Preface: On the Soul

Preface— On the Soul
in Platonic Lambda Λ:
Soul of the Universe

A survey for "Soul" in Google Search shows over 2 trillion results. Rather
citing definitions from dictionaries, I'm quoting from enlightened sages—
Heraclitus writes in Fragments 42: "You could not discover the limits of soul
even if you traveled every road to do so; such is the depth of its meaning."
(480 BC). Plotinus writes in Enneads I.6.9: "Never did eye see the sun unless
it had first become sunlike, and never can the Soul have vision of the First
Beauty unless itself be beautiful." (270 AD). The British sage, Paul Brunton
says "The World-Mind is the Soul of Nature" in The Wisdom of the Overself
(1943), and "The World-Mind as his Soul will not die" in Notebooks, Vol. 16:
Enlightened Mind, Divine Mind" XVI.4.63 (1988). Emily Dickinson writes
in Poem 683, "The Soul unto itself / Is an imperial friend— /... Itself— its
Sovereign— of itself / The Soul should stand in Awe—" (1862). I've been
in awe of the Soul's mysteries since 1968 in my philosophical quest for
enlightenment. Two poems on this topic: "Speculations on the Soul" (1993)
inspired by Mary Oliver, and "Soul Weight" (2008) inspired by Robert Bly.
Platonic Lambda Λ: Soul of the Universe (2019) is my latest venture exploring mysteries of the Soul. May readers experience epiphanies while reading about this adventure.

Peter Y. Chou
Mountain View, November 7, 2019