The third – this focusing on the Spirit - in a series, By Carl Llewellyn Weschcke

(In this third editorial focusing on the spirit, I am not writing as an expert, but rather as a serious student of 70 years and a publisher of Body, Mind & Spirit books. I’ve formed certain beliefs, some are which an amalgamation of what I’ve read, while others are original. My goal is purely to encourage you to form your own beliefs, and to discover more about your self.)

“Spirit” is hard to define, as is “soul.” It’s difficult to discuss matters not well defined. Language is not like mathematics, where definition is precise and specific.

At conception, a single unit starts assembling physical material to later form an individual body. We also have mental and spiritual “substances” forming our mind and soul, respectively, so that each of us – the eternal “I” – has a physical body, a mental body, and a spiritual body each serving our needs during incarnation. It is that spiritual “I” that we – as grown up and completed souls – will eventually return to and merge with, and then with the ultimate Unity we call Creator, Source, God, All. This “I” exists before there is a body, or mind, or soul.

Esoteric people refer to the Body as a vehicle for Mind and Spirit, and I suggest that Mind is in charge of our material life, and that it is a vehicle for the Soul. Through its tools (concentration, visualization, willpower, memory, and its control over the body), it is easy to think that the mind is “I,” but it is not. Instead, there is a small “I” that I prefer to call the “personality.

I believe there is a disconnect between Soul and body & mind. Even when we speak of a “re-incarnating soul” we are not defining the ultimate Self.

As we are more than our Body, we are more than our Mind. The Mind must open a way for Spirit/Soul to manifest. Just as the Body/Mind can be trained to make a more whole person, so we train Body/Mind/Spirit to put the Soul in charge. But, remember, the Soul operates at a higher level than the Mind.

We can sometimes contact the Soul through meditation, sometimes through dreams, and sometimes by listening to Intuition. Because we are mostly untrained to work at this level, it may be hard to distinguish the voices of desire and rationality from that of intuition, but the more you listen the clearer the voice becomes.

One technique is to enter into meditation, and ask your Spirit Guide to be with you. Converse with this image, and ask questions. Start with questions that do not have immediate, material-life importance. As you become familiar with this intuitive presence, you can ask questions about the more material concerns. But, do realize that your soul is concerned with higher-level matters, and not about mortgage payments. Still, meditation clears the mind and allows access to knowledge otherwise blocked, and encourages clear thinking so that even problems related to mortgage payments might be resolved.

It is “you” as manager who is working as a co-creator with the Divine throughout all life. Individuals are the result of push and pull: there is push from the past of evolution and heredity, and there is pull from the future of the Divine Matrix present from the beginning. These substances evolve though the experience of life moving through them.

Selected reading:

Beyond Reincarnation: Experience Your Past Lives & Lives Between Lives, by Joe H. Slate, Ph.D.
Gifts of the Soul: Experience the Mystical in Everyday Life, by Constance Rodriguez, Ph.D
Meditation as Spiritual Practice: Meditation for Expanding Consciousness & Awareness, by Genevieve Paulson
Spirit Guides & Angel Guardians: Contact Your Invisible Helpers, by Richard Webster
You Are the Answer: Discovering and Fulfilling Your Soul’s Purpose, by Michael J Tamura

Carl's other editorials are also available:

Brave New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit: The Body

Brave New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit: The Mind

Brave New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit: The Soul