Friendly Souls

The woman I’m counseling holds up a book. “Do I want to borrow it?” It’s the parable of

The Little Soul and the Sun

. I thank her, saying, “Not now.” She questions me again next week, and this time I surrender, saying “Yes.” Having read it, I now tell everyone in my practice to read it.

It’s nighttime in a community in India, ten years later, where I’ve come for spiritual training and volunteering. I’ve been sitting in my living room in a comfortable chair while my gaze roamed from a large print of Meher Baba up to the twenty-foot sloped ceiling, then down to a small, carved lamp pouring soft light over half of the desk. It is quiet.

Just let it all go. Just let it all go

—now I say my thought aloud, “Just let it all go.” The words feel like water running among rounded stones—undemanding yet strong.

I’ve been remembering my simplified version of

The Little Soul and the Sun

. The people whom I’ve seen as difficult in my life, I now meet in my mind as souls who’ve volunteered to be on Earth with me. They’ve come to help with the lessons I’m to learn. Whatever my thought has been of them—

Just let it all go

. I feel mellow and relaxed—with deeper understanding and appreciation.

My realization is, “Seeing those who make our lives difficult as 'friendly souls' may bring us kindness—learning beyond our worldly knowledge.”