the seat of the soul

gary zukav has written a book called the seat of the soul that i read today. he breaks down the human emotional system into two elements: fear (the negative forces) and love (the positive). while fear stems from the mind or the personality, love finds its roots in the inner consciousness, or the soul. this is the crux of the book, which discusses the leaning of the personality and that of the soul, and how awareness is supremely important to align the two. i like the definition he gives of temptation:

Temptation is the Universe's compassionate way of allowing you to run through what would be a harmful negative karmic dynamic if you were to allow it to become physically manifest. It is the energy through which your soul is given the gracious opportunity to have a dry run at a life lesson, at a situation that, if you can see clearly, can be removed and healed within the confines of your private world of energy and not spill into a larger energy field of other souls. Temptation is a dress rehearsal for a karmic experience of negativity.

the soul then progresses along its ordained path only when the personality is able to learn its lessons from temptation and allow the soul to take control. i like the simplicity of this thought. temptation is our well-loved friend, and we cross paths with it on numerous occasions even on a single day. each of these occasions is a chance for our soul to win over our personality. each of these occasions is a shot at coming closer to our soul's purpose. we never run out of chances, but the more we avail of, the stronger we build the habit of availing of them. the beauty is limitless when this becomes a self-propelling loop. then with every moment of awareness we find ourselves closer to God, and thus, closer to the goodness fundamental to our being.