wherever our lives intersect the dimension of the holy

 

It is difficult to probe the inward awareness of another being.

 The realm of what one mystic called “the interior castle” 

is wholly private and wrapped in solitude.

 But when we look into another’s eyes — 

even into the eyes of an animal — 

we may find a small window into that inner sanctum,

 a window through which our souls can hail

 and greet one another.

...

The act of making eye contact with another being 

presupposes a conscious self behind either pair of peepers: 

I see you seeing me, 

and I am aware that you are aware 

that we are looking at each other.

...

For me, soul resides at the point where our lives

 intersect with the timeless, in our love of goodness, 

our passion for beauty, our quest for meaning and truth.

 In asking whether animals have souls, 

we are inquiring whether they share in the qualities

 that make life more than a mere struggle for survival, 

endowing existence with dignity and élan.

...

Many people think of soul as the element of personality

 that survives bodily death, but for me it refers to something 

much more down-to-earth. Soul is the marrow of our existence

 as sentient, sensitive beings. It’s soul that’s revealed in great works of art, 

and soul that’s lifted up in awe when we stand in silence

 under a night sky burning with billions of stars.

 When we speak of a soulful piece of music,

 we mean one that comes out of infinite depths of feeling. 

When we speak of the soul of a nation, 

we mean its capacity for valor and visionary change… 

Soul is present wherever our lives intersect 

the dimension of the holy: in moments of intimacy, 

in flights of fancy, and in rituals that hallow the evanescent

 events of our lives with enduring significance. 

Soul is what makes each of our lives a microcosm — 

not merely a meaningless fragment of the universe, 

but at some level a reflection of the whole.

There is an inwardness in other living beings that awakens 

what is innermost in ourselves. I have often marveled,

 for instance, watching a flock of shore birds. 

On an invisible cue, they simultaneously rise off the beach

 and into the air, then turn and bank seawards in tight formation.

 They are so finely coordinated and attuned in their aeronautics

 it is as though they share a common thought, or even a group mind, 

guiding their ascent. At such moments, I feel there are depths 

of “inner space” in nature that can never be sounded.

 And it is out of those same depths, in me, that awe arises

 as I contemplate the synchronicity of their flight.

 To contain such depths is to participate in the realm of spirit.

~ Gary Kowalski

from The Souls of Animals

with thanks to The Marginalian

 by Maria Popova