What Is the Inner Self or Spirit?

Second, this force is the power of creation. It is intelligent; it acts in its own way, follows its own rules. People may identify it and understand it by different forms and different names such as Mother Nature, Divine Power, “the Universe,” Destiny, the Higher Power and so on, but ultimately, it can be acknowledged as an all-pervading universal force. It cannot be seen, but its manifestation and effects can be seen in the workings of the natural forces all around us.

Third, this force can connect to or unite with human beings. It is the same force that created everything that is natural, including the elements that ensure our survival, such as water, food, etc.. Its infinite intelligence can be seen in the complete balance that exists in nature, allowing nature to survive and thrive for billions of years. Of course, human beings have been inclined to be careless with Mother Nature’s bounty, interfering with her innate, intelligent way of working, upsetting the delicate balance.

Now, this supreme force of nature implanted this seed of intelligence in all its creations. This intelligent capsule knows what that being will grow into, how it needs to evolve, what its boundaries are, how it should interact with other elements of nature, and so on. Look at the natural elements all around you and this is easy to understand, isn’t it? Nothing appears out of balance, superfluous, lacking or faulty. It all seems to fit so well, everything in its right place.

This intelligent capsule exists within each of us, a unique I.D., capable of evolving our physical forms and developing our unique mental and emotional faculties. This capsule is, in fact, the spiritual capsule or package — the ultimate driver.

Science can trace our lives from the point in time where the sperm and the egg unite biologically, but can it explain why this happens or what this built-in intelligence is? Science classifies and documents the workings of the human body’s various autonomous systems, but can it explain why they have the intelligence to act with such precision and balance, ultimately making human beings one of the highest creations in this world?

How can we prove that this subtle seed of intelligence is spiritual? First, one must hypothesize that it is, explore its various components through a sequence of steps and specific experiences and then try to confirm that hypothesis. This process of discovery and exploration of the spiritual capsule within us can be broadly defined as Self-Realization, a journey that we can, in fact, continue throughout our lives if we so desire.

How does the journey begin? The intelligence or driver to do so already exists within each of us, implanted by Nature. This is the power of seeking, the innate desire and ability within us to transcend, to continually evolve to a higher, subtler plane of existence through our own free will.

Who defined those subtler planes and determined the traits that characterize them? This same force and power of nature. It defined the traits of human beings, how they might behave, how they could evolve and interact. It defined a set of emotions, a mechanism for thinking, the power of attention, and the many other intricate and marvelous aspects of human beings. Most importantly, it connected all those attributes to specific behavior paradigms or patterns, as well as to subtler rules of conduct, and created a subtler mechanism through which human beings could develop those shared traits, very carefully and intricately, so that, even if there were billions of human beings (and there are now) on this earth, they couldn’t end up having billions of unique traits. No one human being has billions of traits. For instance, traits such as honesty or innocence have little ambiguity — even at the subtlest level — regardless of how many human beings share these qualities, or of the variations in their personalities. It’s ultimately pretty easy to determine whether a person is honest or dishonest, content or discontent, and so on.

This intelligent force also created a space filled with subtler paths and subtler paradigms and placed within us the “seeking” spark, which drives us to pursue our own journey of higher discovery. But while this spark can activate the pursuit of such a journey, it is only when one is ready for it and strongly desires it that they may experience this subtler journey within.