The Psychology of the Soul

Introduction to the Psychology of the seven Rays

Gunda Scholdt

The Aim of this Book

One of the most significant developments of the last century is certainly psychology which has fundamentally transformed understanding and communication between humans. Thanks to Sigmund Freud, the founder of psycho-analysis, we have discovered that the physical body is influenced by a person's subconscious and psychic nature. Since then we have learned that the subconscious mind massively interferes with our daily consciousness through suppressed desires, psychological reactions such as fears, frustrations, complexes, neuroses and even psychoses, and can cause conflicts, problems and psychosomatic illnesses.

This eminently important discovery for mankind, that our psyche influences our physical condition, has completely changed our attitude to life. We are increasingly gaining an understanding that our life is not only influenced by outside impulses and that happiness or a fulfilled life can only be achieved by harmonising with others and ourselves. At the same time, there is a trend towards a stronger individualisation, which makes people strive to express their real self instead of living in conformity to others' life concepts. During the last decades, this desire for self-realisation and self-consciousness – a clear trend of our time – led to the development of a "therapy scene", which not only treated psychological disturbances and illnesses, but also looked for ways of self-awareness and self-realisation. The therapeutical methods practised today are diverse, ranging from classical psychoanalysis and analytical psychology to primary or conversational therapy, psychodrama, family constellations, NLP and many others. What they all have in common is the attempt to eliminate disturbances and conflicts with oneself and the environment in order to achieve greater satisfaction and self-acceptance. This brief enumeration of some therapeutic methods is by no means exhaustive. It is only meant to indicate how quickly the relatively recent discovery of the psyche has changed our entire life and thinking. Psychology has become an integral part of modern life because it forms the basis for understanding the behaviour of humans and animals. It has gained an outstanding importance in our social life, starting with medicine, education, economy, advertising, stock exchange etc. up to competitive sports, in which athletes are trimmed for success through psychological training. Because psychology has brought us the basic knowledge that we have access to our subconscious and the ability to reprogramme it by our own power of thought in order to change our behaviour and reactions. But there is one thing that traditional psychology still lacks today: the full understanding of the human soul and the knowledge of the cosmic laws our spiritual development is subject to.

Therefore it seems to be the right time to present a "psychology of the soul", which includes the spiritual dimension of man. This term is superficially seen as a tautology, but in truth it is not. Traditional psychology does not yet understand the real nature of the soul. The emphasis is still on the subconscious, the feelings and emotions or traumatic experiences, by which means the real purpose of life cannot be revealed. There are, of course, some transpersonal psychologists who have tried to include the spiritual dimension of man in their work, but the laws of the soul have not yet been clearly recognised and defined. Hence the soul is still a vague idea in traditional psychology, the numinous or the unconscious as C. G. Jung has called it, and the difference between the psyche and the spiritual soul is not generally known.

But there is Ageless Wisdom kept in the scriptures of the East through thousands of years. In these scriptures we find a deep knowledge on the nature of the soul, its path of development and the psychological entanglements resulting from the fact that man lives in two spheres of life: physical and spiritual. These two spheres must be brought together and harmoniously united in the psyche in order to achieve inner peace and true self-consciousness. Only then will we be able to realise that we are part of a cosmic energy field, which influences a person's consciousness and actions. This cosmic energy field, the "spiritual environment" in which we live as a being of manifold energies, forms the background for the evolving human consciousness, the psyche and the body. And as long as psychology does not include into its system the knowledge on the underlying cosmic energies and forces that govern life, we will not be able to understand the real human nature.

I have gained this insight during my 35 years of experience as an alternative practitioner, astrologer and seminar leader, which has given me a deep understanding of the human psyche. The question of the meaning of life has been in my mind from my earliest youth and I have not found an answer in religion or philosophy, but only through the study of Ageless Wisdom that has been handed down through the Eastern spiritual tradition. However, Eastern wisdom teachings have been conveyed in a rather mystical way which is not that easy to grasp by the western intellectual mind.

The psychology of the soul, therefore, strives for a synthesis between modern psychological knowledge and Ageless Wisdom. It explains to us the laws and principles of divine life, which human life is subject to. For the soul should now gradually come into the focus of research because the limits of materialism have been reached and the consciousness of mankind is increasingly opening up to the inner world. Only when psychology begins to explore the source of consciousness, will it be able to develop into a science of the soul. And this source of consciousness lies – as Ageless Wisdom teaches – in the Seven Rays, the cosmic archetypes which shape all events of the world, the nature and the human psyche. This knowledge is not new: we find coded clues from ancient philosophers like Plato, Plotinus and others. But then it seemed to be forgotten until Alice A. Bailey published an extensive work on Esoteric Psychology at the beginning of the twentieth century, which was telepathically transmitted to her by the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul. There are few, however, who have dealt with the very complex theme of the Seven Rays since then, and this knowledge has received little attention in psychology. While renowned psychologists have fortunately already integrated astrology into their work, only a few have dealt with the Seven Rays, even though they influence man on an even deeper level.

The Seven Rays are the foundation of Spiritual Psychology, which explains to us the "true ego" of man as an integral part of a cosmic evolving process. It regards the entire universe as a unit of life which, through the consciousness of an all-pervading creative power, creates an immeasurable multitude of individual lives. They all follow a sevenfold order of development, but go through the experience of diverse individual lifetimes, only to merge again with the greater whole at a final state. And this path from Oneness – via a septenate of energies – into the diversity of forms, which every human being passes through, is described in spiritual psychology. It shows us the stages of spiritual awakening as well as the final purpose of human development. Thus we are able to realise who we really are: a being of light and love that inhabits a physical body and evolves during many reincarnations to be an accomplished human being, fully aware of their inner spiritual nature.

And for this complex and highly fascinating psychology of the soul, which is based on the knowledge of the Seven Rays, I would like to arouse your interest. Let's start to consider our life on Earth from a soul perspective and as a journey of consciousness on the "wheel of life", called the zodiac. This zodiac symbolises our life sphere in space and time in which our experiences take place. In its symbolism it contains the secret of our spiritual development and shows us the purpose of life on earth. If we study symbolism, the language of esotericism, we will discover that life is One and that everything is wisely organised according to a "Divine Plan", within the framework of which we have a greater freedom as soon as we recognise and understand the cosmic laws. Our consciousness is wider and greater than we generally assume. We ourselves have set the limits by our own thinking and convictions, which are hindering us and restricting our spiritual freedom. So, let's wake up from our dreams of physical limitations and become conscious pilgrims on the "path of life" through increasing awareness of our true being, which is light and love. In this way we will become conscious co-creators of our lives, instead of indulging to the illusion of being a victim of life, circumstances and childhood experiences, which in truth we never are.

Spiritual psychology will shed light on the ancient problem: Who is man and what is his true being? This question is being asked today by more and more people who are increasingly turning away from the over-emphasis on external phenomena and looking inwards in search of themselves and their spiritual home. My book is dedicated to these seekers of truth. It is a guide to understand the path of the soul and to look at one's own life from a new perspective. It can help us to understand life as an adventure of consciousness that reaches far beyond a lifetime. Thus, death proves to be an illusion and life on Earth appears as a path of light experience leading each individual step by step in his own time from an isolated consciousness back into the Oneness of Life.