I’m happy to see Hazrat Khan expresses the same idea here as I have in the past about ‘old souls’. Regardless if you know your amount of evolution/ old soul status you remain with that state of awareness until you have become more evolved or have regressed in your state of evolution. Anyone can be living and not have an awareness of how long they have been on this earth….or for that matter they may not know how many times they have been here. But as long as we are in time we do measure times existence. Once beyond time there obviously would no longer be the necessity to measure times existence.
Sometimes it is an accomplishment to feel good about ourselves and recognize that we have succeeded in our souls evolution and that perhaps we no longer need to be treated badly or bullied by the ignorance of others in their treatment of us when in fact we may just be attempting to help them.
We may also find that others we meet vastly misinterpret our intentions and actions. We may have no negative feelings about such behaviors but nevertheless recognize them as perhaps having the knowledge and wisdom of a kindergartner and not accomplished enough to understand the larger knowledge gained by someone in graduate school who has grown through the years in knowledge. Now all this takes ‘time and evolving’ while we are in time in our perceptions. Yet when we transcend even time itself, at that moment we can say time, evolving and old souls do not exist. But until then if we for instance have a temporary memory loss, we still may have passed through graduate school with honors and have the documents to prove such accomplishments and the time involved working towards the goals involved.
Many times we must all recognize in our spiritual evolution that we rationalize our explanations. This becomes a major move forward for those old souls recognizing that many souls are still caught up in an intricate web of mental activity and energy to explain life experiences, in a way that satisfies ego’s safety and longevity. Until we are permanently free of the metal activities that explain and support our ego consciousness we still have the mind to transcend with its endless desires and identifications. Paramahansa Yogananda is beyond mind and body identifications… that’s why he was able to talk of experiences beyond the mind’s attachment to body, time and conditions, when he spoke of the ever new bliss that is his consciousness.
Every moment has its special message. Bowl of Saki, April 26, by Hazrat Inayat KhanCommentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:Every step in evolution makes life more valuable. The more evolved you are, the more priceless is every moment; it becomes an opportunity for you to do good to others, to serve others, to give love to others, to be gentle to others, to give your sympathy to souls who are longing and hungering for it. Life is miserable when a person is absorbed in himself; as soon as he forgets himself he is happy. The more he thinks of himself, his own affairs, work and interests, the less he knows the meaning of life.
from
https://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VIII/VIII_2_1.htmIf we only understood that every moment in life, every day, every month, and every year, has its particular blessing; if we only knew life's opportunity! But the greatest opportunity that one can realize in life is to accomplish that purpose for which man was sent on earth. And if he has lost that opportunity, then whatever he may have accomplished in the world, whether he has gathered wealth, possesses much property, or has made a great name for himself, he will not be satisfied. Once one's eyes are opened and they begin to look at the world, they will find there is a greater opportunity than they had ever thought before.
I just don't think old souls exist, and these definitions are all temporary meant to help the individual feel good about themselves or provide some clarity or drive where understanding is needed. We've exhibited "young soul" and "old soul" behavior in a single lifetime- thanks for resurrecting this thread, it was nice to find mccoy saying the same thing- it would appear him and I agree.
And, as I wrote in the other post, How old would I be if I didn't know how old I am?
The concept of old would then become meaningless and I'd be timeless. Not young, nor old, just existing.
Like your musings. We still would be aware of the body transforming and its limitations as time unfolded. ... wonder if you would tell us more about your experiences while here in the states? And tell us how our two cultures may be different. You are welcome to chat about it anywhere you prefer. It’s just nice to have you back again here for awhile and wonder about you and your life. My prayers recently always include you.
I respectfully disagree with your assessment about others. To say, "if someone is inordinately interested in ones age means they have no understanding about old souls" has not been true with my personal experience. Personally I don't believe "old souls" actually means anything. The phrase old soul is a bit of a misunderstanding if you really think about it. Neither having been born or having ever really died, how can being ageless make you old?
Yogananda once described tapping into something as, "ever-new bliss." Is that the real nature of our Soul?
I think labels will always be to the benefit for SELF and the intimate journey with it.
I think it's important to make the distinction because people are so forgetful of their true nature- so ready to identify with the physical body and its little pings and tingles- they forget their larger body, the all encompassing One...
That's where I'm at in life. Personally, I don't care to humor others who think themselves old souls or young souls... I look at it as all Soul and all a part of the journey. God Bless <3
