Following Your Heart/Soul

[Louisa]

What does it mean to you to follow your heart?
What about following your soul? What are soul urges?
How do you go about doing this?
What is your heart (the one that you follow, I mean)? I presume it is meant to live from love? Not just from emotion? Intuition?
And for soul choices, soul urges, where do they come from? Or how do you access them?
Do you believe in living your whole life around following your heart and/or soul? Or do you just make some choices based on it? Or do you prefer to live more from the mind/psychology?

Any thoughts on these questions, answers, the terms and their meanings?

[Baile]

Did you not ask this same question yesterday Louisa? You received several responses in that other thread.

EDIT: Oh okay, I see you were asking about LoA, not heart/soul.

Hi Louisa.

All is consciousness, Universal Mind, so even following the "heart" is a mental practice, a mind concept. Those are excellent questions for deep self-contemplation that you asked. In such discussions, often "mind" refers to the intellect, the left-brained aspects of the human brain, in contrast to the right-brained aspects that people often call "the heart."

Then in some spiritual teachings there is That which is known as the "Spiritual Heart," which generally refers to the Higher Self or Divine Self.

As all is consciousness, this is generally "where" all originates "from," except that there really is no "here" nor "there," nor an "in" nor "out" in consciousness.

But all of this is just another's opinion, and nothing more. You are well aware of these types of answers from others, and I heartily encourage you to continue to deepen your inner Self-discovery of Divine Truth, which goes beyond all silly human concepts and descriptions into a pure sense of Being/Knowing. Bless you, dear one.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Louisa

Do you believe in living your whole life around following your heart and/or soul?

That's all anyone ever does. Everyone is free and does what they want; there are very few people who are forced to choose otherwise. The only difference between people is the degree of consciousness and intent regarding those choices.

[Louisa]

Hi Baile.
In the other thread I was asking about how to have faith.
This I am asking about following your heart and soul.
I am not intending to ask the same question twice.
If they are the same to you, maybe I am asking the same (for you... I think following your heart or soul means different things to different people?) I don't even understand what is meant by following heart and soul, so that is why I ask.

If doing what you want is following your heart and soul, I see that as different from having faith. But you can do what you want from your mind, from your heart, from your soul, I hear people use different terms to describe how they choose... Maybe it's all one and the same? Different functions of the mind/body/soul being. In which case the instructions to "follow your heart" for it will never lead you astray may be inappropriate, for perhaps following your mind might be what is needed, and it is not truly separate and distinct from the heart? Hmm,... just speculating.

[Louisa]

Hi Sourcerer,

That's interesting food for thought.
I can see the right and left-brained functions, yeah, and each have a place. As for the "Spiritual Heart" I am not sure if I know that inside myself, but maybe that is what people often are speaking of. I can think of some higher principles which I have identified that make my life go better when I live by them... And there's intuition and there is asking guides, or every now and then my heart jumps for some unknown and totally counterintuitive reason and I feel drawn to do something even though I can see no reason why. But that happens rarely for me.

I've been thinking about how my "truest self and values" are not always in line with my "truest desires", and that I think is because there comes a time when desire sometimes is subjugated for a higher ideal of what I know is best for my spirit and soul, its values, its long term well-being. Maybe that is the higher self thing. I just never "resonated" with those terms.

I would like to be able to cast aside all the hefty mental processing I seem to go through and joyfully, easily "follow my heart (/soul)" as others advise. If it was that easy. That's why I want to understand more deeply what they mean when they say they live their life and make their choices that way.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Louisa

Maybe it's all one and the same?

I see them as the same. The decisions one person makes as opposed to another are separated only by degrees of consciousness and self-awareness. That's my opinion. The idea that superior decisions come from the heart and inferior decisions from the mind, is a fallacy and a new-age construct as I see it. But I'm open to hearing otherwise.

[Louisa]

Originally Posted by Baile

I see them as the same. The decisions one person makes as opposed to another are separated only by degrees of consciousness and self-awareness. That's my opinion. The idea that superior decisions come from the heart and inferior decisions from the mind, is a fallacy and a new-age construct as I see it. But I'm open to hearing otherwise.

Hmm... I've been having trouble just "following my heart (/soul)" and felt like I might make some downright foolish decisions if I did so, but people make it sound so easy and ideal. So I thought maybe I was missing the point they were making. Anyway, I am open to new ideas, and of course I guess perhaps different things might work for different people in this regard.

As far as the degrees of consciousness and self-awareness determining how one makes decisions, I can see that. Maybe that is where I should look for "aligning with my heart/soul/higher self/Spiritual Heart - to raise my consciousness, thenafter the decisions and right choices becoming clearer and the path less confusing.

[Sarian]

Originally Posted by Louisa

What does it mean to you to follow your heart? For me, I guess it would be following my passions, the good within me, and my intuition.
What about following your soul? What are soul urges? I have no idea. I can only speculate what my soul urges are, if there are any really. People often talk about their soul, but really do they know? Sometimes I get a sense that I had lived before and am guided and people in my life I have known before, and I can be driven by 'thoughts', but who's to say if they are even legitimate. some days I may feel or sense this deeply, but the next, I am uncertain.
How do you go about doing this? Well, on those days I sense something 'deeply'...I just keep moving forward in that direction, towards whatever it is at that time.
What is your heart (the one that you follow, I mean)? It's hard to explain, but for me, it's this inner knowing or sense of something I guess. But many people can think that way and are only deluded or in wishful thinking mode. Who's to say maybe perhaps I'm deluded or desiring something as well only? But it's more than following a desire, again, I can't explain it, it's like an inner knowing. I just wish I understood it better or at all.

I presume it is meant to live from love? Not just from emotion? Intuition?
And for soul choices, soul urges, where do they come from? Or how do you access them? What's live in love? If there are people out there that always live in love, I'd like to smoke what they are. It's a state of mind would be a better way to put it for me. I have times when it's not like I'm caught up in some crazy emotions whether it be love or hate, but I just feel 'stable' if you will, all is right with the world and then from that state of mind, I have great love and compassion for all and the world ...but not the mushy gushy, LOVE IS and I Am and all that nonsense... My intuition is a very good thing. I know some don't buy into that but my intuition has helped me my entire life and I am extremely grateful for it. I don't know what to tell you about soul choices and urges...I have no clue how to access them, and really not sure if I care. Like I said before, sometimes I get an inner knowing about things, if my soul knows something and wants me to know, by all means, I hope it clues me in.
Do you believe in living your whole life around following your heart and/or soul? Or do you just make some choices based on it? Or do you prefer to live more from the mind/psychology? Well, I suppose it would be nice, but again, I guess I'm a novice. I get selfish and follow what I want to do and/or just exist sometimes, and other times I'm in that other place I mentioned above and I guess I'm more 'noble' then. I'm not really a mind person, but saying that there are times I want to jump into conversations going on in these forums and ask people to snap out of it, get a clue or stop being so deluded. tisk, tisk...

Any thoughts on these questions, answers, the terms and their meanings?

Just my thoughts, nothing more..

Originally Posted by Louisa

Hmm... I've been having trouble just "following my heart (/soul)" and felt like I might make some downright foolish decisions if I did so, but people make it sound so easy and ideal...

Spiritual alignment is simple, but this is not to say that most would find it "easy" to practice. You may want to affirm something like, "I have had trouble..." instead of "I have been having," for the latter thought/statement merely perpetuates a present-moment sense of failure. "I've had trouble with following my heart, but right now I AM allowing myself to be more easy about it. I AM releasing any resistance, any tension, and choosing and allowing myself to experience more peace."

I would let go of the "I have been having trouble" thoughts. I would love them and surrender them to my Higher Self--that is, my Divine Inner Being, in other words. Following the heart/soul, in a true practical sense, is simply about FEELING for well-being. That is it. It is about choosing thoughts that FEEL BETTER, that FEEL light and joyous. It IS very simple, but it indeed takes much, much practice for most humans. This simple practice is often overlooked and dismissed in many non-dualist spiritual circles; that is, the highly intellectual types.

Practical spirituality is all about FEELING for one's highest sense of BEING. After all, no matter what belief systems one follows (for ALL humans have thoughts/beliefs, even those who are comatose) the PRIMARY DESIRE that all beings have is the innate desire for LOVE. This is the same desire as the desire for JOY, the desire for FREEDOM. It's all the same. And each decision has this core desire, this core intention, at its center, because the only reason we make decisions is because we inherently want to FEEL well-being, period. Therefore, realizing this, one can learn to MAKE PEACE with their decisions. Forgive your past decisions that you may feel were not of the highest, were not in spiritual alignment with your Source. LOVE yourself no matter what. THIS is practical spirituality, for THIS type type of attitude is that which accentuates the highest and best in oneself, and keeps one in fairly close alignment with their Spirit, with God-Source.

Let go of any harsh feelings towards yourself and others, but first and foremost against the Self. As you increase your awareness of your True Self (which can only come about through practicing Self-appreciation, even when appreciating "others"), you experience Oneness in greater and more expanded ways. Do not be too concerned over "right" and "wrong" decisions. ALL choices ultimately are for the greater good, so to speak, in the final analysis, for there ultimately is no wrong nor right; it is all just an experience of the Soul, and the Soul actually enjoys and appreciates ALL its experiences, the joyous ones as well as the painful ones, for it is both the observer of the movie as well as the writer, director, producer and actor(s).

Remember the K.I.S.S. Rule: "Keep It Simple, Sweetheart." THIS will guarantee you a more clear mind, more clarity and well-being. Do not make this "spiritual business" so heavy and intellectual. The key is Self-appreciation, Self-love, even while doing for "others," while remembering that there is really but One Being here, One Infinite Spirit/Source. Through keeping it simple, you effectively gradually surrender all that is within your "subconscious" that is not in alignment with your True Self, which is the Unconditional Love that you really are.

Perhaps you may feel that some of these thoughts/reminders will serve you well. Blessings, friend.