Is there really a soul in our body?

Soul can be understood in terms of consciousness. What would be the difference between a dead body and living body ? Living as well as dead body both have the same material components still one is living and other is dead. When one dies, nothing materially changes in the body but the body becomes useless and decay quickly.

This consciousness drives the body and connects it with rest of the universe. It is the lack of consciousness in body that makes it dead.

Also all the cells in our body including those of brain are replaced by new ones, so we have been changing bodies in this life itself from boyhood to youth to old age.

?As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change? ? Lord Krishna in BG

Consciousness … I would say this is an attribute of Existence, Being, God, Self.

The term “soul” is often used as the untouchable part of the body-soul duality, especially in the west.
Yoga philosophy and direct spiritual experience says that the picture is more complex.
The physical body is mineral in nature, and the laws of this reign should apply to it. This happens when death occurs, but what stops these laws to function in case of a living body ? Yoga says, the vital body or pranamaya kosha. This is more subtle, so there is no evidence of it in the sensorial world. Materialist science does not accept this, and believes that life is describable in physics’, chemistry’s terms entirely. But the physical is just the vital/subtle manifested in the mineral reign.
This is not what usually meant by soul. This is just the life-body, the vital-body, called also etheric in antroposophy or western esoteric tradition in general. Plants also have this “body”, end nothing else. They live, but they do not have feelings, emotions, desires, will, actions-reactions of their own. They can be seen as if they are sleeping always. A man sleeping a dreamless sleep is plantlike. So first step is from dead to living, secondfrom sleeping to awake, third, from awake to conscious. Three bodies under the Self. Physical, vital, mental.

This is still a symplistic approach … and it lacks context and historic perspective. Important to know is that the approximately 2000 BC was the turning point in history when descent into matter reached it’s climax and would have continued if not the Christ event.
There are beings who have passed the human level (free will and ego) earlier and they are quite unimaginable to us. These also have their hierarchies, depending on their level, called devas, demons, angels, devils, spirits, depending on cultural circumstance. No physical bodies needed for these. We, humans needed the descent into matter, so the unity of the spiritual world is veiled to us. This made possible the development of the sense of individuality, the development of ego. We did succed in this. Now it is time to head back, and be responsible but free denizens of the spiritual world.

Just this time, as it is Christmas, and all this is not unrelated to that blessed birth two thousand years ago.

with Love

Consciousness … I would say this is an attribute of Existence, Being, God, Self. I agree the term can be used on different levels but than it loses it’s meaning.

The term “soul” is often used as the untouchable part of the body-soul duality, especially in the west.
Yoga philosophy and direct spiritual experience says that the picture is more complex.
The physical body is mineral in nature, and the laws of this reign should apply to it. This happens when death occurs, but what stops these laws to function in case of a living body ? Yoga says, the vital body or pranamaya kosha. This is more subtle, so there is no evidence of it in the sensorial world. Materialist science does not accept this, and believes that life is describable in physics’, chemistry’s terms entirely. But the physical is just the vital/subtle manifested in the mineral reign.
This is not what usually meant by soul. This is just the life-body, the vital-body, called also etheric in antroposophy or western esoteric tradition in general. Plants also have this “body”, end nothing else. They live, but they do not have feelings, emotions, desires, will, actions-reactions of their own. They can be seen as if they are sleeping always. A man sleeping a dreamless sleep is plantlike. So first step is from dead to living, second from sleeping to awake, third, from awake to conscious. Three bodies under the Self. Physical, vital, mental.

This is still a symplistic approach … and it lacks context and historic perspective. Important to know is that approximately 2000 BC was the turning point in history when descent into matter reached it’s climax and would have continued if not the Christ event.
There are beings who have passed the human level (free will and ego) earlier and they are quite unimaginable to us. These also have their hierarchies, depending on their level, called devas, demons, angels, devils, spirits, depending on cultural circumstance. No physical bodies needed for these. We, humans needed the descent into matter, so the unity of the spiritual world was veiled to us. This made possible the development of the sense of individuality, the development of ego. We did succed in this. Now it is time to head back, and be responsible but free denizens of the spiritual world.

Just this time, as it is Christmas, and all this is not unrelated to that blessed birth two thousand years ago.

with Love

[quote=Hubert;8580]
Important to know is that approximately 2000 BC was the turning point in history when descent into matter reached it’s climax and would have continued if not the Christ event.[/quote]

Good post Hubert, Thanks.:smiley:
What does descent into matter mean?:frowning:

Descent into matter means the vital body is withdrawn into the boundaries of the physical, thus the latter veils the spiritual realities from it, and the soul has an existence where it’s awarness is “outward” oriented, through the senses. For such a being, apparently only the physical exists, only the things revealed by the sense organs are perceptable. This is a sad state as we lack the unity and the purpose what is obvious in the spiritual realm. (brahma loka)
But it is also good as it made possible the development of individuality. We take this for granted, and we think earlier humans in history were just like us. Antrophosphy says that this was not so, if you look into the Bible, you see that individuality was not that important, but bloodline was. The individual felt not as an individual as we feel today, but as belonging to the nation through bloodline, as a finger feels belonging to the hand. This is true for most humans back than, but there always were exceptional individuals.
If not the Christ event, this engrossment in matter have continued beyond a point of no return. In fact this will happen for those who cannot make use of this event. This does not mean one must become a christian, but it means that Christ has been made available as a spiritual reality on a vital level, and anyone can find the vitalizing impulse for a spiritual life if sincerely seeking.
The goal is the development of friendly love, and intimate knowledge of spiritual brotherhood, as opposed to brotherhood based on nationality, tribe or bloodline. It does not matter the language, the culture, the ritual. These can be kept as a form of respect for our ancestors, but must be vitalized by a rich, inner spiritual life. As eastern cultures, particularly hinduism, especially through yoga has a huge experience on this field, it has come the time that the two main currents of development eastern (inner) and western(outer) fertilize each other. This is already in effect since the beginning of the XXth century, and it’s signs are everywhere …
Someone said if there will be a third millennia of human history, it will be religious. Some feel aversion towards religion, mostly because they feel it is useless, inert and dead, or irrational. And they are right as organizations and ritualistic practices, they are. But there is nothing irrational or uncomprehensible even on mental level about the spiritual world and divine plan, only that it is not obvious as we lack the senses necessary to perceive it. These senses can be, and are developed by many of these forum’s members. The time is coming when faith will be living, as result of personal spiritual experience and not through ritual, or scripture. Living faith lives in our hearts, and is not just the result of intellectual effort or accepting things that seem non-existent or unbelievable, but result of personal relationship with spirituality, or God, through the Christ, who is living in each of our hearts. If you are not christian, you can call it Self, or the corresponding name you have, it does not change what That/Who really you are.

no

it is all neurons fireing in the brain.

I have heard this opinion before, many times. In fact, there was a time when I also believed this.

What you say is just the subtle manifested on the physical plane. Science understands the mineral reign, and we are able to create new forms of minerals, or change the existing ones as we see fit. We are intelligent and wise, indeed. But we are not able to create life, just because it is more than we can see with our senses, be they enhanced by microscopes or X-Rays, or electromagnetic images.

Science cannot explain a lot of things … what is matter ? What is space ? What is time ? When sensorial approach reaches it’s limits, as you cannot observe how an electron really behaves as the electronmicroscope works with electrons also, and they interact, then all is left to the scientist is hypothesis. They think and create elaborate theories and ten dimensional worlds. They calculate, create abstract schemes where even their own logic fails, than they create new, even more elaborate ones to patch these inadvertencies.
Science does know a lot, and as experimental science it is very useful. But it is totally left in air regarding all impotant questions of our human life.

Still, scientific rigour can be used to know the metaphysic reality. The tool here is not just the brain, but the whole human being.

Most people do not go all the way, to find the limits of their perception and awarness, but they accept the limits found by others, without actually seeing, or experiencing these limits. Than they try to enforce these limits on others, so they can keep their illusory safety, and avoid unpleasant thoughts or experiences, the very fears they banish to their unconscious mind. One cannot learn every little aspect of the material world science has discovered. Average human condition, capacity does not allow this. But to advance on the spiritual journey, we have all what we need, every one of us.