All Souls and Spirit

                    by Dr. Mark Pitstick

I use the following terms for the soul, that extension of the Source in each of us: real selfxe "Real Self", consciousness, awareness, true self, inner self, spirit, innate intelligence, enduring self, eternal self, mind, inner being, xe "Divine Self"and infinite self. 

To those who consider a discussion of souls and spirit to be wishful thinking or worse, consider the conclusions of Wilder Penfield, M.D., widely considered to be the father of neurosurgery.  Like some of his medical colleagues, Penfield thought for many years that there was no consciousness independent of the brain.  After fifty years of research, he changed his mind. 

In his last book, The Mystery of the Mind, Penfield stated: “I came to take seriously, even to believe, that the consciousness of man, the mind, is NOT something to be reduced to brain mechanism. . . Where did the mind—call it the spirit if you like—come from?  Who can say?  It exists.”

We humans are lofty creations, eternal souls, and timeless spiritual beings.  This view is difficult for some to fathom so I will quote a number of wise religious and spiritual teachers.  The very first chapter of the Bible conveys scriptural proof of humanity’s spiritual nature; Genesis 1: 27 states, “So God created man in his own image . . .”  

Psalms 82:6 states, “I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”  The apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 3:16 asked, “Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  In Ephesians 4:6 he says, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  I’m pretty sure St. Paul wasn’t from the South, so emphasizing the word ‘all’ four times in one sentence makes it pretty clear.  Great Spirit resides within each one of us. 

O. Lazarus, in Liberal Judaism and Its Standpoint, summarizes a Reform Jewish attitude toward death: “There is that within us which is immortal and it is not bounded by time and space.  It is this, man’s soul, as it is called, which continues, so we believe, to live after the death of the body.  To it, death is but an incident of life.”  Kabbalistic or Mystical Judaism also believes in the immortality of the soul of all people.

In Discover The Power Within You, Unity minister Eric Butterworth says, “You can never be separated from God because you are an expression of God, the self-livingness of God.”  Speaking of God, Alfred Tennyson wrote: “Closer is He than breathing and nearer than hands and feet.”  Meher Baba said, “To attain union with God is so impossibly difficult because it is impossible to become what you already are!”

The Christian mystic St. John of the Cross wrote: “Oh, then, soul most beautiful among all the creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved that you may go in quest of Him and be united with Him, now we are telling you that you yourself are his dwelling . . . his secret chamber and hiding place.”   

Enlightened denominations from every religion teach our essential oneness with Great Spirit.  In Sufism, it is said: “I looked into myself and saw that I am He.”  The Hindu Upanishads proclaim, “I am everywhere, shining forth from all beings.”  Christianity says, “The Father and I are One.”  Islam states, “All is Allah.”  ‘Isness Is, God is One, I Am That I Am’—these are various ways of stating there is no separation or duality in life.  As Joel Goldsmith wrote in The Infinite Way, “That which I am seeking, I am.” 

All souls and Spirit, despite physical appearances to the contrary.