With this in mind, it is easy to see how a tug-of-war between the two elements is constantly going on. During the infant stages in the development of the connection between the body and the soul, the soul has very little activity on the mind. As we grow older and incrementally garner wisdom from our various experiences of "pain" and "suffering", the connection grows, gets stronger, and the activity of the soul on the mind (its influence on it) increases.
To illustrate, when we first come into the world in the form of a baby, we are in our most selfish state of being...that is only natural. After all, we need to preserve our existence and yet we are completely incapable of taking care of our basic needs at that stage. As we grow and acquire more and more physical and intellectual abilities, we becomes less and less dependent on others. As we acquire more independence and the capacity to provide for our needs, we begin to have more control over these necessities. As we attain increasing control over the fulfillment of our necessities, we can begin to learn about considering the needs of others. And so goes this cycle of our development until we reach the end of our lives. It is therefore our spiritual goal to somehow reach the highest level of state of unselfishness and love we that we are capable of attaining by the time that moment arrives.
The surest measure of the growth and increased development of the connection between our body with our soul is the amount and degree of selfless acts of love (charity) we do on a moment by moment, day to day basis. The more acts of love we do and the more of these acts we do automatically (like it being a second nature to us), the more certain we are that this connection is reaching higher and higher levels in the spiritual plane.
This is, in essence, the true meaning of and purpose in the journey of life - the incremental growth and development of the connection between body and soul. Consequently, as our body (mind) connects with our soul, we connect with God. The perfect union of our soul with God is our ultimate endpoint.
Every act of love we do for others is influential in the growth of that other person's body-soul connection, their spiritual journey and ultimately, their connection and communion with God.
The act of love we render can be as simple as a sincere, welcoming smile delivered at the just right moment to a stranger who is so moved by the loving gesture that the direction of his life path is altered toward the light.
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