Where does the 'soul' come from?

Question

I'm particularly interested in people whose religion seems to say we have two lives; this life and then the eternal life.

Where is the soul prior to this life?

icarus62

In Buddhism there is the mind you're primarily talking about and then the subtle mind. The mind you are talking about is dependant on the physical body as you describe and thus ends when the body dies and can be changed by changes in the body when alive.

You seem to also be taking issue with the idea of rebirth. The theory of rebirth should be understood on the basis of our understanding of the nature of causality. Because according to Buddhism every event must have preceding causes and conditions. Therefore, even a single cognitive event; say an instance of consciousness or mind, must have causes and conditions.

And so, through this process we can trace the beginning-less continuum to the consciousness . And once we are able to develop that kind of understanding of the causal process than the theory of rebirth develops naturally on the basis of that kind of causal understanding.

Answer 1

Oh you are a bad buddhist to tease in this way.

Answer 2

What exactly do you think a soul is? What properties does it have? What part of 'you' resides in the soul?

If it's postulated that consciousness, or awareness, or sense of self resides in the soul, it's difficult to see how this can be reconciled with the complete oblivion which accompanies general anaesthesia. How could a straightforward chemical, injected into the bloodstream, anaesthetise a soul so that it effectively ceases to exist during this time? If consciousness, in the form of a soul, were some kind of supernatural faculty, it would seem implausible that it could be completely disabled by a chemical.

How about some of the other things which we regard as essential parts of what makes a person what they are? How about love, compassion, reason, empathy, memory, conscious thought, character, 'spirituality' and so on? Well, there is really no plausible doubt that all these things are properties of the physical brain - We can alter all of these properties very simply with alcohol or other drugs, and observe how they change in people who have suffered significant brain damage. Previously placid people become uncontrollably violent, intelligent people become imbeciles, and so on. Stimulate the brain artificially, and the subject reports corresponding mental activity, e.g. 'religious experiences'. We can see from brain research that all these things - thought, emotion, sensation, character traits and so on - are correlated with activity in the brain, and some things can be identified with specific areas of the brain.

So, if all these faculties and characteristics of what we regard as the 'person' reside in the physical brain, as seems to be undeniably the case, and they all cease when the person dies, then what is left to be attributed to a 'soul'? As far as I can ascertain: Nothing. If there is no part of us that can continue after death, then there is no 'afterlife'... and if there is no afterlife, then most of religion is null and void.

Answer 3

ppl use the word soul as a pretty or mystical way of describing the consciousness you derive from having a brain...when the brain ceases to function then you are gone, non existent. They say the soul is everything that is you, well if someone bonks you on the noggin or a similar happening occurs and the brain is damaged then you are not fully who you once were. Before the brain was formed you were nothing and after it ceases to function you shall be nothing again. Its not as pretty a thought as having an eternal soul or existence in some form but its a little thing called reality.

Answer 4

You know what, exactly! Where do 'souls' come from?! Because if you believe in creationism, then in the beginning there were 2 people, right? That means, that all the 'souls' must've already existed, and were just 'flying around'... Also, if there is a set amount of 'souls', then how is population growth possible?

With this I conclude that there is no such thing as a 'soul'.

Answer 5

The soul is a projection of our 'self' -- we want our individuality to exist beyond physical death and, so, we create a bodyless embodiment of our psychological identity. We then make up beliefs and concepts about it -- how it survives death, how it has always been, how it goes through successive lives incarnating into bodies and developing according to some mystical force called karma, how it gets into heaven or hell, etc. All just a concept that's meant to keep our indviduality intact.

Answer 6

It was with the previous life it goes like that and according to Buddhism I know , we can't understand it because we have not developed our minds to understand such complex thing.

To have a better idea learn and read more about Theravada Buddhism.

1.www.metta.lk/
2.www.accesstoinsight.org/
3.www.Buddha.net/

Answer 7

I found this little gem :)

The Hebrew word translated “soul” is ne´phesh, and it occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament). What does ne´phesh mean? According to The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, it “usually refers to the entire living being, to the whole individual.”

So once we are born we automaticaly become a " Soul " ...

Answer 8

I know that one's soul creats 2000 thousand before his/her body.

Then after dead the soul continue his life in limbo the place that depend on one's act in this world if he was good he will be comfortable.

We believe in judgment day , someday one big angel who's named "Sourisrafil" will reveilled people and every soul will come back to his/her body and everyone will stand in front of God, after a judgment that will be done very fast the hell and paradise will be formed.

Answer 9

I'm particularly interested in people whose religion seems to say we have two lives; this life and then the eternal life

SOUL COME?

Answer 10

religious folk call their consciousness or "self" their SOUL ... or , their SPIRIT ... and they believe its immortal O_o

neuroscience will tell you, that feeling of "self" is a chemical/electrical processs, just like all the other processes in the brain. its not an "entity", its not separate, its not immortal

so, the self, soul, whatever, IS REAL ... but its only real in the same way emotions are real .. a chemical process in the brain

Answer 11

Memphis