Our creative will is the power of our individual soul. This personal will is given by the Will of Great Spirit, and when the mind and emotions are pure of false conditioning and self-egotism, this inner will can be purely reflective of the greater spiritual Will. The great Key to spiritual realization, that is, the realization of being the Great Spirit in manifestation, or of being the Truth Itself, is in the purification and sacrifice of the false ego, so that what remains is the very essence of Spirit. We must first let go of all self-thinking and all self-attachments, and then allow the true inner soul to naturally come forth.
Our inner soul is naturally loving, naturally wise, and naturally creative, and in its purity it is reflective of the Great Spirit. The soul is our deeper will and inspiration, which is given by Spirit. This will of the soul has three aspects: the will to know the truth, the will to love and harmonize with all life, and the will to creatively express truth, harmony and beauty. Meditate on these three aspects of the soul, and discover them within yourself. These are the three essential fires of the soul, which lead to greater truth, goodness and beauty in life.
The fire of the soul is not a reactionary emotion, like anger or jealousy It is a fire which cares and seeks the good. The water of the soul is not a gushy sentimentality or a sympathetic sponge for the sufferings of others. It is peaceful acceptance and appreciation for what is given. The air of the soul is not an air of snobbery or self-righteousness or being a know-it-all. It is simply a direct knowing of life's unity and interrelatedness and the realization that all people must still learn and grow within the unity. The manifesting energy of the soul is not a pushy manipulation of things or people, and it is not a continuous fighting with life to make it just what you want. It is working in cooperation with the existing energies and forces of life, and singing one's unique heart-song in complementation with the music of Nature.
The soul may at times manifest a strength and immovability, in regards to standing upright for the truth of unity and in defending parts of Nature from the domination and aggressiveness of others. But the soul always prefers to make friends and build cooperation and harmony, rather than fight. The true rainbow warrior builds unity, cooperation and harmony, and yet is not afraid to defend the rights of the nature world, and speak the truth in the face of lies and deception. We should not close our eyes and hearts to the troubles in the world and to the destructiveness made by the culture of greed, and we cannot allow the bullies of the world to ruin the potential beauty of a rainbow paradise.
So we need the power of the soul, to give us inner strength, inner certainty, and the wisdom of compassion. This knowing our own inner strength, our own love, our own truth and direction, is our self-integrity. This is our power, our inner personal power. It is power which comes from the greater power of Spirit. Yet once we know this Power of Spirit, this love-wisdom and strength inside us, then we can say it is our own. Once known and completely accepted, this Power, which comes from Great Spirit, becomes our own personal power. The fire of the deeper will within, that fire of the soul, will guide and direct the whole of our life. And it will harmonize and balance the other needs of the being.
This fire or will of the soul is not so easily found, because our usual experience of the self is either in head thinking or emotional reactions. Rarely do people live from the heart, and thus, rarely do people experience the soul. An emotionally polarized person will identify themselves with their emotional habits or reactions. While a mentally polarized person will identify with their self-beliefs and ideas. Yet neither of these is the soul, and although there is nothing wrong with emotions or beliefs, the attention must be re-directed out of the head thinking and out of the gut reactions, in order to find the soul within the heart.
The actual physical heart is not the soul. Rather, our soul is found within the space of our heart. The heart is the vital circulator of blood, and blood is thought of as the vital spirit of the body. So the heart is the mover of this vitality within the person. Also, each heart has its own beat or rhythm, which is the right rhythm for that person. So each person's unique rhythm in life is respected, just as each person is a unique song of the Great Spirit. And when the person is at peace in his or herself, their heartbeat is in most perfect natural rhythm with the rhythmic heartbeat of Mother Earth. And as we live in this peace, our self-expression stays in harmony and in rhythm with that of Mother Earth.
The unique soul of each person is thus within the inner space of the heart, as the unique rhythm or song directing Great Spirit into personal expression. The soul is essentially our own individual experience of Spirit and the qualities of Spirit, and it is thought to be a special gift of the Great Spirit or an actual portion of the Great Spirit Itself. Essentially we are all of One Spirit, which is why we call this the Great Spirit; and just as all color comes out of one great sunlight, our individual souls are unique combinations of the rainbow colors of pure light, and from this unique color combination of the soul comes our unique talents and gifts, which are unique expressions of the one creative Spirit.
So within our soul are the potential talents, strengths and qualities, and the creative will to express these. Of course, many of these potentials are similar in other people as well, and how these manifest will depend on one's exercise of them, but each soul is a unique combination of abilities and qualities, and each soul has its own particular direction and purpose. Most people never fulfill their unique soul abilities and purpose, because their personality never comes in contact with their soul, and if not known then the soul can't be expressed. So we must find our soul, which is the initial aim of the eastern step along the Medicine Wheel. To find the soul, one's attention needs to come into the heart space and remain there undistracted and receptive.
The soul is the fire of creative spiritual will, but we should distinguish this spiritual will from 'ordinary willfulness' - as we might find in pushy, over-assertive, and dominating people. This pushy or dominating kind of will does not come from the heart. It comes from a greedy stomach trying to get more and more, and thinking that one has to push and shove and control others in order to fulfill one's needs and wishes. That 'push and shove' kind of will shall eventually backfire on itself. For is a reactionary kind of will, usually based on the false emotions of fear or greed. And it is a kind of will which is supported by a cultural belief system that values greed and domination.
The soul cannot be reached and known, unless the greedy and pushy kind of will is sacrificed, and the thinking which values domination is given up. The true will of the soul is cooperative and compassionate, because the soul knows its relatedness to all life, and so would not seek to dominate or assert itself over others. The soul asserts love and not hate, cooperation and not greed, equality and not dominance.
This is the will which comes from the heart space. It is the energy of love expressing itself. It is the will to express the spiritual Truth, and that Truth is the knowledge of Unity and the Oneness of Spirit. It is the Truth that all life is meant to live in cooperation and harmony. The soul is Truth, is Love, and is the Will to creatively express this Truth and Love.
The soul has been spoken of as the Fire of spiritual will in the heart, yet the fire of will is actually one of the three aspects of the soul. Another aspect is the Water of peace, love and unity. The soul can be felt as a deep peace within and a deep love for all life, much like a calm lake or an ocean of love. This peace and love is a feeling of unity with the Great Spirit and with all life, and compassion is its natural outcome.
The soul is also an inner knowing of truth, which is related to the element of air since this is the element of mind. Our soul is our truth within, and it shows us what is true. If you want to know what is true, then know what is true within the heart. Once this inner knowing of truth has been found, nothing can take it away. This is the power of our self-integrity standing by what we honestly know is true. Unless we betray our soul and give up our own self-integrity for a false acceptance by others. If you haven't found your own truth, which is not something one can tell you but is something you must directly experience, then you must pray for this knowing and search inside for it. It may take some time and patience, but the treasure of self-knowledge and self-integrity is well worth the effort.
Thus, the soul has the elements of water and air, as well as fire, thus connecting emotion and mind. The fourth element of earth is the necessary embodiment of soul, which is our sacred body and also the sacred things and rituals we create that carry our soul within them.
The soul begins as a spiritual aspiration (fire) to know one's truth and purpose in life, and the will (fire) to be in harmony and unity. It is this fire of the soul which begins a transformation of the mind, emotions and body. Soon, the water element of the soul is felt as a deep peace and faith, and love begins to overflow from within. Then, the air element of the soul begins to clear the mind and reveal itself as truth and certainty of understanding, such that wisdom becomes a direct experience. And then, the soul begins to embody into the earth element, in what one does and what one makes. The soul embodies itself as manifested beauty and harmony.
In its essence, the soul is light, and from this Light comes all of the four elements of soul. Light is an illuminator and also a spark. The light of our soul illuminates our mind and our heart, when we let it ...when we relax the heart and clear the mind. This light also sparks our will, our will-towards the good and the beautiful. Fourthly, this light clears and purifies the physical body.
Thus, our soul-light illuminates our mind, our emotions and our body, and it sparks our will spiritually. This manifests as unity and harmony within us and in our creative pursuits.
Practice now a meditation of recognizing and allowing the intention of your inner soul to come forth into the light of awareness. Let the inner will of the soul come out of the darkness and into the light. Allow the deepest you to be known. Allow your deeper intention of self-expression to be known.
Sit comfortably and relaxed, and just be aware of your natural breath. Feel comfortable with your own naturalness, trusting in your spiritual nature, and let the breath find its own natural rhythm. Breathe in as deep as it feels good, and breathe out all tension. Let yourself feel completely relaxed and trusting.
Now realize that deep within you, deep within your heart space, deep in the depth of your inner being, is the light of your soul, the expressive power of your soul. Know that this soul power is mostly hidden, like a seed deep within the earth, and you are now going to nurture this inner seed with love and allow it to emerge from out of the earth and into the light of the sky. You will be completely receptive and allowing, so that this inner soul presence can emerge and reveal itself. Do this now. For a few breaths, breathe out love into this depth of your being, and breathe in the presence of this inner soul.
PAUSE
Allow your innermost nature to emerge from the depths, and cherish this light or this feeling of soul with love and acceptance. Now, be receptive to the inner intention of your emerging soul. Feel what this emerging intention is. What is this emerging intention? What is the deep intention you now feel? What is your deeper intention? Feel what the intention is. Let the intention speak.
You may ask yourself, 'How do I wish to manifest creatively and expressively in the world?' 'How do I see myself being creative and spiritually expressive?' Allow a Vision of yourself to emerge -- a Vision of what you truly wish to manifest -- or a Vision of how you truly wish to be.
PAUSE
This is allowing the power and vision of your inner soul to come forth. You may hear the inner soul speak. You may feel the special quality of your inner soul emerge. You may become aware of the soul's vision of self-expression. Do this practice again and again, and the power of your inner soul will emerge more and more into clarity and expression. This is acquiring self-knowledge at the deepest level, as your inner spiritual will is allowed into awareness, with acceptance and love. You become more clear about your soul direction in life. And your unique spiritual potentials are gradually allowed into expression. This is true spiritual freedom, the freeing of your inner spiritual potentials and your inner spiritual intentions.
Allow your inner self to come out into the light of recognition.
Then, stand firm in this self-integrity, in this true knowing of your deep intentions and your recognized direction in life. Feel the power of this soul-intention, and let it grow strong. Then you begin to live from the power of your deep intention and the power of your self-integrity. As this power gets stronger, then nothing can ever defeat it or dissipate it. This is the power of your inner will. First recognize and accept this inner will, and build it strong within you. Then you can begin breathing this out and expanding this out into the world, for it is your personal creative and expressive power of spirit. Become strong in your own will and in your own decision to be, by first knowing and accepting yourself, by accepting and nurturing your creative, spiritual will.
This means accepting and appreciating your own power to be spiritually expressive in the world. And let no one take that power away from you. This power, and your self-expressiveness of the inner will and the inner potentials, is your unique manifestation of Great Spirit.
Also read - Personal Power and Sensitivity