Theosophical philosophy makes a clear and significant distinction between the terms spirit and soul.
The spirit is our immortal component, the undying flame within us that was never born and never dies. Throughout a grand cycle of existence or Maha-manvantara, The spirit retains its unique quality, essence, and life, projecting certain rays or aspects of itself, or souls, into our being and our various planes of existence.
The divine spirit within us is interconnected with the Universe, being, in a deeply mystical sense, a ray of the Universal Whole.
A soul, on the other hand, is an entity shaped by experience.
It is not a spirit but rather a vehicle for the spirit.
It manifests in matter as a substantial portion of the lower essence of the spirit.
In a cosmic sense, the term spirit should only be applied to that which unequivocally belongs to Universal Consciousness and is the homogeneous and pure emanation from Universal Consciousness.
In humans, the spirit within us is the flame of our deathless ego, the direct emanation of the spiritual Monad within us.
The spiritual soul is this ego's enclosing sheath, vehicle, or garment. More specifically, concerning human principles, when the higher Manas (mind) of a person, which is their true ego, is inseparably linked with Buddhi, this is, in fact, the spiritual ego or spirit of the individual human being's constitution.
A laya center is the point of union that allows the consciousness to move in and out. The spirit manifests in seven vehicles, each of which is a soul, and the specific point through which the spiritual influence passes in the soul is the laya center, the heart or peak of the soul—homogeneous soul-substance if you will.
Before the emanation is retracted into the divine Monad, its lifespan spans the full period of a cosmic manvantara.
In Theosophical teachings, a "Laya Center" is considered a point of union or a neutral center where the activities or influences of higher and lower planes of existence meet. It is a state or condition of matter (or consciousness) in which the differentiated substance loses its individual characteristics and becomes homogeneous or undifferentiated.
In other words, it's a point of transition or interface between different states of being or levels of consciousness. It's like a gateway or portal through which a being can pass from one state of existence to another.
The concept is quite abstract and is often used in discussions of spiritual evolution, reincarnation, and the multidimensional nature of reality.
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