In the prayer Khatum we ask the One to disclose the divine light hidden in our souls ‘that we may know and understand life better.’ In this series of lectures on the phenomenon of the soul, Hazrat Inayat Khan helps us to see more clearly what is understood by the term ‘soul.’
The soul is called Atma in Sanskrit; in Persian it is called Ruh. When the Prophet was asked, ‘What is the soul?’ he answered in two words, Amr-i Allah, which means ‘an activity of God.’
The connection between the consciousness and the soul is like the connection between the sun and the ray. The ray is formed by the activity of the sun shooting forth its light. The activity of the consciousness shoots forth its ray, which is called the soul. Activity in a certain part of the consciousness makes that part project itself towards manifestation. The ray is the sun; but we distinguish the ray as apart, distinct in itself, longer or shorter, stronger or fading away, according to the state of activity in it.
The soul, during its life on earth and after, does not change its plane of existence; if any change takes place it is in the direction of its movement. The soul has originally no weight, but on its way it gathers around it properties produced from itself and borrowed continually from the elements which compose the universe, and as our possessions are not necessarily ourselves, so the properties are not the soul. The best comparison is with our eyes, in which vast tracts of country, huge mountains and miles of horizon on the sea are reflected at one time, and yet the eyes are scarcely an inch across. Such is the nature of the soul, which is so small as to be counted one among the numberless souls contained in the universe, and yet so vast as to contain within itself the whole universe.
The external self, the mind and the body have confined a portion of the whole consciousness; the same portion is in reality the soul. It is as if a line were drawn upon a cloth marking off a part of it as separate from the whole. Or it is as if we were to stand before a curtain with a small lantern so that the light of the lantern falls upon the curtain and forms a patch upon it. In like manner the impressions of the mind and body are reflected on the soul and separate it from the whole consciousness. Upon the soul is reflected the happiness or misery, the joy or sorrow of the external self, but the soul in itself is neither sad nor joyful. The soul is neither subject to birth and death nor does it increase or decrease; it neither evolves nor degenerates.
If we stand before a mirror clothed in rags the mirror holds the reflection of our rags, but it is not itself in misery. If we stand before the mirror covered with pearls and diamonds the reflection of our pearls and diamonds falls upon the mirror, but the mirror does not turn into diamonds and pearls. So is it with the soul: it is neither a sinner nor is it virtuous; it is neither rich nor poor. All life’s joys and sorrows, ups and downs, are reflected for the time being upon the curtain of the soul, and after a time pass away. Therefore both the joys and sorrows of yesterday are nothing to us today.
The soul and the body are of the same essence; the soul has formed the body from itself, the soul being finer, the body grosser. What in the soul may be called vibration in the body becomes atom. The soul has become mind in order to experience more, it has become body in order to experience still more concretely; yet the mind is independent of the body, and the soul is independent of both mind and body.
The soul sees through the mind and the body, the body is the spectacles of the mind, and the mind is the telescope of the soul. It is the soul that sees, but we attribute sight and hearing to the eyes and ears. In absence of the soul neither the body nor the mind can see. When a person is dead the eyes are there, but they cannot see; the ears are there, but they cannot hear.
To be continued…