What has a soul?

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by emong

And at that time we will no longer be the personality that cared whether we new it or not.

I would personally agree there - though that raises a particular objection in terms of moral judgement - not least, the potential lack of.

As for quoting from men - apparently the spread of IQ across males is greater - so that men can take credit for producing more of humanity's geniuses...and morons.

[emong]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

I would personally agree there - though that raises a particular objection in terms of moral judgement - not least, the potential lack of.

As for quoting from men - apparently the spread of IQ across males is greater - so that men can take credit for producing more of humanity's geniuses...and morons.

It has been a notion of mine for some time that there are "soulless" personalities (whether man or beast) who will not return to the "ocean" simply because they never sprung from it in the first place. Which brings us to the question: Where does evil come from? And is it a choice or an inevitability?

As to the second statement above: I don't want to be near when L'l Miss or, God forbid, dwndrgn reads it.

[littlemissattitude]

Taking my name and dwndrgn's in vain, eh, emong?

Actually, I've never heard any statistics as to the distributions of IQs in males versus its distribtuion in females. So, statistically, Brian could be quite correct. However, I don't think that has anything to do with there being more male than female geniuses recognized by history. It has much more to do with the fact that throughout most of history, most cultures have not allowed women an outlet to do the work that would lead to their being recognized for their true genius.

Just remember, guys, it was a woman (Madame Curie) who was the first individual to be awarded two nobel prizes.

[Nogodnomasters]

Mithraism proclaims dogs have souls. Christianity teaches only man has a soul, which separates him from the beast. However Eccl. claims animals have souls. Genesis covers up the souls of animals in its translation. In Genesis 1:20, 1:21 "nephesh hayyah" is translated as "living creature" when referring to animals. In 1:27 the same phrase is translated as "living soul" when it refers to a man.

[Vajradhara]

Originally Posted by dr_mabeuse

Of course, there's another view, taken by the Buddhists and to which I subscribe, albeit reluctantly, and that is that the soul is an illusion; it doesn't exist. Belief/non-belief in an immortal sould is the single biggest difference between Western and Eastern religions, though it's seldom stated so explicitly and baldly.

Namaste dr_mabeuse,

thank you for the post and welcome to the forum.

actually... the Buddhist position is that there is no eternally abiding self not soul, specfically, the selflessness of persons. depending on the school that you practice and their philosophical outlook, this can go all the way to and including the selflessness of phenomena and persons.

i like the rest of the post and have nothing to add... though i would, perhaps, differ on my understanding of rebirth.

interestingly enough, Native American Shamanism, would posit that everything has a soul or spirit. the trees, rocks, mountians, rivers, animals, people and so forth. everything is a vast panoply of spiritual expression and display. i was quite interested in some specific tribal traditions for awhile and if you've not had a chance to read Black Elk Speaks, i would strongly urge you to do so. (anyone that is )

[mikie8]

the statment below is based on scientific fact :

"all matter is energy condensed into a slow vibration"

the word soul will have to be difined by each person for me to comment on each persons view so in genaral i will say that all things have "presence" alive or not .Also the cells that make us and the chemicals that make cell are always being renewed and as such we are not the ppl we once was so in life we are reborn daily to some extent , i (as would many) will go further and say that this chemical soup we call life on this planet is the same chemical soup that exsisted when dinosaurs roamed the earth just in another order . the chemicals we use will be used again and again in many forms some less complicated than others .rebirth of oneself as a whole is the belief that man or the single person is more important than the whole .when in fact man is the rebirth of the whole in a single person .

[bob x]

Originally Posted by Vajradhara

if you've not had a chance to read Black Elk Speaks, i would strongly urge you to do so. (anyone that is )

I want to second that book recommendation: Black Elk Speaks is beautiful and powerful.

[louis]

Do you think that what happens on one side of a window is more or less real than what happens on the other side?
No?

From Louis...
That depends on what you mean by "window". If you
mean the window of human perception, then my
answer would be YES!


Then why believe such a distinction exists between internal and external reality?

I DO make such a distinction - I don't the INTERNAL
qualifies as "reality" - it's only thought and feelings
while the EXTERNAL is material .

Therefore, the internal is DEFINITELY less real than
the EXTERNAL. I NEED to see it that way in order
to preserve my sanity !!!!

[Marsh]

Originally Posted by Vajradhara

interestingly enough, Native American Shamanism, would posit that everything has a soul or spirit. the trees, rocks, mountians, rivers, animals, people and so forth.

Are spirits and souls the same thing, or is there a difference between the two?

[Vajradhara]

Originally Posted by Marsh

Are spirits and souls the same thing, or is there a difference between the two?

Namaste Marsh,

thank you for the post.

good question... i'm not sure of the answer. i'm talking with a fellow that practices the Red Road and i'm trying to get him to come here so that we can have a discussion about various shamanistic traditions... i'll put the question to him in any case and let you know what i find out.

[louis]

My personal opinion is that every living thing has a "soul", in that every living thing contains some degree of "essence" that returns to a state of being at One with Divinity at death.

From Louis...
AS always, it depends on how you define "soul"....
If you mean some sort of electro-magnetic essence,
then ALL living things have "souls" - or at some sort
non-material "double". You can observe that by using
Kerlian photography.
I've done that myself - It's easy to expose film using an
electro-magnetic field generator ( not difficult to build if
you know an electronics buff ).
Then do the "phantom leaf" experiment - take any leaf
small enough to fit on the film and cut off part of it.
Lay the cut leaf on a piece of self-developing film and expose it.
The resulting photograph shows not only the remaining
part of the leaf but also a glowing outline of the part
that was cut off.
Is that an impression of the leaf's "soul" ?
Forgive my natural assumption that there is only ONE
reality, and if the soul is real, that means it's part of the same reality, and sooner or later, we'll figure out how a way to "see" it . Maybe we already know a way...