The Soul

There would appear to be a great deal of experiential evidence for the existence of the human soul, yet science is currently adamant that it does not exist.  In the face of these disparate standpoints, and my own sense of equilibrium, I am obliged to embrace a philosophy that allows for the existence of a soul or the non-existence of a soul.  This is very Shinseidoesque in that any philosophy that I hold must also embrace the standpoints and beliefs of all the members of my group, and also my own ever changing viewpoint. 

In order to deny or not, the existence of the human soul, we must first define it, for it is clear that there are many standpoints.  It is clear to see that it is dependent upon definition as to whether we can all agree to the soul's existence or not.

For simplistic example, if we take the soul to be the spirit of a person in the sense of all those impressions, influences and feelings left upon those left behind after a person dies, then of course everyone must be obliged to accept the existence of the soul.  If however we mean that after death the essence of that person in thinking, reasoning terms can still exist then maybe many of us will not embrace and accept that understanding.

soul [sol], noun

A person comprises more than a mere physical body.  There is also that thinking analytical mind aspect of a person, and maybe even a further aspect that we tend to think of as the spiritual part of a person, that which some refer to as the soul.  The Celts believed that everything had a soul – rocks, animals, and all things in existence.

In reality no one aspect of a person can be conveniently separated from another.  The thinking, mindful aspect of ourselves is dependent upon the physical existence of a material brain.  The spiritual aspect of us is dependent upon the mindful and emotional part of ourselves. 

Because of this it may be that one believes death is the total destruction of all aspects of a person.  For others this would mean the total transmutation of that person.  How can the person ‘think’ without a physical brain?  How can a person have spiritual substance without thought or emotion?

Science gives little hope for the existence of a soul… yet it has difficulty in ‘proving’ a number of fundamental things such as evolution and Gaia simply because of the vast time spans involved.  It is difficult to know how it could be proved that another plane of human existence could be proved without being able to experience such or to ‘go there’.

If we take the soul to be 'that element of a being which thinks, feels, desires, etc, then that aspect of us is dependent upon the existence of an active brain.  On death the brain ceases to function, it decays and becomes non existent.  Our thinking processes, our desires and feelings also die.  Of course, they may well be perpetuated or embraced by another person who was close to the other person.

Therefore we are obliged to seek beyond, to some inner spark, some aspect that is the intrinsic nature energy of a person, and to reflect whether this can still exist after death.  Einstein made it clear that energy cannot be destroyed, therefore every thought that we ever had must exist somewhere in the form of energy.  However, I tentatively believe that such energy is of necessity, transmuted into something far removed from the person and his or her thoughts.

The collective human organism currently comprises in excess of six milliard souls.  Since our species appeared on this planet, it is calculated that sixty thousand million humans have lived.  If we accept that humans have souls (as in personal energy patterns), then are we not obliged to accept that animals also have souls?  Would it not be the height of arrogance to deny such?  That’s a great many souls in existence. 

For me what dies is the person’s ability to commune with others, to express, to share, to integrate.  The person lacks a body and is therefore unable to express existence to other ‘living’ beings.  However, it is clear that the deceased person's influence may still be felt for a very long time afterwards.

Today I believe in the existence of a soul, as being that energy imparted to us in the form of the engenderment of inspiration, love, joy (or whatever) by another person during their lifetime, and carried over after their death by those who knew them and were influenced by them.  I think the soul or spirit are one and the same thing - the sense we have of another person during their lifetime and after their passing.  Ripples...  continuance within others forming part of the same human organism.

Shinsei