by Donna Quesada: Most of us grow up thinking of ourselves as a physical “body.”
Or perhaps as a “body” and a “mind,” in which the body is physical and the mind is a non-physical substance and component of the body. It is often further imagined that this non-physical mind is either situated in the head, or possibly spread out through the body. We tack an identity onto this physical and non-physical entity and give it a name.
Through the ages, philosophers like Descartes, crystalized our concept of ourselves in this way, with his contemplation of mind-body dualism, in which the mind and body are seen as fundamentally separate substances, with the mind being non-physical and the body being physical.
But in Kundalini Yoga, the Self is understood, not as one physical part, nor as two distinct parts, but rather as 10 parts, in which one is physical, three are mental, and the others are etheric, pranic, and spiritual. Together, these parts are called “bodies.”
The practice of Kundalini Yoga strengthens these 10 Bodies for the purpose of expanding our awareness, refining our experience of life, and awakening us to our true potential as human beings. Ultimately, we are divine beings having a human experience, but weaknesses or imbalances in any of the 10 Bodies, compromises our ability to awaken fully and fulfill our potential for self-realization.
In this series of articles on The Ten Bodies, I will start with the first… The Soul Body.
The Soul Body is the essence of who we are as divine beings. It’s like a little piece of infinity that lives within us. It’s the holder and knower of our purpose and destiny, while we’re here on earth.
It is YOU as you truly are.
It is the purity of our spirit before karma began imprinting itself upon us, and before all of our life experiences left their footprints on our memories, in the form of wounds and all manner of emotional traces.
It is the Soul Body that we come home to when we feel we have lost our way or when we are confused and unclear about what we should do.
Many years ago, when I was conflicted about a major life decision, a spiritual teacher told me to simply follow my heart. What she was really saying was to drop down into my soul body to get in touch with my spirit’s deepest yearning and true purpose… and away from all other noise, such as what I think I should be doing, or what others may expect me to do.
When I was a young Zen student, the Zen teacher (“Roshi”) would often remind us to get out of our heads. Even though Zen doesn’t bother itself about metaphysical concepts like destiny, the idea is very similar… to get still enough so that the voice of the ego fades away and all that is left is the simplicity, purity, and splendor of this moment, where spirit is free.
All forms of meditation do this… we sit until the oh-so-logical head brain pipes down and all that is left is THIS, or as we might say in Kundalini Yoga… the heart’s whisper.
