The Divinity of the Soul
One of the greatest mysteries of the human kind is the question of "what happens when we die?” Is there life after death? What happens to our soul after we die? Does it cease to exist with the death of our physical body or go to a nicer place we call "Heaven" where we can meet all the souls that has left this material world before us? There are numerous unanswered questions on this subject. There are different thoughts, ideas and interpretations, but obviously no exact answers. Scientific explanations are not satisfactory either. Perhaps we will never learn the truth about this great mystery.
Here is my take on the subject. I believe in the divinity of the soul, which is in essence a replica of the divine spirit, the GOD. Most ancient texts state that the human is created in the essence of the God. I think not only humans but also all the rest of the living things are created in the essence of the God, meaning that everything could have a soul, which is an exact copy of the divine spirit. You, I and the others are different people but at the same time we are one. This oneness is the ultimate truth, in my opinion. Each person has a soul, which is connected to the rest of the souls and the God. Each soul does not represent just a part of the total but the total itself. We do not realize that because our souls feel trapped in our physical bodies. The limitations of our physical bodies result in fear. Fear makes human beings weak, vulnerable and at the same time drive the need for survival. This is the key reason behind all the rage and fight all over the world. If we were to realise that the one we are confronting is not different from us and understand that it is actually the same divine soul trapped in a different physical body; all that fear, rage and fight would cease to exist. In order to realise this, we have to be conscious of our soul and the invisible connection with the other souls and the divine spirit. We have to be conscious of a total consciousness, of which all the other souls have to be conscious as well. Only when each soul reaches that consciousness level, the world could be a better place where there is only good. Because the soul itself could only be good. Badness arises when the soul is not conscious of itself and the good it harnesses.
But what is the "Soul"? Is it something material that we can measure like our flesh and blood or is it something more divine in nature? In early 1900s, Duncan MacDougall had argued that the soul actually weighs 21grams. However, no other scientist was able to replicate his experiment and got the same result. I believe that everything that we see or not see is made up of energy at different states. In that sense, soul could also be an energy that interacts with our body for a certain period of time and move on to another state after the death of the body. As a result, like energy, the soul cannot be lost or destroyed. The soul is divine and exists forever. There is no time and space continuum for the soul. The souls of 10billion years ago are still around and they are no different from our souls or the divine spirit. After all, each soul is the same in essence.
If that's the case, then what happens when a person dies? Is the soul set free until it finds another host or does it connect with the divine spirit? I believe that it actually does never disconnect from its source, the divine spirit but it is usually not aware of this connection because of its unconscious state. The spirit does not have a quantity, a size and a mass and can interact with unlimited number of other souls, which are in essence no different from that soul. When we focus on the limited time our souls reside in our bodies, we can see that there are numerous interactions with other souls. The love for our family, friends, animals, or anything of this world is the fruit of our conscious soul. Love is the most important driver for reaching a higher state of consciousness. When we love someone, we touch that person's soul. Though it is not physical, this is the way souls interact with each other. This interaction leads to the immortality of the soul. Even after a person dies, the soul continues to exist due to these interactions. While each soul is one in essence, they are at the same time a combination of these interactions. My soul is not different from my grand-grandfather and it includes the essence of his soul even though I have never met him. I believe that my love for my grandfather and his love for his grandfather made that possible. The souls transcend each other with love. Love is the channel for the soul to interact with others and itself. With the love for our wife, children, parents, friends, animals or plants, our souls exist forever. Thus, even if we lose someone, the fragments of its soul inhabit in ours with the love for that soul.
"Love is my religion. Love thy GOD, love thyself and thus all the inhabitants of the universe."
VEDAT MIZRAHI