what's your personal interpretation of the term "soul searching"?

Question

just curious...how would one know what they're searching for if they're clueless as to what exactly they're looking for to begin with? does soul searching mainly apply to the spiritual/religious people? are non-religious/non-spiritual people are just as able to do some soul-searching? is soul seaching same as finding your "calling"? if not,what do you think is the difference? does soul searching cease when we're dead? can soul searching be denied/terminated or is it always there for one to find/discover? what does soul-searching mean to you and how has this impacted your life,if any? what's your current situation regarding soul searching?

*answer only if you have an insightful perspective/opinion.give example(s) from your own experience.no links.describe thoughts in your own words.

are some people such as criminals/evil-minded people who show no remorse or mercy,unaware of soul searching or they refuse to be aware of it so that this process may help them recover/reflect?

Answer 1

To me, soul searching in spending time alone and trying to learn what you really are, what you really believe, and what you really want your life to portray.
It has nothing to do with religion. But it certainly can be a spiritual search. I seek peace of mind, compassion, self-control, life purpose, and love of myself.

Answer 2

The term soul searching can have different meanings. The most common one is when a person takes time to seriously consider the ramifications of a pending decision.

For example, about five years ago, I wanted to move forward in my musical career, but I was also dealing with a chronic illness that made having medical insurance a necessity. I felt that my options were limited when it came to relocating outside my home town. Changing medical carriers was a problem because of the pre-existing condition.

Because of my passion for moving forward in music, I did some serious soul-searching for several weeks exploring my motives for wanting to have more than I currently had, what would happen if I moved away from friends and family and got sick and weighing whether or not taking the risk and going for it was worth it. I decided to take the risk and accepted a position out of my home town.

Soul searching can (and does) have a spiritual element to it, but it's not limited to spiritual considerations. Soul searching can involve vocation, relationships, even where one should spend a vacation. It's getting in touch with yourself and your deepest hopes and desires.

Answer 3

People use the term soul-searching to mean many different things. Sometimes it gets used to mean that someone was nasty to someone else, so they need to do some soul-searching. Other times it means search for life path and direction, as you say. My interpretation of the term depends purely on how I hear it used.

No, the soul does not cease when we die. The soul is energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed, so the soul is eternal, as best we understand that word.

Soul searching cannot be denied. If you ask, you are always heard. You are always answered, even if you cannot always hear it. Become the seeker - good for you, you've made a great start. The answers to your questions can be found in your heart. Your heart is wiser than your head. Listen to it, for it holds the truth.

Answer 4

Ok. My soul searching began when I started practising the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin a year ago. Nichiren was born in Japan in 1222, and took all of the teachings of the Buddha (Shakyamuni)and found a way for ordinary people to attain enlightenment. By chanting the title of the Buddha's final teaching - the Lotus Sutra. I was told that it is the most modern type of Buddhism and that it is open for absolutely ANYONE to practise without changing a thing about themselves! Just chant NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO twice a day and reap the benefits. I thought: How great does that sound?! So I had a go without really believing I could or ever would change, but I have!
I have realised that I have been living with 'blinkers' on and that all the negativity in my life has been caused my me!! Not everyone I had been pointing the finger at!! It is then that I began my true soul searching as I realised virtually everything I had been brought up to believe was misguided.
I wasn't LOOKING for anything in particular, I just wondered why all these Buddhists I had met locally, were all so happy?!! I've now realised that not only does this chanting change your perceptions of life and yourself, but you can actually chant to change specific things in your life! Since starting I have cleared 2 over-drafts, got decent work and I ALWAYS get a parking space after I've chanted!! Bizarre?!! I know!
But the most fundamental thing I have learned is that I am great! Just as I am! I am 8 stone overweight and have ALWAYS felt like a failure! Now I really don't! I believe that it's in my karma to be the way I am and I have made a cause to be like this.

I became a member of the Soka Gakkai International earlier this year (the movement for Nichiren Buddhism around the world), and have since met the most amazing people ever!

I've since introduced many people to the practice, all of whom said that they were looking for something in their lives, but didn't know what! Now they know! I don't believe soul searching applies to only spiritual or religious people at all! With this Buddhism there is no praying to a God, it is simply enlightening a greater self! It is accessible to EVERYONE and the best bit is that you can try it for a few months, and if nothing happens for you, you can stop. There are no rules!

I think the difference between soul searching and 'calling' is that soul searching is the search for enlightenment, and your 'calling' is when you know you've found it and it becomes your mission to help others. It's very hard to explain!
Also, this Buddhism teaches that our stored karma (causes & effects from everything we think, do or say) has an energy all of it's own. When we pass on, this energy enters the universe and then (when the time is right) it is re-acquired into a new life and hence a new form. Again, very deep I know! Therefore, I don't believe anything ceases when we are dead except our outer shell. Many Buddhist friends of mine are chanting to come back in their next lives as very poor people living in awful circumstances just so as they can prove this practice!! Maybe they'll have to do a lot more soul searching to do then!!
I suppose SS can be denied, but I feel that if this was the case, people who deny it in themselves will always feel that cluelessness and emptiness in their lives, covering up the possibilty of fundamental happiness with rapture. Rapture is winning the lottery, having a party, scoring a goal - however, the money soon goes, the party ends and the match is won. What about the next day? And the next? Nichiren Buddhism is ALL about making us fundamentally happy on a deep level every day, and therefore making all the people around us happy! Nichiren says "An enlightened person is like a sun that can't fail to shine on those around them."

I feel my journey of SS is long and really I have just touched the tip of the iceberg! But if my life can change so greatly in a year, bring on the rest!!
Best of luck mate! Go on - be happy! You deserve it!

Answer 5

I believe soul searching is a process, not just something you decide to do. I think it is when you start to see yourself for who you really are... good and bad... and the process of accepting the true you. The process of realizing the mistakes you have made, and people you may have hurt, and the effect of your actions and decisions on your life and the people you have come across in your life. I personally do not think soul searching has anything to do with religion, unless religion happens to be of extreme importance in your life. I think soul searching can lead to someone finding their 'calling', by helping the person realize what is truly important to them, they may realize what their 'purpose' in life is, but I do not think they are the same thing.
I personally have done a lot of soul searching the last few years, and was hurt when I realized I was not this perfect little person I tried to make everyone think I was. It took a lot of pressure off of me when I realized it is okay to be inperfect. I accepted that I have hurt people, and forgave myself. I realized that there is more to life than to worry about everyone all of the time, and it is okay to be selfish sometimes. Not everyone is going to like me all of the time, so stop putting so much energy into it, and just enjoy life day by day... and treasure the people who love me. I am so much happier now that I know my 'true' self... and have accepted my imperfections. Now I do not feel all the unecessary pressure I had put on myself, and I can finally be truly happy.

Answer 6

"Soul searching" is an indirect approach to finding something that you already are. Just know this;
- You are not your body.
- You are not your soul.
- You are the one, that has both body and soul.

We begin by thinking that we are a body of flesh, skin and bone. But then we experience a shift in our perception, when we realize that the body is only a physical object composed of organic molecules which are essentially atoms, the building blocks of matter. The body is an amazing miracle, a wonder of the world, but not our true identity.

We then wonder that perhaps we are the so called "Soul". We now shift our thinking away from the body and think of ourselves as the soul, that owns a human body. Not a human body that owns a soul. To realize this, we begin to see the world not with our eyes but through our eyes, and it gives us the freedom to know that we more than just beings of limited talents.

Take it from here...and this time step away from both your body and soul and see both from a distance. Who are you now?

Answer 7

To me, all people are soul searching. It's digging deep inside yourself for answers. The questions can be different for each person. Mine is, what makes me whole, peaceful, & content. What am I doing when I get that sense of fullfillment, thats where I need to be. Am I satisfied where my life is, is there something else I should be doing? I believe as we grow older the questions change. I'm a mother, I've raised two children, that was very fullfilling at the time & I believe I did a very good job. At that time I constently looked for the right answers in dealing with growing chlidren. Not, in books or stories, but, in my heart & head. By watching my children I learned what each child needed & if it was in me to provide it. If not I found a different way to fullfill that need.

Now, it's the way I express myself to others. I am me, I don't try to be something else. I'm most content, & peaceful when I'm just being me. I continue to soul-search, and am finding different questions. I guess the best answer for what soul-searching is to me is am I good with God, if I'm good with God, I'm filled with peace & contentment.

Answer 8

Without reading all that crap below the BOLD initial question I think soul searching is like looking for souls. For example, bonobos can communicate their wishes and emotions to humans with sign language. It is clear they have free will (or maybe inexpensive will), so now we need to search for their souls and convert them to radical evangelical religion. After we found their souls we could start a religion for them like "The Twenty Third Church of God, Nuclear Physicist of Latter Day Witnesses". The main doctrine will be that the followers have to pay their minister 86 percent of the royalties from movies.

Answer 9

Searching for that person that has the same outlook on life,likes,dislikes,able to laugh and cry at the same things.Respects your space {if needed}.Yet,able to have a debate and disagree with a positive outcome.The foundation of a positive soul is,RESPECT.Everything else falls into place,and the soul search will be over.

Answer 10

In my humble opinion, soul searching means to take a deep look into yourself and try and discover who you really are. Why do you feel this way or that. What makes you tick? What makes you laugh...what makes you cry? What makes you sad..what makes you happy? Here...you are really trying to make an honest evaluation of "you" for the sake of improving yourself.

I have traveled this path and this is what worked for me. Each night I go to bed I would start back as far as I can in my childhood and go over my life from that point. each seceding night i would start from where I left off the previously. I would try and remember all and as much as I can. It soon began to reveal what happened in my youth that make me have this attitude or that. This feeling or that feeling. Why do I love this and/or why I hate that.

This really put me in touch with who I am and why. This knowledge enabled me to improve myself and not be in a state of self denial. I feel that it was good therapy and I continue daily to try and improve myself rather than judge or criticize others.