Dear Pogue,

I was thinking how much I had just enjoyed riding my motorbike in the sunshine. I rode through miles of countryside and even saw a kite hovering above the road. As I reflected I said to myself: “This is Soul Food”, which may have been an expression that I had just invented, but hey, it so described what had just happened. If it didn’t exist before, move over Wikipedia.

Your soul is the essence of who you truly are, it is timeless, ageless and eternal.

Muses From A Mystic

But what is Soul Food and does one’s soul even need feeding? After all, you and I are agreed we are souls having a human experience, are we not? Yet the world is full of people who go seeking spiritual experiences. And it’s not just a bunch of people who attend a so called “place of worship” on a designated day. They mostly get a religious experience which is a different thing altogether. And there are people who travel the world to seek the right teacher, the right school, the right group. But why?

The issue is that to flourish the soul needs feeding, but for the most part we live in places where it is not the soul that receives attention but the ego. Everything is geared to feed the ego and it is that very thing that draws us away from our truest selves. It is the ego that wants to declare “me” and “my” and “I” rather than acknowledging and rejoicing in our god nature, our soul nature which seeks to commune with and surrender to a higher source in order that the Divine, the Universe may flow through. The mere mention of surrender is anathema to the ego which rejoices in strutting its stuff in the cause of independence and assurance of self importance.

Remember the tale of the Indian and the two dogs? How the one he fed dominated in his life? Well, isn’t that exactly what we have here? You can’t have soul and ego as equals in your life.

So you want to grow your soul? Then we’re back to soul food. I’ve been reading things people have written about what nourishes their spiritual needs. In a previous letter we discussed the thought that God had written two books and one was nature. Being amongst trees, immersed in nature and at one with natural things such as animals, my red kite. All things that we observe and draw from if the time is taken.

Now for me, there are a number of things that feed my soul that are away from nature. Riding my motorbike when the sun is shining on my face. Or my snowboard.

For some it’s giving to others, either in time or resources. It’s about making their lot better and the nourishment is drawn from the knowledge of someone else’s improvement.

If you have a soul that feels like it’s in a continual state of unrest…If you spend time inside your own head…A slower pace and a simpler life might settle you in more ways than you expect. Find more stillness inside.

Erica Laine

Many list my favourite, stillness in nature, being the preferred place to nourish their soul, but other places include sitting, looking at a log fire, watching rain from a favourite window or just sitting, silently, in the dark. And the objective for each person is to become freed from themselves and part of something bigger, something further reaching, eternal. To be able to let go of the things that occupy the mind and be absorbed, become one, with the flickering lights, the rain or darkness. To silence one’s thoughts and listen to another rhythm.

Rhythm.

Now, here’s a type of soul food that I regularly feed on. Music. A song, a tune can lift my spirit on a bad day, and on a good day, carry me to distant places. I am a voracious consumer of this type of soul nourishment. Let it be said, I am sure that there are types of music that can feed exactly the opposite type of energy into ones life, energy that promotes the ego. For me, music to avoid.

Pogue, forgive me if I misquote, but isn’t there a verse in the Bible that says: “…whatever things are true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely…think on these things”? I’m sure the verse is a bit longer but, hey, your man Paul again. I am also sure other spiritual teachings have similar verses, I just haven’t taken the time to look.

No, I do not want to discuss other people, your possession, money, entitlement. I want to talk about things spiritual, things filled with passion, things so few seem to understand. Where are those people?

Wic

The thing is, we all know when our soul is being fed. There’s a satisfying feeling, or as the Eagles sung: “I get a peaceful, easy feeling”.

Who are the Eagles? Really Pogue!

It may be an uncommon feeling and have gone unnoticed before if nourishing your soul is not something that you regularly practice. Maybe, nature has surprised you and a moment of wonder enveloped you. Or you found yourself lost in thought and in wonder as you listened to the rain drumming on the window.

Don’t disregard those moments. No. Sink into them. Contemplate the experience. Remember it so you’ll recognise it next time. So you’ll come to desire it.

Yours, sitting in my favourite window on a rainy day,

Wic