anima mundi

As the cosmic symphony

“There is music wherever there is rhythm, as there is life wherever there beats a pulse.”

Igor Stravinsky

  •      This pulse of life beats constantly. The soul – the fabric of life – pervades all material and transcendent corners of our reality, of what we call existence. Its constant pulsations, like a heart-beat, animate the external natural world around us and – simultaneously – act upon the world within us filling it with personal desires, dreams and hopes.

         “To animate” means literally “to endow with Soul”. Our ancestors felt this intrinsic connection between the Soul, the divine principle in which all existence is bathed in, and the life itself.

         They intuitively knew that the life that incessantly pours out from the material forms, is a direct manifestation of the World Soul that pervades all creation.

     

         The birds that are visiting our feeders, the single blade of grass in our garden; tiny organisms invisible to the naked eye, that drift in the vastness of our oceans, and -naturally -ourselves together with our fantasies, emotions and visions. We all are soaked in the spiritual substance of World Soul. Thanks to the constant pulsations emanating from its source, it endows us with Life itself, in the same way like the blood nourishes our bodies. The soul is not the quality of matter, it is the main animating factor that sustains it.

         It wont be any exaggeration then, to metaphorically speak about the heart of the universe, which sustain our outer and inner worlds. Its eternal beat pumps into the tiniest cell of its enormous body, the nourishing life energy known in some eastern philosophies as prana, or chi.

         In order to maintain the survival of this cosmic being, even the tiniest cells that constitute its infinite structure, are under ceaseless process of death and re-birth. In the Same way as every fall we are witnessing the apparent decay of nature, our own body structure is also subject of it. We are physically regenerating ourselves in every second, eliminating millions of dead cells and replacing them with the brand new ones. Life, however, remains untouched. One day, we all will be able to directly experience it, while exhaling our last breath.

  •      Our heart-beat creates an particular rhythm in our bodies. When we allow ourselves to be still for a while, we can listen to it and also feel it bumping inside our physical constitution; we know, that without our heart’s constant cycle of alternating contraction and relaxation, we simply cease to being alive. Yet, we unconsciously follow this beat without deeper reflection about how significant it is to our physical essence. The constitution of our bodies is totally dependent on the vibrating pulse of the most important muscle: our heart.

     

         What within occurs also without. The macroscopic pulsations of universal Heart are not only recognizable but also constitute the deeper cause of our very existence. They frame our past, present and future in the single rhythm, a pattern that gradually unravels itself during our lifetime.

         Our physical body is a tool, thanks to which this cosmic energy can be manifested and experience itself within the material world. The body is a vessel that brings us closer to our dreams and fantasies, and allows us to meet face to face with our lights and shadows. The very fact of being surrounded by tangible matter helps us to externalize our deeper longings. It also helps us to verify our values and – most importantly – it enables us to ponder upon the essence of Love, through our relationships with the outside world and with ourselves.

         The soul’s main task is to know itself. This essential wisdom simply could not be gained without matter facilitating this eternal process of self-study.

         As the silence enable us listen to our own heartbeat, the very similar stillness is required to feel the ceaseless beat of the cosmic rhythm. However, there is a crucial difference in the nature of these two mediums. The microscopic physical beat is better heard when silence abides on us externally, while the macroscopic vibrations could be felt only when we are internally still and in peace. They become perceivable through the use of intuition – the Soul’s mental tool.

  •      Those, who practice mediation are probably familiar with the constant repetition of the sacred sound of OM. These techniques are precisely meant to tune in to this cosmic pulsation that emanates from the Universal Heart, the Source of all things.

         The space of inner silence reached through meditation, not only facilitates tuning into this vibrating cosmic pulse. It also allows you to recognize and listen to your individual melody which is magnificently build upon this fundamental, all- embracing- cosmic rhythm.

         This melody which defines who you really are, is sacredly woven into the mystical fabric of life no matter how conscious you are about this connection.

         Our soul is the singer of that song, which endows us with our characters, our societal roles, our visions and hopes.

         It clothes our perception with a particular mood and disposition based on its previous experiences related to the eternal process of soul’s self-study.

         It is the soul which is the main force animating our lives for the very simple reason: our soul, like the every single form of life that surrounds us, is a subject of constant evolution. Through use of our personality, it learns more and more about its own true essence, by improving some traits and getting rid of others.

         It is not an easy task, especially knowing that by descending into the material form, its transcendent nature might undergo a sort of initial lock-down. Therefore, the best compromise between these two apparently contrasting realities is to use one as the expression of another.

         Our soul wants to align us with its higher intentions by using our personality traits for the sake of its own divine expression. Usually this lies hidden until we start to recognize our inner voice. This is precisely the voice of the soul, whispering to our spiritual ears the soundtrack that we need to follow if we want to become fulfilled and truly happy.

  •      Imagine, that this melody of your life was already made for you, even before you inhaled your first breath. This particular soundtrack was composed by your soul; it chose your parents, the place and timing of your birth, and also the dynamics, that your life will evolve around. Those are the principal chords in this individual musical piece that was written just for you.

         In the same way as the musician composes a song by writing down the type of clef, tempo, scales and keynotes on the music staff, so did your soul prepare your individual story for this particular lifetime.

     

         While catching our first breath, we inhale the melody that will turn into our personal soundtrack. By this time, we have temporarily lost our awareness of the conscious participation we have had in the preparation of the track.

         Together with that individual melody, we have also been given a free will. Therefore, it is completely up to us if we decide to turn our particular rhythm into a harmoniously unfolding symphony or rather remain deaf to the melodies of life in general, including our own vibrational song.

         If we stop to listen, our way of experiencing life will become shallow, empty and – most importantly- devoid of meaning. And when the meaning is lost, life turns into mere existence. In the long term, a purposeless life turns into a real tragedy.

         Unfortunately, there is too many people nowadays, whose lives become shattered by depression. This is the tragic effect of what happens when meaning is lost or it simply succumbs under externally imposed life-style. the ceaseless noise from the busy, high-consuming society we live in, can force our individual melody to be completely deafened.

         In the psychological circles and in the more holistically oriented groups , self-refinement is seen as a most important tool for a successful life. In these environments, the notion of knowing oneself and to become the “better version of oneself ” is given particularly large emphasis.

         Personally, for me, this self-realization is about living one’s life in attunement with our individual melodies sung by our soul.

  •      If we know that we are not good listeners, or we have simply missed the rhythm long time ago, we will always get help in getting back on track, but only if we are willing to listen.

         The inner conflicts constantly arises in our lives. But they can be viewed as precious moments, when our individual melody composed by our soul, starts to impregnates our day to day meetings with life, in order to be heard and followed.

         Our soul, by being the animating principle, does not only enliven us as person, but it embraces everything what happens to us, labeling it with deeper meaning. Therefore, if we will become deaf to our individual calling, life -as being the soul itself- will gently try to give us hints wrapped in form of external events.

         What was unattainable or suppressed from “inside”, will knock our consciousness from outside. The synchronicities, that often suddenly colour our experiences, are like invitations to surrender to a reality that is way beyond the one we perceive with our 5 senses. As we have two legs supporting us, one is supposed to stand firmly on the earthly ground, while other should always ponder upon the psychic correspondences surrounding us. Only in that way, we can gain a right balance and never fall down.

         A crisis, for example, appears on our life surface to help us adjust to our rhythm, that might have been lost somewhere along the way. Usually it reorients us, regenerates us, re-frames our values, in a way that enables the inner melody to be heard again. It reminds us that something is not working properly and that our life needs adjustment.

         Despite of the complexity and extreme difficulty that many of us face in our daily lives, the intention that motivated our soul to create our individual stories might be surprisingly straightforward. It may be something as simple as being more humble, more loving to our partners or becoming more compassionate towards all beings. It can be about expressing freely one’s own creativity or to direct one’s skills into service for others. Everything depends on our previous lessons and experiences whose emotional imprint will always follow us.

  •      The predominating narrative that rules the mechanism of our society, is based on the individual gain; it responds to the the instinctual needs of our egos. On the contrary, the soul operates in larger scales, where well-being of all living creatures is sustained as the natural expression of life.

         As God wants this world to be a better place, so the divine spark which our soul is emanation of, wants the very same thing. Therefore, the soul’s focus will always be oriented towards unity and benefit of greater whole.

     

         This is the main difference between the desires of our egos and the intention of our Soul. This is the eternal conflict described by various religious scriptures as a eternal battle between forces of good and armies of evil.

         However, I would absolutely not see our egos as having a devilish inclination at all. Of course, the ego can obscure our spiritual essence and nourish the seeds of ongoing conflicts but, at the same time, it may become the main tool through which the soul can play its individual melody. Its song will always be meant to uplift and unify, not to destroy and separate.

         Being spiritual in the modern world is to find this essential balance within this apparent duality.

         The aim should be to use our personality as an expression of the soul, instead of being fully driven by our egos. When we will conquer this skill, we will finally discover what it means to be fulfilled in one’s life.

         From time to time, we hear stories about people, who have lived seemingly successful lives for decades, just to abandon this life style one single day. They all say that there was something missing in their lives, or simply their inner voice was whispering to them completely other story that they eventually needed to obey, to may truly feel at peace with themselves.

         When our inner melody turns to be too noisy to be overheard, it starts to filling us from all aspects of our lives. Our Soul wants to be heard, faith knocks on our doors. We can not pretend any longer that we are deaf to its music.

  •      The fulfilled life is a happy life. Yet, this sensation – too often- descent upon us when laying in our death beds, while preparing for the last breath. Then, we finally dare to invite our soul closer to our awareness to let it gently sing its song. Its beautiful melody will always accompany us in our final transition, illuminating the path and soothing the experience. Then, suddenly, we will realize that we are one of the melodies magnificently built upon the sacred cosmic rhythm played by the The God Himself.

     

         By conscious listening to our individual music, we can let our life play every single chord with natural ease, turning our story into an amazing concert, where various melodies are simultaneously engaged in the most sacred polyphony.

         These melodies are countless, as the number of living creatures which inhabit our world is infinite. However, the Universe is incessantly playing its sacred music, where every single note is arranged with another in a such way, that each individual story has inborn potential to play its role in this most precious symphony.

     

         Our individually crafted melody is our life purpose. By being composed as an essential part of this divine symphony, every single note that our melody consists of, is of tremendous significance for the final outcome.

    Similarly, our innate uniqueness is crucial within the larger idea of unity.

         We all have an enormous potential to influence the greater whole in the positive way, being it our closest family, community, or society.

         Through our individual souls, we are linked to each other. We are soaked in a spiritual substance, whose vibrating beats mark the tempos for our melodies. Together, they are framed in one, undivided whole: The God’s Orchestra.

         If every individual who currently lives on this planet, would live accordingly to his or her life purpose, composed by his own soul, we all would bring our earthy existence closer to the heavenly paradise.

    There, the unity is the real key.