The Soul is easily one of if not the most important aspect of the self. It is the truest essence and core of our being. Interestingly, it is simultaneously one of the most studied and talked about aspects as well as one of the least understood and nurtured ones. It is almost as if the importance of the Soul is taken for granted while little to nothing is done to support its healthy expression. Indeed, the neglect of the Soul is a primary factor in virtually every single one of the major issues we experience affecting our health and joy in life.
Before we examine the ways in which the Soul affects our lives from a practical perspective, let us first take a look at the role of the Soul as it appears astrologically. The Soul is represented by the Sun. In fact, the two words arise from the same root and have the same meaning. Soul > Sawol > Sol > Solar all develop from the same word. Just as the Sun is the center of our Solar system, the Soul is the center of our being. It is the core component, the true Self, that holds together everything else that comprises who we are. This is why the Sun is one of the three most important things we look at when first examining an astrological chart, as it represents our Soul's direction (the other two being the Lagna - our physical self and Dharma, and the Moon - our mental condition and perception.) While each of the other components of the natal chart show our various traits and the ways in which we experience the world, the Sun shows us our true Self and the journey we are here to undertake.
With the above in mind, we can see that the Soul is of primary importance for our life path. Ideally, we will flow with this naturally and will follow our innate "Soul desire" to its fulfilment. However, this is in actuality a very rare achievement. Far more often than not, we diverge from the Soul's dharmic path and become lost in the endless forest of distractions and obstacles which inevitably arise along our journey. Usually this happens straight out of the gate, so to speak, as our parents fail to get us off to a good start - often because of their own debilitation by unresolved matters from their upbringing. They impose upon us their own desires and shape us to their convenience rather than seeking to discover and encourage who we are here to be. From there, we enter society to be further shaped by the educational system, organized religion, popular culture, business advertisement campaigns, and the list goes on. Now, this is not to comment one way or the other about the actual content of any of these things (we could do a whole other teaching on that.) This is simply to state the fact that we are each facing a constant barrage of suggestive influence on what we ought to think, do, and be in life and that few if any of these sources are actually interested in the true purpose for which our Soul manifested here to begin with. Everything and everyone wants to shape us to their own convenience. Sometimes this is fine and good, when we share common goals and there is mutual good. But often these influences serve only to distract and deter us from our proper path. The challenge then is to become aware of the nature of these things and to act consciously in all things. We must not be carried away in the stream, but rather utilize the currents that benefit us while avoiding those that bring detriment.
So then, what does this mean for us from a practical standpoint? Quite simply, it is a matter of life and death. Of blissful joy and abject misery. The path of the Soul is not a trifling matter. We have all experienced the feeling of being stuck in a situation we didn't want to be in. Maybe it was working a dead-end job that you dreaded going to every day. Maybe it was a destructive relationship you felt like you couldn't leave. Maybe it was your parents pressuring you to go to school and get that high-paying career you weren't actually interested in. Maybe you feel like your life is being wasted. Even if you have all of the societal markers for success - good job, lots of money, big house, brand new car, family - deep down you still feel like you're missing something. This is why we see celebrities committing suicide. They have everything, but it doesn't matter. This is why we see people resorting to drugs, alcohol, excessive partying. meaningless serial relationships. All of these things are distractions. They help us forget, for a moment, that our Soul is angry. The Soul is angry that we are bending to the pressures of our society and failing to reach an understanding of our true Self. The Soul is angry that we are wasting time on things that turn us away from our path. So what do we do? Do we keep medicating ourselves with the lights, sounds, and chemicals of our society? Or do we cut the bullshit and get to work on learning who we are and what we are here to do? How we answer that question will determine the quality and outcome of our life.
Just as the Sun holds together our Solar system, the Soul holds together our being. What do suppose would happen if the Sun went of course? The cataclysm would be unfathomable. Yet, this is exactly what happens in our lives when we deny the Soul. People constantly wonder why their lives are in shambles. People wonder why they live in constant poverty. People wonder why they experience constant bad relationships. People wonder why they develop painful and crippling health issues (or sometimes they don't... they just say they're "getting old," which is actually just the cumulative result of a lifetime of neglecting their true path, which we clearly see in studying the emotional energies of the organs and tissues of the body.) What is it we would expect would happen if the center of our very being was off track? It's only natural. When our Solar system collapses, life sucks.
What we unfortunately fail to understand is that we are not victims of circumstance in life. This yet another bit nihilistic nonsense that has arisen from our modern materialist society. The light of the Soul is reality itself. There is nothing that exists without the Soul. Whether or not the existence is "good" depends entirely on the health of the Soul. Have you ever seen someone who just couldn't seem to fail no matter what the odds? They just seemed to make everything work out in their favor. Have you ever seen someone who just couldn't seem to succeed no matter the situation? They could be handed the keys to the world and they'd find a way to screw it up. This is entirely the result of their Soul. The health of one's Self determines the state of one's reality. A healthy Self has the willpower and the perseverance to turn every situation into a favorable outcome and to continue growing. A healthy Self will always see the opportunity to learn and grow. It will always look toward its goals. It will always value itself, walk in integrity, and speak well of itself. An unhealthy Self that is lost, doesn't believe in itself, is malnourished, and has no perceived worth will do nothing but sabotage its own success over and over again. No external situation will ever be able to stop the unhealthy Self from being miserable. It will ruin every good thing with its pessimism and defeatist speech. Every vow broken, every lie spoken, every excuse made, every intoxicant indulged in, every throw-away relationship, these are all daggers plunged into the Soul. Each one drains a little more of the vital force and makes it that much easier to stick in the next.
So then, what do we do about this? How do we find our true path and learn why we are here? That is the entire purpose of true spirituality. Whether it be martial arts, meditation, mantra, ritual, alchemy, astrology, or any other true spiritual practice, it is all toward the same goal: the understanding and cultivation of the Self and an optimal life in this world. From these practices we can come to understand our energetic architecture and how to make use of it to achieve our potential. We learn to bring forth and actualize the Self.
This highest actualization of the Self is of particular importance in the Thunder Dragon school, as the lightning energy we work with is directly related to the heart center where the Soul interfaces with the physical avatar. This is the highest purpose of Hanuman Xigong, just as Lord Hanuman devotes himself to Lord Rama. Just as Odin sacrificed his self to his Self to gain the wisdom and mastery of the Runes (the beeja mantras of the universe) we train to bring all things into harmony with the Self - the Soul - to gain mastery of our reality. This is the pinnacle of true practice.
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