A Reflection on the Nature of the Soul
A few days ago, my daughter finished her board examinations. The past month had been intense for her — long hours of studying, discipline, and the pressure of exams. Naturally, when the exams ended, she took a day of rest. But what followed was interesting to observe.
She began staying awake late into the night, watching movies, and then sleeping through the day. Watching this unfold made me reflect on something very fundamental about human nature.
We often feel suffocated when we are bound by too many rules, expectations, and structures. We long for freedom. Yet when we are given complete freedom without any boundaries, something within us can begin to feel unanchored, even unsafe.
This paradox reveals something profound about human nature — and perhaps about the nature of the soul itself.
The Soul’s Eternal Rhythm
In the book A Thousand Seeds of Joy – Teachings of Lakshmi and Saraswati by Ananda Karunesh , the goddesses share a beautiful explanation of the soul’s nature. The soul, by its very essence, is ever-expanding consciousness. Yet, paradoxically, it repeatedly allows itself to move into contraction.
Why would something infinite choose limitation?
The answer lies in experience.
Expansion can only be fully felt when it follows contraction.
Just as the breath expands only after it has contracted, the soul, too, seems to move through cycles of contraction and expansion. This is not limited to our earthly life alone. According to these teachings, this rhythm continues across dimensions — and higher realms.
Moments of contraction in the cosmos give birth to new galaxies, new universes, and new forms of creation. From contraction arises the possibility of expansion, and from expansion arises the joy of experiencing the no-thingness of existence.
Contraction on the Earthly Plane
On the earthly plane, contraction often appears in the form of life’s contrasts.
It may appear as suffering, loss, betrayal, injustice, or deep emotional pain. Sometimes the experiences can be profoundly dark — the “dark night of the soul,” where life seems to take us into the deepest rabbit holes of despair.
Human beings may encounter circumstances that feel profoundly challenging, sometimes unbearably so. Yet beneath these experiences lies a deeper movement. The soul is exploring the full spectrum of existence.
In the book The Five Levels of Awareness by Cirak, it is suggested that life’s difficulties and chaos eventually guide us toward light. When suffering reaches its peak, something within us naturally begins to seek another way. The pain itself becomes a turning point.
The soul makes a U-turn toward awareness. What seemed like darkness becomes the doorway to light.
The Adventure of Being Human
Perhaps life is somewhat like an adventure ride in an amusement park.
When we climb to the top of a towering slide, we know that the descent will feel thrilling, even frightening. We willingly allow ourselves to drop into the unknown, feeling the rush of adrenaline as we slide down. Yet we step onto that ride because we also know something else. There is a safety system in place. A boundary/belt, a structure that holds us safe while we experience the thrill.
Similarly, in life, when the soul moves into contraction — when we experience confusion, pain, or darkness — there is an invisible safety net. That safety net is Trust. Trust that there is meaning behind our experiences. Trust that there is a larger intelligence holding the unfolding of our lives. Trust that duality itself ensures that where darkness exists, light must also exist. Trust that the soul has entered this experience for a deeper purpose.
The Invisible Boundary
This invisible boundary keeps us from getting completely lost in the darkness. It reminds us that the soul’s journey is not about remaining trapped in suffering, but about rediscovering expansion.
The healing practices we engage in—meditation, self-reflection, therapy modalities (Inner Child Healing, Past Life Regression, Family Constellation, Breathwork, etc), along with other spiritual practices—gradually strengthen this inner boundary within us. They gently bring us back into the field of awareness, reminding us that even in our deepest moments of contraction, the possibility of expansion still exists. These practices help us shift from despair toward trust, allowing our consciousness to open to wider perspectives and deeper understanding.
Freedom and Its Limits on the Earthly Plane
On the plane of the third dimension of planet Earth, we experience only a limited sense of freedom through our choices and actions.
Through these experiences, the soul gradually begins to taste glimpses of its true nature. Yet our desires, attachments, identities, and conditioning continue to keep this freedom constrained.
True freedom — the boundless, eternal freedom of the soul — lies beyond these limitations.
Occasionally, however, we touch that reality. In the deepest states of meditation, there are moments when the sense of “self” dissolves. In that silence, what remains is pure awareness — a vastness that feels like both nothingness and everything at the same time.
These moments offer us a glimpse of our original nature. Until such awareness becomes our moment-to-moment experience, the human self continues to move through the waves of contraction and expansion, experiencing them in their limited forms on the earthly plane. Through these oscillations, life gently guides the soul back toward its own infinite freedom.
Where Boundaries and Boundlessness Meet
At the deepest level of awareness, the apparent contradiction between freedom and containment dissolves.
When the soul again enters the field of expansion in higher realms, the boundaries dissolve completely. What remains is absolute freedom — a freedom experienced with an innate sense of safety, yet without any anchor. This stands in contrast to our experience on the earthly plane, where freedom often still requires an anchor, a boundary, or a structure in order to feel safe.
In those higher states of consciousness, there is no longer the presence of the individual self. There is complete dissolution. There is no “self” that exists, and no “thing” that exists. There is only pure being — an infinite expanse of awareness.
It is here that the apparent dichotomy between boundedness and boundlessness, between freedom and containment, dissolves completely.
Until such awareness becomes our moment-to-moment state of being, the human self continues to move through waves of contraction and expansion — experiencing them in their limited forms on the earthly plane.
Yet every oscillation carries a hidden direction. Each contraction silently prepares the soul for a greater expansion. And slowly, through the many experiences of life, the soul finds its way back to the vast, infinite freedom that it has always been.
As the warm breeze of the dusking sun gently settles the day, I find myself immersed in these moments of reflection. How about you?
