- Soul
- Spiritual/Material
- Three Souls
- Levels of Soul
- Part one: My understanding.
- Soul
- Archetypes
- And deeper:
- 5 levels of soul
- Soul Levels of Consciousness
Soul
- Soul is immortal.
It hears and sees and keeps everything that happens, or at least a portion of it. This portion we call a pointer and, as hypnosis has shown, again and again, through this mechanism, everything can be recalled. Freud called it the unconscious, then the sub-conscious, now it is repressed, etc... It is the deep reservoir of our experiences. We collect them and return with them, like a wandering explorer who returns with a knapsack full of experiences. Like arriving back at school after the summer vacation, filled with stories of the adventures you had. - The purpose of soul is to serve -
Because it does not need anything. - Soul needs to be resurrected in the body to good (Mitzvah).
The body needs to be kept clean by proper nourishment. The emotions need to be constrained, and we need to be mentored to think uplifting thoughts - Each incarnation expresses one purpose of the soul.
You are a soul, here to play a role. - The marriage union of two souls becoming one is the re-union of a soul that had split apart.
Spiritual/Material
We enmesh the spiritual in the material in a very human way. We hide our lies and deceptions in that hidden, imaginary space, as well as our beauty and love. But what if the consequences of what we do materially have, essentially, spiritual consequences, and not only the spiritual ones that we normally are concerned about. {For, in order for us to do anything, there must be a spirit, an intention, a will(ingness). This is the "spiritual" reason or energy that you use to get something done.} Let us first focus on the purely material consequences of our actions, before we delve in the hidden aspects - and that is what I think jurisprudence is expressing. However the judicial system that emerges is crafted by those in power, and thus becomes a tool for maintaining that power - if not in the beginning, but without a doubt emerges at some stage. It starts with revolution to gain freedom, and then the leaders of the revolution become the oppressors - just different faces.
{NOTE: Revolution - from the world revolve. So a revolution does not mean inherent change, they are generally just face-lifts. Evolution speaks of inherent change in the way it was done. To quote a Sages: "The only form of evolution is to one in which you become better than your previous self".}
Notice here, I do not say that they do not affect the spiritual realm, but perhaps not in the manner nor due to the events as we believe. As the system is continuous, or recursive - in that the every event is based on a sequence of events that occurred so that the seminal event could manifest. One cannot have vision without an eye, and a "brain" or perceptor of some nature that can "see" the vision. In other words, it has both the mechanism/technology available to see, and the perceptive capability to perceive and cognite (in some meaningful fashion) what is being seen. The one is purely technical, or empirical, the other is uncertain. To the materialist, it is the chemicals, or microtubules, or some other physical measurable event that occurs... whereas to the imaginative, there seems to be another element involved that we cannot measure with our empirical measurements, and is uncertain as to where exactly it is situated - in the brain, or elsewhere. This we call the realm of spirit, or soul.
Three Souls
Your lower soul, Nefesh, is your "life force" - that which vivifies the clay that forms your body. Your upper soul, Neshamah, is the breath/spirit that descends from above. It is the breath that is "breathed" into you. From that place is where we need to find an other future, called "The World to Come" or the "Coming World". Between these two souls, there is another, that is like the wind that blows between the two. As the other is like the breath, this is the wind, the air, that moves from there to here, and is called Ruach, a wind that enters from outside, and is expelled from inside. Thus there is the breath, the breather, and the "air" that is breathed. Lastly Nefesh is the breath that has entered the consciousness, and has to settle, rest, a moment so that it can be utilised. As, in all Creation, there is the transmission and the receiving, and then the pause, the recipient.
Levels of Soul
Part one: My understanding.
Kabbalah is a science of the spirit.
Soul
The Kabbalah does not recognize the soul as a single entity, but rather separates the soul into 5 elements; Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah.
Nefesh is our bodily soul, our vivifying soul. Vivified means ‘to bring to life’, so this is the part of our soul which which awakens at birth, upon inhabiting this body. It is that soul which is experiencing this physical existence, through its having become entangled in this physical representation, your bodies, Thus it becomes aware and reacts to the sensations of our physical body in the physical world. This soul, whose nomenclature also represents “rest”, is placed in surroundings that are known as the “Realm of Action/Doing” (Assiyah) It is represented in modern psychology as the ego, and it is what “holds” or “forms” us here. It is also a veil, (and a bridge) or barrier (with portals) between the conscious and “unconscious”, the “body” and the “soul”.
Ruach, the next level of our soul, means ‘spirit’. The manifestation of Ruach is in our feelings This realm is also known as the realm of formation. Our feelings form us, not our emotions. In every aspect of this teaching (almost), there is an upper and a lower aspect. Think of it as the front and the back, or the above and the below. I stand between heaven above me and the earth below me. I am referring here to an earth that is as vast as the heavens. Like the firmament that separated the upper waters from the lower one. Thus emotion would be the lower aspect of this energy, and feelings the upper. Look at the word itself: emote & e-motion, both referring to something that “comes out of”, “sticks out of”. If I emote – I express my anger, or pain, or sadness in an emotional, often dramatic sense. But when I have a feeling, of love, or compassion, it comes from something that is authentically mine. It is this feeling, this aspect of the energy, that will form the “things” of my life. For the truth of it is that it, this upper feeling, comes from above. And the training is to recognize that, discern that which comes from above and the which comes from below.
This part of our soul has the awareness of emotion. More like, it is the expression of these feelings & emotions. The “forms” that make up how we experience and what we do in our lives. This is the reactive part of our soul and our heart-space.One might see it as the heart-space (in modern parlance). But the heart-space in Kabbalah is contained in the body! The sefirah that represents it is called Tipheret, [I thought I had installed the Hebrew keyboard on this document editor, but have not, and do not want to get distracted by doing it, so I will continue, and later install Hebrew] and it is known as Beauty.
One could also conceive of Ruach as between Nefesh & Neshama, with Ruach being the lower, more dense expression of Neshama. Ruach has been described as the “wind upon which the light travels”
Neshamah is related to the intellect - which speaks of the realm of thought, and it is this realm that our "conscious" awareness of G-d arises. It is the thoughts from which we proceed. Upon meeting someone, the thoughts we think will make a huge difference to our future. Only later do we “feel” something – for the realm of Ruach is denser, and thus energy travels slower. Here is the true act of creation taking place, and it exists as an expression of the realm that is called Beriah, or Creation/Creativity. It is the place (source) from which our thoughts are manifest – that is become conscious. And everything of which we are aware has to have passed through this realm. Neshamah is the place where we feel the Ruach (wind) of of the Divine energy. The primary activity of Neshamah is to become wise, – and the only way to do this is to seek G-d (etc...). Neshamah is of the essential rather than the ephemeral, and as such is an expression of your soul purpose, or your soul desire, or your soul mate . For the true purpose of your soul, your sole purpose, can never change for the "lifetime" of the soul. I would say that a sign of a person who has reached this level of consciousness and operates from this part of the soul is when you see a person dedicated to understanding the Divine, and is shining in and with Divine light.
It is understood that at any moment in creation G-d is breathing, if this ever stops, creation will disappear! Neshamah is the in-breath, Ruach is the exhalation, manifested as creation. We, as created beings, breath in the Neshamah of God, “Breath of God” or “Holy Spirit” and breathe out our own creations – through our lives.
Perhaps you could meditate on the Trinity here – as Neshama – the Holy Ghost, Ruach as God, the father, and Nefesh, as God made “flesh”. Which, as Jesus has said, is all of us: "We are all children of God", he said. Each and everyone of us, is G-d in flesh...
The fourth level, Chayah speaks of the Divine Will that causes creation to manifest. It can only be experienced, it cannot be described. It is like the electricity flowing down the wire. The fifth level is one in which the soul is deep into its soul journey, in a realm so far above our understanding that words are inadequate to express it. Our only hope is to listen to the reports of those who have “visited” this space and managed to connect with It clearly enough to return with a message. The questionable aspect of these records is the uncertainty of what effect the journey of return had upon the message, let alone the messenger.
We speak of these 5 levels of soul in order for us to better understand and relate to the experience of the world around and in us. So, for practicality, we focus on the first 3 levels, which are the most pertinent to our present exploration, Nefesh, Ruach & Neshama.
These ‘elements’ are also levels of consciousness – this I can see. Nefesh consciousness people would operate from their base chakra mostly, Ruach consciousness people will operate from their emotions mostly, then there are those who are living in and seeking Neshamah, seeking to understand G-ds’ soul. This is good.
Archetypes
A caution here: Because we are speaking in archetypical language, be careful of latching on to a specific meaning. It is necessary to keep the broader area in view, because we are seeking wisdom – and that requires penetrating the essence – the Divine spark hidden in all manifest/material things. All archetypes are symbols of something far larger than the name itself.
So to give you an example, I will fill out some of the “meanings” of these names.
Nefesh, from the realm of Assiyah, the realm of Doing, the manifest realm, also known as Malkut, the Kingdom, and thus know as the Kingdom of God – and we are His people. It contains the lower 6 sefirot/spheres of influence, or sapphires, in it – that make up the “body”.
Ruach, from the realm of Yetzirah, the realm of Formation, the angelic realm, the realm where we have embodied, but not yet manifest. It has just one sefirah, Binah, the Supernal Mother, Ima, known as understanding. It is where the One splinters into its many forms, one of which is your Nefesh.
Neshama, from the realm of Beriah, the realm of Creation, also know as the Throne Room, where there is the possibility of a meeting with “Dmoot Elohim”, the “Image of God (plural)”. The sefirah it is associated with is called Chochmah, Wisdom, and represents the Supernal Father, Abba, and it is where the two meet as one.
This was to give you a taste of the depths.
And deeper:
Ruach (the Mother) is a masculine word, and Neshama (the Father) is feminine – and is often indicative of the Shechinah, the Divine Feminine! Like the breath/energy/spirit that nourishes Her children.
Now the part that I wonder about is if we reach Chayah after death? Or is Chayah maybe manifested in Ascended masters here on earth? Or if Chayah is the ‘highest-self’, can we fully embody or attempt to embody our higher self in this life? Or do we move into that space momentarily from time to time? Also understanding it from a 4th dimensional concept – we do see we are very slowly moving into understanding that space. So does this then mean from this concept that when are on the ‘Neshamah’ journey, it might be possible to experience and live in Chayah at some point? I would like to discuss this more as many ideas go through my head on this one…
Such lovely questions.
Though, I would caution you to be too concerned about after your death… That has its own dynamic, its own set of constraints. Let’s rather focus on the life we are living, for that is all that is certain.
Though it certainly seems that certain of us can Ascend to the level of Chochmah – where everything is seen as One. In order to manifest anything, and I mean anything, in this realm, the realm of Assiyah, Doing, we have to remove ourselves from the realm of Wisdom, and “enter”, or constrain our soul-selves to be able to “fit” into this dimension of interaction and communication that we are alive in. The same as if we are conscious of 4d and need to describe it in 3d terms, we would have to remove one axis of infinity to fit it into 3d… and that is an amazing thought…
Metaphorically, “we are the eyes and ears of God having a human experience”.
My conclusion is, that although it is possible to ascend to the upper realms, it is firstly impossible to remain there and remain active in this realm. Secondly, to do anything in the manifest realm, one cannot be still. Yet it is through stillness that you find guidance, and attain perspective. Thus even ascended masters will only be able to “visit” that realm – also by the very fact that we are existing here, therefore we can only be journeyers in any other realm. If we get stuck anywhere there, we are then most probably certifiably mad – living in a “disassociated” reality.
However, those whom have emerged as such Masters, are also people who have, generally through committed practice over years, “cleaned out their channels”, that is, opened and purified the connection between themselves and the upper realms, and having devoted such a lot of energy to learning and practising techniques to do so, results in their having better contact between these upper (and lower) realms.
5 levels of soul
This is my understanding of the 5 levels of soul. They are interconnected and interdependent. One seeks balance so that the energy can flow easily from the one component to the next. If the Nefesh is taken care of, the Ruach functions easily – there is evidence of this in our physical and emotional bodies. If we are malnourished our emotions are unstable. If our emotions are unstable we sometimes neglect to take care of our bodies. Moving one up – if our emotions are balanced our minds are sharper and there is more space to contemplate and think about things – our Neshamah. This is where a lot of us are, or are striving to be at this point. A strong Neshamah element equals a healthy emotional and physical and mental disposition IF we are in balance with it. Our practice is to stay balanced in this, the narrow middle road. To find this balance we require discipline, practice, commitment, discernment, integrity and humility in our spiritual practice.
How to maintain that balance? Or how to find that balance? What is that balance? With what measurements do I judge balance?
With this in the background. As we investigate the crystal better, we will understand where the various energies sit and what they vibrate to. There was a piece I once read on the Kabbalah, and the phases of the moon. That it was better to do certain rituals on the specific full moon that channelled a specific Sephirotic energy.
On a last note we can also explain the 5 elements the following way – Nefesh being the body, Ruach being the spirit, Neshamah being the soul, Chayah is a part of G-ds’ soul, and Yechidah is unpronounceable.
Soul Levels of Consciousness
Neshamah: Levels of Soul Consciousness is an more orthodox explanation by Moshe Miller, providing precise and accurate information on the topic.