The Seat of the Soul: 25th Anniversary Edition with a Study Guide

This book was given to me as a gift some twenty years ago, and although it was highly recommended to me, I never read it. I have always been an avid reader, but I always found other titles more appealing--that is until I read `How to find God', by Deepak Chopra. Chopra mentions in his book that `The Seat of the Soul' is the best book he has read about the soul. Upon finishing Deepak's book, I plunged into `The Seat of the Soul', finally, and thankfully. I guess I need to send my friend a twenty years late thank you note. There are many interesting concepts in the book. According to the author, animals have a group soul. I found that to be extremely fascinating. For example, all horses share the same soul; all elephants share the same soul; all dolphins share the same soul; and so on. An animal does not have its own soul, but shares one soul with its entire specific species. There is only one soul for the hundreds of millions of cows in the world. This is why animals function on instincts. Some group souls are higher spiritually than others. For example, the soul of dolphins is higher than all other sea creatures. In fact, many spiritual sects believe that a dolphin is the last stage of a soul before becoming reincarnated into a human being. So even in the animal kingdom, there are souls that are more evolved than others. Every soul, whether human or animal, has a purpose. A dolphin, for example, has as a mission to bring beauty and love to the sea. But what if the soul cannot accomplish its mission or purpose? We have recently seen an increase in dead dolphins washing on beaches. Why is that? According to the author, dolphins are dying because they no longer can accomplish their purpose. It is not a mass suicide, but because dolphins are bringing onto themselves diseases that are killing them. Man is not respecting nature, and is killing the creatures of the sea, such as whales for example, at an alarming rate and for very selfish reasons. In other words, life forms are being massacred for profit! Other sea creatures are dying because of the pollution we are creating. As a result, the sea is no longer a peaceful, beautiful, and pure world, and the dolphins are no longer able to perform their duties as guardians of beauty and serenity to the sea. As a result, their soul has become diseased, and they are dying off. The author uses the following analogy to describe disease and its effect on the soul. Imagine a piano and a piano player. If the piano is broken, it can be repaired. But no matter how perfect the piano is, if the player is sick, the sound or melody coming from the piano will be less than perfect. However, if the piano is less than perfect, with some faults in it that can't be repaired, but the player is in perfect spirits, the music played will be beautiful. Furthermore, if the piano breaks, the player can always fix it. But if the player breaks (so to speak), the piano cannot repair the player. In this scenario, the piano represents the body, and the player represents the soul. If our soul is healthy, we will always be healthy and we will be projecting positive energy. However, if our soul is diseased, we too will be diseased, and we will be projecting negative energy. There are many reasons why our soul can become diseased. One of the main reasons is that we find no purpose to our life, or in other words, are unable to fulfill our soul's purpose. Disease and soul are therefore linked. Ever hear of miraculous healings, such as the paralyzed suddenly walking or terminally ill patients suddenly recovering? In their case, their soul was healed, which in turn healed their bodies. Now that's a really interesting concept. Instead of trying to find ways of healing the body, science must now concentrate on better understanding the soul and diagnosing and treating the soul, not the body. When the soul is healthy, the body is healthy. Another powerful healer is Love (with a capital `L'). Love heals all. The soul is Love. In fact, when we die, we return to our state of pure Love. The soul cannot know anything but Love, and all its intentions are for Love. However, here on earth, our personality takes hold of us, and shapes our actions. At death, the soul and personality are separated, and the soul returns to its pure form. It is really important that we, as individuals, aim to achieving the purpose of our soul. We will earn negative karma if we do not succeed. For example, a giving and caring person might have as a `soul purpose' the goal of making the world a better place by giving to the poor or by creating humanitarian organizations. However, such a person's personality might interfere with his soul's purpose, and instead of directing his kindness and caring to the world, he might direct it towards his loved ones only, which will be interpreted in the universe as a selfish act. This is the reason why our soul falls ill, and as a result, our body falls ill too. Another interesting concept is the `Law of Attraction', which has become popular in the book `The Secret', by Rhonda Byrne. According to the law of attraction, the universe gives you what you want. For example, if you always feel anger, the universe will give you more anger. If you feel love, and are surrounded by loving people, the universe will give you more love. In other words, positive energy attracts positive energy, and negative energy attracts negative energy. By being positive all the time, you will be attracting positive people and situations around yourself. So be positive! How does the author know all that about the soul? Is he making this all up? After all, writers can easily create imaginary and fascinating worlds. Take Tolkien as an example. Or is it all a play with words? For example, Chopra says in `The Book of Secrets', that on death, it is the body that leaves the soul, and not the other way around. Is this merely a play with words, or a truth? And how does the author know this? This book is fascinating, but because the soul cannot be proven scientifically, it remains in the domain of speculation and faith. The soul, like God, depends on faith, and faith alone. But what splendid things can befall one in such a belief! Read this book and be inspired, and get to know yourself...ergo your soul.

Outstanding book. Good for people who are looking to grow deeper into their spiritual world. Meaning looking to change how you live and think in this world.

The Seat of the Soul, is the first spiritualty book I read and it fundamentally changed the way I view everything. I first read it in 1998 when I was nineteen and it ignited something inside me that was so profound... it is difficult to articulate. The lessons I found among its pages inspired me to embark on a personal journey to become the best version of myself by living a more fulfilled conscious life full of intention. It sparked my thirst for more knowledge. The book is broken into the following chapters: Evolution, Karma, Reverence, Heart, Intuition, Light, Intention, Choice, Addiction, Relationships, Souls, Psychology, Illusion, Power and Trust. The most enduring lesson I received from this book is that my intention creates my reality and that I can manifest anything in my life through conscious intention. I always knew that my thoughts were powerful, but everything seemed to click inside me when I read Gary Zukav's explanation on how intention creates karmic energy that ultimately comes back. "Every action, thought, and feeling is motivated by an intention, and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect. If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the effect. In the most profound way, we are held responsible for our every action, thought and feeling, which is to say, for our every intention." I related to the concept that every energy I release ultimately comes back to me and have witnessed this play out hundreds of times in my life. Sometimes I have found myself not wanting to accept the fact that I have indeed created a particular outcome but when I examined my motives and my intentions I always found my part and thus the truth of a particular situation. After reading this book, I questioned my motivation and intention of everything I did and looked at my behavior in a new way. I tried to minimize complaining and started asking myself inquisitive questions such as: What is my intention with sharing this? Am I looking for a particular response? What do I hope to get out of this? After reading the book, I tried to make more responsible choices and take into account the consequences of my choices by asking: do I really want what this choice will produce? Am I ready to accept all of the consequences of this choice? Here's a few of my favorite lessons from the book: "Forgiveness means that you do not hold others responsible for your experiences." "An intention is not only a desire. It is the use of your will." "Only by feeling compassion for yourself can you feel compassion for others." "The Universe backs the part of you that is of clearest intention." "Temptation is a dress rehearsal for a karmic experience of negativity." I wasn't able to relate to everything Gary Zukav talks about in this book. The concept that my soul is part of a huge mother ship was a bit too much for me to grasp or understand, so the parts I didn't like I ignored. Instead, I chose to focus on the lessons that spoke to me and I dismissed the rest which is my philosophy for any non-fiction book. There are so many amazing concepts I would highly recommend reading this book. My advice would be to read it with an open mind, take what you want and leave the rest.

Bought this book 25 years ago, and it changed my outlook on life at that time. Bought 5 extra copies for friends to give away I was so impressed. Most did not read it then when I would inquire. Life goes on raising family and working, but tried to incorporate the things I learned in this book in tack. Life goes south, divorce at 50, change of lifestyle immediately, and lost searching for a path back. Read this book again to gain balance and accept the circumstances I was dealt. Life goes on some more. Met a couple people who were interested in the book so I bought them each this book. It seems when you get older you have time to delve into your soul issues. Then the worst time of my life hit me at 67---my son died in a car accident. Was completely devastated for three months, looking for any reason to stick around. I wanted to go with him. One day I looked through the bookshelf, pulled out this book for the 3rd time, and it helped save my life, even though I still grieve. Now the people I had bought this book for 20 some years ago have read it and told me they wished they had read it years ago. So do yourself a good service and buy this book.---it could save your life and help you understand why "stuff" happens in our lives we can't seem to grasp. I am now ordering more of this book for gifts again. I have now bought all of Zukav's books and all are wonderful and insightful. Read this one first.

Before reading ordering the book, I took some time to read some of the comments on it. One in particular grabbed me as the reader felt this was a waste of time. I have to say the comment caused me to make the purchase as I wanted to know why that particular reader felt that way. It no longer causes me curiosity to find out as clearly this book should cause the reader to give thought to what is being said. My comment is not a comparison. The Seat of the Soul is to be read to cause thought, for the reader to give a moment to what is being read and then see if it makes sense in your life, world, thought, in mind. I trust that when one has had particular experiences on a spiritual basis, this reading may give "sensible" information to the possibilities of why. If one hasn't had any type of spiritual experience, the reading may cause such or open the reader to experiences. Anyone can write a book as well as have readers to read it. To read with an open mind is another thing. I have on many matters given my past poor decisions to a new situation which demanded I be open only to find that I once again allowed my yesterday to demean my present. Not a good place to be and not good results as well. TSOTS is a read which I urge the curious to take your time at. Open it up here on the Amazon site. Yes, what they share with you is to pull you in. But if it creates an honest urge to see more, make the purchase. Read it see what is being said, if it paints a picture for you. Read the intro and if you don't get a full picture, read it again. This is not the type of book to just pick up and read it and then be done. This is a thought and life altering text. I'm still in the beginnings of it, but I will not move past a given point until I have seen the words in my mind via situations I've experienced or understand the examples. Knowledge is power for sure and if you don't like what you read online, you certainly don't have to make the purchase. If you like it even a bit, it may cause you to make time for yourself in a way you find interesting and likeable. We all are certainly worth the time to look and see if we can be better with ourselves thus having us be willing to be better with those around us....I hope to return to give a full review once I finish the reading....

Such a great read, new ideas on what is like to live in this human evolution. Not just a lecture though, great exercises!

Excellent

*The Seat of the Soul* by Gary Zukav is a transformative book that delves into the true source of power within each human being. It’s an insightful exploration of how to overcome fear—not by using temporary tricks or combating it directly, but by truly working through it in a positive, meaningful way. Zukav offers profound perspectives on personal growth, spirituality, and living a life aligned with our highest values. This book is a unique and inspiring guide to inner strength and emotional freedom.