Learning to Be Soul Conscious

Through body consciousness and the pull of the senses, it is very easy to be drawn to people and things in the physical world. The practice of soul consciousness is all about awareness, and seeing to what degree I am aware and awake to what is happening in my inner world. Soul consciousness is actually self-sovereignty; awakening what has been forgotten.

I can use affirmations and repeat: “I am a peaceful soul. I am a pure soul. I am a child of God.” … and still remain body-conscious. Why? Because knowledge is not the same as conscious awareness. Soul consciousness means the awareness from which I see, think, speak and act. So, the question is not: Do I know I am a soul? But rather, from which identity am I living this present moment? Am I aware? Am I living my spiritual authentic truth?

This is my practice and this is a process that I use from time to time, and it works well for me. As the soul awakens in the physical body in the early morning hours, the Supreme Soul helps me to set my mind for a peaceful day. I remind myself that I, the soul, an actor, take up this body, the costume, to play my part. It’s just a role set within this huge world drama.

I awake at Amrit Vela, the blessed early morning hours between 2.00–5.00 am. This is when I, the soul, take the script from the Supreme Soul, my Spiritual Director. I, the soul, take guidance from Him as to how to speak certain lines, the tone of voice and body language required for the next few scenes in the day. Really, my experience is that God coaches me at Amrit Vela!

Then, as the day unfolds and I set about my day-to-day business, I may meet challenging situations. Do I come out of my character and get into their character or a scene that’s meant for them? If they get angry, why do I come out of my nature of peace and get affected by them and become angry too? Let me stay in my character, in my scene and with my script.

So, if I am a soul actor, who is my audience? Who am I performing for? Is it people or God? On a spiritual path, I perform for God and not others. If I perform for others, I will want praise and respect and compliments. Then I will fall into the trap of body consciousness, and I will be caught up in the illusion. Yet, if I perform for God, then God loves everything I do, so long as I stay within the lines of my script, which is pure, positive and progressive behaviour. Then I remain protected also – because nothing was said that was not written within my script!

Sometimes what happens is that when the scene is over and the curtain is closed, I go backstage and begin tormenting myself: ‘Oh, I wish they had noticed me. I wish I had done this differently.’ I am rehearsing the lines that have passed, instead of rehearsing that which needs to happen in the future.

It is important to understand that every scene comes to reveal me and not to defeat me. It’s a chance to show my ‘professionalism’ in exercising the virtues and powers. Every scene is different and requires different soul skill sets, yet with an elevated consciousness we can tackle every encounter successfully.

Image by Vilius Kukanauskas from Pixabay

The Practice of Being Soul Conscious

When I am in a state of soul-conscious awareness, my thoughts, feelings, words, actions, vision and vibrations will be of a different quality, and they will be in alignment. They will be of a higher quality, emanating a light frequency.

Try these following exercises to instil more soul consciousness into your spirit.

1 – ‘Actor on a Tractor’ – I am a soul and not a body

The body (tractor) is not the problem. The problem is mistaking the body (tractor) for the self (actor). I have a body. I use a body. I care for a body. But I am not the body. The danger comes when I, the actor (self), forget that I am acting. Then everything becomes personal; every scene becomes real.

Someone criticises my body → I feel hurt.
Someone criticises my role → I feel insulted.
Someone doesn’t respect me → I feel worthless.
Someone praises me → I feel important.

As soon as I attach myself to a label, I begin defending that label.

Exercise: Someone criticises you in front of others:

What happens in your body? What physiological changes take place?
What does the mind immediately say? Does the mind go into defence mode or attack mode?
What does the ego make it mean? How does the ego obscure the truth in the situation?
What would the actor see? Would the actor just play their part?
What would the soul remember? Would the soul see things as a detached observer?
When someone praises me, what happens inside? Does the actor become inflated by the role?

Soul consciousness is all about remembering who I am in the eternal scheme of things.

I am the actor, playing this role, in this temporary scene. Soul consciousness creates a subtle distance: “This is happening to my role, my body, my personality — but it is not happening to the eternal me.” This brings true freedom within. My soul duty is to check my expectations and to keep them in check.

2 – Which Sense Pulls Me?

Sit quietly and consider each sense. What is the sense promising me? How is the ego mind working through the senses to knock me off my throne of self-sovereignty?

Sight — What do I need to see?

What am I most drawn to looking at?
Beauty? People? Money? Success? Social media? Other people’s lives?
What do I feel when I see these things?
What am I hoping it will give me — excitement, validation, security, importance?
If I couldn’t see that thing anymore, what would I miss most?

Hearing — What do I need to hear?

Do I crave praise, appreciation, reassurance, recognition?
Why does criticism affect me so much?
Whose words have the most power over my state of mind?
What am I waiting for someone else to say so that I can feel worthy?
Can I remain peaceful when I don’t hear what I want to hear?

Taste — What do I need to taste?

What foods do I find difficult to resist?
Is it hunger — or comfort, reward, pleasure or escapism?
What emotion am I feeding through taste?
Can I enjoy something without needing more?
Who is choosing — me, or the pull of the food and the craving?

Smell — What attracts me through fragrance?

What smells immediately draw me?
How strongly do sensory pleasures influence my mood?
Do I seek particular environments because they make me feel a certain way?
How easily can my inner state be influenced by something external?

Touch — What do I seek through physical sensation?

Do I seek comfort, closeness, gentleness, stimulation?
What happens inside me when I don’t get the physical touch I want?
Am I able to experience discomfort without immediately trying to escape it?
Why is physical comfort more important?

Is any sense giving me what I truly need — or only giving me a temporary experience of it?

3 – Soul Emperor and Advisor Mind

I would like you to imagine that your soul is the Emperor and your mind the Advisor. Just follow this internal dialogue between the two.

Emperor Soul: “O brother, Mind, having been my Advisor, you have been interfering for many days. Being the Advisor yourself, seeing the Emperor in a dilemma, you took my staff (my officers) with you. Which officers did you take with you?

One is the officer lust – the biggest one.

Second is the commissioner anger, whose company you took.

Third police officer is greed.

The fourth soldier whose company you took is attachment.

The fifth officer is the centrist ego.

Having taken the company of this one, you ruled my kingdom with a lot of pomp and splendour for a long time. You tied me in the strings of these officers and made me dance a lot. O brother Advisor Mind, listen to what I have to say.”

The above is an extract from Brahma Baba’s* diary (31/12/1932), where he dialogued with his own mind. You may like to try this exercise for yourself and write down your own dialogue with your mind, intellect and sanskars (personality traits). Feel yourself to be the sovereign as you speak to all your ministers. I, the soul, am the master; these subtle helpers are my advisors. They are not here to rule me!

It’s Time … to practice being more in a state of true soul-conscious awareness and living an authentic life.

* Brahma Baba was the Founder of the Brahma Kumaris