Listening to the Soul

One of the most powerful metaphors I’ve discovered with regard to inviting a deeper experience of our Soul is the 3-D  stereoscopic image.

So much of our time is spent focused on the busy surface level of our lives. We are focused on the “object” of our awareness. That thing we are looking at, that sound we are listening to, that smell, that taste, that touch, that sensation, that feeling, are all objects within awareness. They are literally the “props” that make up our life experience. We’ve been trained all our lives to enhance this ability to focus on and discern the subtleties of the objects of our awareness.

Through this continual focus on objects, we cultivate a nearly exclusive focus on the superficial, sensory forms of life experience. We’re not here to discount this important aspect of life, but to put it in its place so that we can also embrace the more subtle, subjective, inner experiences that we tend to  overlook or undervalue. When we persistently undervalue or disregard our inner subjective experience, we become disconnected from our Soul because our Soul is an entirely inner, quiet experience.

The still, small inner voice of the Soul does not clamor for our attention. It often speaks in ways we don’t notice or tend to ignore or deny. The shy voice of the soul is easily overcome by never ending distractions and business so habitual in the modern world. Soul work invites us to slow down and take a receptive stance. To be patient, to read between the lines, to be open to signs, symbols, and unlikely connections.

We can practice these ways of being when we attempt to see the deeper image beyond the surface of a stereoscopic image. To do so, we must intentionally adjust our perception.

• Be Receptive. Rather than trying to see it, invite the image to come to  you. Allow yourself  to receive it…slowly…patiently.
• Wide View. Rather than focusing, de-focus. Use soft eyes, back off,  and view the whole surface of the image.
• Deep Look. Rather than looking at the surface, we intentionally focus beyond the surface to a deeper level of seeing.

In so doing, we may begin to see for the first time, something that was always already there but completely invisible to us. Now go out into your life and practice this deeper more receptive way of seeing and being in the world and see what mysteries you discover. The still, small voice of the Soul is always there in the background!