Topology of the Human Soul and the Struggle for Holiness, Part 3

On Saturday, I laid down the background of the shape of the human soul and its setting in the universe. Yesterday I gave an overview of the various organs of the soul that I know enough about to mention. I don’t pretend to have a full understanding of the soul, and I doubt any living human on Earth can say they do. Today I want to go into more detail of the one organ of the human soul that I know the most about. I will now describe the kardia and its role in contemplation and the struggle for holiness.

The three chambers of the kardia are meant to work in concert, but they are not equal in importance. The most important for the purpose of holiness is the thelema, the seat of volition or will. When the thelema is in charge, the person takes responsibility for his or her own life and actions. All thoughts and feelings must be vetted by the thelema for morality, ethics and relevance. When the thelema is in line with the will of God, these actions become easier to direct. Let’s explore the the relationship of thelema with the other two chambers.

The next chamber in line,although not necessarily in import, is the nous, the seat of reason. People who put the nous in charge of their kardia are easy to spot by the way they rationalize their unethical acts and find other people to blame for their faults. The nous is essential in researching the world around us and the will of God. When the nous is subordinate to the thelema, the person is more reasonable and rational. Wild rationalizations are rejected by thelema before they can get out into the rest of the soul. The often most effective vector by which spirits of darkness test the will of a human is to inject thoughts into the person’s nous to see if the person will accept it as his or her own. This is the primary reason for vetting by the thelema of all thoughts before they get out of the kardia.

The last chamber, though definitely not the least, is the one I call the gous, from the Greek word goao which means to wail, this is the seat of the feelings and affections. When the gous is in charge, the person becomes completely irrational and driven by every wind of chance. The most destructive passions, anger, avarice, envy, jealousy, lust, etc. come out of the gous, and they are often placed there by spirits of darkness. When the thelema is in charge, the destructive passions are controlled. When the gous is in charge the passions run wild.

When a contemplative sits in silence to meditate, it becomes an act of pure thelema to listen to the still small voice of God. The nous and gous are clamoring for attention, but the thelema merely lets it pass without entertaining it in the kardia or passing it into the rest of the soul. This exercise of the thelema gains the contemplative greater control over the whole of the kardia and a more healthy soul.

Another benefit of empowering the thelema over the other two chambers of the kardia is the maturity attained by taking responsibility for ones own soul. People who do not put their thelema in charge of their kardia are among the most destructive members of society. I won’t go into the pathology of social disorders. But let is suffice that the thelema can control it in each individual.

So by putting the thelema in charge of the kardia, and aligning it with the holy will of God, the individual is able to grow into holiness as God has planned for each of us. The struggle comes from within the soul as it resists the correction, and outside forces of spiritual evil are injecting thoughts, feelings and passions into the kardia. Putting the thelema in charge of the kardia makes one a better person, even if he or she does not believe in God. But when the will of God becomes the cannon by which the thelema rules the kardia, the soul is on the road to holiness.