Gandhi wrote in an often quoted statement “We must become the change that we expect to see in the world” referring mainly to our actions in the material world.

We can also take this to a much deeper level as well, by changing our old outdated attitudes for new ones that better suit the spiritual needs of our life. Despite living in a world filled with unhealthy materialism, we still need to learn to make inner changes that will also reflect externally. Self analysis can be as complicated as deep delving, weekly sessions with a costly psychologist or simple conscientious journaling. It’s the “aha” moment that you are striving for.

“Ultimately, psychology is the science of the soul, and, in its earliest manifestation this, indeed, is what it focused on.”

“True, the word ‘soul’ was ill defined in the early days of psychology and in many quarters it is still a vague concept. The words ‘mind’, ‘intellect’ and ‘inner living being’ were often used interchangeably by early psychologists, who were, after all, not theologians but rather doctors who specialized in human behavior.“ Black Lotus – The spiritual journey of an urban mystic Pg 86 Steven J. Rosen

If psychology is known as the “science of the soul” we wonder why so much materialism has crept in. Where is the guidance for the soul? Do they teach classes in University on this most vital subject? Barring very brief statements that we are a soul, and the ongoing battle of recognition for the souls of animals, where do you find actual facts about the soul?

The soul of man is described as “noble” and we describe acts or situations that are inhuman as “soul-less”. The English language brings forth more – ‘soul music’, ‘soulful’ and ‘soul searching’. It’s the soul searching that we are looking at in self analysis and the word says more than is generally implied. We are actually searching for the soul which is hidden, covered over with centuries of confusion and mistakes.

The analysis process uncovers these onion skin like layers. Because we are so immersed in emotional baggage, these layers seem never-ending. Analysis is a hard, well fought battle, but a worthy one, particularly if we can detach ourselves from the past accumulation of debris, for it’s then that we start to get a glimpse of what the real uncovered soul can be like.

“For example we have the science of astronomy, but the interior focus is astrology. We have mathematics but the interior focus is numerology. We have chemistry but the interior focus is alchemy. We have alopathic medicine but the interor focus is naturopathy. We have psychology, but the interior focus is parapsychology. We have religion, but the interior focus is spirituality.” Leadership for an Age of Higher Consciousness Vol 2 Page 159 B.T. Swami.

However, it seems as if that is where psychology stops – dealing with the effects the external world has on the psyche – i.e. dealing with human behaviour. Admittedly this is a big job that has been achieved and yet it’s only the start of discovering more about the soul. This is where the external focus becomes secondary and now the new focus is on the interior. This internal work is none the less important because of it’s apparent blurring of the boundaries of apparent reality.

“The premise of parapsychology is that the hard and fast line between subjective and objective reality may not be as hard and fast as once thought. The dichotomy between the two might instead be part of a spectrum with aspects that sometimes read as subjective and, alternatively as objective. Specialists tend to call such phenomena ‘anomalous’ because they are difficult to explain in terms of current scientific models”

Black Lotus – The spiritual journey of an urban mystic Page 87 Steven J. Rosen

There are a number of strange inexplicable areas in parapsychology – such as clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition and spontaneous past life recall. Carl Gustaf Jung a modern in-depth psychologist investigated many of these areas and wrote volumes on how the archetypal figures that come to us in dreams give greater understanding into who we are. So although these areas have been termed “anomalies” they become the very substance that give greater insight into human behaviour and contribute to our ultimate quest of finding the soul.

“His course at Princeton reflected this new passion…….. his main concern was philosophy and psychology, metaphysics and spirituality. All of this, of course, was always tempered by his interest in race relations, international affairs, and politics, which filled out his course schedule”

Black Lotus – The spiritual journey of an urban mystic Page 88 Steven J. Rosen

“Each person is a wholistic being who has a material aspect and a metaphysical aspect, but who is the soul. The problems of the world are so great that they cannot be addressed by looking at just one aspect of our existence. There must be an appropriate marriage between the material, the metaphysical and the spiritual. This is not only healthy but it is imperative and necessary for survival.”

Spiritual Warrior I – uncovering spiritual truths in psychic phenomena Pg 47. Swami Krishnapada (Bhakti Tirtha Swami)

With this information, the journey of the Spiritual Warrior has begun.