Balancing SOUL with SPIRIT
SOUL: (Nephesh/Hebrew)/(Psyche/Greek) SPIRIT: (Ruach/Hebrew)/(Pneuma/Greek)
The purpose of balancing Soul with Spirit is to allow for a Higher Light Spirit, (Neshamah), to be invited within, In marriage, as an example - there is the sense that the man giving to the wife and vise versa is a mutual giving that, when in balance, opens up something new into the relationship, (symbolized by the dove) where a greater love beyond the immediate couple is generated.
But this image goes further to illustrate the relationship between two fundamental aspects of Higher consciousness development, that is Soul and Spirit. Soul (Greek, psyche), refers to an emotionally rich sense of heart opening meaning within the world. It can be as basic as the air we breathe. It also refers to an aspect of our being that survives physical death. Spirit involves a type of experience which is more masculine in nature, hot in temperature, drying, uplifting, inspiring, and ultimately transformative.
Spirit without Soul, however, can become unbalanced or “Spirit polarized” where a person is locked into a world of higher ideals that is not mellowed or tempered by being in the here-and-now relationships with people and the natural beauty of this magnificent world. What is most important here is that when Soul and Spirit are in harmony and balance, then something else can come in which is of another non-human dimension altogether.
According to the Kabbalah, “The soul is called nephesh, ”life,“ ruach, ”soul,“ and neshâmâ, ”spirit.“ As neshama, which is the highest degree of being, it has the power to come into connection with God and the realm of light…” ~The Kabbalah
"Only the neshamah … which was like a divine spark in man, was emanated directly from the Godhead itself rather than evolved from the separate intellects like the ru’ah or from the four elelments like thenephesh. (Kabbalah, G. Scholem, 1974).
The Keys of Enoch (1982) states that, “Soul and Spirit are not to be conceived of as one and the same. The SOUL (Nephesh/Psyche) is the NATURAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF LIFE - without the higher realization of worlds that have preceded this world and worlds that are to come. The Soul (Nephesh) must go through many formations, transformations and rebirths before it can be intertwined with the Divine consciousness of the Overself/Oversoul.”
Second, when one understands that the SOUL is not the same as SPIRIT (Ruach/Pneuma), one petitions the Godhead for the higher Counsel to achieve true knowledge and true Wisdom. At that time, Ruach as ‘the SPIRIT’ of higher reason is given by God/Source for inspiritation and the understanding of the multiple levels of the DIVINE MIND. Finally, when the ‘Ruach’ and the natural Soul (Nephesh/Psyche) are synthesized, the higher aspiations of the union creates the SOUL OF LIGHT (‘Neshamah’) which is called our Divine Mind becomes a vehicle of higher Love and Wisdom." This is how we reach Christ Consciousness and become one with the Divine Spark of God/Source within each of us.
Just a thought …
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
