# Spirits and Souls



## Confusticated (May 13, 2005)

Do you use the words interchangeably?

If so, how would you define each?

If not, how would you define it?

Do you believe they exist, do not exist, or just might exist?

If so, _where_ do they exist?

Only on Earth?

Only on earth and some special afterlife locations?

Throughout the universe?

If you believe in afterlife, do souls become free to travel anywhere in space or time and maybe even beyond, or are they confined to some special place(s)?

Do you believe animals have souls/spirits?

Do you believe spirits dwells in the fabric of Earth, in the lands and waters and so on?

Reincarnation?

Where do souls originate?

At what point in life do we get a soul? Before, after or during birth? If before, how long before?

Is a baby's soul nourished by his/her parents soul, like JRRT's elves are? 

Can souls think in the way that incarnates do?

What is the relation between the soul and the heart? Are they in fact one in the same? Is 'heart' just the name we give to souls as they are felt stirring so ardent within our breast?


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## Barliman Butterbur (May 13, 2005)

Nóm said:


> Do you use the words interchangeably?



Just to start with, here are a couple of dictionary definitions:

Soul: 1. The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.
2. The spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.
3. The disembodied spirit of a dead human.
4: the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life

Spirit: 
1. The vital principle or animating force within living beings.
2. Incorporeal consciousness.
2. The soul, considered as departing from the body of a person at death.
3. Spirit The Holy Spirit.
4. A supernatural being, as:
1. An angel or a demon.
2. A being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon.
3. A fairy or sprite.
5.
1. The part of a human associated with the mind, will, and feelings: Though unable to join us today, they are with us in spirit. 



> Do you believe they exist, do not exist, or just might exist?



Who knows? It is said that there is proof both pro and con. Most of us hope for an afterlife better than the present one.



> If you believe in afterlife, do souls become free to travel anywhere in space or time and maybe even beyond, or are they confined to some special place(s)?



The various religions and spiritual philosophies — especially the Eastern religions — have much to say on this.



> Do you believe animals have souls/spirits?



Hinduism and Buddhism say yes.



> Do you believe spirits dwells in the fabric of Earth, in the lands and waters and so on?



Many cultures certainly believe that. Other questions that might well be asked are, How is it possible for there to be so many variations in the answers to these questions? How can they all be right? Is one right and the rest wrong, or are they all partly right and partly wrong? Or are they all wrong? Are we actually capable of knowing, or do we just believe/hope we are? What is the truth, and what is our own _delusion?_

It is apparent that you are a true seeker, a _sadhaka_: you are asking seekers' questions. May I refer you to the works of Joseph Campbell at http://www.jcf.org/, to Buddhism at http://www.buddhanet.net/, Hinduism at http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/index.shtml , and Sikhism at http://allaboutsikhs.com/home.php .

Good hunting!

Barley


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## Confusticated (May 13, 2005)

Thanks for the links Barliman, I'll look into them after I answer your questions.


> Other questions that might well be asked are, How is it possible for there to be so many variations in the answers to these questions?



I think maybe because when it comes to spirits it is not widely agreed that anything concerning them can be proven.



> How can they all be right?



Right according to who, or by what standards?



> Is one right and the rest wrong, or are they all partly right and partly wrong? Or are they all wrong?



I don't know, and I don't know that anyone does.



> Are we actually capable of knowing, or do we just believe/hope we are?



I am not capable of knowing at this point in time, but I do have my beliefs and ideas. If others are capable of knowing it has not been shown to me exactly how they are, but for all I know some people may be.



> What is the truth, and what is our own delusion?



I think the difference is not important until something has proved to one's self to be a delusion.


What I am most interested in are other individuals' beliefs and ideas, more so than the teachings of a religion. But I don't know much about religions other than that I dislike what I know of Christianity, but no doubt there are a lot of interesting teachings out there. I've recently taken an interest in Native American beliefs for example. Not in the sense that I want to take up any religion though, its just for the sake of thought.

I am especially interested in what people believe the nature of a spirit is. After you die and your spirit is free what is it aware of? How does it sense? I don't ask this because I want to be told what to believe, but simply because I find it interesting to think about, and hear what people believe.


What does love do to the spirit? Hate? Apathy? Are these the vitality, destruction and death of a spirit? Or is a spirit immortal? In what way can a spirit grow? In feeling? Wisdom? Power? Can spirits merge together and become like one in the afterlife?


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## spirit (May 13, 2005)

> Do you use the words interchangeably?



IMO - No. I think that soul and spirit mean the same thing, just different words, which describe the same thing. I usually prefer using the term “Soul”; but as for my username, I thought Spirit sounded more prettier than Soul. 




> If not, how would you define it?



The soul is part of every living organism in the world. It’s pure and detached from the world around us. You can’t see or touch the Soul, but you know it’s there. And when someone dies, it’s not like they’re really dead. It’s the body that’s dead, not the Soul. It’s an ever going on cycle, which can only be broken after all the Karmas have been “burnt”.




> Do you believe they exist, do not exist, or just might exist?



The Soul exists in every living being.
I don’t believe in the “Spirits” i.e. ghosts.



> If so, where do they exist?



In every being. (A little repetitive)
They don’t have a particular part of the body they hang around near, it’s more like how air is spread around the atmosphere. And although you can manipulate air to create vacuum, you cannot manipulate the Soul. 




> Only on Earth?



Not really sure what you mean. We only seem to think that there’s life on Earth, so most likely: yes. 




> Throughout the universe?



It’s not flat... fortune; but it’s very complicated to understand, after all it is one of God’s creation.




> If you believe in afterlife, do souls become free to travel anywhere in space or time and maybe even beyond, or are they confined to some special place(s)?


 I believe in reincarnation (unlit a certain point). The soul, once it leaves a particular body, enters another being.



> Do you believe animals have souls/spirits?


 Yes. No questions asked! Animals are living beings, so why else would they be different?




> Where do souls originate?



Hmmm......
*bangs head on the table* This is one of those unanswerable question which everyone wonders about and can’t really come up with the real answer. They’re all theories...
I doubt this can be considered as an answer, but the Soul is part of God; God has been around when there as nothing else. So in a way, the Soul much have been there. Kinda like a movie without a start... Hard to imagine... (Geez, I give myself a headache sometimes...)




> At what point in life do we get a soul? Before, after or during birth? If before, how long before?



From the point when a egg cell has been fertilized.




> Is a baby's soul nourished by his/her parents soul, like JRRT's elves are?



No. The only person who can “nourish” the soul is the person in whom the soul resigns within. The parent can be a source of influence.




> What is the relation between the soul and the heart? Are they in fact one in the same? Is 'heart' just the name we give to souls as they are felt stirring so ardent within our breast?



the heart is a physical property; the Soul is the spiritual property. In my opinion, I don’t think there’s a real connection.


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