What is the soul? What is it made of, and how are we connected to it? by Lasli Sher
(libertarian)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Soul; What is it?
The soul is our actual identity. We have a body, but we are not the body. Our identity is an individual spiritual soul. The energy of the soul is atomic. The soul is situated in the heart, and the energy is spread over the entire body, and is expressed through consciousness. When we inhabit a body, it is due to the energy of the soul that we can feel our skin. People are mistaking the body with the self, and this has led to more and more division among people. I am white, or black, or American, or male, or Christian, or Hindu. These are all bodily distinctions only, and when we leave the body, these distinctions have no value or meaning.
Some religions claim that we are created, and then the soul becomes eternal at some point. This is logically false. Eternal means that something always was, is, and will be existing. It cannot come into existence at some point, and then become eternal. Once it becomes eternal, then it must have always existed. So, the soul is already eternal, and never was there a time when it did not exist. However, there was a time it did not exist in this body, but it was existing in some form. The soul cannot be withered, dried, wet, cut, killed, born, or depleted, degraded, or changed. It is pure energy, and is constantly moving into form, out of form, and through form. So, when someone asks me if I want to live forever, I can safely reply, "What choice do I have"? We already live forever. We just can't remember what we did or where we were existing before we took this body. The soul is pure. It is only due to contact with matter that our consciousness is reduced, and we forget our original position. The soul is fully conscious and full of knowledge and bliss, but when we come into contact with matter, we fall into a state of illusion, or forgetfulness. It is somewhat like the sun. The sun is very powerful, but sometimes, a cloud, which is also caused by the sun, will cover it. The sun is still existing as it is, with no change, but due to the cloud, the full potency of the sun cannot be seen. Similarly, the soul is very powerful, but due to contact with matter, the full potency cannot be realized.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 8
thumbs so far
The views expressed
in this article are those of Lasli Sher only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Lasli Sher is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-12-28 02:42:51
Dear Lasli Sher,
Welcome to the Chart! Interesting sun analogy at the end there, I happen to believe I am made from exploded starstuff, so in a way perhaps we are all "suns"
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-12-28 09:25:44
 Hi Lasli Sher,
 My faith is different from yours. I believe the soul is created by the body and ends with the body. What the two accomplish while they are together are the measure of their value and the posthumus definition of the purpose for their being.Â
Many souls cannot accept their finite nature so they create a fantasy world where they live forever but their creator, the body, is mortal. This unconscious pitting of soul against body is what I believe to be the greatest obstacle humans must overcome. Until then we will remain in these dark ages ruled by fantasy and superstitions that limit our potential as a species.
As far as I know humans are the only species succeptable to this self-limiting behavior. Do we have a deep-seated species guilt for our being so relatively successful...so far? I don't think so. I think we are the only species successful enough to distance our actions from the consequences of those actions to such a degree that we can afford to proceed with our foot firmly planted on the brake pedal...for a while. I think that while is going to end abruptly in the near future.
Whatever happens, my body and soul will be working together to pursue a better outcome for liberty.
The soul myth lives along with with the god myth. Research into the soul can be summarized most accurately by the following:
Paul Churchland raises a simple point in the introduction to his 1984 Matter and Consciousness:
"If there really is a distinct entity [an immaterial soul] in which reasoning, emotion, and consciousness take place, and if that entity is dependent on the brain for nothing more than sensory experiences as input and volitional executions as output [the transmissive hypothesis], then one would expect reason, emotion, and consciousness to be relatively invulnerable to direct control or pathology by manipulation or damage to the brain. But in fact the exact opposite is true. Alcohol, narcotics, or senile degeneration of nerve tissue will impair, cripple, or even destroy one's capacity for rational thought.... And the vulnerability of consciousness to anesthetics, to caffeine, and to something as simple as a sharp blow to the head, shows its very close dependence on neural activity in the brain. All of this makes perfect sense if reason, emotion, and consciousness are activities of the brain itself. But it makes very little sense if they are activities of something else entirely" (p. 20)
Want to comment on
this article? Leave your comment
here. Your email address is required to track your
comment. However, we will neither publish your email
address nor distribute it to other organizations or
persons. The only reason we might use it would be if
we needed to contact you regarding your comment. All
comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
