Spirituality

Spirit literally means the vital principle of living animals and man. So, spiritual refers to concerns about spirits. There have been many terms used to describe man's attempt to understand spiritual things, including transcendentalism, universalism, Neo-Vedanta (neo-Hinduism), Romanticism, Theosophy, esoteric method, mysticism, to name a few. And, this doesn't include the major and minor religious beliefs (Theology) about spirits.

It's safe to say that spiritualism is entrenched in the realm of religions. All religions believe in spirits, and specifically the idea of a soul. Where they differ is in the idea of God.

Buddhism is nontheistic, which means that there is no belief in a singular god as such. Buddhism concentrates on spiritual life more out of tradition than from a belief system. Buddhists do recognize some non-important gods, but not in the context of a creator. They do believe in ethical and charitable practices, and in some cases renounce conventional life. Many embrace the monastic life where they can achieve Nirvana. Buddhism also believes in reincarnation.

Hinduism has many flavors and allows one to choose what to believe. Hindus believe in many gods but one can also choose to believe in one god. Actually, Hinduism is more of a philosophy about a way of life that's intertwined with Indian culture. It's one of the oldest religions. There are many gods connected to this cultural religion and which one is primary depends upon which branch of the religion one practices. Vishnu is the Hindu god we usually hear about. Gods are more personal to Hindus. As with many religions Hindus practice many rituals. Again, some Hindus believe in reincarnation.

Belief in reincarnation would suggest the presence of a soul, but this spiritual idea probably varies from faction to faction of both Buddhism and Hinduism. Buddhists consider the soul to be the incorporeal aspect of a living being. Hindus consider the soul to be the self as opposed to thought, desire and understanding.

These ideas about Hinduism and Buddhism only scratch the surface of these complicated and diverse religions. Believe me when I say that I respect all religions and mean no disparagement of any belief.

When we get to the three historic religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, then there's no question about a soul. All three religions believe in a singular God and in a soul, and their concepts of what a soul is are pretty much the same. They call it supernatural, which doesn't explain anything.

The ancients did make an attempt to explain the soul. A piece of rock dating to the 8th century B.C. found in Sam'al Turkey is carved with a picture of a dead man who was cremated and the words say that the man's soul resides in the stone slab.

It's obvious that ancient cultures created the idea of a soul to explain what happens after death. The ancient Egyptians did it. They said that the soul was made up of Ren, Ba, Ka, Sheut and Ib. The Ren or name is given to a person at birth and as long at the name is spoken or written the soul would exist. Ba is personality. It's what makes a person what they are, and the Egyptians believed that it existed after death (this is important). Ka, or vital spark, is the essence of the soul and it had to be sustained by food and drink. I vote for that! Sheut, or shadow, was believed to be part of a person's soul. Ib is the heart, and the Egyptians believed that the soul was in the heart. The heart was the seat of emotion, thought and reflection. They also believed that the heart was the key to an afterlife.

Jainism has more comprehensive view of a soul. Jainism believes that every living thing has a soul, and there are two kinds: liberated souls and non-liberated souls. Liberated souls are those that attain freedom from the life cycle. Non-liberated souls are caught in the life cycles of repeated birth and death. In this case the soul gets attached to different bodies depending on karma. The soul doesn't have a beginning or an end and is free when it obtains Moksha, which is like Nirvana.

From all of this it's obvious that mankind has accepted the idea that we have souls.

Thanks for reading.