The soul, the I and the spirit
byMieke Mosmuller
01-06-2016
3 comments
Because the soul bears all possibilities within her, she cannot find the right way to the centre in herself. She is the 'all gifted', but she also is the scene upon which the struggle for true humanity takes place. All thinkable powers fight for her, to get her in full power. Everything we have to experience on earth, all struggle and pain, but also all happiness and peace, are signs of this world-struggle in the world-soul.
These changes become properties of the soul herself. She doesn't have to obey a higher entity, but she is transformed by the I into a pure being, a pure soul. This process is called 'catharsis'. The I is brother, friend and teacher of the soul. When the time comes that she has become a pure being, namely a twin of the I, she bears the name that points to the longing of all seekers of wisdom, of all philosophers: Sophia.
When we keep in mind that the soul is not only an individual being, but also a being that is shared with all other souls in the world-soul, we can imagine how the achieving of Sophia by one soul is of influence on all the souls that exist. Therefore the catharsis can never be seen as an egoistic activity, only for her own sake and salvation. It will always be of influence to the world as a whole.
Wars on earth can be seen as battles that should be fought within the souls. Because this doesn't happen to a sufficient extent, it externalizes. Pacifism actually should be an activity of catharsis of all peace-seeking souls.
But it is not only thinking that changes through this catharsis, of course. Thinking makes it possible to change in a self-conscious way, which means in freedom. But through changing our soul into a true meditative being, she also finds the way to pure feeling and fully conscious motivated acting, which will increasingly be in entire harmony with what we call: conscience. Conscience will become a power that doesn't have to speak after acting anymore, it will speak before acting - and we will experience this speaking as spoken with our own voice. The I, the soul and the voice of conscience will be one.
To the extent that the soul becomes Sophia through the work of the I, self-consciousness becomes a spiritual quality. Gradually the spirit comes into our vicinity, and I and soul develop into 'spirit self', where the spirit is no longer a being external to I and soul, but unified with them as 'self'.
Phoenix in flames, 12th century, Aberdeen Bestiary. I chose this image as cover-image for my little book about understanding thinking (only available in Dutch and German).The soul, the I and the spirit by Mieke Mosmuller
The human being is not only gifted with a soul, he or she also has a part of his being that can only be developed on earth, another entity that is still 'young', but which is at the same time one that can judge and create form. This entity can be called the 'I', but only if we don't mingle it with the mere egoistic 'I', that is a part of the soul. The 'I ' that is meant here, is not already the higher self, but it isn't the lower self either. It is the being that can not only loosen itself from the soul and form pure thinking that emerges from the soul, but also be an inner spectator too, a thinking of thought, and a power that arises from this self-conscious thinking that can be turned back to the soul and transform her, so that she changes.
These changes become properties of the soul herself. She doesn't have to obey a higher entity, but she is transformed by the I into a pure being, a pure soul. This process is called 'catharsis'. The I is brother, friend and teacher of the soul. When the time comes that she has become a pure being, namely a twin of the I, she bears the name that points to the longing of all seekers of wisdom, of all philosophers: Sophia.
When we keep in mind that the soul is not only an individual being, but also a being that is shared with all other souls in the world-soul, we can imagine how the achieving of Sophia by one soul is of influence on all the souls that exist. Therefore the catharsis can never be seen as an egoistic activity, only for her own sake and salvation. It will always be of influence to the world as a whole.
Wars on earth can be seen as battles that should be fought within the souls. Because this doesn't happen to a sufficient extent, it externalizes. Pacifism actually should be an activity of catharsis of all peace-seeking souls.
But it is not only thinking that changes through this catharsis, of course. Thinking makes it possible to change in a self-conscious way, which means in freedom. But through changing our soul into a true meditative being, she also finds the way to pure feeling and fully conscious motivated acting, which will increasingly be in entire harmony with what we call: conscience. Conscience will become a power that doesn't have to speak after acting anymore, it will speak before acting - and we will experience this speaking as spoken with our own voice. The I, the soul and the voice of conscience will be one.
To the extent that the soul becomes Sophia through the work of the I, self-consciousness becomes a spiritual quality. Gradually the spirit comes into our vicinity, and I and soul develop into 'spirit self', where the spirit is no longer a being external to I and soul, but unified with them as 'self'.
Phoenix in flames, 12th century, Aberdeen Bestiary. I chose this image as cover-image for my little book about understanding thinking (only available in Dutch and German).The soul, the I and the spirit by Mieke Mosmuller
Comments
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From Machteld Rippen-Veenker @Dank Mieke, het is toch ineens een licht dat schijnt op mijn vraag die af en toe in mij leeft en opkomt. Maar die vraag hoor ik ook met enige regelmaat door anderen gesteld: ‘is de ontwikkeling van de enkele ziel van invloed op alle zielen?’. Jij beantwoordt dat altijd met zó’n volmondig en ernstig ‘ja!’ dat ik onmiddellijk hoor dat dat waar moet zijn. En toch komt die vraag telkens ergens weer opduiken. Zoals je nu hebt geschreven in de vierde alinea, komt het bij mij in al z’n eenvoud als schone waarheid ook eenvoudigweg binnen wandelen. Gewoon, het lezen is even een evenwicht van het vragende met het antwoord. Het antwoord dat de vraag oplost in het binnen komen wandelen in eigen ziel, verbonden met alle zielen.
En dan schiet mij ook ineens de derde strofe van de Grondsteen-tekst te binnen: ‘want de wereldgedachten van de geest heersen in het wezen van de kosmos en smeken om licht.’ Door jouw vierde alinea van vandaag komen vraag en antwoord als klein ontstoken in het licht bij elkaar in het licht waar het om smeekte. Een vragende gedachte, die ik kan ervaren als een wereldgedachte omdat zij toch regelmatig als vraag van verschillende mensen te horen is, een vraag die leeft in deze tijd, kan dus in een rustig licht vallen. En dan kan ik dus nu bedenken dat één zo’n opgaand ‘lampje’ werkt in de wereldziel die we samen vormen.
Dank Mieke voor de steeds zo dagheldere blog. Er komen best vaak moeilijke teksten voorbij, maar telkens komt na het lezen en herlezen uiteindelijk een ‘geest bezinnen in de rust van gedachten’, ook uit de derde strofe van de Grondsteen-tekst. -
From Annet Hoeijmans-Boon @Ik versta de beschreven ontwikkeling, uitgedrukt in deze voor mij soms moeilijk te " begrijpen" woord-taal, tot diep in mijn geest-zelf en ziel.
Dank! -
From Amelia Golden @I use this image as my online image (avatar), so i was shocked to see it showing up in my feed, not from me! For me, it is a symbol of transformation, purification through fire, initiation, reincarnation.