Depending on the source, the three centers our soul manifest through are referred to as: Truth or Head; Beauty or Heart; and, Good or Belly-Body.

While most major spiritual traditions and religions emphasize one, while overlooking or diminishing the importance of the other two, Soulwork is one of the emerging spiritual paths to recognize the equal importance of all three soul centers.

You may recall the classic movie The Wizard of Oz. Did you know one of the reasons it likely is so memorable is because is speaks to the awakening of the three soul centers spiritual sages have been talking about for centuries? It calls to our unconscious self to awaken. The Tin Man wanted his heart; the Scarecrow his brain; while the Lion longed for courage, the ability to act. When the Wizard was finally revealed behind the curtain (representing our Shadow-self), the message became clear: What we are looking for is already within us.

You may gain valuable spiritual awakening by following a particular spiritual tradition's focus. However, to truly achieve the full potential of our spiritual capabilities, we are beginning to comprehend the importance of activating all three centers in this 21st-century.This is precisely what some of the great teachers have tried to transmit in previous centuries.

Some of these luminaries are Sri Aurobindo, Socrates, the Yogas, Rudolph Steiner, Einstein, and Gandhi. Modern science and brain research is also showing us how these three centers correlate with our evolutionary brains; reptilian, limbic, cortex, and neural-net.

We can understand the importance of these three centers by looking at them in other symbolic ways.

For instance, a healthy relationship between the ego and soul is similar to that of doer and director, or contractor and architect. The instructions on how to interact with the world appropriately come from the soul, inspired by the Source. (See the topic "Balance and Harmony") Since the soul or the Source have no direct way of representing themselves in the outer world, they need the ego to act on their behalf. Each role is critical and important in the dance of life.

The ego, soul, and the Source; this is the Holy Trinity spoken of metaphorically in Christian traditions. The ego is our earthly body represented by Christ. God the father is the Source. Our soul is the Holy Spirit that is said to infuse the body with life, meaning, and purpose.

Following this same analogy, the top of the head center is where the Source communicates with us. Notice how the top of the head is reverenced in Christian and Judaic traditions. The second soul center is located deep within our hearts. The term “Sacred Heart” is derived from this realization. It is highly revered in most spiritual traditions as the source of love and compassion. Finally, our belly center is where our earthly roots are found including our ties to the animal world and the ability to feel and interact with the world around us. We find this center revered in the Pagan and Zen traditions along with many indigenous cultures. Right below the naval, it can be likened to likened to a spider web reaching into all parts of our body which gives us the vehicle by which we "do" good.

Understanding and activating all three soul centers is the key to evolving our consciousness and embracing our divine nature.

Our Truth-Head center is responsible for concepts, symbols, language, and organization of data. This includes the prefrontal cortex (which finishes growing in our mid-twenties) which adds self-reflection, ethics, and judgment. The Beauty-Heart center's primary contribution is one of love, harmony, relationships, and compassion using our five senses for both input and output. Finally, the often misunderstood and dismissed Good-Body center is how we are able to express our Divinity through our incarnated body. This center also offers us the ability to stay grounded in reality while feeling our inter-connection and inter-dependence with all of the manifest world.

Each of these centers takes focused attention to bring them into greater fullness. This includes body awareness and acceptance, shadow work, and an expansion of our beliefs. Awakening and balancing all three centers is a key element of all Soulwork.

At the same time, the most recent part of our specie's brain is still evolving. The Neural-net, which science has shown remains malleable throughout our life, holds the physiological potential to harmonize and bridge our other older brains so we can act as a more complete embodied soul. This is why it takes extra work to get these three centers to work together ...the wiring is still evolving.

For a larger image depicting these soul centers click on the image below.