The False Self Part 7
May 15, 2025
The False Self Part 7
Amalgamating our ego and soul is a process of spiritual alchemy. For so long, the soul has been “under a crust” and rarely takes the lead. But when it does take the lead, it overwhelmingly commands the situation. Our souls often arise and even take charge during times of great sadness and great happiness—in loss, in birth, in endings, and in new beginnings. They arise in benchmark occasions like weddings, graduations, and anniversaries. Then, they return under the crust.
The soul arises when something beautiful takes our breath away, when we reach a point of self-actualization, or when we experience an epiphany, sign, or wonder. It takes over when we fall in love and someone understands our hearts; and sometimes, it arises to save us if we lose the love. The soul may arise by surprise when a piece of music fills our hearts or while dancing, when we directly experience our body and soul in unison. It comes to us when we experience our soul child in ourselves or in another soul child. It takes charge when we realize the preciousness of our own being. It emerges when we are in trouble, and someone comes to the rescue.
We may fall into our soul’s arms when we meditate, pray, or blend in with nature. We may fall into its arms again when a play, movie, concert, opera, or ballet takes us into a liminal space where we stand on the threshold of the spiritual world.
We know when our soul is in charge because its energy is all-consuming and all-encompassing. It’s as if it reveals a bird's-eye view of life. The essential emerges and the non-essential drops away. We understand the power of overflowing love. We are in touch with something beyond ourselves, and what is more, we know that we are part of that transcendence.
The more the soul takes us over, the more we live in it, and the less it returns to live under the crust. But paradoxically, the soul needs the energy of our ego—not of the self-centered ego, but the ego that puts the soul’s desires into action. It requires an ego that gives arms and legs to the soul’s ideas and its willingness to reach out and walk for the soul. The ego serves the soul, by helping it with the logistics of bringing more love into the world, and by giving voice to the soul’s truth. The ego provides its stubbornness in holding fast to ideals and commitments. It supports the soul with its fury, tenacity, and instincts. Instead of self-promotion and avoiding that which threatens its fixation, it flips and goes where it’s never been before because the soul bids it to.
The ego learns how the soul works and never wants to overshadow it. It becomes the soul's servant, which is the ego’s divine role. The soul and ego become friends, and like in all deep friendships, intentions, agendas, and goals are shared. There is a holy combination of personality and the soul traits underlying them. In this spiritual alchemy, the soul does not have to return to live under the crust. We are a new creature—the false self is transformed into the authentic self; we are on the journey into wholeness.
Spiritual practice: Look at your life and understand where you may be in the amalgamation process. When have you experienced your soul as being definitely in charge? Why has it returned under the crust, if it has? If it hasn’t, why did it not return to live under the crust?
Self-inquiry: Why would you want your soul to live outside the crust?
Dear God,
I pray for strength and faith to continue this fantastic process of amalgamation. My spirit yearns for it. It is my journey into wholeness. Amen
