“The soul is not born, nor does it know itself as a soul. The purpose of its earthly journey is to awaken it to self-awareness and to provide it with the ability to continue existence in the Region Beyond the West. Therefore, how could it enter upon earthly life with these things? Were they already there, life and Earth would have no purpose.

“The soul is bodiless within the body, everlasting among things that change and pass away. Man does not perceive his soul, because his senses face outward from the soul, towards earthly things, with which it makes contact. So it is that only the most developed of men can close out the material things about them and turn their senses inward to perceive the soul.

“The soul looks out through the eyes and sees all, which is without, but nothing of this can look in through the eyes and see the soul, even though the soul’s feeling may be reflected there. An eye without a soul behind it sees nothing.

“The earthly and wayward seek only after outward pleasures and the satisfaction of the body. They fall into the snare of disbelief in the soul, and the Law decrees that disbelief shall be easy.

“Wise men, knowing the nature of immortal things, seek not for anything stable here among unstable things.”

-The Kolbrin Bible (MPR:3:20-24)

The Soul is not Born

This is true, in a sense. Since Souls were created by God, they exist outside of the limitations of space and time just as God does. Therefore, we cannot say they were born. They simply have always existed. This is a hard idea to grasp when we are trapped in the material realm where space and time are very real; nonetheless, it is true.

Souls need to Awaken

We shouldn’t say that the purpose of life on Earth is to allow the Soul to awaken. That implies that a Soul cannot be awake without spending time on Earth, which is not true. What is true is that after the Demiurge created beings of matter without Souls, God gave us Souls so that it was possible for us to awaken and be saved.

I’ve never heard it called that, but I have to assume that the “Region Beyond the West” refers to Heaven.

The Soul has no Body

It is true that the Soul has no physical body, but our Spirit, which is simply a Soul that has not been fully awakened and developed, does have a non-material body.

The Soul Sees Without

It is true that the Soul can see what is around us, but we cannot look inside to see the Soul. Even if we look at someone else, we cannot see their Soul. While some think the eyes are the window to the Soul, that is not the case. We cannot see the Soul by looking into our own eyes or another person’s.

“Man, alone of all creatures, is capable of blushing, for he, alone of all things living, has a soul which can experience a sense of shame. That man has a soul is beyond all doubt; it is the most obvious of all truths. Seek not to delve unduly into its secrets but to harmonize it with your body. Commune with it, and awaken its potentialities.

“Intellect, reason, willpower and comprehension; these are not the soul. They are the manifestations of its existence, its attributes and its activity, but they are not the soul itself. Stimulate the soul by contact with that to which it responds. Know it through its manifestations and understand it through its faculties.

“It remains immortal and indestructible throughout all ages. Its splendor is displayed in noble deeds, and its glory in works of art and craftsmanship. It will survive your bodily disintegration. It was not created by the quickening of the flesh, nor conceived within the womb. Its seed existed before the body and preceded the thinking heart. The Great God sows soul seeds into earthly flesh, as man sows barley seeds in the fields of black soil.

“The soul is yours to fashion; it can be made radiant by goodness, beautified by virtue and glorified by love. It can be hideously deformed by vices and passions and twisted into a form of distorted horror by

meanness and hatred.”

-The Kolbrin Bible (MPR:3:11-14)

Man has a Divine Soul

This is something that few people understand. Many say that animals have souls just as humans do. While that is true, it is only the mundane soul that is associated with the physical body. Only man has a Divine Soul as well as a mundane one. It is that Divine Soul that can feel shame.

I don’t think the quote is correct in saying that it is “beyond all doubt” that man has a soul. Many people today don’t believe in the Soul, in the afterlife, or in God. Fortunately, more are waking up to the truth.

Awaken Its Potential

In this statement, the quote is correct. The Spirit and Soul do not awaken and develop on their own. It is up to each of us to awaken and develop our spiritual faculties. God must help with this, but He won’t help if we don’t participate in the process. It does need to harmonize with the body and mind. More specifically, it must control the Ego so that it doesn’t dominate our behavior.

The Soul is Immortal

It is true that the Soul is immortal and indestructible throughout all ages. That is because the Soul, as a creation of God, exists outside of the limitations of space and time. The soul has always existed, and will always exist. But if you don’t bother to develop your Spirit and Soul, your Soul will return to Heaven without you when you die. An important part of spiritual development is integrating the mind and Spirit, so that you will continue on after the inevitable death of the physical body.

Yours to Fashion

It is up to each of us to fill the Soul with the virtues of Beauty, Love, and Joy. If instead, you live a life of materialism, becoming attached to things, and engaging in physical passions, your Soul will be harmed by such behavior. If you commit the ultimate crime of murder, your soul will detach itself from you and leave you as a soulless shell. So feed you soul on the things it loves. Feed it so it will grow. That is how to become immortal.

“Something unseen animates the inert clay of your being. Something intangible is added to the earthly material of your body. Think not primarily of your material self, nor say ‘My heart is supreme.’ For within your body resides the soul, which activates the thinking heart, and is not the resident of the dwelling of greater importance than the materials of its construction?

“Gaze upon a corpse; see. It is empty of life, something that was is no longer there; the soul is missing.

“Your soul is the Lord of your Body, suffer not the subject to rebel, nor to assert its sway, for its domination cannot be beneficial. Let the soul not only vitalize, but rule and direct the flesh, that wildness and excesses may be held in leash.

“The soul delights in sweet smells and knows the perfumes of Earth by the performance of the nose. It rejoices in delicacies of the table and tastes them only through the workings of the mouth. Food feeds the flesh, but the flesh finds no pleasure in eating, for it is the soul, which experiences the enjoyment of food.”

The Kolbrin Bible (MPR:3:6-9)

Something Unseen

Something unseen animates the physical body, not only of humans, but of all physical beings. That something is Spirit. All things have a Spirit. Native Americans believe that even things we consider nonliving, such as rocks and rivers, have a Spirit, and they are correct.

The Soul Activates the Thinking Heart

Some in the past may have believed that thinking happened in the heart, but it doesn’t. We know today that thinking happens in the brain and is not related to the Soul or spirit in any way. What some recent scientific research has found, however, is that consciousness does not originate in the brain, but comes from outside of us. Some think there is only one consciousness, but it has layers like those of an onion. The primary goal of spiritual development is to rise up to the highest level of consciousness.

The quote is correct in saying that the resident of a dwelling is more important than the material of its construction. In this case, both consciousness and Spirit are more important than the physical body.

Let the Soul Rule

It is important for the Soul to rule over and control the Ego. In order for it to do that, it must be awakened and developed. Unfortunately, that can’t happen overnight. It takes years of practicing Spiritual development techniques before it can happen.

The Soul Delights in Sweet Smells

The Soul does delight in sweet smells. They can be an aid to awakening the Soul. That is why incense was originally used in some churches and temples. Pleasant music can have a similar effect on the Spirit and Soul. I disagree with the claim that it is the Soul that enjoys the taste of food. Science today is much more advanced than when the Kolbrin Bible was written, so we know that taste is a physical sense located in the taste buds of the tongue. Not only is physical food not tasted by the soul, but the Law of God says that killing and eating other beings, plant or animal, is wrong.