The Soul

divine celestial energy

self-subsistent, limitless

abstract and eternal

the link between body and spirit

many worlds of light

multiplicity of expressions

the oneness of the spirit of humanity

not changeable by life experience

humanity’s inner reality sent by God

the heavenly gift of consciousness

collective center of divine attributes

potential revealer of all attributes and names of God

depository emanating from the light of the Ancient Entity

intermediary between the Supreme Concourse and the lower

proof of the existence of God

The soul begins at fertilization. The zygote, like a seed, contains a future human being. It is a magnet for the spirit. In God’s Plan, the stage of human zygote acquires the capacity of manifesting the spirit of humanity. The body is an instrument through which the soul orchestrates itself, so that its purposes in the world may be accomplished.

The mind possesses `the inherent properties of the soul' is spiritual power: imagination, thought, comprehension, memory, common faculty. Abdu’l-Bahá says that `... the human spirit does not enter into the physical body, nay, rather, it has some `attachment' (to it). This `attachment' is like that of the mirror and the sun.'[90] `The spirit, or human soul, is the rider; and the body is only the steed.'[91] on the one hand, the soul is mirrored forth from the body and, on the other, it utilizes the body as an instrument through which its qualities may be expressed. `The soul acts in the physical world with the help of the body.'[92] `The soul is a link between body and spirit. It receives bounties and virtues from the spirit and gives them to the body, just as the outer senses carry that which they receive from the outer world to the inner senses, in order that (these impressions) may be deposited in the memory and, through his various powers, may be utilized by man.'[94]

The soul as coordinator and motor of the body ... the various organs and members, the parts and elements, that constitute the body of man, though at variance, are yet all connected one with the other by that all-unifying agency known as the human soul, that causeth them to function in perfect harmony and with absolute regularity',[101] writes `Abdu'l-Bahá. And moreover: `the mind force -- whether we call it pre-existent or contingent -- doth direct and coordinate all the members of the human body, seeing to it that each part or member duly performeth its own special function.'[102] the mediator between the soul and the body is the `sympathetic nerve.’104