The soul incarnates as a personality in order to focus on certain experiences, sometimes called lessons, and in order to focus on these experience a perceptual lens is chosen. Your experience is filtered through your soul age.
Generally speaking, the older the soul age you inhabit, the wider your perception of the universe and others will be, and the more possibilities arise for seeing the universe's interconnection and love. An infant soul can only see others like itself; that is its universe. An old soul has more possibility to see the universe in its infinite beauty - though of course rarely does. All is chosen, including soul age.
Soul Age is a concept that it is possible to use to separate yourself from others with. "She's an old soul", you might have heard as a child when you were talked about. This meant, supposedly, that you were wiser, smarter, more evolved, and closer to enlightenment than others.
The concept of soul age has no "better" or even "closer to enlightenment". You are, at this moment, incarnating in other soul age perceptions in other timeframes and other parallels. But your experience, Now, is within the framework of a soul age.
In the Michael Teachings concept, soul age has nothing to do with being more 'evolved'. All time is Now, therefore thinking of linear evolution is a misnomer. There is no 'better', since you are All That Is.
However, this doesn't mean the concept of the progression through the soul ages is invalid, any more than saying that psychological progression through developmental stages is invalid because no human being is worth more than another. The soul chooses to incarnate with perceptual lenses.
Infant Soul
The main lesson of the infant soul is survival. In this cycle, or sequence of lives, the soul becomes habituated to life in a human body. It is a big shift for a soul used to not being incarnate! It is vastly different than being an animal without a wide range of choices.
The infant soul will tend to live an intense life based mostly in instinct. Sex is mostly about surrendering to unknown urges, whether it be animal urges or society's instruction. An infant soul can life in society, in the wild, or in urban jungles on the street - but will tend to live instinctively.
The life lived here can be described as Simplicity. This simplicity extends outwards in all directions, including inwardly. The infant soul looks at others as "other Me's". There is puzzlement or hostility when differences occur; it is not easily fit into this perceptual framework.
While it seems that an Infant Soul's life is mostly that of fear, there is still trendous joy in simple pleasures simply from the intense presence of simplicity. Because they are survival focused, the joy that comes from simply being present in the body is not lost. They tend to be more present-moment focused than any other age except the manifested old soul.
An example of the evolution of the infant soul might be of the harnessing of individual energies into a collective whole, for survival focus, in a group. This brings lessons on interconnection to the infant soul perspective. A focus is found, energy moves through that channel. The dispersion of this energy creates a union of the individuals so participating that creates in turn chemical reactions within the body that produce hormones that free the self from the confines of the body itself. This freedom transfers again into movement that needs to find an outlet, the closest outlet being the other members of the group. Therefore energies move a second time among the members of this group and produces what results as “the group high” that is experienced by those participating in what is a mob experience.
Other soul ages participating in a mob are often reverting to the infant soul's perspective.
In terms of modern psychology, the infant soul can be linked to Maslow's survival perspective.
Baby Soul
The perception of the baby soul framework has evolved to the point that they can allow awareness of differences of others. There is "me" and "not me", and there is a lack of feeling of safety from this. Expanded awareness is not always joyful; it must be balanced, used, and incorporated, and to do this at this level requires the exploration of safety. In Maslow's hierarchy, that is where this perception resides. In other frameworks, it can be termed "rule-making", for that is a regular expression of this desire for safety.
Young Soul
The young soul's lessons are the epitome of directing outward energy. The lessons involve status, competition, and making an impact on the world. Power becomes a focus. The lessons involve forces exerted from and to you, and finding a balance, often with success as a barometer. This is the height of what is called the "ego", or rather the perception of isolation from All That Is.
While this may sound negative, it is part of the perfection that is soul evolution. Young souls , often believing that this is their "all or nothing" livetime, will tend to throw themselves into their lives and truly enjoy the physicality. They can often get more things done than other soul ages, for the external world is paramount in their perception. There are many tasks which are more suited to young souls than others.
For the last few thousand years, the planet has been in a young soul period. We are now beginning the transition into the mature soul age, in which the average soul age of those on the Earth will become mature.
Mature Soul
Moving away from the experience of separation and competition that is the stereotypical expression of the young soul. In this framework, a deeper level of exchange is possible between souls. There is more capability to receive energetically than in earlier perceptions, and this can open up a whole new can of worms, that of esteem.
Because of the opening up of the world, there is more openness to energetic sensitivities and psychic awareness, even if it is not fully conscious. The mature soul can experience others as they experience themselves. These inputs can be overwhelming at times and can take many lifetimes to balance.
The mature soul age, being the 4th in the sequence, is on the neutral, assimilation axis.
Old Soul
The old soul's lesson have to do with being. This is the last cycle normally experienced on Earth. (The next two can show up here from time to time, but never on demand.)
The perception of the old soul is about expansion beyond immediate family into the universe as a whole. It is the first cardinal soul age, which is why the shift turns to being. There is an awareness that the old soul is All That Is. There is an awareness that separation does not truly exist. There is an awareness, even in conflict, that you are the other person who riled you up so much, which can bring out laughter.
This, of course, is only possibility. Old souls can also be stuck, holding on to the perceptions of earlier soul ages, or simply exploring the immediate surroundings from an old soul perspective. The more expanded perception means a wider range of choices, and these are seen in the old soul. Some live as simply as infant souls, some may be on the board of a corporation, and some may choose lives that complement learning about being and interconnection, such as certain arts, gardening, or cultivating wine.
The expanded perception also mean that the veil between lives is lessoned. While memories of past lives are not always conscious, there is a greater sense of knowingness that can create competence in many areas, even in those not aligned with the role.
The stereotype of the old soul in the western culture is arrogant and intellectual. Intellectual centering can help with investigating believe structures about the universe and All That Is, but old souls have all centerings, as they have all overleaves. There is nothing "younger" about being emotionally centered and passionately going to extremes of excstacy and despair. This is part of the physical plane, and one of the major lessons of the physical plane is to love it as it is. The old soul will simply have more resources at its disposal in the surrender that is this love.
The old soul level brings a more reserved yet gentle love of others. Expectations are greatly diminished, and what is left is a more pure sense of playful interaction between people on many levels, not the least of which is cellular. Some of the urgency regarding receipt is gone, and with that is left more wonder and more awe at the hugeness and complexity of the entire universal concept that is Love.
Through this soul age, much of the entire “heaviness" of the physical plane can be transcended, at least for moments, as the people so involved become aware of Self in all its greatness and connectedness. Experiencing this, even for momentary periods, leads often to rapid growth due to the perceptual changes that occur during the interaction.
Transcendental Soul
The transcendental soul appears on Earth when a reunited Entity from the Astral Plane or the Causal Plane brings its energy to the physical plane through another soul. An immense amount of energy is brought to bear. These souls are rarely seen and usually provoke great societal changes through their energy, awareness, and perspective. They can be known in history, such as Gandhi or Mohammed, or not.
Infinite Soul
The infinite soul is a manifestation of the Tao brought to the physical plane. They do not perceive separation, and bring the full teachings of the Tao through their being and energy. The amount of energy involved in the manifestation can be compared to an impending supernova. Jesus, Buddha, and Lao Tsu were manifestations of the infinite soul.
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