"a caterpillar doesn't just grow into a butterfly. a caterpillar must undergo metamorphosis, and a cocoon is where a caterpillar risks it all: enters total chaos, undergoes total rebuilding, and is born to a new way of living. only in taking the risk of entering that inert cocoon can the caterpillar go from dormancy to potency, from ugliness to beauty."

Friday, April 15, 2005

souls and laughing cows

"Listen to your heart.
It knows all things because it came from the Soul of the World
and it will one day return there."

-- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

does everyone have a soul? what happens to your soul when you die? if you don't believe in a soul, do you still have one? do you believe in soulmates? do soulmates always end up together?

these are the questions posted by kara and tamela, two souls who stumbled upon this blog and gamely left some things for me to ponder upon...

-¤-

we know, we feel, we crave because of the soul.

it nags the heart, it fuels the mind, and it drives the body. it is wisdom, it is emotion, it is values, it is consciousness rolled into one. it is neither good nor evil. it is both our master and our slave. it is also a lot of things in between.

it surrounds us and it is in all of us. it is what constantly motivates us to become... to bask in joys... to suffer pains... to ceaselessly ask questions... to seek answers... to truly live... to dare. it is the child in us. it is the conscience. it is the bearer of pains. it is the mover. it asks to be fed when it is hungry. it longs to be taken care of. it demands attention. it is a seeker, it thirsts for adventures. it is a questor. it builds dreams, drives dreams, desires dreams, tests dreams, and celebrates the fulfillment of dreams. it undergoes growth and decay and experiences high and low, depending on how its needs are met.

the soul, however, is not merely a spirit that dwells in us. it is not something which floats about or appears like a bubble and then pops out when we die. i believe that the soul lingers long after our hearts stop beating, long after our brains stop functioning, and long after our bodies stop working. however, it does not live on as a wisp of smoke or column of air or some cute and squishy white stuff like casper, but as feelings and memories that we leave on other beings here on earth... in the galaxy... and in the universe.

the human soul transcends barriers and makes man one with what surrounds him. because it is in touch with the universe -- whose soul drives all interactions -- the human soul defies the limits and enables the mind to imagine such thoughts as laughing cows and drives one to even ask, "if cows could laugh, would milk come out of their noses?" and drives another to answer, "milk comes out of mammalian tits, not noses."

in essence, the soul represents our journey through life -- through the world, in the world, through the mind, in the mind, through the expanse of the cosmos, and in the cosmos.

because of the gazillion possibilites of interactions stretched over a wide space, our souls may not get to meet all the other souls there are in this world (and more so, in this universe). however, it is still nice to think that -- out there, somehow -- we are bound to meet the souls which we are meant to spend our lifetimes with. if not, it is a comforting thought that there are other souls to meet and interact with and that we can still make the most out of our respective journeys.

-¤-

s-o-u-l. four letters. one word. an abstract concept, it is intangible. as such, it cannot be seen and it cannot be touched. still, it can be felt and it can be believed in by those who choose to believe -- by people such as i (and perhaps by people such as you)... by people who acknowledge the existence of others' souls even if the others themselves don't.

it sounds like love, isn't it? but i guess, love is a far greater concept than the soul.

shaks. murag malumos ko sa kalalom.

1 comment:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...