The Soul / The Ego

I've noticed a lot of people asking questions about the soul and people giving them answer that its this and that.... the rational idea would be your ego because that is what makes you uniquely YOU...

Your soul IS you ... you cannot sell it... the meaning behind the *SAYING* is allowing other people to persuade you into doing what they want... sometimes because they make it sound appealing and sometimes because of blackmail (sp?)
Selling your soul implies you follow another plan, or path .. instead of treading through some shrubs and finding your own path ..

Your soul is in essence your ego... now ... most people (almost everyone) is sooooooo obsessed with their ego (negative and positive).... Like "I'm fat", (and that's a bad thing) or... "I'm skinny" (and that's a bad thing) or vice versa in both scenarios...
Well the skinny person who thinks it's a bad thing isn't going to mind someone fatter, because that's their desire (not to be HUGE, but you get the idea)...
and when they see someone skinny like themselves they may be disgusted or notice the same negative qualities in another skinny person as they themselves "have"

Now your soul is like water, it is forever fluid even after death, it is flux.
There are many ways to lose your ego... (or the pattern your ego has grown familiar with) Disciplined meditation, yoga, spontaneously, or hallucinogenic drugs such as Salvia Divinorum, '___', '___', Peyote, Mescalline, "Magic" Mushrooms ....

I myself will not attempt to describe this most daunting subject... as more intelligent people have... here are a few links to the new ages best worker on spirituality and physcology... and how the two are linked..

One could look at the guide as ONLY for drug users, but he explains The Tibetan Book of the Dead in a very easy to understand format... I didn't stop reading it once I started and have read it over many many times.. I'm not a huge fan of drugs myself.. so I am in no way promoting drug use, as I said there are many ways to get the same results... Disciplined Meditation is the BEST way ... and most likely the safest of ALL methods.. but the information can be used the same.. Drugs are just the lazy mans way of "getting results" for people who have no discipline .. although used correctly Shamans and other mystics have utilized those "drugs" to be very powerful tools.

The Psychedelic Experience. A manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead By Timothy Leary, Ph.D., Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., & Richard Alpert, Ph.D.

How to Operate Your Brain AUDIO

Link to Materials

and really thats only a scratch on the surface... but he made it easier to understand all the complexe symbology .. but I'd recommend reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead and other works by Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup...

My understanding of the ego is...

The ego as most know it, is simply the perception or the attempt of the soul to look at itself in comparison to others. It's an attempt to say what is good by what is bad, and what is bad by what is good, and applying this to yourself individually. This develops an ego, but the ego does not then replace the soul. The understanding is that the soul was first, egoless, and now accompanies an ego, like anger or any mood, it is if anything, a temprament of the mind. The mind, heart and body accompany the soul. You can sell your mind, heart and body but not your soul.

As far as selling your soul, I don't believe individuals can sell their soul because it's your center. You would die. To sell, would mean to give up.

Assuming it was in the passive tense, to change or alter your soul for riches to an evil soul would assume that a soul has the ability to be evil. The soul doesn't destroy things, the mind does. Every obstacle in your life was put into place by your mind. The mind thinks in the past and future, and you (the soul) are in the present. So if anything, you can sell your mind or pollute it.

The real problem I feel then isn't selling the soul, but not acknowledging it, locating it, or discovering it.

[edit on 14-3-2005 by Lord Altmis]

The Soul is like water is a very good idea. Think of the soul as water, and the ego as a container?

Actually I considered the ego to be an 'artifical construct'. It's more the person's sense of 'identity', or self image. An idea about yourself that you've created in your own head. People want that 'identity', so that they can feel strong and effective in the world.

It begins to arise in adolescense, when anxious teenagers begin wondering how they are going to deal with the world. They do their 'inventory', what they've got and what they don't, and out of that comes the ego.

Hence the usual self talk, such as "I'm a good athelete", or even, "I may not be much of an athelete, but I've got brains". Or "I've got the best personlity in class'. School year book may encourage this with their classifications, such as 'most popular', or 'most likely to succeed'. There are consolation prizes, like 'cutest smile'. Now you have some one going through life, basing they entire self worth on a cute smile.

Young children don't seem to need much ego, and get by fine without it. As they mature, a strong ego gets reinforced. It seems a practical way of taking on the world and getting things done. it does tend to 'get in the way', and sabotage itself more often than not. The big thing in life is to overcome the ego. No need to be special, or take on the world. Perhaps, after the ego is cleared, then one can confront their soul.

Incidentally this is largely the theme of the Indian epic poem "The Ramayana". Ravana is the ego, while lovely Sita is the human soul, or Anima. Rama is the divine presence. Ravana must be overcome, so that the soul might see God.

Originally posted by Agent Orange
The Soul is like water is a very good idea. Think of the soul as water, and the ego as a container?

Crap... thanks .. I needed that analogy .. You are exactly right.. I had a problem trying to figure that out.. I could say it but not see it.. type of thing ..
but hey .. there we go with symbolism again .. lol

I suppose you can fill your container with clean water or mud...

half full, or half empty, anyone?

Who here possesses their Soul?


About The Soul

The truth is that before the individual acquires new powers he does not even remotely know or possess, he must acquire powers he mistakenly thinks he has, but really does not.


Before all, it is necessary to know the way which takes us to the intimate Self-realization of the Being.

It is urgent to comprehend the necessity to crystallize within us that which is called Soul. Jesus the Christ said:

“With patience shall you possess your Souls.”

Also, before all, it is good to understand what the Soul is. Truly I must tell you that the Soul is a group of laws, principles, virtues, powers, etc. People possess the Essence, the psychic material to produce the Soul, but they do not possess the Soul yet.

A weird and very hypothetical question:
Suppose teleportation existed. You stepped into a booth, it "read" your genetic structure, the molecules that made up your body, etc. It then sent that data to the "recieving point", where it was used to recreate you. The "original you" at the transmission point is then destroyed.
Are you the same person? Do you still have your soul?
What if the "original you" was not destroyed. There would be two of you (cloning in effect). Which one of you is YOU? Which one would your soul be a part of? What about the "other you"? would it be without a soul?

That question drove Dr. McCoy to the edge of madness, each and every time he stepped into the transporter.

Originally posted by babloyi
A weird and very hypothetical question:
Suppose teleportation existed. You stepped into a booth, it "read" your genetic structure, the molecules that made up your body, etc. It then sent that data to the "recieving point", where it was used to recreate you. The "original you" at the transmission point is then destroyed.
Are you the same person? Do you still have your soul?
What if the "original you" was not destroyed. There would be two of you (cloning in effect). Which one of you is YOU? Which one would your soul be a part of? What about the "other you"? would it be without a soul?

My answer would be ...

If there were TWO seperate physical bodies...

then at the exact moment it transpired they would be the same, but the moment one of them looked at an object, heard a sound, felt an object, smelt something ... they would immediately cease to be the same person ..

from that moment they would continue to become more and more different...

logically..