Morning Coffee Thoughts, Could the soul be Metaphorical?

Shadowprophet

Truthiness


Now, hear me out. I believe that fundamentally, a healthy soul is eternal. However, as I do every morning, my mind races in circles as a thought occurred to me. Our modern-day understanding of time is different; we have physics and pop culture telling us that time is a concept that can be manipulated, at least conceptually. I was thinking this morning about souls and the afterlife, and what constitutes a soul. What would a powerful, healthy, or wealthy soul, whichever way you want to conceptualize it, compare to a weak, sickly, or poor soul? What is a soul, and how does one assess it?

Some belief systems postulate that it's one's actions, deeds, or works. What if the value or worth in a soul is the memories and impressions you leave and make upon others? What if that is what constitutes a soul and an afterlife? The memories and impact you leave behind on those who remember you? I don't know; this is just a morning coffee thought. It tends to contradict the whole 'eternal soul ideology' that most spiritualism teaches.
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
Interesting, Shadowprophet! Deep down I have similar ideas to Mahayana Buddhism. No self nature; we are a process and part of the universe. I see consciousness as an emergent property of matter. I believe I could just as easily have been born as a bird or snake. Truth is, it is only coffee that makes me human...
 

Shadowprophet

Truthiness
Interesting, Shadowprophet! Deep down I have similar ideas to Mahayana Buddhism. No self nature; we are a process and part of the universe. I see consciousness as an emergent property of matter. I believe I could just as easily have been born as a bird or snake. Truth is, it is only coffee that makes me human...
You know, I don't recall which theory in physics lines up with consciousness being a manifestation of mass on a gravitational plane. But there is one. For eons human kind has wondered about self awareness. And I very much agree that animals have consciousness. I know my dog loves me for reals
 

Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.


Now, hear me out. I believe that fundamentally, a healthy soul is eternal. However, as I do every morning, my mind races in circles as a thought occurred to me. Our modern-day understanding of time is different; we have physics and pop culture telling us that time is a concept that can be manipulated, at least conceptually. I was thinking this morning about souls and the afterlife, and what constitutes a soul. What would a powerful, healthy, or wealthy soul, whichever way you want to conceptualize it, compare to a weak, sickly, or poor soul? What is a soul, and how does one assess it?

Some belief systems postulate that it's one's actions, deeds, or works. What if the value or worth in a soul is the memories and impressions you leave and make upon others? What if that is what constitutes a soul and an afterlife? The memories and impact you leave behind on those who remember you? I don't know; this is just a morning coffee thought. It tends to contradict the whole 'eternal soul ideology' that most spiritualism teaches.
 

Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.


Now, hear me out. I believe that fundamentally, a healthy soul is eternal. However, as I do every morning, my mind races in circles as a thought occurred to me. Our modern-day understanding of time is different; we have physics and pop culture telling us that time is a concept that can be manipulated, at least conceptually. I was thinking this morning about souls and the afterlife, and what constitutes a soul. What would a powerful, healthy, or wealthy soul, whichever way you want to conceptualize it, compare to a weak, sickly, or poor soul? What is a soul, and how does one assess it?

Some belief systems postulate that it's one's actions, deeds, or works. What if the value or worth in a soul is the memories and impressions you leave and make upon others? What if that is what constitutes a soul and an afterlife? The memories and impact you leave behind on those who remember you? I don't know; this is just a morning coffee thought. It tends to contradict the whole 'eternal soul ideology' that most spiritualism teaches.

Hello, SP, I often have racing thoughts about this very idea. I believe our deeds and the memories we create in our earthly lives are equally important. Our interactions and the relationships we develop with others are especially crucial.

I firmly believe the Buddhist concept that life is a series of mental constructs. I like to tie this into the idea of simulation theory as it postulates that our existence is really a simulated reality. IMHO, science and spiritualism can harbor a mutual respect for each other and peacefully coexist. Many notable scientists seem to shy away from exploring spiritualism, at least in public dissertations, which I think is a shame.
 

Shadowprophet

Truthiness
Hello, SP, I often have racing thoughts about this very idea. I believe our deeds and the memories we create in our earthly lives are equally important. Our interactions and the relationships we develop with others are especially crucial.

I firmly believe the Buddhist concept that life is a series of mental constructs. I like to tie this into the idea of simulation theory as it postulates that our existence is really a simulated reality. IMHO, science and spiritualism can harbor a mutual respect for each other and peacefully coexist. Many notable scientists seem to shy away from exploring spiritualism, at least in public dissertations, which I think is a shame.
I agree that science and spiritualism do not necessarily conflict with each other as much as popular culture makes it seem. At the cutting edge of physics, there are unexplained phenomena that leave room to question intelligent design, and in the history of spiritualism, there appears to be a lot of respect for higher education such as mathematics, as referenced in the Book of Revelations. The conflict arises when people begin debating the politics of religion vs science. Politics, if you think about it, have played a role in every recorded war.
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
I agree that science and spiritualism do not necessarily conflict with each other as much as popular culture makes it seem. At the cutting edge of physics, there are unexplained phenomena that leave room to question intelligent design, and in the history of spiritualism, there appears to be a lot of respect for higher education such as mathematics, as referenced in the Book of Revelations. The conflict arises when people begin debating the politics of religion vs science. Politics, if you think about it, have played a role in every recorded war.
Rupert Sheldrake hangs out in that abyss; other scientists don't like what he has to say!
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Science and religion have no conflict objectively, its the people in science and religion that create the subjective conflicts...

...
 

Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.
Science and religion have no conflict objectively, its the people in science and religion that create the subjective conflicts...

...
I agree. There will always be a tremendous potential for individuals to use and exploit politics or religion in any way that they feel suits them. I consider myself to be very open to different religious beliefs. I believe they all have positive things to contribute to the tapestry of spiritualism. That being said, I am often hesitant to express my spiritual views for fear of being associated with some of the more extreme new age ideologies.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I tend to see religion and a number of belief systems as all paths to the same thing. There is some facet to our existence beyond the corporeal and that there is some directed action, a motivating intelligence of some sort behind it all. That, as opposed to some natural process we just don't understand yet. The latter idea suggests to me that there must those who 'fall though the cracks' in some way and that's not entirely a comfortable notion. I can't think of an absolutely perfect error free natural process, but I'm only working on my second cup of coffee. More comfortable to think of an 'intelligent design'.

The only True Way to Understanding comes from percolating your coffee old school.
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
I never understood why you had to grow up and choose to belong to one special club or the other, or to define yourself as belonging to a particular faith, when you can learn from many of them, or help you understand your place in the universe better. If religions are vehicles to achieve greater understanding of the universe, and we are all a bit different, then I choose to build an art car that works best for me, to get to the destination. And there will be a great deal of coffee in there, and maybe a few other things.
 
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Shadowprophet

Truthiness
I never understood why you had to grow up and choose to belong to one special club or the other, or to define yourself as belonging to a particular faith, when you can learn from many of them, or help you understand your place in the universe better. If religions are vehicles to achieve greater understanding of the universe, and we are all a bit different, then I choose to build an art car that works best for me, to get to the destination. And there will be a great deal of coffee in there, and maybe a few other things.
I think it all boils down to human tribalism. Tribalism is not something that vanished from human consciousness. It can be seen as either a negative thing, like nepotism, or an old, outdated social structure only found in remote parts of the world. However, tribalism is everywhere in groups, clubs, political movements, and even our schools and social circles. The worst part of this tribalism is that we are all guilty of it to some degree. For example, if someone joined the forums and was outrageously rude, aggressive, or offensive, they would not fit into our circle very well. The truth is tribalism, social circles, and social status are important to every culture. So much so that if society was completely destroyed, those of us who survived would still have leaders, followers, and celebrities. The division amongst us humans comes from our need to organize and divide. That's just my thoughts on it.
 
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