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I choose to mark a distinction between the "spirit" and the "soul", I see spirit as the energy that inhabits all things and the soul as the manifestation of that energy. What we call inert objects are comprised of the same energy, the only difference is the ability to manifest what we would conceder a soul.
One poster said it is just the brain, however the brain is just an organ that houses the mind. The more we learn about this brain the more astounded we become. This brain operates by electrical impulses, in fact our whole body operates this way. How can energy, being non-conscious operate something as complicated as the human body. I feel that there has to be something conscious at work from the very first cell of life. This may account for the concept of reincarnation, for energy can not be created or destroyed, this energy that inhabits the very first cell came from somewhere, our parents, so in a sense we are the reincarnation of our parents and their parents on so on down the line. Does this energy maintain a memory? All a memory is, is an electrical impulse in the brain that stimulates the mind into recalling an event. Nowhere in the brain do we find a picture of any event in our life, there all stimulated by energy, so it is in this energy that the memory is created. Can energy retain memory?When people suffer brain damage and lack the ability to remember, what is taking place is the interruption of electrical process within the brain, take away the energy and the whole body stops functioning. Yet, this energy is not created nor destroyed.
I choose to mark a distinction between the "spirit" and the "soul", I see spirit as the energy that inhabits all things and the soul as the manifestation of that energy. What we call inert objects are comprised of the same energy, the only difference is the ability to manifest what we would conceder a soul.
One poster said it is just the brain, however the brain is just an organ that houses the mind. The more we learn about this brain the more astounded we become. This brain operates by electrical impulses, in fact our whole body operates this way. How can energy, being non-conscious operate something as complicated as the human body. I feel that there has to be something conscious at work from the very first cell of life. This may account for the concept of reincarnation, for energy can not be created or destroyed, this energy that inhabits the very first cell came from somewhere, our parents, so in a sense we are the reincarnation of our parents and their parents on so on down the line. Does this energy maintain a memory? All a memory is, is an electrical impulse in the brain that stimulates the mind into recalling an event. Nowhere in the brain do we find a picture of any event in our life, there all stimulated by energy, so it is in this energy that the memory is created. Can energy retain memory?When people suffer brain damage and lack the ability to remember, what is taking place is the interruption of electrical process within the brain, take away the energy and the whole body stops functioning. Yet, this energy is not created nor destroyed.
This happens in the case of a stroke, where a portion of the brain doesn't receive blood and oxygen due to hemorrhaging or blockage, and the affected brain cells (nerve cells) die. Depending on where in the brain the stroke takes place, all sorts of bad things can happen, including loss of consciousness and even death.
Reverend, I'm glad you made the point that you "believe" these things. Of course, by the same arguments you've used against other concepts, you can't know exactly how things happened, or what a God Creator could have known or done either, could you?
Reincarnation may well exist if we are to accept some sort of portable spirit that is central to the Christian mythology. If it can leave the now-dead body, why could it not then also re-enter another body that doesn't yet have a soul of it's own?
Seems just as likely and possible as having our detachable soul float off from our corpse, and yet maintain it's life essence, but not then find a new, nice warm body to occupy.
Agreed?
When the soul inhabits the material body, it is then that it receives the spirit body. (Yes, they are two different things. The soul is the real you and the spirit body is the protecting case that surrounds it.)
The only way the soul can inhabit a body is if the soul has not acquired the spirit body. Once it finds lodgement in a material body and leaves, it can never return because it has already received a spirit body.
The soul of man is the man, before, while in the mortal existence and ever after in the spirit world, and all other parts of man, such as the mind and body and spirit are mere attributes, which may be dissevered from him as the soul progresses in its development toward its destiny of either the perfect man or the Divine Angel, and in the latter progression, men may not know it, but it is a truth, that the mind - that is the mind as known to mankind - becomes, as it were, non-existent; and this mind as some say, the carnal mind, becomes displaced and replaced by the mind of the transformed soul, which is in substance and quality, to a degree, the mind of Deity, itself.
Many theologians and philosophers and metaphysicians believe and teach that the soul, spirit and mind are substantially one and the same thing, and that anyone of them may be said to be the man - the ego, and that in the spirit world one or the other of these entities is that which persists and determines in its development or want of development the condition or state of man after death. But this conception of these parts of man are erroneous , for they each have a distinct and separate existence and functioning, whether man be a mortal or spirit.
On reincarnation:
There is no such thing as reincarnation, and all the theories and speculations of men upon that question, which conclude that a soul once incarnated can again become incarnated, are wrong, for the incarnation of a soul is only one step in its destined progress from an invisible formless existence to a glorious angel or to a perfected spirit. A soul in this progress never retraces its steps - it is always progress, though sometimes stagnation takes place - but continues as an individualized spirit until it reaches its goal in fulfillment of the Father's plan for the perfecting of His universe. Luke
If you will examine the question a little more closely, you will see the impossibility of the soul in the spirit world to be reincarnated in the flesh for the reason that the soul, for this supposed phenomenon, would have to shed the spirit body in order to enter into a mortal body, since the soul is incased in a spirit body which is physical in nature but not of a gross material of what mortals call the material world, and that spirit body, which is the envelope and protector of the soul, is that which gives the soul its individuality as a conscious entity and remains with the soul so long as the soul lives. In the spirit world no spirit body has ever been deprived of its soul, and no spirit body thus hypothetically divested of its soul has ever died or been disintegrated, or has disappeared from its habitat, except as it advances from one sphere to another while making progress either to the sixth sphere or spiritual paradise or to the Celestial Heavens and Immortality.
As far as is known today by us in the spirit world, the spirit, that is to say, the soul and its spirit body, may live for all Eternity, if God so requires it, even if it does not possess the consciousness of immortality through possession of Divine Love, and it will certainly continue to live throughout all Eternity - the soul and its indissoluble spirit body - if it does possess the Divine Love, Immortality and At-onement with the Father. As soul cannot be taken from, or torn from - or in any other way deprived of - its spirit body, once it has come to the spirit world, it would be equally impossible for the spirit body to enter the human body of another human being, for only a soul without a spirit body can enter a human body, and on the death of this body, the soul manifests its spirit body. The doctrine of reincarnation is, therefore utterly without foundation, for it is impossible, let me repeat, for a soul with its spirit body to enter a human body to be born again in the flesh. When a human being dies in the flesh, his soul has already achieved under ordinary circumstances the purpose of his creation, that is, individualization and the creation of receptacles for soul's, and in his spirit body, in size, shape, appearance and nature, is the complete creation without the envelope of flesh. Jesus
When the soul inhabits the material body, it is then that it receives the spirit body. (Yes, they are two different things. The soul is the real you and the spirit body is the protecting case that surrounds it.)
The only way the soul can inhabit a body is if the soul has not acquired the spirit body. Once it finds lodgement in a material body and leaves, it can never return because it has already received a spirit body.
The soul of man is the man, before, while in the mortal existence and ever after in the spirit world, and all other parts of man, such as the mind and body and spirit are mere attributes, which may be dissevered from him as the soul progresses in its development toward its destiny of either the perfect man or the Divine Angel, and in the latter progression, men may not know it, but it is a truth, that the mind - that is the mind as known to mankind - becomes, as it were, non-existent; and this mind as some say, the carnal mind, becomes displaced and replaced by the mind of the transformed soul, which is in substance and quality, to a degree, the mind of Deity, itself.
Many theologians and philosophers and metaphysicians believe and teach that the soul, spirit and mind are substantially one and the same thing, and that anyone of them may be said to be the man - the ego, and that in the spirit world one or the other of these entities is that which persists and determines in its development or want of development the condition or state of man after death. But this conception of these parts of man are erroneous , for they each have a distinct and separate existence and functioning, whether man be a mortal or spirit.
On reincarnation:
There is no such thing as reincarnation, and all the theories and speculations of men upon that question, which conclude that a soul once incarnated can again become incarnated, are wrong, for the incarnation of a soul is only one step in its destined progress from an invisible formless existence to a glorious angel or to a perfected spirit. A soul in this progress never retraces its steps - it is always progress, though sometimes stagnation takes place - but continues as an individualized spirit until it reaches its goal in fulfillment of the Father's plan for the perfecting of His universe. Luke
If you will examine the question a little more closely, you will see the impossibility of the soul in the spirit world to be reincarnated in the flesh for the reason that the soul, for this supposed phenomenon, would have to shed the spirit body in order to enter into a mortal body, since the soul is incased in a spirit body which is physical in nature but not of a gross material of what mortals call the material world, and that spirit body, which is the envelope and protector of the soul, is that which gives the soul its individuality as a conscious entity and remains with the soul so long as the soul lives. In the spirit world no spirit body has ever been deprived of its soul, and no spirit body thus hypothetically divested of its soul has ever died or been disintegrated, or has disappeared from its habitat, except as it advances from one sphere to another while making progress either to the sixth sphere or spiritual paradise or to the Celestial Heavens and Immortality.
As far as is known today by us in the spirit world, the spirit, that is to say, the soul and its spirit body, may live for all Eternity, if God so requires it, even if it does not possess the consciousness of immortality through possession of Divine Love, and it will certainly continue to live throughout all Eternity - the soul and its indissoluble spirit body - if it does possess the Divine Love, Immortality and At-onement with the Father. As soul cannot be taken from, or torn from - or in any other way deprived of - its spirit body, once it has come to the spirit world, it would be equally impossible for the spirit body to enter the human body of another human being, for only a soul without a spirit body can enter a human body, and on the death of this body, the soul manifests its spirit body. The doctrine of reincarnation is, therefore utterly without foundation, for it is impossible, let me repeat, for a soul with its spirit body to enter a human body to be born again in the flesh. When a human being dies in the flesh, his soul has already achieved under ordinary circumstances the purpose of his creation, that is, individualization and the creation of receptacles for soul's, and in his spirit body, in size, shape, appearance and nature, is the complete creation without the envelope of flesh. Jesus
i do agree with oime of the stuff your saying there but i still think there is a factor or two that your not gettin ,one of the things u said there and o quote "until it reaches its goal in fulfiment of the Fathers plan for the perfecting of his universe "unquote
How long do you think it takes to perfect the consioussness ? and i use the word consioussness and not soul because the soul in its reality is pure, but it is our consioussness that is not, due to our conditioning and contact with material nature but anyway this line explains it all that God has a plan for us all ,that one day his universe will be perfected because thats what our original state is, "be perfect because your heavenly father is perfect"-Jesus.and why would he say that if he didnt think we could be perfect ?because we can thats why, but it can take a long time or it can be done in onelifetime.
the second point is, is that your forgetting the soul is diffrent from the spirit the spirit which is consioussness is a symptom of the soul, the soul is atomic in size and spreads out throghout the body as consioussness, the soul is small enough that it can fit into any body, moving or non moving, it thespreads out thru the body as spirit so the spirit can change as it enters different bodys but the soul remains the same wheather we are aware of it or not.
the other thing is ,is that you seem to refere the soul as something you have like a part of your body or something but i think this makes it a bit impersonal,(and i could be wrong hear so correct me if i am)but instead of thinkin this soul is something you have try think it as im a soul that possesses a body and not the other way around.What we are is soul, although we have ego and mind and intellagence and the senses and consioussness and stuff the very essence of that being is a soul and its the love that comes from us souls that makes us what we are these souls arent born and dont die they've always existed ,how come? because they are a part of god, we are the same energy the same in quality but not in quantity but never on the same level,as God, we will always be sub-serviant to God, he is the centre of the whole universe and it is every living entitys duty to serve this absolute supreme personality of Godhead,we are all apart of the godhead, just like the fire and the spark that comes from the fire, it is of the same quality as the fire but it is diffrent in quantity ,the spark dont exist without the fire or another example is the ocean and a drop of water from the ocean, He is the whole ocean while we are the drops he is the whole while we are the parts like a clock every part on it is there to serve the whole ,just like our bodys and when we serve the centre like putting food in your stomach the whole body is served,and since this soul is made from the same eternal spiritual nature as gods there fore it is eternal and has always existed in some form mindfull of it or not.
To have always exited would mean that one is infinite. How is one infinite when one is finite, or is living an illusion or a sleeping dream while one is existing eternally? When one says one is eternal, goes to other worlds when one sleeps and such, that is mysterious-how is one sure of this?
i think the words infinite and the words eternal have two diffrent meanings
Reverend, I'm glad you made the point that you "believe" these things. Of course, by the same arguments you've used against other concepts, you can't know exactly how things happened, or what a God Creator could have known or done either, could you?
Reincarnation may well exist if we are to accept some sort of portable spirit that is central to the Christian mythology. If it can leave the now-dead body, why could it not then also re-enter another body that doesn't yet have a soul of it's own?
Seems just as likely and possible as having our detachable soul float off from our corpse, and yet maintain it's life essence, but not then find a new, nice warm body to occupy.
Agreed?
YES and it if it enterd this body once then whats to say that it wont enter another one again and again and again until we perfect our lives and then we never have to come back, we enter our spiritual body,our original state of consioussness,and live eternally full of bliss and knowledge, we did come from somewhere.
This is an eloquent expression of my own feeling about the original question. I could not have summarized it so skillfully. Being science-minded, and having never had any particular sense of there existing a "soul" or a past life, I have no reason to suspect that our beginningless endless existence is anything more defined than what nezlie beautifully articulated.
so you dont beleive in the existance of a soul then what are we a bunch of atoms floating around space or are we the elements like water, sure arent we 80%water or something ,your body which is what you think you are has already died several times depending what age you are thats a scientific fact ,but you still remain so if what you are is all them chemicals(the body) then you have already died that in itself is reincarnation-the soul movin thru bodys)and it is when the soul leaves the body for good then we enter into another one the cycle of birth and death continues.
All of this comes from our knowledge that we will die and therefore our existence will come to an end. Many people, therefore, try to come up with a belief system that grants them eternal life.
eternal life is the ultimate goal of life,it would woulnot be so easily acheived, takes many many lifetimes and this knowledge comes from life itself.
If you have no awareness of existence before this life, you did not exist!
i think your mixin up the words awareness with remembrence,we know we dont remember our last life but to say that we had no existance before this life is ignorant because you dont know, and its because you cant remember that you dont know, you also dont remember being born is that to say that you did not exist, just because you cant remember,you have to find out off someone who knows someone who is qualified to tell you the truth, someone who was there to see you being born to be able to tell you, yes, you did exist, well its the same with searching for the truth you have to go to someone who is qualified in such a subject.
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and i use the word consioussness and not soul because the soul in its reality is pure, but it is our consioussness that is not, due to our conditioning and contact with material nature but anyway this line explains it all that God has a plan for us all ,that one day his universe will be perfected because thats what our original state is, "be perfect because your heavenly father is perfect"-Jesus.and why would he say that if he didnt think we could be perfect ?because we can thats why, but it can take a long time or it can be done in onelifetime.
