How to Find the Soul

Philosophers, scientists and religious leaders argue about the existence of the soul. Some say the soul does not exist. Some scientists have tried to conduct measurements by weighing the person immediately before and after death to determine if any difference in weight, representing the soul, has departed the body. Some religious leaders, as an article of faith, declare the existence of the soul, while there are others, including noted philosophers and scientists who argue that the soul does not exist. What is missing from all of these arguments, however, is the experience of the soul itself, which becomes, for an individual who has such an experience, a defining moment and definitive experience in their lives. Whenever an individual has an experience in life, it has its impact and significance for him. When numerous individuals independently report a similar experience, it becomes a body of evidence. The proof lies in the experiential basis that is now shared across different times, cultures and backgrounds, as there is a cumulative impact that goes beyond dogma, doctrine or opined belief.

The question then arises as to whether and how an individual can seek for, find and identify his soul with a purposeful and conscious methodology. The Mother describes the way to accomplish this.

The Mother notes: ”To perceive the soul in someone, as a rule the mind must be very quiet — very quiet, for when it is active, its vibrations are seen, not the vibration of the soul.”

“And then, when you look at someone who is conscious of his soul, and lives in his soul, if you look like this, the impression you have is of descending, of entering deep, deep, deep into the person, far, far, far, far within; while usually when you look into someone’s eyes, you very soon come to a surface which vibrates and answers your look, but you don’t have that feeling of going down, down, down, down, going deep as into a hole and very far, very, very, very far within, so you have… a small, very quiet response. Otherwise, usually you enter — there are eyes you cannot enter, they are closed like a door; but still there are eyes which are open — you enter and then, quite close behind, you come to something vibrating there, like this, shining at times, vibrating. And the, that’s it; if you make a mistake, you say, ‘Oh! He has a living soul’ — it is not that, it is his vital.”

“In order to find the soul you must go in this way (gesture of going deep within), like this, draw bac from the surface, withdraw deep within and enter, enter, enter, go down, down, down into a very deep hole, silent, immobile, and there, there’s a kind of… something warm, quiet, rich in substance and very still, and very full, like a sweetness — that is the soul.”

“And if one is insistent and is conscious oneself, then there comes a kind of plenitude which gives the feeling of something complete that contains unfathomable depths in which, should one enter, one feels that many secrets would be revealed… like the reflection in very peaceful waters of something that is eternal. And one no longer feels limited by time.”

“One has the feeling of having always been and of being for eternity. … That is when one has touched the core of the soul.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 6, Some Answers and Explanations, pp. 182-183