THE TWO SOULS: THE ONE THAT IS AND THE ONE THAT HAS BEEN
A Yogic Explanation of the Real Centre of Life
What human beings casually call “the soul” is not one simple thing. In yogic sciences, in the Śaiva tradition, and in the deepest Upanishadic insights, there are two completely different centres of existence.
One is eternal.
The other is only apparent.
One is.
The other has been.
Most people spend their entire lifetime confusing these two — and therefore miss the very heart of existence.
1. The Soul That Is: The Unborn Centre
When I speak of the one that is, I am referring to that dimension which is beyond creation, beyond birth, beyond any beginning or end.
This is the unmade reality — not produced by forces, not shaped by time, not limited by experience. It is that which simply is, whether worlds arise or disappear, whether bodies come or go.
This eternal centre has been described for thousands of years:
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The Upanishads call it the Ātman: the unborn, the undying.
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The Śaivas call it Para-Śiva: the formless, the boundless, the ever-present.
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Yogis simply call it That — because no other word can contain it.
This centre is not something you discover as a part of life.
It is the ground upon which life happens.
2. The Soul That Has Been: The Produced Centre
Now, there is another centre — the one you call “me,” the one you feel as the centre of your life.
This is not the eternal Self.
This is a created phenomenon.
Because of many dynamic forces — what you called centripetal and centrifugal, the inward pull and the outward thrust — a kind of artificial nucleus forms. When these forces dance, they produce a centre of gravity, a point from which you experience life. That point feels like “my soul,” “my identity,” “my existence.”
This centre is not false, but it is manufactured.
It is not the Ultimate; it is a product of conditions.
Your thoughts, your memories, your karmic impressions, your tendencies — all of them swirl and organise themselves into this temporary centre. This is what we call the jīva, the individuated being.
This is the “soul of life,” but it is not the soul of reality.
3. The Mistake of Spiritual Seekers
Most people imagine self-realisation means “realising my soul.”
No.
It is about realising that the soul you think is yours is not the centre at all.
You do not become enlightened by polishing this artificial centre; you become free by seeing through it.
This is why every enlightened being has said:
“As long as you think you are the centre, you will be trapped in the circle.”
The challenge is not of discovery — it is of dis-identification.
4. The Higher Centre: The One You Cannot Experience as Life
There exists a higher centre — the true centre — but you cannot know it as life.
You can only know it when what you call “life” falls away.
In yogic tradition it is said:
“What is real is not an experience. It is that in which all experiences arise.”
Life is a limited projection, a temporary arrangement of energy, designed with intention. But the one who designed it, the one in whom it arises — that is not accessible through the senses, the mind, or the body.
This is why ancient sages said:
“Only in death, you smell the truth — unless you dissolve before you die.”
5. Why Shiva Is Called Kāl, Nirākal, Akal - Three states of existence
This is where Shiva enters the conversation, not as a deity, but as a symbol of the absolute, the formless, the ground of reality.
In yogic sciences:
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Kāla means time.
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Mahākāla means the destroyer of time.
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Akala means beyond time.
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Nirākala / Nirākāra means without form, without boundaries, without identity.
Shiva is not a god sitting somewhere — Shiva is the unborn One, the soul that is, the centre that does not move even when universes rise and collapse.
This is why yogis say:
“Shiva is the only reality. Everything else is virtual.”
Life — as you know it — is a beautifully crafted virtual reality.
The personality, the identity, the little soul of your life — all of it is a generated projection.
But Shiva — the formless ground — is the unprojected truth.
6. Insight
The distinction between the eternal soul and the manufactured soul — is not just philosophical.
It is exactly how the yogic sciences have described human existence for millennia.
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The eternal centre is the unchanging witness.
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The produced centre is the constructed experiencer.
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Life is a temporary play of forces.
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Death removes the projection.
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Realisation is seeing the projection before death.
This is why the wisest beings said:
“You are not the centre of life; you are the centre of existence itself.”
7. In Summary — The Yogic Truth
There are two souls:
1. The soul that is
Unborn, undying, uncreated, unbound — the real centre of existence.
This is Shiva, the formless truth.
2. The soul that has been
A temporary centre produced by the forces of life.
This is the jīva, the experiencer of the virtual reality.
Self-realisation is not discovering your soul —
it is dissolving the artificial one and recognising the eternal one.
When that dissolves, even for a moment, life becomes transparent.
When it dissolves completely, only truth remains.
Why Shiva Is Called Kāl, Nirākal, and Akal
A Discourse Spoken by Dr. Parth — Truth, Wisdom, and Direct Experience
When we utter the word Shiva, we are not talking about a person, a deity, or some figure sitting on a mountaintop. We are talking about the fundamental nature of existence. In yogic science, Shiva has always been described in three ways: Kāl, Nirākal, and Akal.
These are not names.
These are not identities.
These are three distinct dimensions of reality, three states of consciousness.
If you understand these three, you understand the structure of all creation — and that which is beyond creation.
Kāl — The Play of Time and Space
In the state of Kāl, both time and space exist.
Because there is time, there is movement.
Because there is space, there is distance.
Because both exist, there is you, an individual.
This dimension is what you call life:
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Birth and death
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Memory
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Karma
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Desire
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Fulfilment and disappointment
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Gain and loss
All this drama is possible only because time is ticking and space is holding it all together.
People say, “Kāl is the destroyer.”
He is not destroying anything.
It is time that devours everything that arises in time.
This is the dance of creation and dissolution.
Whether it is a galaxy, a star, your thoughts, or your heartbeat — everything is held within Kāl, the field where time and space meet.
Nirākal — Space Without Time
If time dissolves but space still remains, that state is called Nirākal.
This is not imagination.
This is spoken of in the Mandukya Upanishad, the Bhairava Tantras, and the core of Kashmir Shaivism.
Here:
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There is no past, no present, no future.
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Yet there is a vast field of existence.
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There is no movement, because movement requires time.
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But consciousness is utterly awake, vibrant, alive.
It is a reality where existence simply is — unmoving, untouched, unchanging.
Yogis call it the still universe, the silent expanse.
There is life here, but no unfolding.
There is being, but no becoming.
This is why meditators who touch this state come back with tears of ecstasy. They have tasted existence without the burden of time.
Akal — Beyond Time, Beyond Space, Beyond Creation
Then there is Akal.
This is not time.
This is not space.
This is not even the field in which creation happens.
Akal is before creation.
Akal is beyond dissolution.
Akal is the source that precedes both the manifest and the unmanifest.
Here:
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There is no direction.
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No boundary.
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No center.
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No memory.
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No individuality.
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No coming, no going.
But don’t mistake this for emptiness.
This is totality without form.
This is why the Rig Veda says:
“When nothing existed — not the sky, not the space — yet Something breathed without breath.”
That Something is Akal.
In this state, nothing moves, because movement needs time.
Yet the intensity, the boundlessness, the ecstasy — no pleasure, no emotion, no thought can ever touch it.
Bliss does not come from your body.
Joy does not come from your mind.
Peace does not come from your heart.
These are tiny ripples.
Bliss is the fragrance of Akal — the natural state of existence when it stands alone.
Quantum Science and the Observer
Today, quantum physicists say that the observer determines the reality.
In yogic science, this has been known for thousands of years.
Creation is not an independent event.
It is a projection, a shadow that arises when consciousness looks in a certain direction.
Akal is the silent observer.
Nirākal is the field.
Kāl is the projection.
You call this life.
A yogi calls it a virtual reality.
The Fragrance of Bliss Beyond Thought and Body
In Akal, there is no movement, no time, no space — but there is an indescribable ecstatic intensity.
This is the source of:
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Sat — being
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Chit — knowing
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Ananda — bliss
These are not qualities of the mind.
They are the nature of the source itself.
This is why yogis said,
“Bliss is not an experience. Bliss is your original state.”
Manifestation Is Effortless
In our current reality, to manifest anything you must:
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think,
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plan,
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try,
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act,
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wait.
But in Akal, there is no distance between intention and manifestation.
Will and creation are not two things.
The moment the will arises, creation is already accomplished.
This is why the ancient scriptures say:
“The universe arose like a spark from fire.”
The Two Souls — The Produced Center and the Real Center
The “soul” in everyday language — the centre of your experience — is not the real soul.
It is a produced center, created by the play of forces:
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centripetal
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centrifugal
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karmic
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mental
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emotional
Because these forces converge, you feel,
“This is me. This is my center.”
But this is not the soul of reality.
This is just the soul of your limited life, a kind of artificial center.
Self-realisation does not mean realising this center.
It means realising that this center is not the center at all.
There is a higher center — but you cannot experience it as life.
You can only smell it when everything you call “you” dissolves.
This is why yogis said:
“Life as you know it is a limited creation,
a shadow cast by something you cannot yet grasp.”
The Ultimate Truth
Shiva as Kāl is the framework of life.
Shiva as Nirākal is the stillness behind life.
Shiva as Akal is the reality beyond existence.
Everything you know is happening in Kāl.
Everything you are yet to know lies in Nirākal.
Everything you truly are is in Akal.
One plays.
One witnesses.
One simply is.
That is Shiva.
Editor's Note:
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