If you are made of universal consciousness, then how could you have a unique identity?

Spiritual teachings emphasize that your essence is made from divine substance — universal consciousness. And this divine substance is the energy found within everything, everywhere.

But how do you explain that everything seems to have its own unique identity? You are not your dog, and you are not the tree in your yard, either. You intuitively know this, and you are secure in the knowledge that you are not someone or something else. It seems rather obvious, doesn’t it?

But why, then, are you always told that we are all one, and that we are all made from the same universal substance? There must be some factor, other than your egotistical insistence that it is so, that validates that you are a unique being.

The cosmic power that created your soul essence has also created that uniquely special identifier: your thoroughly individual soul signature. Even though everyone writes their name with the same basic letters, everyone also has their own unique stamp of individuality within their expression of those basic letters, and this unique pattern of expression is their handwritten signature.

Your soul signature, then, must be a unique arrangement of those basic universal elements, just as your written signature uniquely expresses the basic alphabet in your own special way. And so this brings up the possibility that although your soul is made of the same substance from which all souls were made, you have a solitary distinction that will always stand in contrast to all other souls. This realization may bring you some relief, because now you know that however deep your spiritual explorations may go, you will not evaporate into a vague void of cosmic nothingness as you progress spiritually.

There are, however, spiritual teachings that emphasize that your spiritual evolution will bring you to the place where you are one with the divine source, and you will lose your unique identity. That may seem plausible, at first, considering that all knowledge of the universe is within you. So it does seem likely that as your consciousness expands, your realization of the entire universe within you would shift your perspective. This may be a valid point to consider, because your limited egocentric concerns likely come from a narrow, overly personal perspective.

But does this mean that as you expand in consciousness, your unique soul signature disappears?

This is definitely not so, because your entirely unique soul signature was created for an important reason. Though you are made from universal substance, your unique soul signature serves a higher function for the universe. Your distinctive soul signature is your unique contribution that betters the universe, and that is why you were created as the particular soul that you are.

If your spiritual progress were to merely reduce you down to your essential universal substance, with no soul signature to individuate you, that would lessen the quality and richness available within the universe. And the universe is in a state of ever evolving consciousness — that is its nature — and so the universe benefits from, and even enjoys the creative contributions from your unique soul signature.

This means that you will eternally grow in consciousness, because that is the highest good. Of course, it is not as simple as some might prefer, because the universe has a dual delight in simplicity and complexity. To the consternation of  those who seek to reduce everything to the overly simple, these contradictory qualities are forever intertwined in every aspect of the universe.

Your spiritual growth expresses an infinite evolutionary spiral that unites these two paradoxical expansions in your consciousness:

1. As you evolve, your ego releases limiting self-definitions, becoming more expansive, all-inclusive, and at one with the universe.

2. And, as you evolve, your soul opens to its greater definition of self. And that greater understanding includes your soul’s uniqueness — a deeper appreciation of your distinct soul signature.

So even as your ego is releasing limiting delusions of separation, your soul, at the very same time, becomes ever more aware of its distinct identity.

The interplay between these seemingly contrasting realizations may explain why there are so many spiritual and philosophical paths. These two elements seem to be opposed to each other, and it has been easier to bypass the contradictions by focusing on one or the other of these seeming opposites. This simplified, though incomplete, approach is certainly easier to teach.

Of course, many teachings bypass the paradox entirely, by reducing their teachings to a set of beliefs. Chief among these is that followers of that teaching will get their essential identity simply by being members of a religious group. Well, that’s simple, isn’t it? No worries there — just do what you’re told, fit in, and your identity is taken care of.

And for younger souls, this is fine, because deeper concerns about cosmic identity and long-term spiritual evolution are more appropriate matters for the older soul. And that is why the older souls gradually diverge from organized spiritual practice, because they seek an individual oriented, dogma-free approach that honors their actual spiritual perception, with no substitutions of simplified beliefs and prefabricated identity.

What about the spiritual teachings that emphasize how your spiritual evolution leads you to a generalized void or infinite space of divine light? Like many teachings, they correctly express one part of the paradox. The aspect of your evolution that involves your ego letting go of narrow limiting self-definitions is explained by such teachings.

Your ego, becoming free of narrow definitions, does truly open to a greater universal identity. But this is only part of the process, because even while your ego is releasing its limited identity, your soul is becoming more self-aware. And that is the missing piece in many spiritual teachings…

If your soul is building its unique strength and focus as it comes into an ever-deeper realization of its own soul signature, then it is going to evolve spiritually into higher consciousness through its own distinct pathway. And so your soul signature, created to be unlike any other, is truly carving its own path, through its own individual character, and this inevitably leads to its unique contribution to the universe. And this is what the universal creative power that created your soul has always wanted.

The divine wants your uniqueness to be a catalyst for the universe, through your presence and sharing of your own special vibration.

Now it is possible that the realization of your soul signature’s uniqueness may bring up a disquieting concern deep within you, because the hidden fear of standing out, or being different, will surface sooner or later. This concern will be stronger for those who crave being like others, and who feel most comfortable when their identity is submerged into a family, group, tribe, company, or other collective identity. And people who have that deep concern are not likely reading this. You were drawn to these topics through your realization that you are evolving, and your growing recognition that your soul has its own individual character.

But there is still a fear of standing out, because in so many cases uniqueness in this world is not rewarded, but instead is judged. And so, even when you are on a path of following your soul’s inner promptings, there is the worry that the deeper you follow your truth, the more you would diverge from the mass consciousness. And that thought, though worthy of a cheer from the more confident aspects of your soul, brings up concerns worth exploring.

First of all, you are not disappearing down a bizarre path that diverges entirely from human evolution, because of a simple fact: You recall that your spiritual evolution is following the paradoxical path of your ego dissolving into universal consciousness, while your soul is, at the same time, expanding into its uniqueness. And that means that as you utilize these two paths, you will not disappear into your individuality in an unbalanced way. Here is why this is so…

Your uniqueness is not different just for the sake of being different, but rather so that you can contribute your insights, energies, and actions to the transformation of this world. As your soul becomes more unique in its identity and its capacities, your ego shifts into a universal awareness that gives you deeper compassion and understanding for others, and this is the key to balancing your evolving soul:

Even as you become more individuated, your understanding of how to utilize that uniqueness in the highest service to humanity helps you understand yourself in a new way. You are an entirely unique agent of change and healing for this world. So your soul signature has a higher purpose that helps you sense what you can do to contribute to the planetary evolution.

But what, then, about the younger souls who are not ready to understand your contribution? Give them time, because in this lifetime, or the next, they will be ready for what you have to share. Fortunately, there are a broad range of souls incarnated on the planet, of various soul ages, and you are not here to assist everyone.

Helping absolutely everyone sounds lofty, and it may have noble intent, but it’s not realistic. You’re here on the planet to make a difference for those who are ready for you. And out of billions of souls on the planet, that could well be only hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions of people. So your unique soul path is here to share with, possibly, millions of people. So why might your being different make you, at times, feel apart or stuck?

You’ve been taught contradictory teachings, and this brings up confusion in different levels of your being. While you were being told that your spiritual evolution would lead to your being a vague universal energy with no unique identity, you were also being told by the secular world that you are a merely material being, with no link to the universal consciousness at all.

Actually, your inner spiritual work is helping you to become more comfortable with your unique soul identity, and you are coming to realize how important that distinct identity is for the planet’s evolution. And this is something that you learn through your own contemplation. And yet, inner spiritual progress is something that the secular material world laughs at, because that world seeks to make you believe that you have no unique soul identity.

But here is another curious paradox about this world:

1. The material secular world teaches you that you have no unique soul identity, and that you have no universal identity either. In the material world, these understandings are distorted, so that you can only develop your unique identity by buying the correct products, participating in the correct lifestyle, and adopting the correct belief systems.

2. But, wait a minute — in many of the spiritual teachings, your soul identity is claimed to be a vague undifferentiated universal energy, rather than the unique identity that it really is. And wait another minute — you can supposedly only develop your spiritual identity by participating in a lifestyle that appears to be correctly spiritual, and by buying into the correctly sounding spiritual terminology and beliefs.

And so the difference between giving your power away to the material society, or to the spiritual teachings is… what, exactly? Well, if you give your power away, it doesn’t matter where or to whom you’ve given it. You take your power back by understanding your essential nature. This requires your realization that your essential nature is a seeming contradiction:

– First, you recognize that you are one with the universe, because the vastness and complexity of the universe is within you. It is the divine substance from which you were made.

– Second, you recognize that you are an entirely different expression of that universal substance than anyone else.

Your choice to resolve this seeming contradiction will free you from so many concerns and limitations, because it frees you to discover your path — as a universal being — and as an individual: the way of the multidimensional self, known as You.

Your path, though unique, fulfills the universe’s desire that you contribute to the universe. Now, many people and many organizations are only too happy to tell you how you should contribute to the universe. And they are certain that they are right, and in certain aspects, they may be. However, you do have free will, and that is what lets you follow your own path. That unique path of yours may, at times, merge with other individuals and organizations, and your path will also, through its unique necessity, diverge at times.

When the universe gave you your unique soul signature, it gave you free will, and this was essential for the fulfillment of your purpose. Without free will, you wouldn’t really be a unique contributor to the universe, because you would simply be an automaton, acting out someone else’s plan. And some teachings are happy to make you believe that you need only follow someone else’s program. This is why taking ownership of your free will may be a daunting notion for some people, because they would rather give the responsibility away to another person or group.

What is your moment of empowerment? You honor that you have been given free will for a reason, because this suggests that you have individual choices to make, and that no one can make them for you.

As an older soul, you are coming into the recognition that you have access to universal wisdom within you. And yet, this universal wisdom is being expressed through your own soul signature, and so it takes the power of free will to make the choice to do those things that you came here to do. While the secular material society pretends to champion free will, it really fears it. The material world wishes you to believe that buying the right product is an expression of your free will. Meanwhile, the spiritual teachings often fear free will for their own reasons, because then you wouldn’t follow along with their dogmatic teachings and beliefs.

And as an older soul, you are finding that free will, guided by your own inner universal consciousness, is really a deeper topic, and much more than what many assume it to be. Genuine spiritually attuned free will is not random at all, because it is, in fact, an expression of perfect harmony. Why has harmony developed such a limiting image, with no room for individuality? It is because we imagine harmony in an overly simplified, restricted way.

Actually, universal harmony has more than enough room for your uniqueness. In fact, the highest quality of universal harmony requires your uniqueness, because harmony formed of rich complexity is stronger, more flexible, and more effective in every way.

This is why it is vital that you develop your individual consciousness. If you want peace, harmony, wellness, and spiritual consciousness on the planet, it comes from your uniqueness. And if you had assumed that you had to give up your uniqueness to live in a world of bland spiritual sameness, that was entirely the limiting delusion of certain spiritual teachings.

Notice how the limiting beliefs of many spiritual teachings conveniently converge with the limiting beliefs of the material world. Whether they intended it or not, they both keep you limited by hiding the paradox about your unique, yet universal self. Consider this…

– As you become more unique as a soul, your ego becomes more universal.

– As your ego becomes more universal, you become more unique as a soul.

Either way you say it, you are made of the same cosmic substance that everyone is made of, and at the same time, you are unlike anyone else. That is your truth. You are a universal being — one with the source. But a universal being is one who contributes to the universe as an entirely unique co-creator participant.

And because your contribution must be of the highest quality, you were created to have your own soul signature, unlike any other. And that is the way the universe wants it to be.

Thank you for expressing this synergistic combination of universal uniqueness. Thank you for being, O sacred you.

Many Blessings,

Joel Bruce Wallach

Founder, Cosmic Living for spiritual empowerment – tele-classes and home-study mp3’s