We experience ourselves as a differentiated form that the macrocosm manifests in a particular way. (See The Pearl Beyond Price, chapter 39, for more discussion of the microcosm pearl.) There are a few important insights here. The first is that the microcosm pearl is not a separate existence, not a self-existing unit; rather, it is an extension and prolongation of the macrocosm pearl. The soul experiences her complete individuation inseparable from Being, as a differentiated but not dissociated cell in the cosmic body. This insight addresses the question about the true relation between the facets of self/soul and God/Being. The soul is an inseparable individual expression of coemergent Being, and her individuation is the inseparable expression of divine Being.

Understanding the macrocosm pearl takes us to the microcosm pearl, the individual personalization of coemergent nondual Being. This is the culmination of the personalization process that we discussed in detail in The Pearl Beyond Price, where the individual soul matures through the inner journey into an integrated and individuated essential person. The soul develops and individuates by realizing the personal essence, the pearl beyond price. This individuation develops by integrating into the pearl the various aspects and dimensions. By integrating the dimensions of descent it finally arrives at the full personal integration, the microcosm pearl. It is the individuation of the soul that personalizes all aspects and dimensions of Reality. We experience it in the form of a crystalline or diamond pearl, a faceted squishy roundedness, an exquisite synthesis of fullness of personal presence, clarity of awareness, sharp diamond facets, and the impossibly total absence of the absolute. We feel full and empty, personal and precise, integrated but totally spontaneous and free.

The soul is not only an expression of coemergent Being, for everything is an expression; she is a special kind of expression. She has the potential to consciously experience herself as an expression of Being and to consciously experience and know Being in its totality; hence she is the only individual manifest form we know that has such potential. Also, she has the potential to become an individual replica of the personal Being, as an integrated totality, an individuated soul, a real person. Furthermore, this development is always unique. No two souls develop identically, though they begin with fundamentally the same potential. Because of this each soul possesses a unique function in the totality of Reality, with a specific contribution, and an original combination of qualities. The microcosm pearl is actually inseparable from one’s work, understanding, contribution, and life; for it is the unique integration of the soul’s potential that makes all these possible and makes them what they are. One’s learning and work is intimately connected to the pearl because these are some of the most important contexts where the soul develops into a diamond pearl. Therefore, part of the process of realization of the microcosm pearl is to recognize and appreciate one’s realization, understanding, and contribution, which can pervade the microcosm pearl with the rich amber syrup of essential value. But it is also important to recognize one’s development as a development out of the absolute, expressing and serving it. In other words, it is always the absolute, or coemergent Being, that is always developing the soul.