What is a soul?

[attofishpi]

...not to be found anywhere in one's DNA and if not there, nowhere. Nature found it completely unnecessary to provide one probably because it contributes no useful function where life itself is concerned. Nature deals in physics, not personal metaphysics...the means by which we recreate ourselves, jettisoned into some form of anti-gravitational spirituality beyond the earth-bound vulgar reality which created us.

As a species capable of but hardly ever accomplishing enlightenment WE deserve more!

That's astonishing. It does appear this entity does require us to have some faith in its existence for it to reveal anything to us (as individuals).

So, what enlightenment is to be provided to an atheist!? (in relation to the subject at hand)

[reasonvemotion]

From the posts on this topic, the idea of a conscious part of us that keeps living after the body dies has become a popular belief.

Another common belief is based on the idea that relatives who have died still keep living, though their lives are now within a different plane of existence.

Ancient philosophy is full of references of the immortality of the soul. Plato saw the body as the prison of the soul and believed the soul was set free from this imprisonment at death and Thomas Aquinas firmly established this belief in the 13th century.

The ancient Egyptians believed the soul was in the heart and Leonardo da Vinci thought he could find the human soul by dissecting the brain.
Human theories about physical properties of the soul and where it is located show there is considerable diversity of opinion.

The biblical reference in Genesis "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

[Age]

YOU have NO idea WHAT a SOUL is EITHER.

What are you on about here?

I was talking ABOUT the term and phrase 'your soul'. I was NOT referring to what 'a soul' is, AT ALL.

What 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY, is a VERY DIFFERENT matter.

And, what are you even basing this CLAIM of YOURS here on, EXACTLY, anyway?

To be ABLE to KNOW, CORRECTLY, if "another" has NO idea AT ALL of what 'a soul' IS, or not, then that one would HAVE TO KNOW what 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY. "themself" FIRST. Do 'you' KNOW what 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY, "attofishpi"?

If no, then HOW do 'you', supposedly, KNOW that 'I' have NO idea what 'a soul' is, NEITHER?

Ah, you GOT me THERE, your LOGIC is IRREFUTABLE.

So.

Do YOU know WHAT a SOUL is YES or NO?

I have and use A definition of 'soul', which FITS WITH, and WORKS IN, PERFECTLY I will add, WITH the GUT and TOE. Or, as I like to call 'it' the G.U.T.O.E.

If, however, 'this' is AGREED UPON and ACCEPTED by EVERY one, which is what is NECESSARY to KNOW what IS the True, Right, Accurate, and Correct Knowledge of a 'thing' we WILL just HAVE TO WAIT, and SEE, to FIND OUT.

[Age]

...not to be found anywhere in one's DNA and if not there, nowhere.

This would be like CLAIMING that 'thoughts', 'emotions', and 'Mind' are NOWHERE to be found in ANY one's 'dna', therefore they do NOT exist absolutely ANYWHERE.

Nature found it completely unnecessary to provide one probably because it contributes no useful function where life itself is concerned. Nature deals in physics, not personal metaphysics...the means by which we recreate ourselves, jettisoned into some form of anti-gravitational spirituality beyond the earth-bound vulgar reality which created us.

As a species capable of but hardly ever accomplishing enlightenment WE deserve more!

So, WHERE, EXACTLY, is 'thought', 'emotion', and 'Mind' FOUND in the physical human body?

From all of the observed cutting open of human bodies I have NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN NOR OBSERVED these 'things'. But, maybe you can HELP us here.

WHERE, EXACTLY, did Nature, which deals in 'physics' correct, construct these 'things'?

Have 'you' ACTUALLY had physical contact with these 'things'?

If yes, then WHERE and HOW, EXACTLY?

[Age]

I suppose a soul could be various things, depending on which culture’s conception of soul you were considering. In my part of the world a soul seems to be thought of as a sort of immaterial spirit that inhabits the body of a living human being. The usual implication is that the soul is somehow the core essence of the being it inhabits; even perhaps what we regard as “I”. But what could a soul possibly amount to after separation from the body?

An immaterial spirit doesn’t have physical sense organs, so it would have no means of seeing, or hearing, or sensing anything in the material world. Our memory is in our brain, and our capacity for thought is made possible by the brain, and our character and personality are produced by the brain, and these are our main sources of identity. A spirit does not have a brain, hence no memory, no thought, and no identity. What’s left for a soul to be?

It seems to me that, at most, a soul could be nothing more than a kind of awareness, but with nothing to be aware of other than awareness itself, and even that could only be a vague awareness. I don’t think I’m looking forward to being just a soul.

I've said the same on many occasions. I don't see what there is going to be to enjoy or otherwise in an afterlife.

LOL IF ANY human being 'thinks', or BELIEVES, that 'they' are going to be around in the 'afterlife', then they ARE VERY SADLY MISTAKEN.

This world is where everything we know and understand resides.

AND, what the 'afterlife' MEANS, or REFERS TO, EXACTLY, SHOWS and PROVES just what THERE IS to be ENJOYED, and REALLY HOW MUCH that 'life' WILL BE and IS Truly ENJOYED, AS WELL.

BUT, 'we' have to get PAST and THROUGH ALL of the False and Wrong DISTORTED 'thinking' FIRST.

[Age]

The soul.. the Innate self.. the spritely spirit, within.

What we are and what we are to become, so what we shall eventually be.

NOT EXACTLY True and Right, but probably the CLOSEST, SO FAR.

[Age]

...not to be found anywhere in one's DNA and if not there, nowhere. Nature found it completely unnecessary to provide one probably because it contributes no useful function where life itself is concerned. Nature deals in physics, not personal metaphysics...the means by which we recreate ourselves, jettisoned into some form of anti-gravitational spirituality beyond the earth-bound vulgar reality which created us.

As a species capable of but hardly ever accomplishing enlightenment WE deserve more!

That's astonishing. It does appear this entity does require us to have some faith in its existence for it to reveal anything to us (as individuals).

So, what enlightenment is to be provided to an atheist!? (in relation to the subject at hand)

The EXACT SAME 'Enlightenment'.

ONCE BELIEF HAS GONE from BOTH "sides", and OPENNESS IS REACHED, or OBTAINED, then Enlightenment just FLOWS through, and IN.

[Age]

From the posts on this topic, the idea of a conscious part of us that keeps living after the body dies has become a popular belief.

Another common belief is based on the idea that relatives who have died still keep living, though their lives are now within a different plane of existence.

Ancient philosophy is full of references of the immortality of the soul. Plato saw the body as the prison of the soul and believed the soul was set free from this imprisonment at death and Thomas Aquinas firmly established this belief in the 13th century.

The ancient Egyptians believed the soul was in the heart and Leonardo da Vinci thought he could find the human soul by dissecting the brain.
Human theories about physical properties of the soul and where it is located show there is considerable diversity of opinion.

The biblical reference in Genesis "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

WHICH, when ALL brought TOGETHER, SUCCESSFULLY, SHOWS the ABSOLUTE True Nature. Or, in other words, the Truths AND Falsehoods ARE REVEALED.

[attofishpi]

What are you on about here?

I was talking ABOUT the term and phrase 'your soul'. I was NOT referring to what 'a soul' is, AT ALL.

What 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY, is a VERY DIFFERENT matter.

And, what are you even basing this CLAIM of YOURS here on, EXACTLY, anyway?

To be ABLE to KNOW, CORRECTLY, if "another" has NO idea AT ALL of what 'a soul' IS, or not, then that one would HAVE TO KNOW what 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY. "themself" FIRST. Do 'you' KNOW what 'a soul' IS, EXACTLY, "attofishpi"?

If no, then HOW do 'you', supposedly, KNOW that 'I' have NO idea what 'a soul' is, NEITHER?

Ah, you GOT me THERE, your LOGIC is IRREFUTABLE.

So.

Do YOU know WHAT a SOUL is YES or NO?

I have and use A definition of 'soul', which FITS WITH, and WORKS IN, PERFECTLY I will add, WITH the GUT and TOE. Or, as I like to call 'it' the G.U.T.O.E.

If, however, 'this' is AGREED UPON and ACCEPTED by EVERY one, which is what is NECESSARY to KNOW what IS the True, Right, Accurate, and Correct Knowledge of a 'thing' we WILL just HAVE TO WAIT, and SEE, to FIND OUT.

LMAO.

Are you ever going to actually contribute anything to this forum, or are you going to continue on you nutjob fantasy that you do have something to contribute, but we are not meeting you expectations and requirements to provide it.

[Age]

Ah, you GOT me THERE, your LOGIC is IRREFUTABLE.

So.

Do YOU know WHAT a SOUL is YES or NO?

I have and use A definition of 'soul', which FITS WITH, and WORKS IN, PERFECTLY I will add, WITH the GUT and TOE. Or, as I like to call 'it' the G.U.T.O.E.

If, however, 'this' is AGREED UPON and ACCEPTED by EVERY one, which is what is NECESSARY to KNOW what IS the True, Right, Accurate, and Correct Knowledge of a 'thing' we WILL just HAVE TO WAIT, and SEE, to FIND OUT.

LMAO.

Are you ever going to actually contribute anything to this forum, or are you going to continue on you nutjob fantasy that you do have something to contribute, but we are not meeting you expectations and requirements to provide it.

What, EXACTLY, is YOUR EXPECTATION and REQUIREMENT FOR, and FROM, me here?

KNOWING what HAS HAPPENED in one's OWN life one can KNOW. But, KNOWING what a 'thing' IS, EXACTLY, is NOT something that one can KNOW, FOR SURE. KNOWING what a 'thing' IS, EXACTLY, requires collective AGREEMENT and ACCEPTANCE.

I have, ALREADY, provided my definition of a 'soul'. So, what, EXACTLY, do you WANT FROM me NOW?

[Dubious]

...not to be found anywhere in one's DNA and if not there, nowhere. Nature found it completely unnecessary to provide one probably because it contributes no useful function where life itself is concerned. Nature deals in physics, not personal metaphysics...the means by which we recreate ourselves, jettisoned into some form of anti-gravitational spirituality beyond the earth-bound vulgar reality which created us.

As a species capable of but hardly ever accomplishing enlightenment. WE deserve more!

That's astonishing. It does appear this entity does require us to have some faith in its existence for it to reveal anything to us (as individuals).

Don't know if I'm reading you right, it seems somewhat circular. You seem to be saying that one must have faith in the soul's existence as a precondition for someone to believe in the existence of a higher power. Have I got that right?

If that's what you mean then sorry, I can't see the connection on any level.

So, what enlightenment is to be provided to an atheist!? (in relation to the subject at hand)

That depends on the atheist or whether he even chooses to search for enlightenment...which can mean anything to anybody, ranging from belief to near certified facts. For me, enlightenment consists mostly of getting rid of old prejudices, of which history is replete...attempting to see without distortion; removing the blinders, allowing the light to advance into one's eyeballs and from there into one's brain.

[Age]

...not to be found anywhere in one's DNA and if not there, nowhere. Nature found it completely unnecessary to provide one probably because it contributes no useful function where life itself is concerned. Nature deals in physics, not personal metaphysics...the means by which we recreate ourselves, jettisoned into some form of anti-gravitational spirituality beyond the earth-bound vulgar reality which created us.

As a species capable of but hardly ever accomplishing enlightenment. WE deserve more!

That's astonishing. It does appear this entity does require us to have some faith in its existence for it to reveal anything to us (as individuals).

Don't know if I'm reading you right, it seems somewhat circular. You seem to be saying that one must have faith in the soul's existence as a precondition for someone to believe in the existence of a higher power. Have I got that right?

If that's what you mean then sorry, I can't see the connection on any level.

So, what enlightenment is to be provided to an atheist!? (in relation to the subject at hand)

That depends on the atheist or whether he even chooses to search for enlightenment...which can mean anything to anybody, ranging from belief to near certified facts. For me, enlightenment consists mostly of getting rid of old prejudices, of which history is replete...attempting to see without distortion; removing the blinders, allowing the light to advance into one's eyeballs and from there into one's brain.

So, to you, those who are classed as physically or legally blind can NOT have 'enlightenment', nor be 'enlightened', correct?

[Dontaskme]

The 'word 'soul' is a known concept. But it is an abstraction. It's an idea.

Ideas are multiple and plenty within the 'thought sphere'
Ideas such like ''eternal'' and ''essence of being or identity'' and ''connection to God'', etc.

Each of these ideas is itself an abstraction, so the 'soul' is an abstraction of abstractions.

Some people think that the soul is a real ''thing'' of some kind, a substance or real form or object, but it's not an object, as there's no evidence whatsoever for the existence of souls as an actual objective thing. As an idea, yes, but not a thing. 'Soul' is just another label given to an idea.

Who makes up these ideas?
A: is simply thought.
Thought is an artificial overlay upon this immediate present unknowing reality.

Any thought thing can appear to the screen of empty imageless consciousness, the only knowing there is. But there is simply emptiness behind every overlaid idea upon this empty screen of consciousness.

[Dontaskme]

This entire earth is a haunted house.

Consciousness will haunt us until the hour of our death . . . the final harassment of our imagination.
― Zzenn

[Harbal]

This entire earth is a haunted house.

I live near a haunted tunnel. I think it's mainly haunted by old car tyres, though.