Mind, Will, and the Soul: The Inner System That Shapes Your Life

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READING 900-21 explained

Reading 900-21 explains that the mind is not just one simple thing, but has different levels that work together inside a person. There is a spiritual mind, which is the highest level and is connected to purpose, truth, and the deeper direction of life. There is also the subconscious or soul mind, which stores memories, habits, and emotions from past experiences. Then there is the conscious or physical mind, which is the part we use every day to think, react, and make sense of what we see and hear. Although these seem separate, they are all part of one complete system, working together within the individual. The senses bring information into the conscious mind, the subconscious mind stores and organises it, and all of this becomes material that the person can respond to.

However, the reading makes a very important distinction between the mind and the will. The mind gathers impressions, reacts to situations, and is influenced by feelings, habits, and external circumstances. The will, on the other hand, is the active force that makes decisions. This is why Cayce says the mind is in direct opposition to the will. It does not mean they are enemies, but that they play different roles. The mind presents many thoughts, desires, and reactions, while the will chooses which of these to follow. In everyday life, a person may feel pulled in one direction by their thoughts or emotions, but the will has the ability to choose a different path. This shows that a person is not controlled by their thoughts alone, but by the decisions they make in response to them.

The reading also explains how knowledge and experience move through the system. Information comes through the senses into the conscious mind, and then it is stored in the subconscious. From there, it can influence future thoughts and reactions. Yet at every moment, the will stands as the deciding factor, choosing how to act on what has been received. This means growth does not depend only on what a person knows or feels, but on how they choose to respond to it. Over time, these choices shape the development of the individual, both physically and spiritually.

Cayce goes further by explaining that health and life itself are connected to how well this system is aligned. When a person loses awareness of the spiritual aspect within them, there is a kind of separation or breakdown. The connection between the inner spiritual force and the physical body weakens, and this can lead to disorder, illness, or even death. In contrast, when a person becomes aware of the spiritual force within and allows it to guide their life, there is growth, strength, and proper development. This is described as a kind of spiritual awakening or rebirth, where the individual begins to live with a deeper sense of purpose and alignment.

In the same way that physical life begins through a process of formation and birth, spiritual life begins through awakening and conscious development. The reading suggests that a person is meant to experience both. The physical body is formed through natural processes, but the spiritual life must be developed through awareness and choice. This development happens step by step, as the will learns to follow higher guidance rather than being led only by habits, impulses, or external influences. Over time, this leads to a more complete and unified life, where all parts of the person are working together.

The mind provides information, the senses bring in experience, and the subconscious stores it, but the will is what determines the direction of life. True growth comes when the will aligns with the spiritual mind, allowing the deeper purpose within the person to guide their actions. When this happens, the individual becomes more whole, more stable, and more fully alive, moving toward what the reading describes as becoming one with the will of the Creator.

MIND vs WILL

The difference between the mind and the will can be understood simply by seeing that the mind is where thoughts, feelings, memories, and reactions arise, while the will is the power that chooses what to do with them. The mind is constantly active, receiving information through the senses, recalling past experiences, and generating many different ideas, emotions, and impulses at the same time. It does not settle on one direction, but instead presents multiple possibilities—what you feel like doing, what you are afraid of, what you desire, or what you remember. In this way, the mind is like a stream of suggestions or influences flowing through you.

The will, however, is different in nature. It is not a stream of thoughts, but a focused and active force that decides which of those thoughts or feelings will be followed. It selects one path out of the many presented by the mind and puts it into action.

This is why Cayce describes the mind as being in opposition to the will, because the mind may pull in many directions at once, while the will must choose a single direction.

For example, a person’s mind may say they are tired, afraid, or unwilling, but the will can still decide to act with discipline, courage, or purpose despite those feelings. This shows that a person is not controlled by their thoughts or emotions alone, but by the choices they make in response to them. In everyday life, the mind provides the content of experience, but the will determines the outcome. Over time, it is the repeated use of the will—choosing what to follow and what to ignore—that shapes a person’s character, direction, and development.

SOUL MIND/WILL

Both the mind and the will are connected to the soul, but they are not the same thing as the soul itself.

The soul is the individual you—your true identity, your accumulated experience, your ongoing being across time.

The mind is a tool the soul uses to think, feel, remember, and experience life on different levels (spiritual, subconscious, and physical).

The will, however, is the active power within the soul that allows it to choose, direct, and express itself.

You can think of it like this: the soul is the owner, the mind is the instrument, and the will is the control or authority that directs how the instrument is used. The mind belongs to the soul in the sense that it is how the soul processes experience, but the will is even more central, because it is the soul’s ability to decide and act. In Cayce’s language, the will is often described as the force through which the soul aligns either with higher (spiritual) influence or lower (material, emotional, habitual) influences.

So, is the mind part of the soul?

In a practical sense, yes—the soul expresses itself through different levels of mind. But the mind can be influenced by many things, including the body, habits, and environment. The will, on the other hand, is more directly tied to the soul’s core identity, because it is the power of choice that determines direction. This is why Cayce places so much importance on the will: it is the point where the soul actively shapes its own path.

The mind is what the soul uses to experience and process life, while the will is the power within the soul that chooses what to do with that experience. The soul stands behind both, but it is through the will that the soul truly expresses who it is becoming.

SOUL'S CORE IDENTITY

The soul’s core identity is the deepest sense of who you truly are, beyond your thoughts, emotions, roles, or daily experiences. It is not your job, your personality, your mood, or even your current beliefs. Those things can all change. The soul’s core identity is the stable, underlying self that remains the same through all of life’s changes. In Cayce’s understanding, it is the part of you that is formed through your relationship with the spiritual source—it carries your purpose, your direction, and the meaning of your life. It is not something you invent in the moment, but something you discover and grow into.

This identity is expressed over time through your choices. Every decision you make using your will shapes how that identity is revealed in your life. The mind may produce many different thoughts and feelings, but the soul’s core identity is not defined by those passing experiences. Instead, it is defined by what you consistently choose to follow—truth, love, purpose, integrity, or, on the other hand, fear, avoidance, or confusion. In this way, the soul’s identity is both something that already exists within you and something that becomes clearer as you live it out.

Another way to understand it is this: your thoughts can change daily, your emotions can rise and fall, and your circumstances can shift, but there is a deeper “you” that remains constant. That “you” is not shaken by every feeling or situation, because it is rooted in something deeper than the surface level of life. It is the part of you that seeks meaning, that recognises what is right, that wants to grow, and that senses there is more to life than just reacting to circumstances. This is why people often feel a tension inside themselves—because their surface thoughts may be going one way, while something deeper inside them is calling them in another direction.

The soul’s core identity is your true self at the deepest level, the part of you that knows who you are meant to become. The mind experiences life, the will makes choices, but the soul’s core identity is what gives those choices meaning and direction. It is the quiet, steady centre within you that does not change easily, and it becomes stronger and clearer as you choose to live in alignment with it.

READING 900-21

(Q) Explain "Mind is the factor that is in direct opposition to will."

(A) We have many phases of mind. We have the mind of the spirit consciousness, of the physical sub-conscious, or soul. We have the mind of the physical body, through which any or all of these may manifest. The will [is] that active principle against which such manifestations respond. Hence [it is in] direct opposition to mind action. This, we find then, refers to the condition in the material world, will, see? The will in the spiritual plane, or spirit consciousness (not spirit entity) being the creation of that manifested in the earth plane. Hence the different conditions in will's manifesting and in how will [is in] opposition to the mind forces.

(Q) Explain "Mind is a factor as senses are of the mind, and as the soul and spirit are factors of the entity, one in all, all in one."

(A) As has been given. These conditions, mind of the soul, mind of the physical body, mind of the spiritual entity, are separated, that one may gain the knowledge of its action. As we have then the mind of the spiritual entity, that mind wherein the entity (spiritual entity [we are] speaking of) manifests in the spiritual plane, the mind in the physical body the subconscious, the conscious, through which the entity manifests in the physical world, one in all, all in one. In one in the spiritual mind, acted upon by their attributes, principally will, for it is the factor in the physical world, in the spiritual world, for the action being that through which the manifestations of any factor known. As we would have in this: Knowledge comes through the senses in the physical body to the conscious mind. The subconscious has the storing of the knowledge of given conditions; when the consciousness receives through the sense that knowledge, the will [is] the action against the incentives set forth.

(Q) Explain how the mind serrogates [segregates?], correlates, or divides the impressions to the portion needed to develop the entity, or physical force, toward the spark or infinite force, giving the life force to the body.

(A) In this, again we have the manifestations of physical conditions that may be manifest in a physical body, and conditions that may be manifest in the spiritual body. As we have in correlation of conditions that assist in the building, the developing, in the physical body, the entity, the inmost being, the expectancy of the physical body must be awakened before the body, through its tissue, its vital forces, can emanate the necessary building, or eliminating forces, of the physical body, to rebuild or develop properly. Hence the cause of death in physical world. The lack of the consciousness of the indwelling spiritual force in the spiritual entity in physical body. The breaking, the division, in the portions. Hence the disintegration of physical to the birth in the spiritual. As we have again in the physical the correlation of those elements necessary for the setting in motion of those vibrations to create the offspring, the developing begins with the separation of those elements in the physical body to create physical body, born into physical world. The knowledge of the spiritual forces begins the development through the awakening of the spiritual forces in the entity. Hence the birth into the spiritual world. Hence the necessity of the rebirth in and through such conditions, until the whole [is] made in the will of the Creator.

A.R.E. Meeting for 4/6/26

Leader: Cindi

Six Cayce followers took up their yokes as we worked the chapter on “The Cross and the Crown.” We read the sections “Why Did He Come into the World as a Man That He Might Bear a Cross?” and “Why Do We, as Individuals, Necessarily Bear Much That He Bore, and Yet Say That When Taking His Yoke upon Us the Cross Becomes Easy?”

Experiment: Choose and write down an area of your life in which you feel burdened. List the ways you have to work to feel this way—the attitudes you have to work on holding, the behaviors you have to do to keep this feeling. Then select one item from your list and write a more constructive replacement attitude or behavior. Work each day for at least a week on expressing that replacement in this area of your life.

 Example:

burdened by:                           frequent arguments with Richard

attitudes and behaviors I work at:  (1) make an effort to recall past instances where I thought he was selfish (2) make an effort to feel resentful (3) make an effort to speak unkindly of him to others

 replacement:           begin to speak in a more positive way of him to others

Overcoming Death

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In the Edgar Cayce readings, the idea of “overcoming death” does not mean simply avoiding physical death, but understanding that death itself is not truly the end of life. Cayce explains that there is, in reality, no death in the ultimate sense—only a change or transition from one state of being to another. Life comes from God, and because of this, life continues beyond the physical body. To “overcome death” therefore means to move beyond the fear, limitation, and separation that death seems to represent, and to come into a deeper awareness that life is continuous and spiritual in nature. Cayce teaches that only Jesus Christ has fully demonstrated this, because He not only died but consciously passed through death and returned, showing that death has no final power. For this reason, Jesus is seen as the pattern or example for humanity. People do not overcome death by their own strength alone, but by aligning themselves with Him—living in such a way that their thoughts, actions, and inner life become one with His spirit.

This overcoming is not just a belief but a transformation of the whole person. Cayce describes it as something that happens when the body, mind, and spirit are “quickened,” meaning brought into a higher state of life and awareness. It involves developing a deep connection with God through daily living—through love, service, patience, and surrender of self-will. When a person begins to say, and truly live, “not my will, but God’s will be done,” they begin to shift from a self-centered life to a God-centered life. In this state, the person is no longer controlled by fear, including the fear of death, because they are rooted in something greater than the physical world. Overcoming death also means overcoming the sense of separation from God, since death in a deeper sense represents that separation. As a person grows in unity with God, they begin to experience life as continuous and secure, rather than temporary and fragile.

Cayce also suggests that there are levels to this understanding. For most people, overcoming death means becoming spiritually aware that life continues beyond the body and living without fear. However, in rare cases, it may also include overcoming death in a more physical sense, as demonstrated by Jesus, though this requires complete and total alignment with divine life. The main focus, however, is not on physical immortality but on spiritual transformation. This transformation happens through consistent inner work—through prayer, meditation, right thinking, and especially through love for others. Cayce emphasizes that the same power that overcame death in Christ can work in individuals as they open themselves to that divine presence. In simple terms, to overcome death is to live so closely connected to God, who is Life itself, that death no longer has power over one’s consciousness, identity, or sense of being.

SELECTED READINGS ON OVERCOMING DEATH

(Q) Will I overcome death in this incarnation?

(A) There is no death. Death is only overcome by Him, who has overcome death. It is our promise, and when ye abide in Him sufficient to that, ye with Him, as the resurrection, may indeed overcome death in a material sense.

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(Q) Will you please give more information on the resurrection of the Body?

(A) This is seen in that ye have as thine instructions as to how He, thy pattern, resurrected the body, QUICKENED the body. So within thine own self must come that which through Him may overcome death, overcome that transition, overcome that which is the change - save the conscious change of being in ALL matters, ALL phases, ALL experiences, one with Him.

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Who hath overcome death?

WHO hath entered into the Holy of Holies for man, save He as THOU hast seen come IN into death, even He Whom ye saw enter into the glory of glories!

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...the entity may remind others of the needs to live that life which was wholly, truly exemplified in the life of the man Jesus, who became the Christ through the things which He suffered, and through demonstrating in the earth the abilities to overcome DEATH, the law of death.

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(Q) [993]: Please give us more information concerning the law of vibrations during meditation, and how we can understand and use that which we experience.

(A) As has been given, and as experienced by many, in opening self to the unseen forces about us, yet warred ever by those influences save when in the presence of His influence, then as the forces are raised in self KNOW - without doubt - there ARE His protecting influences, able, willing, capable, and WILL aid in that direction in which such vibrations, such influences, are raised to those individuals to whom they be directed, even by the spoken word; for, as is seen, as is understood by many, by most, that the UNSEEN forces are the ACTIVE forces, the ACTIVE principles. That which BECOMES as a manifestation is that which has been acted UPON BY those unseen forces and influences. What produces same? These are the VIBRATIONS to which a body has raised by its attunement of its whole being, its whole inner self, of a consciousness of that divine force that emanates in Life itself in this material plane. In sending such forces out, then, be mindful that there is no doubt that these will bring that as HE sees fit, "Not my will, O Father, but Thine be done!" What did THIS bring to Him? The cross, the burdens, the crown of thorns - yet in its essence it brought those abilities to overcome death, hell and the grave. So, as in our raising ourselves to that understanding that His presence is guiding and directing those influences about those to whom we would direct His cause (for they have called on us), then KNOW His will IS BEING done in the manner as THOU hast sent same to that individual!

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Let the body keep those attitudes of constructive forces in its experience, knowing as it enters into these activities, it is not for self but that others may know that freedom which comes with a greater knowledge of the Prince of Peace, of the Son, of the Father-God who gave the expression of self in the earth in such measures that He brought sight to the blind, the ability to restore the lame, even overcome death itself.

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(Q) What is the lesson that may be drawn from my entrance into the present plane?

(A) That purpose for which the soul entered in, under those circumstances and conditions in the earth's experience in the present, that the soul might meet in this experience that which will make for the more sureness in Him. For, the earth is His and the fullness thereof. For, as given, God and the Christ Spirit is Life itself; and the motivating force of the soul is either for that companionship, that association, that development which will make such a soul-body as a fit companion for that Creative Influence manifested in the earth in Him, or it is for separating self from Him. For, in the Beginning was the Word, and that Spirit, that Christ Spirit WAS the Word. That Word was made flesh, even as each soul that manifests in the earth is made flesh. That soul, that spirit, DWELT among men, and that soul made itself of no estate; yet the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of the life itself; that man, that each soul, that this soul, might know that it has an advocate WITH the Father through Him that gave Himself as a ransom. How? For, as the impulses in self arise, know those impulses have arisen in Him; yet through the ability to overcome death in the material world is His presence able to abide with thee, dost thou trust in Him and not in self. Or, as He gave, in Him who IS the Maker and the Creator is life alone, and they that put their trust in anything else climb up some other way. But they that put their trust in Him are His, and He calleth them by name, and He abideth with them. When ye call on Him He is very near.

KNOW, then, that in this experience thou mayest come to know Him as thine daily companion in whatsoever thou doest; for, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." What are His commandments? A new commandment He gave, that ye love one another, even as He hast loved thee.

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Believe ye His words?

Just as experienced by those who stood about the grave of him, the brother of those whom the Lord loved, - when He spoke, death itself gave up that it had claimed, even though the sister had warned that there had not been the embalming as had been the purposes of many. Instantly the activity brought life. For He IS life. He IS health, He IS beauty, He IS - not was, not will be, but IS! For He having overcome death, hell and the grave, He is justified before God in giving to him who believes, who is in accord; that "If ye ask in my name, believing," doing, being that ye ask for, that shall be done unto thee.

Yet with the breaking of the bonds of death, the breaking of the material bonds - the binding about the head - must needs be done by others.

There is ever, then - in thy material associations, in thy seeking for help, love, health, understanding for thy brother - SOMETHING, some effort on their part as well as THINE. But "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there will I be in the midst of them."

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