In his book Life Cycles, Christopher Bache introduces the idea of the Oversoul, and in this conversation he unpacks what it means. He uses the word soul in two ways. There is soul with a small s, the psychological construct that holds the experience of this single life. And there is Soul with a capital S, the far larger being that planned this incarnation and will receive it back, holding the memories of every life you have lived. That, he says, is a hundred thousand year old being. Most of it never arrives here. Drawing on Michael Newton, Bache notes the estimate that incarnating the full substance and power of the soul in one lifetime would effectively short out our circuits, and that we probably bring perhaps 5 to 15 percent of it into any given life. But he thinks something is shifting. We may be entering a period in humanity's larger story where the soul is waking up inside us, and a greater portion of that total identity is beginning to incarnate. Asked how much of it a person can actually reach, he is encouraging. Once you understand the structure of how life accumulates across both physical and spiritual reality, you can ask for more, and there are practices that help, meditation and hypnotherapy among them. Then comes the harder question, the one people actually carry: if I chose this life, why would I have chosen one with so much suffering in it? Bache does not reach for an easy answer. He says plainly that he does not want to make light of suffering, and that he becomes angry when he hears people pronounce on how it works or make sweeping metaphysical claims about it. Suffering deserves respect. What he holds alongside that respect is a hope that it carries significance in a larger landscape. What gives him that hope is the past-life therapeutic literature, where he has watched therapists follow a present pain and let it unfold into a deeper story running back through earlier lifetimes. Again and again, people trace their pain to a source they cannot consciously remember, and in that remembering find real release. He stops short of calling suffering intentional. He describes it instead as accepted as a circumstance of learning. And he offers one more possibility worth sitting with: that some people have taken on pain that was never personally theirs. In his own psychedelic practice he found that much of what he was working through was collective rather than individual, and he suspects many people are living lives that serve the release of trauma from the collective psyche rather than only their own. Want to go deeper with Christopher Bache? Join Sounds True One for more teachings like this Get your first month FREE at https://bit.ly/4ctecMn Subscribe to Sounds True's YouTube Channel ► https://bit.ly/SubscribeSTYT Sounds True is a mission-driven learning and media company, and a recognized leader in wellbeing, personal growth, and spiritual transformation. Partnering with the world’s foremost wisdom teachers and best-selling authors, the company reaches millions worldwide with its unique programs, digital learning experiences, and worldwide events. The company also features a variety of original series, weekly shows, and live online experiences on Sounds True One, its global platform and community with members across more than 125 countries. Sounds True is a Public Benefit Corporation and also the home of the Sounds True Foundation. Connect with us: ▪️Facebook: http://bit.ly/2XFIIeE ▪️Instagram: http://bit.ly/2UlEoiH ▪️Website: http://bit.ly/2tOl02d