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What is the Soul??

Can it be identified?
Can you pin-point what it is that is ceaseless?

Do you mean the 'process' of snow-flakes appearing and then dis-appearing
[in seasonal cycles]?
 
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Sha'irullah

رسول الآلهة
The soul according to me would be the essence of your spiritual awareness in the material world. It is your source of consciousness where your perception of life emanates from.
 
The snow flake certainly is an example of how each is absolutely unique and individual, and each exists for a fleeting moment and is accompanied by trillions of co-existing fellow snow flakes. I am reminded of the phrase, 'brahman into brahman'. The water droplet merges back into the unified field of the sea.

But the analogy is actually not usefull imo. The snow flake is actually a drop of the 'Element' water that temporirly morphs into a shape derived from the atmosphere.
Btw, the existence of the snow flake shape is a relatively new observation that was never seem nor known of prior to approx 200 years due to the invention of magnifying microscopes.

Unlike snow flakes, are the waving fields of grain, and flowers too, that look indentical to eachother, but each could be tagged and ID'd, if anyone collected autographed corn cobs. But many fruits come with each baring a label put on by machine conveyor assembly lines.

We souls (unlike the fleeting snow flake) spring forth children nurished by the inner workings of a bodily vessal. Inert elements do do that with out the presence of the animating life force.

Aside from these words, if it still stands that a soul is just as fleeting and temporary as the life and existence of a snow flake, then it would be more appropriate to be a brick, stone, a chair, house, car, jewlery...because those live on after the snows melt. The farmer does hold on to the seeds for the next planting season.

Inert matter trumps conscious spirit soul?
 
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jmn

Member
if it still stands that a soul is just as fleeting and temporary as the life and existence of a snow flake, then it would be more appropriate to be a brick, stone, a chair, house, car, jewlery...because those live on after the snows melt. The farmer does hold on to the seeds for the next planting season. Inert matter trumps conscious spirit soul?

We are fleeting and temporary. The brain is temporary, therefore subjective consciousness is temporary.
 
All subjectivity is fleeting.

If a snow flake falls in the forest ... only a certain number of subjective biological constructs have a chance to know about the snow falling.

It makes me think how there is so many in-hospitable landscapes in the world and they are only enjoyable by the subjective viewing of wilderness animals.

So it would make sense to Make public Idols to express devotions to.

Like the Pyramids and other 'Historical Landmarks' ---unlike a soul that goes on and on. Realestate is forever. So the universe is ceaseless (even if it implodes into a black-hole) the whole process of creation, snow-flake-like creation/existence, devolution and subjectivity is a ceasless process.

Aside from the subjective part of existence is the ceaseless churning of existence. In the mean time man-made solid block edifices stand up to time better than subjective life does. Putting money on the winner seems the best idea.

Funny, how an investment in a tomestone pays off well in a well kept lawn, how that subjective sentiment is passed on after death.
 

Almustafa

Member
an answer(but only one minds understanding) is that consciousness(soul) which is generally regarded as some sort of orb inside the body is actually not seperate from nature , like how wettness is never seperate from water.

so there is no soul only this God-consciousness, then when nature evolves to the point of having a thought process it falls under the assumption that it is an individual spirit, thus creating the "soul" though the brains thought...

i find this logical, but many would contest such a claim...
 

Straw Dog

Well-Known Member
I don't know. I do have thoughts however.

The soul is a conceptual construct created whenever the ego encounters the primordial potentiality. The ego seeks to possess this eternal emptiness and ends up projecting a perfect reflection of itself over it. This is also why people hold an anthropocentric view of God.

To dissolve this "soul" means letting go of possessiveness in order to realize that which is as it simply is, complete and unabridged. There is no true sin. All is interbeing.
 

Almustafa

Member
just contemplating this without interupption will eventually dissolve the soul in the "super-soul"
if we worry about letting go, we wont ever let go...
 
The "events with interupptions" will occur eternally. No?

I sense a lack of definition of what is the living individual conscious entity.

anthropocentric is emmersed in a world of inert elements. The element do their jobs perfectly and selflessly in service to others, without care of time and place and purpose,they do their parts without complaint.
Otoh we temporary conscious beings are a collection of trillions of cells and water and vitamins, minerals. Until there is outside grace I till soil keeping my ear to the ground.
Does life times of repeating the same formulas not succeed to higher purpose?

There is order and cyclic laws of nature that we depend on. If an ultimate purpose is a Myth, then societal order should be the ideal mandate for Duty (dharma).

It then just becomes a matter of the equal distribution of the mercifull bounty of Organized Society and the basic needs of life.

But what happens when that is accomplished with no effort, and the rest is practically free....or available to monopolize and gouge prices. In a world of dog eat dog there might be a way out that stops returning to the dog eat dog goals of life.

Rise above the elemental spectrum.
 

JamesYaqub

Nobody Special
I should probably point out for t sake of honesty that I am not a follower of any religion, but neither would I particularly term myself atheist or agnostic. I am, however, very interested in all forms of religion and spirituality, and I'm currently engaged in a project which requires some rather unusual research. Basically, whatever religion, spiritual path or belief system you subscribe to, I would dearly like to know your answer to this question :
What, in your opinion (or that of your faith) IS the soul, spirit, chi, prana, (insert your non-physical lifeforce of choice here). What does it do? Where does it come from? Where does it reside? Do all living tings possess it, or just humans? Is it possible to be human and not possess a soul?

Ok, so that's a whole bunch of questions, but I'll be extremely grateful to anyone who can be bothered to take the time to answer. Thankyou in advance, all the best, Vulpageist.




It's really pretty straightforward.

God created. All theistic religions are close to agreement here.

What I will say now is not derived from any body of religious belief. I is my own beliefs based on my life experiences.

Most religions teach that the soul is some intangible component of a human being. They often refer to the human personality as though it has control over the soul. This is not so. The human soul has a existence of it's own and does not need a human body. The soul is composed of mental matter. It exists on the mental, spiritual plane. When a human baby is born a soul connects to it and remains thus engaged for the duration of the human life. The soul is merely attached to the body. The soul is in no way subservient to the human personality. There is nothing a man can do that will condemn his soul. Nothing.

The human soul is created by God in the spirit world. I remains there for eternity. At times it connects to a body in order to gain experience and thus wisdom by having access to the physical planet. When the body dies the memories of the lifetime just past are stored in the soul. The human body is temporal. So is the human personality because it is no more than a result of genetics and life conditions.

God's purpose in creating souls is that they will eventually grow into advanced spiritual beings. They cannot do this by remaining in spirit because in spirit it is impossible for any clashes of ideas. Souls cannot associate with other souls which are of differing points in development. Only on earth can souls of all degrees mix freely.

This explains reincarnation but with a twist. It is not correct to say "I have lived many lives" because the "I" is intended to mean the body/personality of the present. Remember that the body/personality is temporary. It is more correct to say that our souls have lived many times because the soul projects itself into new bodies, one after another. The soul retains memories of all the personalities it has used on earth and uses this body of experience in it's quest for enlightenment. Hundreds or thousands of human body/personality/lower mind combinations are perishable. The memories of the experiences they provided is eternal and resides with the soul.

If a person, in hypnosis, remembers a past life what is really happening is that contact with the soul is made and the memory of someone else's life is quoted. Not just anyone else though. Another lifetime of the same soul. What all these lives have in common is the soul. Not complicated.

The existences in the spirit world are very different from those on earth. Earth body personalities are of all sorts. They behave in all different ways. They are motivated by earth bound minds and personalities. In spirit the soul is a much higher mind. One that is incapable of fear, jealousy, competitiveness, or hate. It is a much purer mind.

These things are not commonly known. The reason is because the immaturity of the personality mind is almost always too low to appreciate the truth of it. Religions promote the idea of being good and earning rewards. This is adequate for most of humanity and is why religions are so dominant. If the average person knew that eternal damnation was impossible he/she might well use that knowledge in a negative way by saying: "Hell let's do what we want while here.... party time". This would be a complete waste of a lifetime from the soul's viewpoint. Better for humans to be wary and fearful.

Evidence of the soul mind? There are two areas, two divisions, in the human mind. The lower is of the personality only. Genetics and conditioning apply. The higher is where we go to engage in abstract or intuitive thinking. When the thinker engages his higher mind he is, in reality, connecting with his soul. He thus has access to everything the soul has ever learned in it's long history. Do we have a conscience? The little voice that whispers in the ear of a mature person is the voice of the soul warning us of danger ahead. Spiritually immature people are incapable of contacting their souls. This is why some of us have strong consciences and some have none at all. Consider the criminal who is unrepentant as opposed to a man who refuses to be dishonest.

There are souls of all experience levels on earth. We are all of differing ages in spiritual maturity. It does not follow that advanced souls will appear in positions of leadership in the world. Very often the reverse is true. This is why some people in responsible positions act like petulant children.

Sorry for the length of this. Should you believe what I say? Only if it rings true to you. If not, reject it.

JY
 
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Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
For me the "soul" is the same thing as "consciousness", whatever that "thing" is that translates the physical, neural pathways of our brain cells into an advanced being of intelligence, will, memory and personality. Other than that I admit too not knowing, since even Neuropsychology has not fathomed the depths, causes or reasons for human cognitive awareness.

In Christian theology the soul, using Aristotelian philosophy, was said to be composed of three primary "powers": will, memory and intellect. Behind these powers and all the "faculties" of the soul or consciousness such as understanding, emotion and imagination was the soul itself in its pure, bare "essence" which modern science would call the "sub-conscious" mind. This is the core of one's personality.

For the Catholic mystics it is this essence of the soul that enters into union with God.

Hadewijch, a Flemish woman mystic, describes it as an infinite abyss in which God contents Himself:
"...Now understand the deepest essence of your soul, what 'soul' is. Soul is a being that can be beheld by God and by which, again, God can be beheld. Soul is also a being that wishes to content God ... The soul is a bottomless abyss in which God suffices to himself; and his own self-sufficiency ever finds fruition to the full in this soul, as the soul, for its part, ever does in him. Soul is a way for the passage of God from his depths to his liberty; and God is a way for the passage of the soul into its liberty, that is, into his inmost depths, which cannot be touched except by the soul's abyss..."

- Hadewijch (13th century), Flemish mystic
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
an answer(but only one minds understanding) is that consciousness(soul) which is generally regarded as some sort of orb inside the body is actually not seperate from nature , like how wettness is never seperate from water.

so there is no soul only this God-consciousness, then when nature evolves to the point of having a thought process it falls under the assumption that it is an individual spirit, thus creating the "soul" though the brains thought...

i find this logical, but many would contest such a claim...

Indeed.
I believe God to be self aware.
"Tell the people 'I AM!'...and they who understand will know whose law this is"
as reported by Moses when asking for the name of God.

There is also report....have created one item after another....He declared....
"This is good."

Being aware of one's self....is singular and individual.

That He is aware of His own handiwork and is able to judge it to be good....
He then has a sense of thought and feeling.

Someone had to be First.
 
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