Seat of The Soul by Gary Zukav
Seat of The Soul is a book for the soul and a book that changed my perception of attitude towards life. As Oprah Winfrey wrote in the book forward, “Gary’s book was one aha moment after another, all steering me in the direction of true north. Dr. Maya Angelou stated in the preface, “The reader who chooses Seat of the Soul should put the book on a shelf, near the bed, or on a lamp table which boasts a good strong bulb”. She also stated, “She keeps her second copy of the book covered in plastic at the kitchen table, so it will be protected from years of use and so that the olive oil from a just-made salad will not smudge the cover.”
The Seat of the Soul chose me at a time in my life where I was on a search for my life’s meaning and had been on a strong deliberate journey. It came at a time in my life where I was on a deep introspective search of self also on my climb north. I am now on my 4th time of reading this book in the last 8 months, and I keep it next to my Bible, in my bag I take to work, and with me anytime I sit outside under the oak tree for alone time.
In chapter one when Zukav first introduced the term five sensory human, and multisensory human I instantly felt a jolt of awakening. Five sensory humans can be described as the human being who is ruled by things they can see, touch, smell, taste, and hear. All of these five senses are ruled by external forces.
The multisensory human utilizes the five senses, but also recognizes the importance of intuition, purpose, insight, meaning, and clarity. Combining internal and external senses is the journey to empowerment. Before this book I think I inherently felt this, but the teachings were articulated it in a way that it gave me a clearer sense of understanding in which I feel comfortable explaining to others when the need arises.
The biggest joy of this experience was with my wife taking the journey with me. I was proud of her search for deeper understanding and her true purpose. She has now been through the book twice, and we have had countless conversations about the content. We both are witnessing and experiencing the growth and expansion in our consciousness. Seat of The Soul teaches you about how to align the personality with the soul which is authentic power. It teaches you why this is important, and how to produce it by putting in the intentional work.
With great internal debate, I chose the chapter called “Reverence” as one of my biggest “aha” moments. I cannot say there is a favorite chapter in the book because all the chapters are needed, and pack timeless wisdom, but I had not known what reverence was until this reading.
What is Reverence?
Reverence is honoring all life and knowing that all forms of life have value. Reverence is awareness of our interior. Reverence is our ability to recognize that the outer layer is simply a shell that harnesses all of it’s power from within.
“Reverence is not respect.” “Respect is a judgement”. We are taught to respect things based on what we are conditioned to through habit, but habit places blinders to things that otherwise we should see.
Reverence differs because “It is possible to respect one person and not respect another, but it is NOT possible to revere one person without revering every person.” When I read that quote, I understood reverence and how I needed to reconfigure some of the ways I have thought about people. I became super conscious that I have been judgmental based on my perceptions of how I think someone or something should be, and this caused me strong discord which I chose to face head on.
“As you work toward becoming reverent, your tendencies toward harming others and other forms of life diminish.” “As you acquire a sense of reverence, you develop a capacity to think more deeply about the value of life before you commit your energy to action.”
My rise to being a reverent person makes me pause before I put energy into any cause because I’m conscious of the effect. I am aware of the karmic obligations that come from acting from fear instead of love no matter what circumstance arises. I understand a reaction of fear is a result of an insecurity in a lack of power that I felt I needed. I find the more I shed my need for power, the stronger I become. I have learned that weakness is louder than strength. These days my actions say less, but do more.
“Our species has become arrogant”.
“We believe that we are conscious and that the universe is not.”
“We think and act as though our existence as living forces in the Universe will end with this lifetime, and that we are responsible neither to others or to the Universe.”
These three quotes immediately turned me inward. I have acted arrogantly when it comes to our planet. I’ve hunted and killed animals that I did not eat simply because I could. I have acted arrogantly when it comes to being wasteful with food and recycling items. I have responded arrogantly and selfishly when I heard anything pertaining to global warming, thinking to myself, the Sun will at least be here burning while my family and I are on this Earth.
Me governing and operating from reverence advances my consciousness. Listening and seeing things with oil in my lamp brings joy in my mind. Me being reverent eliminates all prejudices from my mind because no prejudice can stand up to sound reasoning. Being reverent helps me to be more patient because I choose to put others needs before my own, and since operating in that frequency, there is never a rush. Things are always on time because I create the time capsule of energy that produces the results of my desire.
In closing, I could write a book report on each chapter of Seat of The Soul as each chapter is deserving of the attention. All of the books I have read in my 42 years on this Earth have worked together to help produce the man I am today, but this book goes down as my all time favorite. I am a better person, husband, father, and friend because of the teachings in Seat of The Soul.
If The Seat of The Soul chooses you, I would love to hear from you. If you have read the book, write me and let me know what your biggest “aha” moments were. I love having conversations and discussing observations that happens with conscious evolution. We grow together through caring and sharing.
Thank you for reading, and please share this report with anyone that you feel may find value. I highly recommend you buy this book, and buy a copy for someone who will read it with you and share the experience.
Menu
