There’s a worm addicted to eating grape leaves.
Suddenly he wakes up, call it grace, whatever, something wakes him, and he’s no longer a worm.
He’s the entire vineyard, and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks, a growing wisdom and joy that doesn’t need to devour.
~ Rumi (“The Worm’s Waking”, The Essential Rumi)
For the past few years, we’ve been writing about Soul Ages as a way to explain the process of existential recurrence – our individual lives rippling through eternity.
Once we’ve accepted the nature of our soul’s existence, there are a few important questions that are raised. What is the purpose of reincarnation? What are our Soul’s evolving toward? And as we mature in soul age, why do we feel a growing urge to “return back home”?
Table of contents
What Is Reincarnation?
The first aspect that must be understood is that ‘reincarnation‘ is a word that embodies many different ideologies. Ancient cultures all around the world have believed in reincarnation since the dawn of time, and a few major religious systems have incorporated the idea into their teachings (e.g. Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism).
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Reincarnation of an ‘individual self’ is only as possible to the extent of believing that your sense of ‘self’ – your ego – is real.
Two identities who are dwelling within two different physical bodies in the present, or in the past, will be two very distinct personalities. Our personalities are, to a large extent, determined by our environmental conditioning and physical genetics. Traits such as Introversion or being a Highly Sensitive Person, for example, are determined by our physical biology’s, while traits such as shyness, self-esteem, ideologies and neuroticism are the result of environmental psychological conditioning.
In truth, the ‘I‘ is a transitioning, ever-changing phenomenon. We can easily prove this by catching up with a friend that we haven’t seen for 30 years – both you and your friend will not be the same person as you both were in the past. ‘I‘ is a transitioning, ever-changing phenomenon.
Although our identities and senses of self are ever-changing, there is something that remains the same. There is something within us that is constant and continuous, and that is pure awareness. It is this very pure awareness which serves as the experiencer and observer of life, and it is this pure awareness that we can refer to as our Soul.
This understanding of reincarnation closely resembles that of the Buddhist idea that the continuity continues, but the individual disappears. But how can a religion like Buddhism that doesn’t believe in the soul believe in reincarnation? I believe the answer is that it was to prevent us from creating an ego identification with our “Souls”. The Buddhist idea of the Soul can be compared to the following analogy: You light a candle in the evening and leave it over night. When you go to blow it out in the morning can you say that it is the same flame that you had ignited in the previous evening? It is not the same flame, and yet somehow it is connected.
In this way, Buddhism understands our soul’s as an energy, or an ever-burning flame. However, in order to prevent identification with it, they didn’t refer to it as a “Soul”.
As we mature in soul age we come to understand the wisdom in this Buddhist teaching. The moment you start identifying with present or past life identities is the moment you begin creating a division between yourself and the world around you – and it is this that is the root of all disharmony in the world.
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Why Do We Reincarnate?
So if we aren’t the same person who is reincarnating over and over again – why do many people have memories of these ‘past lives’?
Jungian psychology did a wonderful job in exploring the existence of the Collective Unconscious – a concept that Jung believed individual memories dwell in from past lives:
“In addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.”
Freud referred to these karmic leftovers as “archaic remnants“, or mental fragments whose presence cannot be explained by anything in the individual’s life, but rather appear to be primal, innate, and inherited shapes of the human mind. The grandfather of psychology William James also shared his perspective, stating: “As our spiritual being is amplified here on earth and as we grow in age and experience, we become more conscious of this vaster world all around us, and when we die it is only to enter into an enlarged capacity.“
Essentially, the Collective Unconscious is formed of a pool of memories that some individuals, through the purification of awareness or evolution of their soul ages, have tapped in to, being able to remember events of a person’s life hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years ago.
Past memories serve us in our journeys of self-exploration as ways to learn and grow.
The idea is that as we grow in soul maturity, the souls who have applied enough Soulful Energy in their lives will be able to remember the patterns of foolish and destructive behavior repeated in the past to correct, learn and move forward from. For example: In a past life we might have been poor and spent all our life pursuing money, but once we achieved riches, we realized how empty the pursuit left us and how pointless it all was. The memory of this can prevent us from making the same mistake in our present life, and this is precisely what the Buddhist ‘Wheel of Life‘ illustrates.
As long as we keep dying feeling unfulfilled from this life, as long as we keep dying carrying our superficial desires and expectations that create misery and suffering for ourselves and others, and as long as we continue to identify with our false senses of ‘self’ – we will continue to return to this world until we reach fulfillment.
Our reincarnation is a necessary process of refining our soul, of liberating ourselves from unfulfillment and of assisting us in quenching our spiritual thirst.
Why Do We Feel Like We Need to “Return Home”?
It is during this process of our soul evolution that we mature and begin to feel alien and isolated in this world. Suddenly, everything feels flat, barren and dry, and we struggle immensely to connect in relationships with other people. This is when we develop the deep longing to return back to our “true home” – to our divinity or conscious womb – the place where we feel we belong, and where we finally feel whole again.
At first, it may seem like a terrible experience to go through the ordeals we go through in this life – and this is often referred to as the Dark Night of the Soul. But when we begin to ‘grow up’ spiritually, we start to understand that a spiritual awakening is not about having blissful experiences but is about serving a much higher and more profound cause: the collective growth of the human race. This is something we as individuals can never be separate from.
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The last reincarnation is the one where we awaken, where we join opposites, where we transcend separation and duality and become whole so as to truly become responsible.
The ‘Awakened Soul’ is the final step – the progression of the Old Soul who has undergone immense spiritual work. It is impossible to awaken completely all at once – we must first begin to awaken for short moments, hence the necessity for Old Souls.
To awaken is only possible for those who seek it and want it – for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves and developing their authenticity for a very long time in order to attain it. Most people will say that they are spiritual, and that they meditate or do yoga every now and then, but as Buddha put it:
You must want to free yourself from dukkha (suffering) as if your hair was on fire!
Most soul ages will not have such a strong desire and will not be ready to die in order to find truth.
And this is what an Awakened Soul is: their false identity has died (this is the Buddhist concept of ‘being in the world, but not of it‘), they have opened the final door, they have seen through the falsity of the world, and a unity has been revealed that encompasses all beings and transcends all boundaries. Mystics in every religious system in every culture and in every age have reported this to be the highest truth. Jesus, another Awakened Soul, would teach this as ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’, an emptiness that results from being freed of all encumbrances and tethers to one’s past.
In fact, just as the unconscious works on a collective scale, so also does ‘awakening’ occur in waves of collective awareness. Some Awakened Souls who were contemporaries could be found in India such as Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambali – who were all spreading the same message, while in China there was Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mencius, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu and in Greece Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus and Pythagoras who were all contributors. One of the most comforting statements ever made by Socrates was: “No evil can befall a good man in this life or in the next.“
This is why our work is to encourage and support the evolution of the soul, to teach Soulful Energy and to apply it towards our collective journeys of spiritual awakening.
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Interesting article, Sol. I woke up when I was 32, which was 15 years ago. I really didn´t have much interest in spirituality before that, I was a skeptic scientist, but I had interest in psychology, interpreted dreams and experienced synchronicity very often. That made me to believe in spirit guides. From early on, I had asked philosophical questions about the meaning of life and considered myself a truthseeker. The awakening-process started from a disasterous soulmate-connection and progressed then to full awakening in a four-month period, which was like dying, being in purgatory and then giving birth to myself. I can easily sympathize with Neo in the movie Matrix.. This was not a momentary experience but it took about a year or two to finalize the process in a more subtle way. So, in my experience, awakening can happen suddenly and permanently during major stress. I have all the characteristics of a awakened soul from your list, but I don´t think this is my last life. I´ve even had some dreams about planning the next one. There have been too many karmic issues to resolve and my life has been far from easy and blissful during the past 15 years, although lately it has been very peaceful. I believe that even a very young soul can operate from their souls (and be authentic) rather than egos. Of course, in that case they still express the characteristics of their soul-age and level of consciousness.
There have also been recurrent themes in my life, mostly through close relationships with other people, which cannot be explained by childhood issues or anything else which has happened in this life. After pondering this for years, I realized that my past (past lives) are my loved-ones´ present. So, my job is to be peer-support for them. So, all recurrent themes are not karma (although it can be that, too), they just show the direction where you can guide and support others based on your own experiences, even in that case that you don´t remember anything about them. :P.
Hola Lady,
Thank you for sharing your experience and awakening.
In my own experience, I’m certain that this is my life reincarnation. But the list I’ve provided is only a general guideline; it’s impossible to verbalize the indescribable, there are no ‘sign posts’ or words in this limited language to embody the magnitude of eternity.
Apart from the natural evolution of the soul ages, I do know that there are cases where any soul age can be ‘shocked’ in a life experience completely out of their karmic mental hindrances to the awakening process.
‘Karma’ however does pose the problem of an attachment to this life’s ego for those in the journey of soul evolution. To inherit Karma is to still be at some level fixated with the identity of this body, this conscious embodiment or with its past memories or mental hindrances.
Complete liberation from our ego identities, our ‘selfs’ is to be free from any karma we carry or any karmic missions we bring. If there’s still something left to do, then there is still a ‘doer’, and the ‘doer’ must return in the next life to attempt the final steps of liberation.
Warmly,
Sol
Gautam Budhha was born in Lumbini, kapilvastu, Nepal as a fact he got enlighted in india. Its very sad to know about the mis identification of such a sacred spirit. :(
Hola Sujay,
Gautam primarily taught much of his work in Eastern India. In my opinion though, if you understand the work of Buddha you will realize that it doesn’t matter where people ‘identify’ his origin from.
His message is of finding oneness, unity, spiritual wholeness and stop identifying with ‘social’ labels like names, countries, religions and anything that divides us from existence. Do you really think this ‘sacred spirit’ would care if people thought he was from India or Nepal?
I think I attracted this article to me since I’m really questioning the things in life. I can definitely say I’m going through a transitioning point in my life when concerning my spiritual and personal evolution. For as long as I can remember, I have been questioning the things that many others value and was different from others my age. Superficial things like gossip and sports never held an interest to me, and partying and getting a hangover seem like a waste of time. I’m currently a college senior and this past semester, I went through a dark night of the soul. I really questioned why I even chose to attend college in the first place (I felt it was an obligation and was expected of me), what I really valued, and life/society in general. I felt alone, needed time by myself a lot, craved authenticity, and got so tired of the routine lifestyle and expectations of homework, tests, and essays that I ended up not showing up to class a number of times, didn’t turn some things in, and just got an email that I didn’t pass a couple of classes, the ones needed for one of my majors (I know I brought this upon myself), and I didn’t enjoy those classes at all as I perceived the teaching methods of the instructors as rather ineffective. The path of awakening really started since my freshman year, and not until I returned from studying abroad last year did I dive really deep into my shadow side (studying abroad served as a catalyst for my inner growth). Awakening is liberating yet painful and kind of scary. There is a big dissonance between my craving for authenticity in life and what is expected. I can say for sure that I’ve grown but there is still so much more for me to improve on. Needed to post my feelings somewhere.
Hola P, J,
It’s wonderful to see you’re learning so much about yourself and coming to a new depth of understanding.
It’s quite amazing to think about; but as human beings who are given the freedom to do anything we want, we usually end up doing what we see our peers do or are expected from our families.
We have no been given the space, the time, to find ourselves, find our authenticity which is our only true freedom in this life.
Studying is perfectly fine for those who are passionate about it and find it fulfilling. But if there’s a voice within you that is intuitively warning you not to do something, it’s always wise to listen to it as the more involved and absorbed you get into a certain lifestyle, the harder it is to leave. There is money involved, time, things that you’ll use to justify why you should continue doing it even if you don’t like to, because you’ve already invested so much into it.
We can study and get a career any time in our life, but it’s our youth that gives us the earliest start to find ourselves before we start making decisions that will guide the rest of our lives.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us :)
Great post!
such quality words. Thank you, I feel less alone :)
Hola Libby,
You were never alone, you’re always in good company when venturing down this journey :)
I have read this article three times over the last few days, and have been trying very hard to sort out how best to comment on it. I could write pages of comments, but in short my comment / reply is, and can only be :
“YES!”
I relate fully with this, I am 52, and I am finding that more and more frequently I want to shake people and tell them to “wake up, can you not see and feel the illusion that you are living in ?”
I have intense moments of clarity and understanding….it is as if the world has stopped.
The beauty of silence and long meditation and reflection.
My advice to us all, just be silent, close offf the world outside, and just listen to your inner self!
Mateo, thenk you for this and your reply to my other comment.
Hola Andrew,
To another who understands, there is nothing that can be said; if we were sharing the presence of each other a simple glance would confirm you’ve also tasted soulfulness, that inner silence.
It is often arduous to explain these matters to those who aren’t prepared to listen; the depth of our collective sleep is deep. There is two stages of sleep, the physical sleep where we go to at night and the mental one in which we live everyday almost habitually and robotically. Wake up a sleep walker and they might be scared to death from the shock. They have to wake up at their own pace.
That’s wonderful advice; I hope we can all further the awareness and understanding of it together.
Thank you for sharing with us your own experience.
I agree that we must all follow our own paths and take whatever time / cycles of life to find our true beings.
I do think that we should take whatever opportunities, we can, to engage in discussions with our fellow beings, if only to allow them to pause, think and reflect; by this I in no way mean to force discussions, just allow ideas to develop and suggest they may want to think about them.
On the whiteboard in my office, at work, I have a simple cross made up of four letters, horizontally “I O W”; then vertically “I O P” with the “O” in the centre. When people who visit with ask what they mean, I tell them “The Illusion of Wealth” and the “Illusion of Power”; this then typically generates a discussion around the meaning and quality of life. I then go on to suggest / advise, if apporpriate, that they are as honest to themselves , through their “hearts” as to how they live and what their intentions are.
I wish you all the best,
Andrew
That’s a wonderful creative way to test the waters for receptivity, good job!
I agree, which is why we dedicate so much time to writing articles for LonerWolf. Those who aren’t prepared will never stumble across our work, but those who are receptive will grow much excitement from knowing their intuitive ideas are shared by many and part of an infinitely vast and rewarding journey. :)
Warmth to you as well,
Sol
Hi, i’m Ika from yogyakarta. This writing exactly explains what I’m experiencing. Thank you so much, I really find this very helpful. There’s so many things going on inside me, I want to share, but I don’t know how to do it. It feels like words are not enough
Hola Ika from Yogyakarta,
Words are very limited when describing an experience but to those who are receptive; they can serve as guide posts to at least guide you in the right direction.
You’re not alone in your experiences, we all share them one way or another. The internet can help us bring together, if only through limited words, to further our progression down this journey with much more confidence and understanding. :)
Thank you. I always enjoy writings that make me think and exam things from a different perception!
Hola Laurie,
You’ve come to the write place :). I might not write feel-good, airy-fairy articles but I do write from my own experience and understanding of truth which has often shown me that what we’re usually taught or believe, isn’t necessary the case.
What do you mean, “It is impossible to awaken completely all at once ….. hence the necessity for Old Souls”? Are you saying these Old Souls act as guides? How does one tap into that?
I understand totally the feeling of isolation and unable/uninterested in connecting with other people – it’s a crappy feeling really. But I am stuck here and can’t seem to find the forest through the trees.
Occasionally I have these transcendent experiences, but more often I feel lost…
Hola Marmarmish,
Apologies for my explanation not making it clear enough, it’s tricky writing in your second language :).
What I was explaining was that it would be impossible for a Young Soul to all of a sudden jump and become an Awakened Soul; the shock would be to great, to traumatizing. The natural progression requires us to be able to mature enough, to have a deep enough understanding to go that next step. Our psyches have to be prepared to match our Souls evolution or it can (and has, as I’ve observed in some students) lead to breakdowns.
In Jungian psychology as well as in Shamanic teachings they refer to this feeling of isolation and existential disinterest as ‘Soul Loss’. It’s not in fact that you’ve lost your soul, but that you’ve gone out of sync with it, you’ve created a disharmony within yourself. In my culture we call this energy ‘hucha’ in Quechua, because it is heavy and makes you look at the world in a different way.
I would suggest Self-Exploration on your own or with a guide, to help you ‘retrieve your soul’ by finding what exactly is making that energy heavy, in other words; something within you is ignoring your path with a heart, your passion, and once you find that it will make you feel wholer again by contributing to the collective evolution.
This is a great article! While I don’t personally believe in reincarnation or a COMPLETE unity of souls in the afterlife (Mostly because I’m Christian) I do believe in spiritually evolving and in a connection to all human life. I also agree with you that our main purpose is the betterment of humanity. And, because I think you’ll find this interesting, I have the theory that our souls might exist in another reality in this universe (not another universe altogether) and are connected to us via our minds like a bridge. But that is merely a guess that I have no means to prove. I just thought you’d find it fascinating.
Hola Ezekiel,
It’s wonderful to see you’re open to exploring different perspectives regardless of your religion :).
To my understand of physics, our conscious experience or souls do exist in the true reality and what we perceive as our physical bodies and world around us is a hologram created by the atoms rearranging themselves. You might be interested in reading more about “Bohm’s implicate order”.
But regardless of where or what our bodies are and how many universes or parallel realities exist; this understanding of an awakened soul as the presence who is maturing with age and experiencing this reality remains unaffected which we can’t say for most religions.
Awesome theory, I love seeing the openness of thought among our readers :)