About the meaning of the word soul
many statements of thinkers differ,
though all mystics arrive at the same understanding
of the idea of the soul.
As the air, being caught by the water,
becomes a bubble for the moment,
and as the waves of the air,
being caught in a hollow vessel, become a sound,
so Intelligence, being caught by the mind and body,
become the soul.
It is only a condition of the intelligence which is the soul.
The intelligence in its original aspect
is the essence of life, the spirit, or God.
It is the soul's light which is natural intelligence.
It may be said that the mind is the instrument of the soul
and the body is the instrument of the mind,
but both mind and body are the instruments of the soul.
Although these instruments give the soul knowledge of things clearly,
these instruments at the same time limit the power of the soul.
The soul manifests in the world
in order that it may experience the different phases of manifestation,
and yet not lose its way,
but regain its original freedom
in addition to the experience and knowledge it has gained in this world.
In reality no sin, no virtue can be engraved upon the soul;
it can only cover the soul.
The soul in its essence is divine intelligence,
and how can divine intelligence be impressed with either virtue or sin?
Each human body has absorbed divine light
and shows it as a separate light;
and all these lights seen in many globes are called souls.
But we may call them the light itself,
for it is one spirit seen in different globes as different souls.
