In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from William Law entitled “The Deepest Part of Thy Soul.”  I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.

The Infinity of God

 This depth is the unity, the eternity, I had almost said
            the infinity of thy soul; for it is so infinite
            that nothing can satisfy it or give it any rest
            but the infinity of God.
—William Law

Is the soul a capacity of the mind or the heart or neither or both?

Is the soul a second body that occupies my body?

If I were to seek my soul, where would I find it?

What does it mean to seek the soul?

What am I truly seeking?

Where does the soul begin?

Where does it end?

I like to think of my soul as a wise old woman

who encompasses my body and all my incarnations.

Who is at once me and at once more than me.

Who holds me in her womb with every other me

that ever was or will be.

Who looks in my eyes and sees herself.

Who looks in my eyes and sees the divine.

Who can be divine substance united to the divine

and who can be personified and related to

as a friend.

I also think of my soul as an infinite being

part of which is condensed into my material being.

Like the soul is an iceberg and my body

is the only part above the surface.

That’s a possibility.

William Law speaks of the soul in terms of depth,

which brings pictures to my mind

of the center of the earth.

And yes, my soul in its depths unites

with the source that inhabits

the center of the earth.

But depth doesn’t necessarily mean down.

The universe has depths.

I imagine my soul stretching across

the depths of the universe,

expanding beyond the solar system,

the galaxy,

encompassing billions of trillions of galaxies,

and more,

stretching beyond limits,

beyond the big bang,

beyond all the possible universes,

all the possible dimensions,

all the possible conceptions of reality.

It is when I start thinking of my soul as infinite

and eternal that I start wondering

what’s the difference between my soul and God?

If my soul stretches across

all time, space, dimensions, and realities,

and God stretches across all time,

space, dimensions, and realities,

then there can be no boundary

between us.

And then if there is no boundary

between my soul and God,

there is no boundary between

my soul and every other soul.

We all exist together at once.

William Law speaks of the soul

finding its only satisfaction

in the infinity of God.

It is in the illusion of my consciousness

that my soul knows separation.

It is in the infinity of God

that my soul knows truth.

It is in my search for the deepest part of my soul,

that I catch a glimpse

of Divine Perfection.