Mail Archive

The Scientific Theory of the Soul

• Subject: The Scientific Theory of the Soul
• From: card.purchasing
• Date: Thu Jul 13 21:57:16 1995
• Message-Id: id580

Hello again! Hare Krishna.
>
>I acknowledge what you say, but I prefer not to make assumptions
>about things that are, how can I put it, tenuous, like the soul-spirit.

You don't have to make any assumptions. Just consider the idea, that's all. If you
think about it you will see it is an extremely good model. It makes sense of so
many things.

>In my mind, I suppose I still believe there is a physical mechanism
>responsible for my continued existence as a conscious being. Even if the
>soul is a thing that can be isolated, brought out into scrutiny by competent
>observers, it is still operating according to certain natural laws.

Yes. Agreed. Everything is operating under the laws of God. The Bhagavad-gita is a
very nice description of these laws of God therefore it makes very interesting
reading. Have you read it?

>
>I ask : are we any less than who we are even if we don't possess an eternal
>soul? No is my answer.

It's not a question for debating. You can't find the answer that way. You have to
find an authority, someone who knows the answer. That is the only way.

>
>If everyone dies, and their consciousness ends at that point, still all
>is not lost, because there exist certain consciousness archetypes. There
>are kind consciousnesses, giving consciousnesses etc. If dinosaurs had
>evolved into the intelligent living entities on this world, their outer
>appearance might seem strange to us, but because of the fact that the
>archetypal consciousnesses are in operation through certain individuals,
>then we see not ' intelligent dinosaur' but Human.

Yes. But maybe nothing evolved into anything else. Maybe there are discrete
species... Evolution is one man's idea [Charles Darwin] it is nothing more than
that.

>
>The loss of life is a problem, an annoyance, because all data relating to
>that individual is annihilated at death. The soul spark doesn't have to
>exist; consciousness wells up from the awful void, anyway. We know this
>happens because we have experienced exactly this.

No. You can't remember dying. How do you know what happens to the soul at the time
of death? You see the body change dramatically, the life "goes" from the body and
all the relatives cry, "Oh, my father has gone!" But where has he gone? That same
body is lying on the bed. Why do they say, "My father has gone?" And if life is

just a chemical reaction in the material body then why not start the reaction
again? It should not be difficult if that was the case. But no. It is not
possible. Once he has "gone", there is no way to  bring him back...

>
>So, what I am saying is that I do not believe in the literal existence of
>the soul - I believe in the abstract existence of souls, but I see no
>reason to accept that there is something imperishable within me. There is,
>however, the archetypal consciousness guiding me through my life. Everywhere
>in the universe, I believe, you will find humanity and compassion wherever
>intelligent life flourishes. And the archetypes will be there also.

You can believe anything you like, that is up to you, but your ideas are, in
themselves, of little value. Everyone has ideas and they are all different. So who
is right? You have to find a real source of knowledge and for this I suggest you
read the "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" by His Divine Grace A.C. Bahktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada. Of course you may have already done so, in which case I suggest you
read it again. It is not an ordinary book. It is spiritual. Every time you read it
you will find new meaning and new inspiration. It is very special.

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy
of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison to which our modern world and its literature
seem puny and trivial." (Henry David Thoreau)

Looking forward to hearing from you...

• Prev: The Scientific Theory of the Soul
• Next: The Scientific Theory of the Soul
• Alpha: Sudarsana Mail Archive - Alphabetical Index
• Date: Sudarsana Mail Archive - Date Index