The Soul.

[sky]

I was reading an article from Saint Thomas Aquinas regarding the Soul being immortal and remember some Verses from Scriptures which seem to refer to it being mortal. I personally do not believe in a Soul but find the different opinions found in the Bible really interesting.
Any thoughts/opinions ?

[Maisy]

What I have observed in myself and others is we tend to talk about the soul as a separate thing than whatever we are imagining or assuming ourselves or the "I" or speaker/writer/thinker to be. Me in other words.

For example: "I have a soul."

That sentence infers the soul is something I have as opposed to something I am. Logically that makes no sense to me as say we believe the soul is immortal, lives or exists forever, and the body does not. If we are saying the soul is something we have and not us, then it living forever may not include us. Really I think if we believe the soul lives forever and us, then we should say "I am the soul" not "I have a soul."

So then saying "I don't believe in a soul" would be saying "I don't believe I exist." (For those who believe we (conscious awareness) are souls.) I in the sense of the speaker or one talking or writing or thinking such things.

It gets pretty crazy and confusing because some will get into the topic of what exactly am I? One reason some say "I have a soul" as opposed to "I am a soul" is they imagine the "soul" as being holy and perfect, immortal, united with God etc. They may think, "Ok I am not these things so I am therefore not the soul, it is instead something I have." Or they may say there is no such thing as a soul if they don't believe they are immortal etc. But again this makes no sense to me as I think I have to be it. If I am not, then what difference would it make if it is immortal and I am not it!

I believe I continue, with a functioning physical body or not, to exist and perceive and express myself forever. (Though I believe I could be erased by some higher force or God or entity if I deserve such a thing.) Some bible verses of course mention this possibility as do some new age books.

[Maisy]

The way I see it is me, the soul, is currently merged with a human body and it's life, way of experiencing perceiving acting etc. So a soul is having a human life to learn and grow in understanding and awareness etc. Then we leave the body at some point and the physical realms.

Originally Posted by sky

I was reading an article from Saint Thomas Aquinas regarding the Soul being immortal and remember some Verses from Scriptures which seem to refer to it being mortal. I personally do not believe in a Soul but find the different opinions found in the Bible really interesting.
Any thoughts/opinions ?

Sky,

A very interesting question. The Church, itself, introduced this dilemma. The Council of Constantinople 869 Canon 11……effectively led us to believe that soul and spirit are synonymous…..thus removing their distinction. In retrospect it seemed to extend the authority of the Church. I say this because I believe the soul is open to all experiences….all input….including the Spirit. But there can be no reciprocal trade…..in other words the Spirit can influence the soul but the soul cannot influence the Spirit. God is Spirit and does not seek counsel from man. Therefore the Church can say “listen to us” …..rather than imploring men to directly seek God via the Spirit…..our journey should be personal and not left in the hands of the clergy.

So, yes, I believe and have a concept of the soul….but I reject any idea of an immortal soul. Another pause for thought: for those that believe in reincarnation and also believe in the immortal soul….is your uniqueness abandoned with multiple incarnations ? Do you share your immortal soul with the group of all your previous incarnations ? If you believe in final judgement are you judged collectively as one….or does one evil individual in this chain of incarnations bring bad judgement on all ?

[sky]

Originally Posted by Molearner

is your uniqueness abandoned with multiple incarnations ? Do you share your immortal soul with the group of all your previous incarnations ?

Thanks Mo, really interesting Post. I especially like the above regarding the abandonment of uniqueness. If every soul is unique mybe there's no abandonment just interconnection. I don't know but it's an interesting question worth pondering about

[Podshell]

That question of molearner's sounds like one answer could be found in the Seth material (a channeled entity that a number of books were published on)

[BigJohn]

I would say the source for answers to this question can be found in the Bible.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

I would say the source for answers to this question can be found in the Bible.

Maybe you could tell us where. The Bible is basically mute about reincarnation….

[Podshell]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

I would say the source for answers to this question can be found in the Bible.

Which version?(I go by the Vedic texts,but I think there are many English versions of the Bhagavad-Gita with only one trusted version,and even a branch of that version as been altered and presented as authentic)

[Unseeking Seeker]

I wouldn’t know about the Bible or for that matter about any other belief system but given the overwhelming evidence of reincarnation and nde feedback, there definitely exists a presence that lives on even after this mind-body dies. We can call this a soul.

The soul then, maybe eternal or maybe not but it is our aliveness in continuity carrying forward samskaras* (*tendencies) life after life, refining consciousness or let us say, its essence.

The soul therefore is yet in duality, feeling separate from source, which lives as an identity donning many hats, shifting shapes and forms as it surfs the waves of existence on earth and other realms, borne by its desire (urge of ego). So we may say, be it in form or in formlessness, this separate thing we call ourselves is soul.

A time comes when identity too drops away. Awareness is then not differentiated. It is, as it is, in a singularity ~ the self-existent light of Self, complete, in ineffable peace, without attribute, renewing itself within itself, in a singularity.

We can call this Self of higher self of soul, the casual body or monadic or whatever or we may say, soul too disappears. Labels mean nothing for we are in a truth beyond intellectualisation, which relies on dualistic symbols.

In my view, it is not possible to get the taste of what is pointed out to in any scripture by analysing, since it requires a becoming, a transmutation, if you will or actually, simply a dropping away of that that never was.