Do you know what your soul values are? Six to seven years ago, I didn’t even know what soul values were. I remember struggling at that time to incorporate my spiritual practice into my daily life, especially within the corporate environment I was in. One of Adyashanti's courses provided the answer I was looking for and introduced me to the concept of soul values.

What are they?

According to Adyashanti, we have two types of values – ego values and soul values. Ego values are, to a large extent, what society appreciates. These are the talents, qualities, and skills discussed in job interviews – efficiency, sense of humor, responsibility, work ethics, teamwork, leadership, ability to communicate, etc. While these values are good, they can feel somewhat superficial and are subject to change over time.

On the other hand, soul values are universal. When we act from them, they universally bring goodness without causing suffering. These values include goodness (beyond good and bad), kindness, truth, freedom, courage, love, peace, gratitude, joy and more. They are deeply ingrained in who we are, present from birth until we leave this body.

Why this matters?

Based on the type of values we are acting from in every given situation, we manifest more of our ego or more of our soul. Imagine a challenging work situation. You are literally a different person if you approach the situation with your ego value efficiency and if you approach it with the soul value courage or love.

This was a HUGE revelation to me. I discovered that while progressing in my career, I left behind my soul values. This is why I was feeling disconnected, and I was not able to bring together my spiritual longing into my daily life.

Before I finish my story, I want to ask you, what are your soul values?.

What are your soul values?

Think about it! Which one(s) of these values feel like an integral part of who you are? Which one(s) seem most important to you? What is worth living and dying for?

Maybe you already have an answer, or maybe not…

If you have an answer, you can test it with this next question. If you don’t have an answer, this next one will help you discover your soul value:

Go back to your earliest memories. See the little girl that you were. Which value were you acting from? Which value was an intrinsic part of you then?

That’s it! This is your soul value.

And now what?

So, how do you align yourself with your soul? How do you unify the different lives you might be living (like a spiritual life and a social life)? - You do it by staying close to your soul value and speaking, thinking, and acting from it in every situation. It is simple, but it is not easy! In many situations, you might feel an inner conflict between societal expectations and your soul value. But it is sooo powerful and so deeply liberating to start choosing your soul over what people think about you.

My soul value

I discovered that my soul value is goodness. I started acting from it, and in many situations, my actions were unconventional but super effective. Acting from my goodness in combination with my ahimsa (loving-kindness) practice changed COMPLETELY how I interact with people and overall who I am.

Acting from your soul values will bring you peace, clarity and joy.

My invitation to you is to take a moment to discover your soul value(s), then experiment with having them as a driving force behind your decisions and to act from it in as many situations as possible.