In today’s world, most of us are led to think of ourselves as material, physical beings, with no soul. Science has claimed to explain how everything—even the utter miracle of a single living cell of our bodies, which is like a city in its complexity—arrived here through chance events taking place over billions of years. I used to subscribe to this belief myself.
Even most people with a spiritual or religious practice, such as meditation or prayer, think of themselves in primarily physical terms. There may be an idea of some kind of afterlife, but it is often rather vague and does not protect against the fear of death.
I went to church as a child, but in my teenage years came to the view that religion did not make much sense. Although not a scientist, I felt for many years that science offered our best hope for a better future.
Now I see things very differently. I have come to the conclusion that materialistic science, which purports to explain everything in physical terms, is deeply unscientific. It misses out on the most important creative energy of all, which is spirit or consciousness.
A few years ago, the author and spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra co-authored an article with a Harvard medical school professor complaining that although we live in a golden age of brain research, 99% of neuroscientists believe we are our brains.
They wrote: “In this scheme, the brain is in charge, having evolved to control certain fixed behaviours. We are flooded with articles and books reinforcing the same assumption: the brain is using you, not the other way round.” The real glory of human existence is the mind, they said, and not the brain that serves it.
But what is the mind, if not a product of the brain?
An answer emerging at the frontiers in science is that behind the physical world, constantly putting it in place, there lies a consciousness of almost infinite power and complexity.
We can call it the mind of nature. It is a living, non-physical energy that creates and shapes the reality in which we live.
It contains within it the blueprints for everything we see in the world around us including our own being. It is as though each individual human self or soul splits away from the universal mind in order to enact its own part on the stage of the world, but ultimately all are connected in this web of life. And we are immortal.
This understanding is empowering. If the mind itself shapes material reality including the brain, it means we do not have to submit to negative patterns imprinted within our brain cir-cuits linked with such conditions as depression, addictions, and phobias.
We can identify these patterns, reflect on them, and remove them. We can reprogramme as-pects of instinctive behaviour that we are finding unhelpful including habits such as being gloomy and judgmental.
In my own experience, the practice of positive mental states can bring quick and useful re-sults. But sustaining them over time is not so simple.
I think this is largely related to the degree to which we really make the shift into knowing the inner being as a soul or spirit. This awareness allows you to seize the reins of your life, instead of being pushed here and there by factors outside of you. It carries an intrinsic power because the human soul has intrinsic virtues—love, peace, happiness, wisdom—which illuminates your life when you become more soul-conscious.
In my case, because of my previous materialistic beliefs, getting this deep awareness and the power to change that comes with it has involved a long spiritual pilgrimage.
A breakthrough came when I realised that not only am I at the root of my being a peaceful soul but that I can also connect my mind to a Supreme Being. I understand this Supreme Soul as being an ever-pure source of all that is highest in me.
I am now learning to keep that One with me in everything I do, and this is allowing me to move faster on my spiritual journey.
Neville Hodgkinson is a UK-based author and journalist, and a long-time student of Rajyoga.