What is the soul?

**amykhar** · #1 12-28-2005, 10:57 PM

How would you define somebody's soul? And, do you believe humans have one?

eris esoteric · #2 12-29-2005, 08:32 AM

As close as I can come to defining it...

We are each "made up" of three elements. There's our genetics, our biological make up, commonly called "nature." There's our upbringing and the social mores imposed on us from the outside, called nurture. And then there's what we actually make of ourselves, while balancing between the other too.

That third bit is our soul. Biology doesn't always explain everything about how we behave and what we do withourselves. Neither does our upbringing. Think of the stories about identical twins separated at birth who still have similar personality traits. And look at identical twins who *are* raised together, and who *do* have an identical upbringing, who turn out to be completely different people (like my mother, the multicultural maven, and my aunt, who declined to be at my brother's wedding to his Japanese wife, and make sure to have lots of John Birch Society literature laying around the last time he went to visit.)

They say that the best definition of a paradigm is that it's not simply a way of thinking, it's a way of asking questions. The questions that you ask about yourself and the world around you describe the paradigm from which you are viewing the world. It is very easy to rest your paradigm on the foundation that nature and nurture give you. At the point where you deliberating try to understand the paradigm that you are in, and reach out to create a new one around you is the point where you start to develop your soul.

So, I see the soul the same as I see free will. It is something that we, as humans are capable of developing, if we choose to. Not all of us do. I've no idea what happens to this soul when we die, but I believe that, in developing a soul, we bond ourselves to the universe, and change it, however much or however little, however good or however bad.

**theworm**[$] · #3 12-29-2005, 09:15 AM

Wow! Great question, Amy!
And I really like your answer, Eris!

Uno · #4 12-29-2005, 12:50 PM

Also me like to the answer of Eric, only for being preciser I distinguish spirit and soul but I do not know if it renders in English and if the words are corrected... if it are exact as I mean, of the soul generally we have an embryo, with our actions we can develop it or not (as Eric says if I have understood well)
the soul is the bridge between the spirit and we, if it is not developed we do not feel the spirit...
understood what I have written?

**lynnzop**[$] · #5 12-29-2005, 01:34 PM

I think so, Uno, and I tend to agree with what you and Eris have written. Yes, I believe that humans have a soul.

Better question...do you believe animals have a soul?

Uno · #6 12-29-2005, 03:18 PM

I want to add one what the soul is not immortal, the spirit is immortal, the soul it can become immortal

the animals... yes but generally has the soul of group.
some those that are in evolution (the domestic animals often are therefore) can have a soul individual, lot in embryo,
have you never read the book: "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach?
It is much real, and to an other level it illustrates also what it would be our run, way...

**taurusmoon** · #7 12-29-2005, 06:02 PM

Excellent topic. And some wonderful posts. I've been pondering the questions all day before attempting to reply. And, after all these hours, I still really haven't been able to fully execute a cogent summary of my thoughts. So, I'll just ramble.

I am very intrigued by Uno's statement that spirit and soul are entirely different entities. The English language doesn't distinguish between the two. I'm wondering exactly how Italian (perhaps all the Romance languages) does a better job of handling the depth of the meaning. I know it may be difficult for you to find the words, Uno, but I would love to hear more about that.

Meanwhile, yes, I believe wholeheartedly in the human soul. And, I will not be so arrogant to believe that we are the only species on this planet so blessed.

To me, the soul is the life force -- that which separates us from all the people sharing the earth with us. As Eris said, it is much more than the instinct to survive. It is the drive to truly live. To grow. To experience. To individuate.

I'm going to venture a guess at Uno's definitions and say that the soul is the raw material -- the human essence needed to exist. The spirit is the art you create from your collected experience, choices and actions.

And, yes, I too believe the soul/spirit is immortal and that we are all students in some cosmic university who pop in periodically to undertake a new course of study. I just wish we were provided with the answers to the exams.