By: Jillian Sawers
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2643/the-daily-guardian-mumbai/15
Dated: June 28th, 2025

This world, in truth, is a grand drama on a cosmic stage. Each soul plays many parts across lifetimes. Just as an actor puts on different costumes for different scenes, the soul takes on new bodies and roles. Shakespeare’s timeless line captures it well: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” The drama may appear real, but the soul behind the role is always ultimately untouched and unchanged.

The soul is eternal, and in its purest state exists in a vast, luminous dimension beyond time and sound. Souls in that state are radiant beings of light, suspended in complete peace and contentment. These souls are untouched by thought, desire, or the senses. There is nothing to gain, nothing to lose. They simply are — overflowing with silence, love, and bliss. In this state of wholeness, there is no striving, no story — just the serene awareness of being.

Then comes a shift. One by one, each soul enters a physical body, taking its seat behind the eyes to look out at the material world. Compared to the soul’s star-like form of light, the body is dense and huge. Yet the soul observes it all with wonder: the movement of air, the play of light, the variety of form. Initially, this observation is pure and silent. There are no labels or judgments — just childlike appreciation.

But over time, the soul becomes immersed in the world of the senses, of roles, relationships, and stories. It begins to identify with the body and forget its true self. The temporary becomes the focus, and the eternal is forgotten. This forgetfulness is the source of all sorrow, fear, and confusion. What was once understood to be a costume becomes mistaken for the self. What was once a play becomes mistaken for real life.

The tragedy is not in the drama, but in the forgetting. If an actor forgets they are acting, the role takes over completely. Attachments deepen, fears grow, and sorrow becomes inevitable. Relationships, roles, and possessions become bondages when seen as permanent. But when seen as just parts of a play, they can be appreciated without being clung to. 

Remarkably, even difficult roles — like being born into a body that is weak or different — can be used by the soul for its own growth. Just as actors sometimes choose challenging parts to develop their craft. From the soul’s perspective, there is no shame or failure in playing any role — only the opportunity to experience, learn, and evolve.

Everything in the physical world — the body, relationships, possessions, and even national identities — is ultimately part of the stage set. It is all temporary, changing, and illusory. Kingdoms rise and fall. Bodies grow and decay. Roles begin and end. But the soul remains. The only real life is the one happening in consciousness.

Waking up to this truth restores freedom. We can then move through life with clarity and detachment. Joy and sorrow lose their grip. There is space to love deeply without fear of loss, to act fully without ego, and to observe everything with grace. Even death is seen not as an end, but simply as a change of costume.

While the script of life may be unknown, our attitude and perceptions are always a choice. A soul rooted in its true identity is never a victim of circumstance.

True liberation comes not by leaving the world, but by remembering who we are while playing our part in it. To live as a soul first, and then as an actor, is to live in harmony, peace, and absolute freedom.

Jillian Sawers is a professional self-development trainer and has a YouTube channel called ’The Department of Silence’. 
She is based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, at the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris.