The “Soul” is typically understood to be the essence of a living being, the source of its consciousness, personality, emotions and life force across various cultures, religions and philosophical traditions. Soul is thought to be immortal and separate from the physical body, and may continue to exist after the body dies. The Soul is also perceived as a divine spark from a higher power, while in the Western science, it may be viewed as a product of the mind or brain or a social construct. Ultimately, the nature of the soul remains a topic of debate and speculation and different people or traditions may have somewhat different understanding of Soul.
How is the Soul different from Everyday Self or Ego?
Assuming that Soul is our “true essence” our Divine Spark that knows the Ultimate Truth, and is devoid of suffering, pain, depression and fear because of it, our everyday Self is shaped by programming that starts at conception, and includes some genetic and environmental influences, including those that occur in the mother’s womb, her emotions and traumas, her lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, meditating or not, sleep patterns, environmental pollution). The main programming starts after birth and is shaped by families, parents, school, religious upbringing, parental belief systems, political systems, and peer pressures. The science of epigenetics now provides ample evidence of the results of such adaptations. Imagine that we really do not know who we are because our entire functioning is shaped by others’ beliefs. For a spiritual seeker, it takes decades to re-establish an authentic Self that includes the process of purification from programming and distancing from the sources like families or religion via psychotherapy or spiritual/religious journeys, or cultivating awareness and ultimate spiritual awakening. That is the usual path of those who are interested in knowing their True selves.
Who has a Soul?
The next dilemma is to define who has Souls- humans, animals, trees, all living creatures? How about inanimate objects or what we perceive as inanimate- Mountains? Oceans? Grains of Sand?
Do all species need the experience of feeling separate from Source of it all? The uniqueness of Soul? Some religious teachings say that only humans have Souls, while other mammals do not (but most dog and cat owners would argue to the contrary). However all religions that believe in reincarnation and karma (Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, Ancient Greece), believe that taking on lives as insects and animals before incarnating is a process of soul development and spiritual evolution and may take 8.4 million lifetimes. But it is one Soul that reincarnates into different forms or bodies to have the experience and growth. If this is true, you may say that Darwin was only half-right considering the evolution of species being a natural gradual process.
About 25% of the American population believe in reincarnation. Back in the 17th century philosopher, Rene Decartes proposed that the soul enters the body at the moment of birth through the pineal gland and exits the body at the moment of death. Reincarnation research in Western psychiatry or psychology did not take on with a few exceptions of Theodore Flournoy and Carl Jung who mentioned the persistence of memory and ego through reincarnations. However, in their teachings, the relationship between the soul and spirit and ego or personality seemed elusive, with the Soul’s function being an “anima,” a life force animating the body and providing the sense of meaning and purpose. In case of mental illness, the soul connection is considered lost followed by a noticeable “dissociation of consciousness.” In addition, Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia collected over 2500 case studies documenting memories of past lives, followed by Dr Brian Weiss documenting the utility of hypnotic past life regressions to heal “neurotic symptoms” that represented symptoms of the past lives’ wounding.
Even plants are found to have behaviors that are not completely determined either genetically or environmentally. Some defend that the quest for plant consciousness is worth pursuing, under the premise that sentience can play a role in facilitating plant’s sophisticated behavior. Italian farmers chose to play Mozart to the grapes to produce a better tasting wine. Of course, there are generations of tree-huggers who believe in the interaction and speaking with the trees, referring to them as “standing people.” Indigenous people routinely “interact” with and revere mountains, the earth or “Pachamama,” and animals or birds considering them as guides with higher consciousness. Research on plant electrical and chemical signaling can help shed light into the biological bases for plant sentience allows some individual and group awareness that reacts and interacts with humans.
One thing is clear, especially with the recent Climate change disasters and COVID-19 pandemic, we are all interconnected with the planet and ourselves, and it is in our best interests to act as “One” to rebalance and stabilize our lives.
