The Cosmic Soul

Our perception of the Soul of Humanity and of the Earth Soul can be taken a step further, to the soul of the universe, the Cosmic Soul. This can be more than a feeling or belief, more than a fascinating and true idea; it can be a direct perception of reality.

In religion we encounter the notion of the unity of God, of the Creator of the Universe, of the Divine One within all, and we may sincerely believe in God's existence. If so, we may set about relating to the Divine. We may pray, individually or communally, or embark on meditative or contemplative practices. Yet despite those engagements, we may not believe that we ourselves can come to know God. The consequence of such doubt is that we do not take the search for God as seriously as we might. But if God is everywhere, is omnipresent, then there should be a way to bring our relationship with God forward, so that the Divine is not so deeply hidden from us. And there are ways. Indeed, mystics from time immemorial have spoken and taught just that. Those mystics are people like us, with the same physiology and possibilities. If it is possible for them to know God, then it is possible for you as well.

There are two keys to this search: the omnipresence of God, and God's nature as will. When we speak about the Divine Will, we are speaking about the very essence of God. Because will is not limited to time and space, neither is the Divine. Omnipresence means that the Divine touches everywhere, in every moment. Everything, both living and non-living, has will: the living have the will to live and the non-living have the will to what they are. But will is the Divine Nature and as such is One, a Unity that cannot be separated into individual wills.

In us, our own will appears to be separate from other people and everything else. That is an illusion that comes from two factors. First, we spend our time oriented to the physical world, where material objects are separate. We extrapolate from the separateness of our body to assume that our essential nature is also separate, that who we are is separate, that individuality means separateness. This false assumption has severe consequences: we go through life as an ego.

Second, because we are inwardly free, because we have free will and are able to make decisions from and for ourselves, we assume that this freedom shows that we are inwardly separate. If, however, we recognize that the Divine Nature Itself is free, and that our freedom is a reflection of that Divine freedom manifesting in and as us, we can see that we are both free and, in our essence, in the deeper reaches of our will, intimately, inseparably connected to the Divine Will. The particle has the nature of the Whole. The Divine will is in everything, including us humans.

How can this lead us toward realizing, in our direct perceptions, our relationship with the Divine? We take our cue from the omnipresence of the Divine and the Divine Nature as Will: we look for the will in everything around us. We cannot see will directly with our eyes. But we can notice will in ourselves and acquire some understanding and perception of the nature of will in that way. With that understanding and perception as our background, we can begin to notice the will in everything around us.

To notice will in ourselves, we notice our attention, which is a direct manifestation of our will. We see that our attention is free because we can move it onto anything we choose. We work to be ourselves, to ride our attention, and be our attention. For example, when we are listening, we can be the one who is listening. That is our will, our I in action. Working in that way, simply being here in this moment, can give us a first-hand taste of will, of the will-to-be.

Then we look around and recognize that everything has the will-to-be what it is. That will, all will, derives from the Divine Will. The will in the chair in front of me is part of the great stream of Divine Will. The floor, walls, and ceiling of this room have the will to be what they are. I am surrounded by will, by the will in everything around me and the will within me. Outdoors in Nature, everything has the will to be itself. This vast and seamless network of will, enwraps us in Love, the essence of the Cosmic Soul.

If we can open our heart to allow everything around us, the whole universe, to enter us and allow ourselves to enter that, our boundaries vanish and we are totally and utterly at home in this world, in the Cosmic Soul. Simple and direct.

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