Discovering Spirituality - Episode 09 - The Human Soul - Podcast Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Discovering Spirituality podcast. Episode 9: The Human Soul. In this podcast I will be sharing my thoughts on the writing "The Human Soul" taken from the channeled book "The light in Your Life is Spirit" by George A. Thompson.

What is a positive start in life? The early life of a child is so fragile. They are so innocent and vulnerable and they need a lot of time to be nurtured and educated.

This is not the same throughout the world since many children are forced into labor or marriage at an early age. Historically in the west, taking care of children only occurred properly within the last hundred years or so, due in part by improved standards of living which increased mortality rates.

I am sure that children where loved but due to the high rates of poverty, having a child created a financial burden, which many couples found very difficult. Which is why children had to work from a very early age to contribute to family survival.

So survival of the fittest was very much still a way of life for most humans only a few generations ago. So in truth successful parenting and nurturing is a relatively modern invention, along with compulsory education within the school system.

It's only within the last 80 years or so that bringing up children to be productive members of society has really started to take shape, but even now the true depths of raising a child are from from being understood properly.

Human parents, although well meaning, are far too preoccupied with their own selfish needs due to social toxicity and the need to accumulate wealth. Increased work loads, stress and debt all put pressure on the parents and hold them back and distract them from taking proper care of their children. But what do children need?

Love, security, boundaries, education, a healthy environment and to understand that they are a part of the family unit and belong. One could say that these are obvious but can we say that we understand these responsibilities fully?

Unconditional love, that is what we are supposed to provide our children as they grow, until their reach a point as young adults when they can venture out into the world to make their own way. I am speaking about the investment of love, to introduce children to the experience of love.

The love that keeps them safe and cares for them. The love that ensures they are clothed, kept healthy and have a safe home. The love that encourages them to explore and discover. The love that teaches them values and principles, teaches them compassion and sensitivity. The love that educates them, encourages them to live as individuals, to be capable and creative. A love that teaches them to think for themselves.

But how can we teach the future generations these concepts when we do not understand them ourselves. As our selfishness grows the investment we are supposed to provide our children seems to fall short, instead we focus our attention on our desires and fears.

We chase status and materialism, never really considering the casualties this leaves in its wake. Very often the outcome are adults who still think and act like children. In a nutshell they are immature and they lack many of the values and virtues that are necessary for maturity.

This may all sound very pessimistic, but the truth is staring us right in the face. We as a species are still very immature despite our recent technological growth. There is a careless abandonment about it all, which is causing a social sickness that is being largely ignored.

We talk about conversations but all we are getting is people clinging to and defending twisted ideologies, which is making people feel very confused and prone to lashing out.

We are collectively dumbing down life and providing little or no tangible educational experiences for our society to grow. We are all children and we need support to understand the world we live in.

What does it say about the future of our society if we abandon our duty of care and replace it with a duty of ignorance? Because this is what is happening.

There is far too much focus on superficial veneers to have honest dialogue about the many problems we face as a species. There seems to be a quick need to point the fingers of blame and forgo our responsibilities as members of society. We would rather just stand back and proclaim, this is the way it is and it's not my fault.

If we keep on adopting that frame of mind it is fairly certain that very few people will be equipped to deal with any breakdown in the social order.

If selfishness continues to go unchecked you are going to end up with a very fragile and ill prepared society, and that society are only going to exacerbate the problem for future generation. After all, how is a society to grow when it is unable to see its own failings.

Of course with this denial of responsibility we will look to the leaders and the enlightened to solve these problems for us. And they will try, but for the most part will fall on deaf ears.

Like it or not, fear is very familiar to human beings, it's almost like a natural state for so many. The trappings of modern society are all sold to us using fear as their basis. For without these "things" you are nothing. You will always be reminded that you are lacking in something or missing something, without ever truly understanding what it is.

We are so easily manipulated and led astray that we have lost what it truly means to be an individual. To think for yourself and to follow your own path. Including our children we have a duty of care to each other as well as ourselves.

The paradox of trying to be in control ironically causes us to loose control.

If the human mind is locked into patterns of absolutism, there is little room to explore beyond existing patterns. This causes us to exist in a state of certainty and uncertainty simultaneously. Certainty in being is often a limitation of understanding, even if we are certain we are right. To be certain ie, the application of absolute right and wrong tends to define ones reality in a somewhat rigid manner, which can limit understanding,

The trouble with defining a limited reality causes the weak minded to accept these limitations. And that's the interesting thing about the human mind, it can be either very rigid or very open, which are both prone to manipulation.

This is not to say that we are incapable of learning, far from it. What if does mean is that what we learn is very often self serving. It is what we are taught from an early age. Today's modern parents, for example are far more concerned with how their child will turn out in the future, will they be doctors, lawyers, architects or scientists. Which if we are honest puts a great deal of pressure on the child. As anything less than perfect is usually met with disappointment, which is hidden in some ways but expressed in others. The point is, we see the path to success from a single point of view without taking into consideration the emotional well-being of the child.

What are the needs of the soul? In order for man to develop their more spiritual side it is probably very important.

If we look at most of the named religions the doctrine has always been to worship and follow the leader, be it God, Jesus, Mohamed or the Buddha. There are of course pockets of truth in these religious texts but they have always regarded man to be subservient.

With the advent of the industrial and scientific revolutions man has swapped his substance of God for the substance towards ones employer and ultimately money.

Apart from Buddhism, which tends to focus on self development with an aim towards enlightenment, the other religions focus on self development is all in the name of God, which still suggests that we are to be dominated by this God.

As far as human needs go, do we really need to continue being servant for some authority or master? How are we to truly realize our potential if our efforts are for the benefits of other and I am not talking about acts of selfishness. I am referring to creating an ideal identity based on a man made ideology.

Man thinks and believes he is free but in reality the social constructs all contain paths that have been defined by others. So freedom is a concept that man has little to no understanding about.

But if we were truly free and capable of free thought what would we become? How would we define out true needs? The needs of the soul, to belong, to feel that you are a part of something greater than yourself.

During the early years of a child's life, the child should experience the sense of belonging that comes form the family unit. But all too often selfishness and desire creates a wedge between parent and child that creates a sense of loss and abandonment the child feels very deeply, and longs to rectify.

And so the child searches for belonging by molding their identity to fit in where they can. Even during the early years of education, children are schooled as individuals despite being a part of a class.

Within society, the child grows and learns that success is an individual pursuit, it's what you do, what you have and what you know that makes you self made. And so that aspiration of the self and success become the path which the individual walks. Some succeed, yet most fail to attain the lofty goals of social success.

In today's modern society continued division has created many tribes which welcome the lost in a vain attempt to rekindle some sense of community. Some are satisfied yet many are left dissatisfied, which leaves them feeling list and confused.

Is it simply kinship and community that we long for, or is it something deeper? Is it the knowing that you are already part of something, you are human, a part of the fabric of society. A part of a nation, a culture. That unseen consciousness of the world and the universe?

Do you not already know that we are part of this fabric, yet we have reduced belonging to something tiny, something individual?

Is it our shortsightedness that blinds us from this obvious truth or is it our obsession with being that someone? Someone who is needed and loved unconditionally. Someone who is recognized and admired, the opposite of being invisible.

Is this the reason why so many flock to religion and sports? Even within the social groups one can still feel alone. So perhaps this suggests that belonging is  state of mind, a state of being. An acceptance that you are a part of a greater whole, despite not understanding what part you play.

We must ask the question, what is it that drives this need? is it something primal, that simple need to survive, or is it something deeper that we do not yet understand? One has to consider the drives and motivations that compel us to seek out and satisfy this need and why we suffer along the road to its discovery.

Perhaps if we abandon the external search and embrace the internal search we are more likely to discover what we are really looking for.

Modern society is fixated with the idea of individual identity, the success of the identity and its failures. Nations and fragmented, families are rotting and the bastions of education are leaving our children with little or no sense of direction.

Imagine the burden that is lifted when we stop trying to be something when the illusion breaks and the facade fails.

Take the concept of a single God and add it to mans primitive understanding. Primitive man had a degree of harmony with nature, which slowly progressed over the centuries. At this point, man saw himself as being a part of nature. The evidence of this can be found in many primitive belief systems.

Many of the unknown natural phenomenon where attributed to some form of deity, so there were many "Gods" or "Influences" on mans growing connection to nature. This connection to nature was the start of mans understanding that he belonged to an interconnected relationship between the earth and all its inhabitants.

The concept of there being a single God was a significant step in mans understanding of a much larger concept of belonging and connectedness. So beyond nature there was a creator, the creator if the world in which man dwelt. This was not an entirely new concept since many indigenous cultures did have an awareness of their being a "Great Spirit". But once the single God concept took root in the more developed cultures, the rate of exposure increased though the growth of religions based on this concept.

The idea that you were created and connected to a significantly larger "God" must have been quite mind blowing, which probably resulted in both acceptance and rejection in equal measure.

This greater source was the ideal vehicle to misdirect and mislead the masses to instill fear and control. "You step out of line and God will judge you." Even to this day the fear of God still carries weight.

Take a step back and look at the human evolution as it started to understand the world in which it lived in. The introduction of a single creator created questions, very deep questions which man have attempted to provide the answer, why? Why did God create man? What is mans purpose? What is the meaning of life? Philosophers, theologians, gurus and sages have all expressed their opinion and input on the subject.

But with rise of industrialization, science and technology, man has diverted his attention away from such questions and chosen to loose himself in the distractions of materialism. It is after all, a lot easier to understand and implement.

Despite man loosing his way, there is still that love to understand the concept of life. We do not know exactly what it is, but we feel it. There is an inner ache that we do not understand and cannot be pacified no matter how hard we try to avoid it. Of course the trying takes all manner of shape and size. But mostly it involves the idea that acquiring new things makes us happier.

There are those who have begun to realize a far greater meaning that can be learned from life. But sadly it is either to late of falls on deaf ears.

What they discover is the essence of what makes life meaningful. The experiences that are either ignored or under valued are the connections, the friendships and relationships. The moments when we see life in all it's glory. These things are not to be found in things, they are found in people when we connect with them. What we need is meaning connections, a sense of belonging and community.

In the modern world there are lots of communities, lots of tribes and these exist in a digital world. A world that is devoid of human connection. It is faceless and full of anger and resentment. A place where the lost magnify their loss and grow increasingly hostile towards a world that they feel does not understand them.

What understanding we once had about human relationships is being being lost. We are loosing that little social skills we have and blaming others for this loss.

Human relationships and connections are complex to understand fully, and it takes effort to learn about who they are and who we are. Even within the family unit we are loosing touch with those who are supposed to be the closest to to us. It is nothing if not tragic.

And those were my thoughts on the writing The Human Soul.

If you are interested in reading the writing from the book "The Light in Your Life is Spirit", you can download it from this link.

D.B 1/27/2020