Map of a Human Being
Soul/Heart Precepts (Positive) - scroll down:
Love (Soul)
Redirected Heart (Soul)
Conscience (Soul)
Soul Wires Brain
We are the Scripture (Soul)
4 Steps (Soul)
4 Religions
Soul-Life (The human condition) (See Mind-life for the inhuman condition)
The mind, brain, soul/inner-heart have been separated for clarity of study. Soul-life: The soul is uncreated and cannot be corrupted. It is a ray of God’s ‘light,’ Life itself, a distinguished intelligence center, sensed in the heart area, drawing its wisdom from the divine.
The soul-life is the life of destiny, whereas the mind-life is a life of fate.
When people say their soul aches, or is damaged, they mean their mind, as defined by the Map of a Human Being. Many people use the words soul, mind and brain interchangeably. Hopefully the Map will bring further clarity to their meanings.
Soul-life is not contingent on being born, it existed before that and will exist after death. One who lives every breath merged in soul life is a complete human being. Most of us are living a mixture of soul and mind-life. Some have even fallen into the demonic form. To be human it is not sufficient just to have a human face.
Studying and embracing the soul-life precepts of this Map shows us how to become more human. True wisdom, wise judgment, ethical and moral behavior are all guided and informed by the soul-life center. The mind will imitate these qualities to get some reward, (feign good behavior as it were) but mostly it is indifferent. You may be wondering what is the purpose of all this goodness and wisdom anyway?
For millennia civilization has spoken of divine enlightenment. For this to happen the soul-life must become whole in a human being. Then we will have completed the purpose of human existence - having fully established the divine principles to the degree that the mind no longer has any influence – thereby aligning with immortality.
The representatives of God were sent to instruct us on how to do this. The Map represents a compendium of these precepts to assist us in fulfilling our human destiny.
The Guidebook To The True Secret of the Heart, Vol. 1 & 2 (Fellowship Press) contains this essential part of the core teachings. (Available from Map of a Human Being Bookstore). Or (Google books)
Love (Soul)
Selfless love: Divine love (not contingent on anything physical) that emanates from those who are and have established the divine principles.
Redirected Heart (Soul)
The classic heart symbol points downwards towards the world and created things. The Map heart symbol is turned upward, suggesting redirecting our focus to a higher consciousness and formlessness. Why? Because the uncreated: God, truth, immortality, the soul - which are one - is in this direction away from form.
Note: God is not up or down, above or below, but within and without us, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.
Discussion:
The book Asma’ul Husna: The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah contains this essential part of the core teachings. Paperback (Fellowship Press) See Map bookstore. Or (Google books) Page 108.
Conscience (Soul)
Most people would consider the conscience to be a natural part of human makeup. Though some would argue that conscience can be conditioned by culture and environment. However, there is a pure conscience that warns from within the heart area. Occasionally people override their conscience and of course there are always the wicked famous who apparently bury it completely. And that is shown on the Map, it can be buried (by the mind life) or nurtured towards clarity and strength – becoming our very own supreme court.
Soul Wires Brain
I believe both the soul and the mind need the brain to communicate with the body and the world. The major precepts presented in the soul section of the Map are what I call the human condition. We want these to impact us. The soul-life precepts neurologically wire the brain in positive ways, increasing attentiveness, dynamism and subtlety, facilitating our true humanity. They can redirect our negative neural tendencies. (They are expansive, not reductive.)
The current discoveries about the workings of the brain cannot be ignored by any of us. Understanding their process will be another tool to help us affect meaningful change.
That is why we need to develop wisdom, to check every thought and action before we put it into our brain, because every thought and action produces many seeds.
It does take a lot of effort and, yes, even faith.
Discussion:
Consider anger. Is there anyone who thinks this is a life extender? Does anyone think that anger can lead to serenity or good decisions? However, do we not feel healthier when we feel love? I knew a teenager who was hungry all the time. She could eat masses of food and still kept a trim figure. I remember one day we picked her up from soccer practice, and we knew we would have to head straight for a restaurant because she had not eaten much that day. But on inquiring she actually said she was not hungry. We all sat there dumfounded. The only thing that had changed in her life was that she had met her first boyfriend. We had just left him back at the soccer field. She was in love.
My experience shows me that positive qualities enrich our lives on a physical and spiritual basis, while the negative are the opposite. I know that after I had been exposed to Bawa’s teachings for about two months, one evening, sitting quietly, I had the sensation that my brain completely relaxed, like it had been compressed my whole life. I know the brain is not supposed to have physical feeling and this was not really physical. It was more a feeling of relief, a blissful feeling that I had never felt before or since washed over me. These days I tell people that Bawa released the clamps from my brain. We had the opportunity to do much duty around him, just as he did. Whenever I suggested to him that the particular duty was not my skill area, he would respond with, “OK, my brother, just go ahead and do it, I’ll be there with you.” And so I just got on with things. If you ever hear yourself saying, I’m not the sort of person who builds a deck on the back of his/her house, or I can’t fill out all these forms, that is not the kind of thing that I do. Then ask yourself, do I want this, does this have to be done? If so, learn about it and get on with it.
We are the Scripture (Soul)
The soul life contains the eternal unadulterated scripture of the Creator. The Map helps us sort out the confusion so that we can read it from within. Then, when our questions arise they will be answered from within us.
Discussion:
If we accept that we contain God, then we contain everything, including knowledge of the creation. Can we know what God knows? It seems to me this is possible up to the level of our wisdom. I am not fond of aging. But, even if it were possible to earn a ten-year reduction from my age, I wouldn’t do it if it meant handing over the accumulated wisdom of those years.
4 Steps (Soul)
Canonical law, the path, divine merging, and gnosis. The four steps to pure faith. They are states of understanding contained within all authentic spiritual traditions. In Hinduism they are known as, sariyai, kiriyai, yogam and gnanam. In Islam they are known as shariat, tariquat, hakiquat, and marifat. This is the path of progression out of karma and towards the Absolute.
Discussion:
The book Four Steps to Pure Iman (Faith) contains this essential part of the core teachings. (Fellowship Press) (Available from Map of a Human Being Bookstore). Or (Google books)
4 Religions
Hinduism/Buddhism, Zoroastrian/Zen, Christianity, Judaism/Islam: One within the four - four within the one. Together these religions form the essence of spiritual completeness and were never meant to be separated. This is His-story, God's story that was revealed for Man's benefit. However, some current interpretations of scripture and traditions may not be divinely inspired, but distortions/additions by self-interested parties. This is a good enough reason to develop wisdom: to make our own informed decisions. The enlightened ones have always understood the four within themselves. We all have to progress from idol worship to formlessness. I believe most of us, no matter what religion we currently confess, have progressed in some areas and are probably still idol worshipers in others.
