The Deepest Pain

The True Nature of the Human Being

"You are a Soul that inhabits a body, not a body that has a Soul."

This phrase holds a very simple truth that reflects two premises which, although similar, are radically different. It all depends on where the emphasis of life is placed: on the body (including the mind) or on the Soul. Depending on which premise one lives by, it will profoundly shape one’s life.

We usually live from the premise “you are a body that has a Soul” or even from the premise “you are a body and a mind,” excluding the Soul as unnecessary. In this way, the priority is placed on the body and the mind, on the physical plane and everything that moves within it. One doesn’t need to think too hard to realize that, as a society, we really live from this premise: the emphasis is on consumption, on production, on getting into a good school, landing a good job, securing stability for one’s family. The space dedicated to the Soul, to the connection with our inner Divinity, is minimal or nonexistent, and we end up as an uninhabited body, living life just to make the most out of it.

We don’t ask ourselves what the real meaning of life is. From a young age, we are given certain behavioral parameters, necessary to participate in social conventions like getting a good education, being accepted into a university, and having a respectable job. One can live a “good life” following the usual rules of behavior, and perhaps even be happy. However, surely all of us have felt that inner pulse that says, “something isn’t right, even though everything seems fine.” That is the pain that arises when, in the hustle of life itself, we have forgotten the Soul.

The Soul asks—even if we’re not aware of it—it’s always there, reminding, whispering. But if we don’t pay attention, we have no way to notice it. Without a response from the other side, the “absence” of the Soul ultimately translates into pain, a deep pain that longs to understand what’s going on within. When this pain isn’t understood correctly, it begins to turn into the pain of childhood wounds, the pain of what happened in adolescence, the pain of adulthood events. We interpret it as the pain of ordinary life, and it becomes suffering. That which, when no longer felt in the body, turns into a heap of thoughts and diverse emotions that cause discomfort.

One could spend an entire life trying to calm that pain, to eliminate it, to calm it. However, the more we try to run from it, the further we get from its meaning and the possibility that “opening” it might bring. Clearing the layers of suffering placed over the pain and connecting with the true, deepest pain can lead us to understand the true nature of life, of who we are. When traversed like a crack, it can lead us to reunite with our true nature: the Soul.

Thus, living from the incorrect premise without even questioning it can lead us to miss the great opportunity to reunite with the wisdom of the Self. However, initially living from the wrong premise is the only thing we can do, given that our education is rooted in developing the body and mind, the physical plane only, not the Soul. The pain carried within should lead us to question the way we live. And this should lead us to intuit, and then realize, that we are living in the wrong way. This, in turn, should lead us to question if we are living from the correct premise. When we become aware of the mistaken way we are living, this is when the true inner work begins—the search for the Self, for the Soul. This is where the journey towards the development of consciousness begins and the possibility of exploring within oneself the premise “you are a Soul that inhabits a body” and feeling the reality of this within the body itself.