The Personality and the Soul - A Spiritual Journey

There are two very distinct and usually opposing parts of your humanity; your personality and your soul. This may at first seem peculiar to your sensibilities, so allow me to explain. Your soul is your true self. It is the very essence of your eternal being. Your soul is that part of you that is only concerned with love. To it, that is all there is. Your personality, on the other hand, is that portion of your earth bound physical self that strives to protect your ego, which is merely an illusion.Yin Yang people Every negative aspect of your life experience is a function of that personality and its ongoing mission to preserve the ego.

ALL negativity we experience is the result of the personality manifesting fear of something: loss, abandonment, poverty, rejection, illness, and ultimately dying or annihilation. It is fear that drives all human conflict; between partners in intimate relationships as well as between tribes and nations.

For example, let's say your spouse arrives home somewhat later than you anticipated without calling to inform you. When he or she finally does arrive, the hostilities erupt. Why? Why are you not simply content in the joy of their safe arrival? Why do you feel compelled to react with anger, to make the other person feel badly, to punish them in some way? It is fear at work in you; fear of loss, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment and the like. What takes place is the fearful parts of your personality take over; you literally become possessed by them and you believe that you have no choice in your behavioral response and therein, you err. As we saw earlier, you always have a choice but only in as much as you realize that you do.

In order to consistently exercise choice that supports the intention of your soul, you must become the silent "watcher" of your feelings, emotions and reactions. This is the beginning of enlightenment. When you master the ability to recognize the fearful parts of your personality attempting to take you over and you challenge and reject them in favor of the intentions of your soul, you are on the path to true peace; the kind of peace that can only come when the intentions of your personality are aligned with the intentions of your soul.

This state is not something that happens overnight or without vigilance and practice. You are, after all, attempting to overcome a lifetime of operating by default or on auto-pilot however, with time and patience, it most certainly can be achieved. The bottom line is we all have choice, even in the circumstances that seem to demand only one response. We simply have to wake up to that fact and choose. When the Buddha was asked how he wanted to be remembered he replied simply, "As one who woke up."