How does one realize the intangible soul?

Realization of the soul means to make it real. How can one make something real when one cannot detect it? First, assume that it exists. Then, act based on that assumption. This process makes the soul real. The absolute, like the soul, is an abstract concept. Any abstract concept can only be 'made real' because it is not real on its own. It is abstract, formless, and intangible.But when a human being acts as if the soul is real, the soul is expressed through the human being and is thus 'realized.' Each human being is a universe in himself/herself. So if the human being believes in something or does not believe in something, it affects its expression or even existence (in due course) in that human being.

This process is not blind faith. It is more like an experiment to test a hypothesis. It takes an open and scientific mind to try an experiment like this. It is not an experiment using any apparatus other than the self itself. If the question on the soul's existence means something to you, please try this experiment, and share the results. The mind is agnostic to the soul, but when it is 'gnosticized' through an assumption, it is optimized and prepared to detect the soul and execute/express it.

To detect something, you need to first characterize it. The soul cannot be characterized easily because it is abstract, intangible and formless. Hence, you need to assume it exists and based on that assumption, deduce what its existence would mean to you and how its existence would manifest itself in you. Then you need to act according this deduction. This will bring about a transformation in you and you will no longer view yourself self as mere mind and body. Thus, your identity will expand to beyond the mind. Only then will you be able to detect something that is beyond the mind. To detect something that is beyond mind, you first need to transform yourself to beyond mind so that you can detect it. As long as you operate from the mind and the senses alone, you will remain agnostic to the soul.

If a human being does not choose to express the soul, it does not express itself and remains hidden. If a human being chooses to express it, it become manifest, as in the case of many 'great souls.' If a human being chooses to deliberately hide it, it becomes vestigial with time. Take an example of an inborn gift or talent. If it is expressed willingly and nurtured, it develops. If it is deliberately ignored and discouraged, it is lost. A person cannot detect whether he has a talent for singing or not until he sings. He cannot merely 'cognize' this talent without first expressing it. He can cognize talent in others when they sing, but either way, the singing is required. Without the expression, the talent is just abstract and intangible and it goes undetected. In contrast, if this talent is curbed by a false belief that it does not exist. If one is discouraged and disparaged when one tries to express this talent each time, then this talent dies a slow death. The person himself buries it due to the fear of being disparaged. Much later, when he realizes his mistake and tries to express it after burying it, it loses its sheen and is not the same as it would have been had he expressed it earlier.