When we wake up in the morning, it feels like we’re a different person from the day before. Our mood has changed, our optimism has grown—or on the contrary, vanished. Sometimes loving, sometimes hateful—how can we explain such shifts? The answer might be quite simple: our soul travels astrally during the night, and when it returns, it’s shaken.
Each night is a life, because each dream is an epic that takes us to the depths of our being. Through dreams, we become aware of things previously unknown to us. Although often fleeting, dreams are a form of revelation. They illuminate our dark and light sides alike.
It’s unpleasant for others when we wake up on the wrong foot—but it’s even worse for ourselves. Being grumpy without knowing why is frustrating. Everyone wants to be happy, yet few manage to do so in a lasting way. The first step toward real happiness is to work with your soul, so that it may expand—that is, to embrace everything it encounters with love and forgiveness. To reach such a level, one must strive to act with compassion and kindness during the day, and avoid actions that damage the soul—what some may call vices or sins, depending on one’s worldview.
The heart is the symbolic seat of the soul. If you pay attention to what animates your heart, you can strengthen your soul, making it stronger and more loving. The soul functions like a house: it stays clean as long as you make sure people take off their shoes before entering. The best way to avoid becoming dirty is not to let dirt in to begin with. If you let pride, anger, envy, lust, or greed into your heart, what good do you think will come to your soul? It will be poisoned—and if you want it to expand again, it must first be cleansed.
Many things in daily life hinder our longing to live fully “with soul and conscience.” Life being what it is, there are many duties we must fulfill—regardless of what our heart says. This is commonly called the sense of duty. It takes the form of work that must be done with honesty and dedication. It may also be a marriage, which requires fidelity and respect. We are caught in webs of allegiance and commitment that our soul sometimes struggles to follow, as it does not always align with these obligations.
All decisions should ideally consider the aspirations of the soul. Still, there are many situations where we must set aside our heart’s feelings and act out of duty. In that sense, duty is meant to bring sacredness to our actions through long-term commitment. But it must be done with the soul’s assent—otherwise, it risks being broken, for in the end, we tend to follow what our soul tells us. So, for duty to be carried out with strength and longevity, it must first be accepted by the soul.
The soul needs commitment to endure—but it also needs challenges. Toxic people are daily tests for our soul.
Some people drain our energy just by looking at us. They are energetically “dirty.” They act like scavengers, building themselves up at the expense of others. Can we use their negative energy to become spiritually stronger?
Essentially, what allows someone to rise is the ability to show empathy and compassion toward those who don’t seem to deserve it. Unworthy people are a challenge: how can we love them despite who they are? Loving doesn’t mean approving of their behavior—it means rising above it to understand what brought them to this point. It’s accepting things as they are, so we can begin to put ourselves in their shoes, even when they disgust us.
What must be remembered is that toxic people, once identified as such, should be kept at a distance—at least at first—to avoid being contaminated. Imagine a scientist studying poisonous mushrooms to develop medicine. Of course, he won’t touch or eat them without protection. Yet he still needs to analyze them to find the active ingredients that could heal. It’s the same with toxic people: we must learn to observe them without getting too close, until we find a way to love them nonetheless. This is how the soul grows.
As Gandhi said: “Hate the sin, not the sinner.”
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