What is the soul?

suppose we are all the same. what you are saying is that our uniqueness is what we identify as a soul. so, this implies that what many believe to be a "soul" is merely a mask covering up what we all really are... which if this mask were taken away, we would all be the same. no more "soul" no more "individuality" ... no more conflict.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

Well then what is your definition of the soul? Mine has always been, something which distinguishes us, but does not exist physically.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

Wyote: That is exactly it, and I think it is possible to achieve a spiritual mentality that is near this case, where you see everyone and everything as connected and a part of you.

DT: Actually, that is a very good definition of a soul (or at least criteria), and it can sort of be applied to my beliefs.. our uniqueness distinguishes us, but it is purely physical... it is the fact that we must be unique that lends a non-physical and celestial property to the soul.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

But what other non-material criteria make us unique apart from our individuality? I don't understand.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

“Is the soul the all-encompassing aspect of who we are?”
I believe the ‘soul’ could be the ‘all-encompassing aspect of who we are’ if only we become aware of it and allow it to be. I think the majority of people are unable to see and realise their innate being as they are buried beneath so many desires, and egoistic wants and ‘needs’ of the physical world. People tend to form attachments to anything and everything around them- this clouds us, it clouds our ability to know, and realise what this thing people call the ‘soul’ is.

Decius> I hear you and agree with most of what you have said. Everyone and everything is connected to one other, once you know this, the lens through which we see the world and its existence becomes so much clearer.

Is the ‘soul’ the only part we take with us when we die? Yes.
To me, the ‘soul’/ ‘atman’ / ‘spirit’ what ever you want to call it, is the life force/energy within us, it is the essence of what we are, the reason we are, and every living thing possesses it. It is never born and it never dies. Our body disintegrates but our ‘soul’ does not.

"My time rising..."

Here is an aspect to consider...
When ppl die, many folks have had encounters with the passed on.

Therefore, if thousands and thousands of ppl have had incredulous experiences and they see, hear from, have dreams...etc of prophetic instances from those passed on, then the soul exists.

The soul is what maintains the life force within us.

Also, I have known of folks to die, went to heaven and returned...waking up with a toe tag on...

This would mean that ppl live on, but their physical body stays in the mortal plane.

Therefore, something within still exists.

Hence, called a soul.

We may not have data to show this, but if brain waves end, and rigamortis has set in, and life is completely emptied out of a person, and they had an experience beyond the physical world, where they talk to a relative as we talk to who we currently live on earth with, then we must conclude we have a soul that doesn't see a mortal death.

We must also conclude then, that the other world is invisible, and no scientific data aside from that of a completely lifeless body can proof the world beyond.

"Life is full of lemons, and the lemonade is sweet."

And IMO the soul is the force of God's spirit living in us, and as Decius said, gives us all a connection.
A connection to the original Spirit hence forth we all come.

"Life is full of lemons, and the lemonade is sweet."

Patrish: The one largest fallacy in a lot of what you say (not only here but in other threads too) is the assumption that because you believe it's true, that makes it fact. The reason I mention this specifically here, is in regards to quotes such as this:

quote:

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Also, I have known of folks to die, went to heaven and returned...waking up with a toe tag on...

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quote:

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When ppl die, many folks have had encounters with the passed on.

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"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

There are personal truths and ultimate truths. Personal truths vary from person to person but the ultimate truth is one that is undeniable. Everyone has a unique perspective that is valid and accepting everyone's personal truth as part of the ultimate truth will lead us to the ultimate truth

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

being one of those "people who have died" myself, as powerful as the experience was, and as much as it has impacted my life, i still doubt its validity on almost a daily basis. its barely any sort of "proof" for myself, much less an outsider to the experience. i use to tell people about it and would always get looks like i was just crazy. so i quit. aside from mentioning it on this website a few times, i havent spoken about it in several years.

the brain does very strange things as it is about to die. tunnel vision occurs in almost everyone just before death. many factors could allow for these seemingly "prophetic hallucinations." the brain is capable of a lot more than we currently understand.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

"There are personal truths and ultimate truths."

There is no need for either of these truths to be baseless.

If it is baseless, it is a personal opinion, not a truth, in which case it cannot be debated, and is completely pointless to bring up in a discussion forum, unless you disclaim your statement by pointing out that you have absolutely no logical reason for believing what you believe.

Wyote: Don't ever choose to believe that it wasn't otherworldly... you have personally experienced it which gives you further insight into it. You should follow what you feel, above all else.

It is undeniable that chemicals affect the brain and the images that the brain sees.

But here's some food for thought: If your brain secretes chemicals that make you see God when you're about to die, then perhaps this is God's way of contacting you using the physical laws of the universe he has created. It can be explained using chemicals and evolution and biology... but the fact remains that "something" that created the universe choose to have you see God before you died.

That is significant, no?

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

i do follow what i feel, and i do know within myself that there is something beyond death. but i cant help but question just about everything. all to often i see people going blindly through life so set on their ways, so determined that they are right about everything. these people irritate me more than just about anything, and unfortunately they seem to be in the majority. if people were at least open to the idea that there may or may not be a "beyond" or a "soul" (or a lot of other things) there would be a lot less disruption in everything that occurs.

do i know within myself that there is a god and that there is something more beyond this world? yes. but if i didnt put this "knowledge" that i have up to the utmost scrutiny, i would be just like everyone else. and quite frankly, i would be a lazy bastard as well.

people hate having to say "i dont know" about anything.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

It's all a problem of semantics... I tend to be intimidating because (throughout the life of this site) I've encountered lots of people who argue solely for the sake of arguing, with little to no "logic" in their thoughts.

But, when I use the word "logic", I guess it becomes missunderstood. I don't mean physical, or mathematical, or scientific... by logical, I mean with premises that are truthful.

Whether these truths stem from your personal experiences, something you have read, or simple mathematical odds, it's important to weight all your conclusions and premises with the statistical probability of it being the truth.

The reason I mention this is that you can have a neverending discussion with someone who has adopted a belief in something because they read it once in a magazine. They don't remember what magazine, but they KNOW it is true. So, when you discuss something like this, it is nearly impossible to actually grow and communicate because the other person is being unreasonable.

Unless you are logically accountable for your conclusions and their associated premises, discussion cannot continue... and will degrade into nothing.

I hope you are not offended by what I am saying... of course I cannot regulate something like this but I definitely encourage anyone on CC who is engaging in a serious discussion to be able to back every one of their claims with adequate premises that make it a statistically possible argument.

And if you don't have the premises or conclusions all well thought out, well, that's not a problem either. Just be open minded in being scrutinized then.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

Personally I don't think there is such thing as a soul. A soul is the kind of thing that exists to you if you believe in it...that doesn't mean that some people have a soul and some don't...it mean that a soul is something we learn at a young age as being the part of us that goes onto heaven or hell [or purgory or whatever] after we die. that is, the soul is an instrument of religion, and it is taught that your soul will go onto heaven if you are good and god fearing, and will go to hell if you are not. Personally, I think the whole existence of god thing is a pile of crap, however I think that people should be able to beleive anything they want and I would never judge anyone for it.

And so it is that if you come from a background where you are taught, even losely, the existance of god you will believe yourself to have a soul, whatever you may think it is, but a soul is just, well....to me, like heaven. just a word, really

"Is this supposed to signify 'who i am' ?"

"Whether these truths stem from your personal experiences, something you have read, or simple mathematical odds, it's important to weight all your conclusions and premises with the statistical probability of it being the truth."

Decius, I think most of us have based our opinions and conclusions thus far on any or all of the above. I understand that you may feel that some people just spew information based on something that they may have heard once but have no personal experience to back it up. (At least that's how I'm interpreting what you're saying). Personally if I hear something I take it in and if it resonates with me, I will consider it further; if it doesn't I discard it as not a truth of mine. Just as an example, the human aura I know to be something that exists and, like the soul and spirit, is electric in nature. I have seen auras but "know as fact" very little about it. I have heard many things and some I believe, some I don't. I don't necessarily have anything 'logical' to base my conclusions on except for whether it resonates with me or not. The idea of heaven and hell as brought up by Courtney doesn't make any sense to me. I believe there is a cosmos we all enter and there are different degrees within this cosmos depending on how 'god-like' we lived our lives. The more god-like, the closer we are to that essence when we get to the other side. But the idea of hell as in an eternal punishment for your wrong doings, I don't buy it. Forgiveness and acceptance is offered to everyone. But again I have no personal experience to base this on it is just what makes most sense to me at this time. I could hear something tomorrow that resonates even stronger and therefore I change my entire outlook.

No one really knows. We just have to trust our instinct and listen with our higher self.

Hi Mystic... It's nice to know someone is on the same wave length

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"