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The Soul as the True Central Being · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  In the West, the existence of the soul has been mainly
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  perceived either as a matter of religious belief or scientific
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  skepticism, neither necessarily based in actual experience.
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  At one point, scientists decided that if the belief that the soul
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  departs at the time of death is to be considered as factual,
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  then they should be able to weigh the body at the moment
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  before death and the moment after death, and thereby know
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  the weight of the soul that has now departed.
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  This is the ultimate attempt by the external physical mind to
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  try to grapple with the reality of a more subtle aspect of
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  existence. Of course, when they could not
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  ascertain the weight in this manner, they felt justified in
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  denying the existence of the soul.
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  The idea that we are a soul that occupies and uses the body, life
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  and mind for its cumulative experience, rather than being a
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  body that happens to have or acquire a soul, never dawns on
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  them. The fact that they could not,
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  with the limitations of their instruments, measure the weight
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  of thought or measure the weight of a photon did not deter them
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  from coming up with any excuse to justify their lack of
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  personal experience or at least a recognition of the soul and
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  its action in their own lives. From the side of Western
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  religion, followers are simply asked to believe in the
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  existence of the soul despite having no personal experience of
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  it that they can recognize. The reliance on dogmatic demands
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  rather than developing a path for personal experience has
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  caused many people to leave the mainstream religious
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  organizations over the last 50 to 75 years and embraced the
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  quest for spiritual experience through a variety of ways.
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  The failure both the secular and religious approaches in Western
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  society have also led many people to simply try to deny the
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  deeper truth that underlies all existence and leads to lives
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  that are restricted within the walls of a materialistic,
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  hedonistic or intellectual framework without any deeper
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  significance or meaning. Many who follow these directions
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  wind up depressed, disillusioned, or with a feeling
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  of meaninglessness or emptiness about their lives.
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  There are a number of aspects of our existence that do not appear
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  to exist until they come forward and take a visibly active role
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  in our lives. The higher reasoning intellect,
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  for instance, does not generally become highly active for years
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  after a person is born. For some people, it is difficult
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  to discern its action throughout most of their lives.
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  Yet we can observe humanity and see that there is indeed a power
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  of mental activity that exists but cannot be weighed, seen,
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  dissected, or otherwise discerned other than by its
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  actual activity and the patterns it develops in the life of the
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  individual who has experienced the activation of that power.
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  In a somewhat similar way, the action of the soul is not
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  immediately apparent in most people, but when the experience
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  comes, those who have that experience cannot deny its
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  existence, nor can they deny the influence it has in their lives.
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  Sometimes the experience comes in a very traumatic manner, such
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  as the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus, or through
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  some kind of near death or other traumatic event in the life,
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  such as that recounted by Danny and Brinkley in his book Saved
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  by the Light. At other times it takes the form
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  of a gradual and natural process of maturation, development and
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  change as the life experience accumulates.
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  In rare individuals, the light of the soul can be seen
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  virtually from the time of taking physical birth, the
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  result of the maturity of the soul carried forward from prior
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  incarnations. For discussion about the
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  necessity and action of rebirth, see earlier blog posts on the
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  subject. In our review of the Life Divine
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  and Rebirth and Karma. Some traditions formulate the
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  soul with varying names or definitions, including in a way
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  that is the least personified, the concepts of dependent
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  origination and cause and effect, which embraces a stream
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  of consciousness which continues, changes, evolves,
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  grows, matures beyond any individual life and death
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  experience. One of the powers of the soul is
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  to bring harmony to the disparate elements of the nature
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  by an innate sense of balance and right placement for each
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  part of the being. We may use the analogy of the
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  Symphony Orchestra with numerous diverse instruments that make
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  widely different sounds. Without a conductor, the sound
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  can be discordant. When the conductor takes charge
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  of the orchestra, the music can be beautiful, harmonious, and
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  sublime, Sri Robindo observes. Quote.
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  The true central being is the soul, but this being stands
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  back, and in most human natures is only the secret witness.
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  Or one might say, a constitutional ruler who allows
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  his ministers to rule for him, delegates to them his empire,
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  silently assents to their decisions, and only now and then
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  puts in a word which they can at any moment override and act
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  otherwise. But this is so long as the soul
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  personality put forward by the psychic entity is not yet
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  sufficiently developed. When this is strong enough for
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  the inner entity to impose itself through it, then the soul
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  can come forward and control the nature.
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  It is by the coming forward of this true monarch and his taking
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  up of the reigns of government that there can take place a real
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  harmonization of our being and our life.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindo and the
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  Mother Powers within. Chapter 20.
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  The Psychic, page 153.