. In a manner of speaking, it is an evolution, awakening, to the Highest of Life, but the nature of that “height” is infinite, without end (Ain Sof).
If we were to encounter a realized individual instead of one who has come to an end, they would be one who has come to a new beginning, or to a radical acceleration in evolution, the expansion of consciousness and intelligence; hence, the nature of this self-realization or enlightenment is very different than our mental conceptions of it at the outset, or our concepts in the ignorance.
If we look into the beginning of our soul, in truth we will find no beginning, but then, recognizing that there is no beginning, we will realize there is no end.
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