This book was given to me as a gift some twenty years ago, and although it was highly recommended to me, I never read it. I have always been an avid reader, but I always found other titles more appealing--that is until I read `How to find God', by Deepak Chopra. Chopra mentions in his book that `The Seat of the Soul' is the best book he has read about the soul. Upon finishing Deepak's book, I plunged into `The Seat of the Soul', finally, and thankfully. I guess I need to send my friend a twenty years late thank you note.
There are many interesting concepts in the book.
According to the author, animals have a group soul. I found that to be extremely fascinating. For example, all horses share the same soul; all elephants share the same soul; all dolphins share the same soul; and so on. An animal does not have its own soul, but shares one soul with its entire specific species. There is only one soul for the hundreds of millions of cows in the world. This is why animals function on instincts.
Some group souls are higher spiritually than others. For example, the soul of dolphins is higher than all other sea creatures. In fact, many spiritual sects believe that a dolphin is the last stage of a soul before becoming reincarnated into a human being. So even in the animal kingdom, there are souls that are more evolved than others.
Every soul, whether human or animal, has a purpose. A dolphin, for example, has as a mission to bring beauty and love to the sea. But what if the soul cannot accomplish its mission or purpose? We have recently seen an increase in dead dolphins washing on beaches. Why is that? According to the author, dolphins are dying because they no longer can accomplish their purpose. It is not a mass suicide, but because dolphins are bringing onto themselves diseases that are killing them. Man is not respecting nature, and is killing the creatures of the sea, such as whales for example, at an alarming rate and for very selfish reasons. In other words, life forms are being massacred for profit! Other sea creatures are dying because of the pollution we are creating. As a result, the sea is no longer a peaceful, beautiful, and pure world, and the dolphins are no longer able to perform their duties as guardians of beauty and serenity to the sea. As a result, their soul has become diseased, and they are dying off.
The author uses the following analogy to describe disease and its effect on the soul. Imagine a piano and a piano player. If the piano is broken, it can be repaired. But no matter how perfect the piano is, if the player is sick, the sound or melody coming from the piano will be less than perfect. However, if the piano is less than perfect, with some faults in it that can't be repaired, but the player is in perfect spirits, the music played will be beautiful. Furthermore, if the piano breaks, the player can always fix it. But if the player breaks (so to speak), the piano cannot repair the player. In this scenario, the piano represents the body, and the player represents the soul. If our soul is healthy, we will always be healthy and we will be projecting positive energy. However, if our soul is diseased, we too will be diseased, and we will be projecting negative energy.
There are many reasons why our soul can become diseased. One of the main reasons is that we find no purpose to our life, or in other words, are unable to fulfill our soul's purpose. Disease and soul are therefore linked. Ever hear of miraculous healings, such as the paralyzed suddenly walking or terminally ill patients suddenly recovering? In their case, their soul was healed, which in turn healed their bodies. Now that's a really interesting concept. Instead of trying to find ways of healing the body, science must now concentrate on better understanding the soul and diagnosing and treating the soul, not the body. When the soul is healthy, the body is healthy.
Another powerful healer is Love (with a capital `L'). Love heals all. The soul is Love. In fact, when we die, we return to our state of pure Love. The soul cannot know anything but Love, and all its intentions are for Love. However, here on earth, our personality takes hold of us, and shapes our actions. At death, the soul and personality are separated, and the soul returns to its pure form.
It is really important that we, as individuals, aim to achieving the purpose of our soul. We will earn negative karma if we do not succeed. For example, a giving and caring person might have as a `soul purpose' the goal of making the world a better place by giving to the poor or by creating humanitarian organizations. However, such a person's personality might interfere with his soul's purpose, and instead of directing his kindness and caring to the world, he might direct it towards his loved ones only, which will be interpreted in the universe as a selfish act. This is the reason why our soul falls ill, and as a result, our body falls ill too.
Another interesting concept is the `Law of Attraction', which has become popular in the book `The Secret', by Rhonda Byrne. According to the law of attraction, the universe gives you what you want. For example, if you always feel anger, the universe will give you more anger. If you feel love, and are surrounded by loving people, the universe will give you more love. In other words, positive energy attracts positive energy, and negative energy attracts negative energy. By being positive all the time, you will be attracting positive people and situations around yourself. So be positive!
How does the author know all that about the soul? Is he making this all up? After all, writers can easily create imaginary and fascinating worlds. Take Tolkien as an example. Or is it all a play with words? For example, Chopra says in `The Book of Secrets', that on death, it is the body that leaves the soul, and not the other way around. Is this merely a play with words, or a truth? And how does the author know this?
This book is fascinating, but because the soul cannot be proven scientifically, it remains in the domain of speculation and faith. The soul, like God, depends on faith, and faith alone. But what splendid things can befall one in such a belief!
Read this book and be inspired, and get to know yourself...ergo your soul.
Cathi
David Kostel