What is a soul? Is it our consciousness, and we think we have a soul?

Question

But, what is a soul? Does all the activities of the neurons in a human brain result in consciousness and seem to be a soul? What happens when an organic brain goes dead, and the neurons stop firing and transmitting electrochemical signals to each other? What happens then, huh? Does something else, some other medium, carry on with the transfer of information? Is information once handled, stored and manipulated in an organic structure transferred to a non-organic structure or matrix through an extra dimension? What could that new non-organic structure be? Where would it reside?

Answer 1

If you told a man 500 years ago that there are tiny life forms that make people sick by living inside of us called germs, he could not comprehend that. The universe in its infinite complexities still has a lot of secrets. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a soul and a god of some sort.

Answer 2

What is transcendental, can not be reduced into empirical terms. Soul is a transcendental Category, and do not atempt to reduce it into neurons brain etc. Like Kant would say, Your categories of understanding, space and time can not be appllied to the level of Noumena. Soul belongs to the level of Noumena in Kantian terms.

In Indian Metaphysics, Soul is transcendental, and it is actually one wth the ultimate reality, the separation of it as my soul being illusory. The property of Soul is 'Pure Consciousness' it is pure, in the sense that it is devoid of all empirical contents. Prior to its inhabitiing your body, it had not any empirical contents, and the moment it leaves the body, it shuns all empirical contents as well, logically.

Upanishads says, Puranamada Purnamidam (That [Ultimate reality] is a complete whole and this [soul] is a complete whole), Purnat Purnamudachyate (from that complete whole came thihs complete whole), Purnasya Purnamadaya (Even when this complete whole is removed from that complete whole), Purnameva Vasisysate (There still remains a complete whole). Hence this separation is temporary, illusory and so it is called the "Maya".

Answer 3

Soul is what differentiates living beings from inanimate objects. Why do noble living souls express kindness, altruism, love, compassion and even sacrifice for their loved ones etc. ? This is due to the presence of the soul within.

All experiences of the lives are captured in subtle bodies within subtle minds. These subtle mids are more subtle than our popularly known mind, intellect and brain supported by physical neurons and nervous systems.

So important experiences and learnings of life are not forgotten upon death but are remembered and transmitted through this subtle mind.
However subtle mind is also a form of mind and not the soul itself. The identity of a particular soul is exemplified by this subtle mind.

So there is an evolution of life, evolution of souls in this world and worldly context.

Subtle and astral bodies are so subtle that physical objects and instruments are too gross to identify them. They can however be experienced and observed through subtle tools and experimentations with subtle faculties. These subtle faculties are developed through PROPER meditations and Yoga techniques under proper and competent guidance.
The 'subtle mind' that I refer to in this answer is very subtle.

Answer 4

soul is simply your psyche: your will + your intellect. As for the rest of your questions these are just presuppositions which you can't really have a sure, scientific answer to.

Answer 5

The soul is an immortal gift from God. It has nothing to do with our physical bodies .

Answer 6

a poetic interpretation of the Id.

Answer 7

i'll be able to answer this question by the time i die. dont't worry ill find a way to tell you the answer. ^_^