Spirit Demystified: Why We’re More than Just Nature and Nurture

The educational system in many modern cultures encourages us to believe that individual identity is shaped mainly by genetics and environmental influences—nature and nurture. However, I’ve learned from my guides and confirmed through my own experiences that identity is actually made up of three aspects: the Spirit, the soul, and the personality. The core of our being is Spirit, the essence of life, the conscious and communicative force present in all things, even those we ordinarily perceive as inanimate. This aspect of our being is our enlightened self: always compassionate, always loving, always wise, and always creative. It is the only constant, continuing from one life to the next and one dimension to the next. It is the infinite, interconnected life force, the Oneness that pervades everything yet simultaneously manifests as the essence of every individual being, which my guides refer to as the “Spirit within.”

The Spirit within is the particular essence of an individual. Like snowflakes, no two individual expressions of Spirit are identical. In my classes, I often use the analogy of light and color to help people understand the relationship between the Oneness and the Spirit within. White light is made up of all the colors of the visible spectrum, which appear separately when dispersed through a prism. The Oneness that infuses and empowers all things can be thought of as white light. When expressed as an individual Spirit, a person’s spiritual essence corresponds to a tint or shade of a particular color in this infinite spectrum.

Spirit encompasses a full range of qualities I’ve been taught to refer to as spiritual principles—such as love, wisdom, devotion, order, creativity, and curiosity. According to my guides, spiritual principles are always applicable and always appropriate. We can’t have too much balance, or too much clarity, or too much compassion.

At the same time, the Spirit within each of us manifests a distinctive emphasis, which I often think of as our particular instrument in the orchestra of life. This emphasis may be kindness or creativity; it may be wisdom or love. It can sometimes be quite nuanced, like variations of ice cream flavors. I often use this analogy: Some people are pure vanilla, while others are vanilla with chocolate or strawberry swirls. The potential combinations are limitless.