To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/01/19 17:57
Subject: Re: [K-list] A Controversial Question.
From: Mhortling
On 2000/01/19 17:57, Mhortling posted thus to the K-list:
From: MHortlingATnospamaol.com
Hello List !
Christopher wrote:
<Central to spiritual discussions, and man's quest .. so called ...
<and a term often bandied about .... is the definition of Soul and Spirit.
<Would anyone on this list care to comment with their understanding
<or with a definition of Soul ... and the roots and or derivation of the
<word ...>
To me, the word and concept "soul" equals the innermost portion of being,
the central "I".
The silent and observing witness, which "I" truly feel is immortal and
boundless. In essence, soul-"I" will eventually turn out to be the same as
soul-"you" or the soul-any- and everybody. The one thing we consciously or
unconsciously strive to realise.
And, if this position then in the end becomes firmly established, it's not
possible anymore to speak of "my soul" , since I AM the soul (or the Self or
the Atman or Shiva).
(If I listen really hard, I can just about hear Ramana whispering from
somewhere offstage :
"So, who is it then, that's actually doing all this talking here ? And who is
it, reading all these posts ?" )
Obviously, it's also a question of convention and semantics, what words do we
choose to describe a certain aspect of life ? Using the word "soul" in the
above context denotes something I intuitively feel to be true, even if I
still exist in a state, where "I" is limited and more or less severly
restricted by a personal self.
BTW., I sometimes feel that it's a very thin line between living through
spiritual evolution and developing a split personality - a nice little
paradox, considering the Basic Unity Of The Whole and things like that.
Anyway, delineating the above definition of the word "soul" a bit further,
one could also stress that in this context, "soul" shouldn't have any mental
or emotional attributes ( except for peace, quiet, bliss, sat-chit-ananda and
other divine stuff)
On the contrary, if we take "soul" as in soul-music, for instance (or
psychology for that matter), it would refer more to an emotional and
superficial aspect of being , so here we definitely have a totally different
meaning.
It's true that the standard versions of the Christian religions are somewhat
confused on the issue of soul - and this then trickles down into the personal
and conscense reality many of us live with here in our society. Leading to
weird outbursts of prayer like:
"O Lord, save my soul (if I have a soul) "
But this is probably all because the experience of unity or going beyond the
mind hasn't been very popular in our extroverted culture and history.
In any case, isn't it stupefying how language and the meaning we give to
words shape our reality and perception of the world ? - It's the total
tyranny of the left-brain !
Regards,
Michael (?)
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