The Beginning and History of Human Curiosity About the Soul
The Beginning and History of Human Curiosity About the Soul
One of the biggest questions that has always sparked curiosity in the hearts of people, both in Sri Lanka and all around the world, is: "What exactly is the soul? And where did it come from?" Today, in this blog post, we are going to talk about this fascinating journey, exploring ancient religious beliefs and the actual science behind the soul!
Breaking Prehistoric Boundaries and the Soul in the Infinite Universe
Usually, history books and Western research tell us that humans only started thinking about the soul during the Stone Age or the prehistoric era. But if you look closer, human awareness of the soul goes way past those prehistoric timelines, stretching into an incredibly distant past. After all, a human being is someone who has been cycling through life and death in this infinite universe for billions of years. In this massive cosmos, worlds appear and disappear, gods are born, Buddhas manifest, and spiritual teachings rise only to fade away again. This grand cycle of Samsara seems to have no visible beginning or end.
We know the Buddha preached that He fulfilled the Paramitas (noble virtues) as a Bodhisattva for an unimaginable period of four Asankheyya and a hundred thousand Kappas (eons). This is the longest documented evidence we have of a human identity existing in this universe. Here, we aren't just talking about a mere physical body, but a "human soul" (a continuous stream of consciousness) traveling from life to life.
Just think about it: four Asankheyya and a hundred thousand eons ago, when the Bodhisattva stood before Deepankara Buddha as Sumedha Ascetic, He clearly realized that He possessed a continuous spiritual flow—one that would fulfill perfections and attain Enlightenment one day. So, how can we say humans only discovered the soul in the Stone Age? When you look at the vast timeline of the twenty-four previous Buddhas, the existence of this spiritual continuum stretches back through uncountably billions of years.
Even if you look at other ancient civilizations around the world, you see this same concept of an unbroken soul. The ancient Egyptians firmly believed that their goddess of love, or other deities, would manifest and take birth as humans on earth from time to time. This is very similar to the concept of “Avatars” in Indian philosophy, where they believe Lord Vishnu took birth on earth in ten different forms across multiple lifetimes. Krishna is one identity, Rama is another, but they are all parts of the same soul of Vishnu. They are not entirely Vishnu, yet they are not different from Him either! This is the exact same "neither he nor another" (Nacha So Nacha Anno) theory we talk about, appearing in a different form within ancient religious concepts.
The story of the soul takes a highly practical and powerful turn in ancient Egyptian history. Their entire culture was deeply intertwined with the journey of the soul. They weren't just a people who believed in things blindly either; they were spiritually mature humans who deeply studied the mind-body connection and the concept of death. They had such practical insights into the afterlife that they even invented advanced technologies like "mummification" just to preserve the physical body, believing it would secure the soul’s upcoming journey.
Egyptians firmly believed that everything does not simply end the moment a person dies. According to them, after death, the soul must face a grand trial. In Egyptian philosophy, the heart of the deceased (the symbol of the soul) is weighed on a scale against a pure white feather of Ma'at (the goddess of truth and justice) in front of Anubis, the god of death. The soul is judged right there based on the good and bad deeds done throughout a lifetime. They practically believed that mature souls with pure hearts, who lived a righteous life, would pass this judgment and transition to the realm of the gods to enjoy eternal peace.
Ancient Greek Philosophy and the Soul Detached from the Body After the Egyptians,
ancient Greek thinkers brought a completely different set of arguments about the soul to the world. Great philosophers like Socrates and Plato strongly believed that our physical body is merely a "cage" or a "prison" trapping the soul. According to them, even though the body grows old, dies, and decays, the soul inside is immortal and holds eternal knowledge.
Plato shared a fascinating concept about this. He argued that before our soul entered this material world, it existed in a perfect realm of ultimate knowledge (the Realm of Forms). When we are born, we forget everything, and learning something new in this life isn't actually a new discovery at all. Instead, they believed that learning is simply "recollecting" (Recollection) the memories our soul already possessed in its previous existence.
The Indian Vedic Era and the Concept of "Atman"
It is fair to say that the concept of the soul and the philosophy of eternal spiritual existence found its deepest roots, and still thrives intensely, in India. Ancient India was like a massive epic filled with various spiritual forces. Even if you look at legendary epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, you constantly see the active presence of powerful historical and divine souls. In fact, the very idea of an "eternal soul," which the Buddha later challenged, was originally born right on this ancient Indian soil.
During the Upanishadic era in India, philosophers named the individual soul within a person as "Atman," while the grand cosmic soul spread across the entire universe was called "Brahman." They believed that the individual soul inside our body is a tiny spark that broke off from the great cosmic soul—just like a single glass of water taken from the massive ocean. They deeply held that when a person dies and the physical body decays, the individual soul either returns to merge with the great cosmic soul or migrates into a brand-new body (rebirth) based on the karma they accumulated.
How Different Religions and Philosophies Define the Soul
(Foreword: The purpose of this chapter is not to criticize any religious belief, but simply to study the respectful efforts made by various global philosophies throughout human history to understand the concept of the soul.)
The Christian Soul
Ruh – The Soul in Islam
In Islam, the soul is referred to as "Ruh." It is a divine life force breathed into the human body by Allah. When a human being dies, this soul does not face absolute destruction; instead, it waits in a temporary spiritual realm known as "Barzakh." They firmly believe that on the Day of Resurrection (Yawm al-Qiyamah), a final judgment will take place, guiding the soul to either eternal paradise (Jannah) or hell (Jahannam).
Jivatma in Hinduism
According to Hindu philosophy, every living being contains an eternal, changeless soul called the "Jivatma." As beautifully described in the Bhagavad Gita, the soul is an immortal entity that cannot be cut by weapons, burned by fire, or wet by water. They believe that just like a person throws away old clothes to put on new ones, the soul migrates from one physical body to another through the cycle of Samsara. This journey finally ends only when the soul breaks free from all karmic bonds and achieves "Moksha"—merging back into the great supreme soul (Paramatma).
The Soul in Judaism
In the Jewish tradition, the soul is not just a single entity but a beautiful bridge connecting human personality with the divine world. They talk about multiple levels of the soul. Among them, "Nefesh" represents the essential life force that animates the physical body, while "Neshamah" is the highest divine soul that grants humans intellect and moral conscience. They believe that upon death, the soul naturally flies back to God, its Creator.
Chinese Philosophy – Taoism and the Yin-Yang Souls (Hun and Po) According to ancient
At the very peak of these realms sits a supreme deity (Maha Brahma) whose lifespan spans billions of years. Because their own lifespans are drastically shorter, deities in the lower realms perceive this supreme being as immortal and deathless, which historically gave rise to the concept of an everlasting God.
However, in truth, even this supreme deity is subject to the law of impermanence. Once their accumulated meritorious energy (Kamma) is fully exhausted, they too must undergo rebirth, potentially falling back into lower realms, including the four planes of suffering (Apayas).
Therefore, Buddhism rejects the existence of a permanent, eternal soul. What truly exists is an ever-changing, conditioning process of consciousness—constantly arising and passing away—proving that all forms of existence are fundamentally impermanent."
Chinese Taoist philosophy, two types of souls operate simultaneously within a human being. The first one is "Hun," which is the spiritual, intellectual soul representing light and the sky (Yang nature). The second one is "Po," which is the primal, physical soul representing shadows and the earth (Yin nature). Their traditional belief holds that when a person dies, these two souls separate—the Hun soul ascends to the heavenly realms, while the Po soul sinks back into the earth.
Buddhism, Science, and the True Nature of the Soul. Did the Buddha Really Say "There Is Absolute No Soul"?
We often read in textbooks that Buddhism is a strictly "soulless" (Anatta) philosophy. However, the Buddha never bluntly stated that a continuous spiritual essence does not exist at all. What He actually rejected was the popular Brahmin concept of an "eternal, unchangeable soul" that existed during His time.
Those old philosophies claimed that the spiritual journey ends permanently in a heavenly realm, that one can stay there forever with the gods, and that the soul never changes. The Buddha rejected this idea of a permanent, static soul, but He never denied the continuous energy that flows from lifetime to lifetime. While there is no unchanging soul, we do have a constantly evolving spiritual identity made of ever-changing Sankharas (mental formations)—an identity that is "neither the same nor another." After all, if there was no continuous stream of identity traveling across lifetimes, who was it that fulfilled perfections for countless eons as a Bodhisattva? It was that very same spiritual continuum, changing and evolving from life to life. The Buddha preached this specifically to shatter the rigid Brahmin belief in a permanent, ego-driven soul.
Lost for Billions ofYears in the Illusion of Eternity
In ancient times, certain ascetics practiced extreme austerities and deep meditation, eventually gaining rebirth in the highest Brahma realms, like Akanita. The lifespan in these Brahma worlds is incredibly long, lasting for billions of years. Entire universes form and dissolve, yet these Brahmas seem to remain completely unaffected. Because of this unimaginably long lifespan, these Brahmas fall into an illusion, thinking: "I will never be reborn elsewhere; I will live in this realm forever, and my soul is completely eternal."
However, the Buddha saw the absolute truth through His own supreme enlightenment. He realized that no matter how long they live, the moment their karmic energy runs out, even those powerful Brahmas will pass away from that realm and be forced to take birth again. If that is the reality for the highest Brahma worlds, the lower heavens with much shorter lifespans are no exception. This is exactly why the Buddha taught that there is no "unchanging, eternal soul." Unfortunately, some people misunderstood this teaching and started viewing Buddhism as a completely nihilistic philosophy that denies any form of continuity after death.
The Hidden Evils of Continuity in the Jataka Tales
The Buddha Himself often preached, "Monks, in such an era, I was born as such a person." At the end of many Jataka tales, He explicitly states, "The king of that time was none other than the Tathagata Himself." Doesn't that mean the distinct spiritual identity flowing from life to life acts as a continuous stream of energy?
However, this flow is not permanent. This endless journey through lifetimes comes to a complete halt only when an Arahant attains Parinibbāna. The spiritual cycle of an Arahant ends entirely, and they face no more rebirth.
"Nacha So Nacha Anno" – The Secret of the Flame
The best example to understand this changing yet continuous soul is found in the famous text Milinda Panha (The Questions of King Milinda)—the metaphor of the flame. If we light a lamp at 10 PM, it burns throughout the night and is still alight at 4 AM. But is the flame at 4 AM the exact same flame that was there at 10 PM? Not at all, because second by second, the oil and the wick burn away, constantly generating a brand-new flame. Yet, the flame at 4 AM is not from a completely different lamp either. Our traveling consciousness works exactly like that; it is an ever-changing yet unbroken stream of energy. Even William James, the father of modern Western psychology, eventually admitted that our mind is not a static object but a continuous "Stream of Consciousness," much like a flowing river.
The Thought-Moment and the Process of the "Bhavanga" Mind
According to the higher teachings of Abhidhamma, our mind is not a rigid, frozen entity. The mind is something that arises, exists, and vanishes moment by moment (Chitta Kshana). This is why the moment a person dies, the final mind-moment (Chuti Chitta) ceases, and using that exact energy, the very first mind-moment of the next life (Pratisandhi Chitta) arises instantly. Even when we are in a deep, dreamless sleep or completely unconscious, our life process is kept alive by the "Bhavanga" mind. Think of the Bhavanga mind as background software running on a computer. Even when the physical body is temporarily still, it is this continuous stream of mental moments that carries our memories and karmic energy across lifetimes.
The Scientific "Law of Conservation of Energy" and the Soul
If we look at what modern science says about this, one of the most fundamental laws of physics is the "Law of Conservation of Energy." It states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form into another. Therefore, when a human being dies, the powerful electromagnetic energy and biological life force operating inside their brain cannot just vanish into nothingness. Scientifically speaking, it perfectly aligns with this philosophy that the released energy is captured elsewhere to spark a new life form (as a rebirth).
Professor Ian Stevenson’s Research on Reincarnation
One of the greatest scientific proofs that this evolving consciousness and memory travel from life to life comes from the research of Professor Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia. He dedicated his entire life to clinically studying thousands of children worldwide who remembered their past lives. Amazingly, he scientifically proved that these children not only remembered the exact names, villages, and manners of death of the deceased individuals from their past lives, but even deep physical wounds from those past lives appeared as distinct "birthmarks" on the new child’s body. This serves as powerful evidence that memory and identity can travel independently of the physical body.
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs)
Something that continues to baffle modern doctors today is the phenomenon of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). There are countless documented cases worldwide of patients whose hearts and brains completely stopped due to heart attacks or severe accidents—meeting the criteria for clinical death—who miraculously came back to life. They all share an eerie, identical experience. They state that the moment their heart stopped, their consciousness detached from the physical body and floated upward. They could look down from above and see the doctors desperately trying to save them, even accurately recalling the exact words spoken. This clearly suggests that we possess an independent energy field or consciousness that can function completely outside our physical brain.
Conclusion
The story of the soul is a beautiful intersection where thousands of years of human history, deeply rooted religious beliefs, and modern science all meet. While various religions define it as an eternal entity, Buddhism and science show us the reality: it is a constantly changing, yet beautifully continuous stream of energy and consciousness.
What do you think? What are your thoughts on this incredible spiritual journey? Drop a comment below and let us know! If you found this article valuable, don’t forget to share it with your friends.
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