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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?
The soul is our Core Essence . . . the "Experiencer" of whatever comprises our life. We identify it as our Self . . . separate from our experiences . . . the spectator/participant in the process of living. It is the "real" us . . . and it grows (matures) throughout our lifetime based on our experiences and responses to them. It uses our physical body to nurture and maintain itself. It develops attributes that we tend to categorize as "character." It is a form of energy field separate from that of our physical body and brain. Our body and brain produce this energy field through unknown processes and retain contact with it (sort of a transceiver relationship) . . . but it resides within the universal field that establishes our reality. It can communicate with this physical level of being through our brain and whatever has been recorded and stored therein . . . but it exists at a higher level of being as pure field. We (as we manifest here in this physical level of being) are like a "delayed broadcast" of its original production.
Other animals MAY have rudimentary capabilities similar to ours . . . but it is not clear that they produce the same energy field that we do. To the extent that they produce an energy field separate from their bodies that possesses the attributes we would identify as love and attachment, for example . . . they could be said to possess some degree of soul.
It is NOT possible to be human and NOT possess a soul.
Oh the irony; I have all my Christmas chores done so I, an atheist, have come to a online religious forum to kill an hour or so. Anyway...
When I was a theist I thought the soul was a little bit like a computer flash memory stick that had all your memories and vital information on it. After the death of the body it was removed and then taken to its next destination, which according to many people, for me is hell, what with my atheism, my pro gay rights views, and my out-of-wedlock intimate relationships. At that next destination it was sort of plugged in and reactivated.
Atheism? Pro Gay Rights? Out of Wedlock Intimate Relatationships? I bet these so called "Intimate Relationships aren't purely for he purpose of procreation either. You'll be telling me next that women should be allowed to get jobs, leave the house and not do absolutely everything men tell them to.....you're doomed sweetie. Oh well, I'll probably see you there (Actually, make that definite...if God exists I have few things I want to talk to him about. Before I shove his head up his ass. And sorry, but I don't hold with the idea of God being a woman..if he was, I don't think world would be quite so ****ed up. Besides which I'm kind of atheist/Daoist/Cyberrpunk, which doesn't leave much room for god. And is more fun) .
Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to rely - it's all extremely interesting and thought provoking, whichever side of the "do souls exist" question you come down. Just to raise one point out of the many that emerged while reading - one respondent said that the soul can be equated with ego, and another said hat it was not possible to be human and not possess a soul....in my readings of Taoist literature, as I understand it, one of th major aims of Taoism is to rid oneself of ego, thus achieving a state of harmony and allowing the Tao to flow through and around you unrestricted by your own petty egoism...I realise I'm mixing my metaphors and my religions and philosophies here, but surely the result of that would be a human who has no ego and therefore no soul....not sure what point, if any, I'm making here, but it's all extremely interesting. Thanks again.
...I realise I'm mixing my metaphors and my religions and philosophies here, but surely the result of that would be a human who has no ego and therefore no soul....not sure what point, if any, I'm making here, but it's all extremely interesting. Thanks again.
That would only be true if you were to mix Taoism with something like Judaism, which would be a largely incompatible combination.
But it certainly is interesting to see how different groups view the soul.
That would only be true if you were to mix Taoism with something like Judaism, which would be a largely incompatible combination.
But it certainly is interesting to see how different groups view the soul.
I was thinking about this recently, and I don't actually think the philosophical aspects of Taosim ARE incompatible with most religions, except obviously those followers of religions who seem incapable of independent though and require text thousands of years out of date to tell them how to do EVERYHTING...but for the average, more moderate ,say, christian (just an example - I think this is true of most religions), I don't see anything about Taoism at the philosophical level that couldn't be incorporated with a bit of imagination. (Unfortunately, the less moderate followers of most religions seem to lack imagination to quite a startling degree).
I was thinking about this recently, and I don't actually think the philosophical aspects of Taosim ARE incompatible with most religions, except obviously those followers of religions who seem incapable of independent though and require text thousands of years out of date to tell them how to do EVERYHTING...but for the average, more moderate ,say, christian (just an example - I think this is true of most religions), I don't see anything about Taoism at the philosophical level that couldn't be incorporated with a bit of imagination. (Unfortunately, the less moderate followers of most religions seem to lack imagination to quite a startling degree).
I think many religions and/or philosophical systems do share some common ground, and it is those areas it would be easy to find a high degree of synthesis. But in others (such as you statement regarding the soul), one would be forced to choose from among incompatible options; picking one would fundamentally change the relationship between the two systems.
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.
I'm so glad you brought up this topic, because it's something that so many people aren't aware of, but I do know what a soul is because mine has been awakened.
First off, human beings all have a soul... animals and plants do not. Without a soul, humans don't exist.
Souls are created by God in His image, but not His substance (Divine Love), and are invisible, as He is. Souls reside in the unseen spirit world (Heavens) and their presence can be felt but not seen by spirits... kind of like we can feel the wind, but can't see it.
Each soul is individual, however, two souls compose one unit. They have "personalities" of a male and female (true soulmates/twin souls) and a relationship with God. Prior to each soul incarnating into a physical body, the one unit separates and each soul hovers around the earth until the opportunity arises for the soul to lodge into a fetus of a different mother. A spirit body is then formed to encase the soul (and it is this spirit body with the soul, which survives death of the physical body).
After the separation takes place of the twin souls, the remembrance of the other and with God is removed and the soul starts on a new course of life as a physical being. All births are recorded in the Book of Lives and when spirits become aware of this, the soulmates are reunited in the spirit world after they have both passed over.
The soul is really our "ego" and it is the seat of our emotions, ambitions, desires and passions. Because it is created in God's image, it is the "thing" that we need to pay attention to. Like what our thoughts and actions are. Are they usually in the gutter, or do we think and act in a higher more loving way?
As it relates to our life in the next world, it is very important that we become aware of our soul's condition, whether it be encumbered with "junk" from a lifetime of abuse or whether we have taken steps for it's awakening in order to release and let go of negative thoughts and things.
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(Actually, make that definite...if God exists I have few things I want to talk to him about. Before I shove his head up his ass. And sorry, but I don't hold with the idea of God being a woman..if he was, I don't think world would be quite so ****ed up. Besides which I'm kind of atheist/Daoist/Cyberrpunk, which doesn't leave much room for god. And is more fun) .
