What is a soul
Mate? Is it a buzz word being tossed around by New Agers and
Romance publishers in order to increase book sales and seminar
fees? Is soulmate just another term for true love or is it
something else, something more, something bigger and deeper?
Good question, and I don't
have a clear answer. If you browse the Web, searching under
the term "soulmate," you'll find testimonials of
How I Found My Soulmate on the Web, and pointers to Personals
Ads for you to search for a personal soulmate, but you won't
find much hard information on soulmates or much discussion
on what a soulmate is.
There is no definitive theory of soulmates, no accepted definition.
Edgar Cayce, Richard Bach, and Elizabeth Clare Prophet have
all written at length on soulmates. Some say that there are
different types or categories of soulmates. Three types frequently
discussed are the soulmate as an essence twin or counterpart--one's
other half, the companion or lover who helps one achieve a
goal, and the karmic teacher who comes into your life to teach
you an important lesson. For more on different types of Soulmates,
see My Soulmate Discovery, Part II.
A belief in reincarnation
is not necessary for a belief in soulmates although a great
deal of literature on soulmates does presume a belief in reincarnation.
Perhaps I'm just a Soulmates Skeptic, but I just cannot believe
that there is one and only one person for each of us. In my
own life, and in the lives of many friends, I know that there
have been times when we've been convinced that, "This
is the one. This person is my One True Love, my Soulmate."
However,
often in these cases, for one reason or another, the relationship
hasn't worked out. Were we mistaken? Was that person not our
soulmate? Or, was the person our soulmate, and, for one reason
or another, we just weren't able to make things work?
I have no answers; however, I do have a theory of my own.
I have a friend who introduced me to the theory of a soul
tribe. To her, there are many people who have important connections
to us, karmic connections, if you prefer to use that term.
To her, these people constitute our soul tribe.
In adapting this idea, I feel
that we can have what the popular press seems to call or identify
as a soulmate relationship with many different persons who
are in our soul tribe. Perhaps in a lifetime, we may run into
five, ten, or twenty different persons who are members of
our soul tribe, and, under the right circumstances, we could
have an intense, karmic, soul-shattering relationship with
any one of them, or, with several of them, in some cases.
Another
way to think of this is to say that we have multiple soulmates.
And, although I can't quite swallow the concept of one and
only one true love for each of us per lifetime, I can reluctantly
allow the possibility of multiple soulmates. I don't think
that there is an unlimited supply of soulmates out there for
each of us, but I do believe that each of us has one or more
persons who can help us to growth and become all that we can
be, who will support, honor, shelter, guide, serve, succor,
challenge, adore, and love unreservedly. I also think that
most of us manage in some way to miss out on these relationships.
Therefore, we are always searching for the ideal relationship,
the ideal partner, the soulmate, if you will.
Love is love, and love is
never to be taken for granted or belittled. To me, the question
is not, "Is this person my soulmate?" but "Is
there real love here?" not "Who is my soulmate?"
but "Do I give and receive love generously and unselfishly?"
not "When will I meet my soulmate?" but "Am
I ready to be in an intensely loving relationship, ready to
be challenged for growth?"
| Authors
Details: Nina Lee Braden Web
Site |
More
articles on soulmates..
(What
Is A Soulmate?)
(Have
You Married Your Soulmate?)
(Find
Your Soulmate)
(Soulmates
Your Magic Mirror) |
