When he was a boy of five years old, his paternal grandfather passed away. It was a first awareness of death, and therefore a template of sorts. He was puzzled: grandpa was just here yesterday, wasn’t he? And now he has disappeared. Where did he go?
As reality settled in, the boy couldn’t sleep. He lay awake, crying and crying. Does everyone have to die? How about me? How about my Mom and Dad? Where do people go when they die?
His mother heard his cries, embraced him, soothed him. She told him that we all have a soul there inside of us. It is who we really are. And that our soul never dies.
The boy didn’t quite understand, and yet his mother’s words comforted him. She held him close as her boy, calmer now, drifted off to sleep….
My mother’s words have stayed with me till this day.
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"Ramblings on the Psych Ward"
What Is The Soul… (continued from the last nine weeks) Q: Dr. Guterson, you talk a lot about the soul? Maybe you can help me understand what a soul is? A: Our soul, which is an actual piece of Divinity, is sent to earth into our body. As a result, we have both a body, with all of its material and physical needs and cravings - as well as a soul, which yearns for just the opposite, for transcendence. In a healthy person, body and soul work in harmony. It’s a delicious dichotomy. To make this dichotomy work, according to Chassidic philosophy, we first need to understand that the structure of the soul consists of three intellectual powers: (1) the initial flashpoint that inspires our mind to focus on a G-dly concept; we call this wisdom. (2) the process which develops the depth and breadth of that concept; we call this understanding. (3) the practical application of that concept, thus effecting change; we call this knowledge. These intellectual powers then become the driving force for our soul’s emotional powers (more on these next week). In my psychiatric work, I have seen, sadly, too many people who are slaves to their physical desires. Addictions, sexual infatuations, and anger can take over a person. There are also those individuals who simply want to escape the world and opt for constant distractions and hedonism, or the opposite, asceticism. But ultimately, none of these are healthy life styles. The pleasure they may bring is only temporary. An inner void remains; it is our soul crying to be recognized. When we are in touch with our soul’s intellectual and emotional powers, then we are not controlled by these physical desires. To live this way takes work but it’s well worth it. Body and soul are partners in a battlefield. They need each other. Without the body’s feet, hands, mouth, and all that is physical, the soul cannot carry out acts of goodness in our world. And without the soul, the body would succumb to its base cravings. We are here to live, to live actively in this wonderful world and take all that is physical and infuse it with spirituality. That is our mission. To be continued….
Q: Dr. Guterson, you talk alot about the soul. Maybe you can help me understand what the soul is? A: We’ve been talking about the soul for a number of weeks now. As I wrote last week, everything in existence has a soul - humans, animals, plants, and even inanimate objects. However, the human soul is on a totally different level because, unlike anything else, G-d breathed His essence into us. In past weeks, we’ve discussed the six essential features of the soul and more recently about the delicious battlefield of the soul residing within the body, which gives life it’s dynamism. But what is the structure of the soul? According to Chassidic philosophy, our soul has ten levels; three are intellectual and seven are emotional. In a spiritually and mentally healthy person, intellect drives emotion, not the opposite. People get themselves into all sorts of trouble when the opposite happens and, sadly, that can lead to misery, psychiatric hospitalizations, and crime. In life, we certainly first experience our feelings and it is crucial to be aware of our feelings. But then, when it comes to healthy behavior, intellect needs to drive our emotions. That is why, as I have written before, in the famous movie, “Wizard of Oz”, it is the Scarecrow, the one who represents the brain, who emerges as the leader of the trio (scarecrow, tinman, lion). It is also why, in my judgment, that Dorothy says to the Scarecrow near the end of the movie, “I think I’ll miss you most of all.” To be continued. Next week to talk about the three intellectual levels of the soul….