WHAT IS THE SOUL?

Webster's Dictionary defines the soul, in part, as follows: 
1.  the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.  2. a: the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe  b:  GOD  3:  a person's total self  4 a:  an active or emotional nature  b:  the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment  c:  spiritual or moral force: FERVOR  6:  PERSON  7:  EXEMPLIFICATION, PERSONIFICATION

The Random House College Dictionary adds the following:

1.  the principle of life, feeling, thought and action in man, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body; the spiritual part of man as distinct from the physical part.  2. the spiritual part of man regarded in its moral aspect, or as capable of surviving death and subject to happiness or misery in a life to come.

Both of these partial definitions are a starting point in our discussion, as most of us will probably agree with at least some part of them.  We should also agree, though, that there is much more to be said about the soul, and that probably we will never arrive at a complete definition.  We are attempting to define something intangible, and so our definitions will be subjective at best.    

But, having agreed upon a groundwork definition, I want to look at some definitions of the soul as espoused by some of the greatest thinkers of our times.  First we will look to the famed philosophers of ancient Greece, namely Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

Socrates is believed to have lived from about 469-399 BC.  He was a philosopher and teacher.  He wrote nothing on his own and so most of what we know about his philosophies came to us from the writings of Plato and Xenophon, two of his students, and Aristotle, a student of Plato.

In relation to the soul, Socrates is credited with saying, "Know thyself."  He believed that the soul was the seat of both normal waking consciousness and of moral character and a sense of the universe.  This definition of the soul led him to believe that virtue is identical with knowledge of one's true self and purpose.  Knowledge of the truth is essential for the correct conduct of life.  Therefore virtue can be taught because correct action involves thought.  This leads to another of his famous postulates, "no man knowingly does evil." 

Plato was Socrates' most famous pupil. Plato tells us that Socrates also had a theory of forms, that is, a theory that tried to identify the quality in an object or idea that remains constant and unchangeable. 

Plato lived from around 427 to 347 BC.  One of the things that he espoused is that happiness is the natural consequence of a healthy state of the soul, and that because moral virtue makes up the health of the soul, all people should desire to be virtuous.  Immoral behavior is a symptom of a diseased soul. 

But what about the soul itself?  Plato said that the soul was divided into three parts, the rational part or intellect, the spiritual part or will, and the appetite or desire.  Plato said that these three parts are occasionally in conflict, but that in a properly functioning soul, the intellect, the highest part, should control the appetite, the lowest part, with the aid of the will.

Plato's goal was to show the relationship between the soul, the state and the cosmos.   In The Republic, Plato said that the ideal state or society was, like the soul, divided into three parts, the philosopher kings who govern the society, the guardians who keep order and defend the society, and the ordinary citizens, farmers, merchants, and craftworkers who provide the society's material needs.  The philosopher kings represent the intellect, the guardians represent the will, and the ordinary citizens represent the appetites.    The ideal society resembles a well-functioning soul because the philosopher kings control the citizens with the aid of the guardians.

Plato also believed that although the body dies and disintegrates, the soul continues to live forever.  After death, the soul goes to the "realm of the pure forms" where it contemplates the forms.  After a time, the soul is reincarnated in another body and returns to the world but it retains a dim recollection of the realm of forms.  Plato believed that learning consists of recalling what the soul experienced in the realm of forms. 

Aristotle, our final ancient philosopher, lived from about 384-322 BC, and as mentioned above, was a student of Plato. 

In On the Soul, he investigated the various functions of the soul and the relationship between the soul and the body.  Aristotle defined the soul as a perfect expression of the realization of a natural body.  He said that there was a close connection between psychological states and physiological processes.  The soul, he said, was the truth of the body, the substance in which bodily conditions gain their real meanings. 

Next let's look at the views of some more contemporary minds.  First of all, let's examine what Carl Jung had to say on the subject of the soul. 

Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, lived from 1875-1961.  In relation to the soul, Jung believed that the most important and lifelong task imposed upon any person is fulfillment through the process of individuation, achievement of harmony of the conscious and unconscious, which makes a person one and whole.  He believed that the collective unconscious contains wisdom that guides all humanity. Jung also believed that God needs man to mirror his creation and help it evolve, and that the whole human being is open to God as co-creator. 

In relation to the eternal quality of the soul, Jung said the following:

"The individual is all-important as he is the carrier of life and his development and fulfillment are of paramount significance.  It is vital for each living being to become its own entelechia and to grow into that which it was from the very beginning." (Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul, p. 61)

Jung also believed that the soul was all-knowing.  In Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul, Jung is quoted as saying:

"I have an old soul....That's very important, an old soul.  We always retain traces of an existence which is not earthly, a state of abundance where we know everything."

Finally, we will look at the definition of the soul as given to us by the Tibetan, Djwhal Khul, dictated telepathically to Alice Bailey, in the book Esoteric Psychology. Several of his quotes from the book regarding the soul follow.

"...the soul is a Being, a Being that is responsible for all that appears upon the phenomenal plane" (pg 109).

"Man is a living entity, a conscious son of God (a soul) occupying an animal body" (pg 311).

"The soul can be spoken of as the Son of the Father and of the Mother (Spirit-Matter) and is therefore the embodied life of God, coming into incarnation in order to reveal the quality of the nature of God, which is essential love.  This life, taking form, nurtures the quality of love within all forms, and ultimately reveals the purpose of all creation."  (pg 36)

"The soul is the principle of sentiency, underlying all outer manifestation, pervading all forms and constituting the consciousness of God Himself" (pg 53).

"The soul therefore, viewed from one angle, is an aspect of the body, for there is a soul in every atom comprising all bodies in all kingdoms in nature" (pg 54).

"The soul, in relation to the human being, is the mind principle in two capacities, or the mind expressing itself in two ways.  These two ways are registered and become part of the organized equipment of the human body when it is adequately refined and sufficiently developed:

1.  The lower concrete mind, the mental body, the "chitta" or mind stuff.

2.  The higher spiritual or abstract mind.

These two aspects of the soul, its two basic qualities, bring into being the human kingdom and enable man to contact both the lower kingdoms in nature and the higher spiritual realities" (pg 55).

"Soul also is a word used to express the sum total of the psychic nature - the vital body, the emotional nature and the mind stuff.  But it is also more than that, once the human stage is reached.  it constitutes the spiritual entity, a conscious psychical being , a son of God, possessing life, quality and appearance - a unique manifestation in time and space of the three expressions of the soul as we have just outlined them:

1.  The soul of all the atoms, composing the tangible appearance.

2. The personal soul or the subtle coherent sum total which we call the personality...

3.  The soul is also the spiritual being, or the union of life and quality.  When there is the union of the three souls, so called, we have a human being.

Thus in man you have the blending or fusion of life, quality and appearance, or spirit, soul and body, through the medium of a tangible form" (pgs 55-56).

So what does this all mean?  Certain basic themes run throughout all of these definitions, such as:

1.  The soul is eternal.

2.  The soul is divinity.

3.  The soul is all-knowing.

4.  The soul is what connects us to the divine, or the universe or whatever name you want to call God.

5.  There is a soul in everything, and we are all connected to it.

My own definition of the soul is that it is the part of me that remains when all else is removed.  It is the part that lives forever, the part that is all knowing and all powerful, and my spark of divinity.  As we evolve spiritually, the soul that we touch grows as well.  Also, The Tibetan tells us that the soul is group conscious, i.e., if one is soul-centered, then one is by definition interested in group work rather than merely personal interests and desires.  Also, he tells us that the soul expresses itself through service, therefore as one becomes more soul-conscious, then one becomes aware of the service that they can offer to humanity.  Finally, he tells us that the main characteristic of the soul is joy, and that by developing joy, we are building a stronger contact with our soul. 

Your definition of the soul may be slightly different from mine.  Indeed, we may all have different definitions depending upon our level of spiritual development.  But one thing is certain, the soul is worth exploring and contacting, for there is much to be gained in so doing. 

References:

Bailey, Alice, Esoteric Psychology, Volume 1, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, 1936.

Dunne, Claire, Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul, Parabola Books, New York, 2000.

Columbia Encyclopedia, Columbia University Press, Sixth Edition, 2001.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2003.

World Book Encyclopedia, World Book, Inc., 2001.