Does the Soul Exist? Culture vs. Consciousness
The concept of a soul is found in many religious traditions, and exploring what a Soul might be is profoundly interesting. In this article, let us investigate the concept of a soul across religious traditions, to answer that burning question: does a soul exist?
We must always be aware of culture when discussing religious concepts, because culture is a powerful part of our worldview and personal identity. For most of us, culture defines the sandbox world in which we live. According to “Introduction to Anthropology” by Nelson Braff, “Culture is a set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared. Together, they form an all-encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifeways . . . ‘Beliefs’ are the mental aspects of culture including values, norms, philosophies, worldviews, knowledge, and so forth . . . ‘Practices’ are behaviors and actions that may be motivated by belief or performed without reflection as part of everyday routines.”
So does a Soul exist outside of culture? This is a fascinating question.
It’s arguable that human beings are incapable of comprehending life outside of culture. And yet, mystical experiences have indicated the existence of higher dimensions of life beyond what we perceive every day. Buried within this blanket of culture is potentially a broad spectrum of Consciousness contained within individual bodies, each vibrating at different frequencies like in a diversity of color, a spectrum of sound, creating waves upon waves of perception and causation.
This would explain why the mystical concept of Enlightenment, Liberation or gnostic Salvation is thought to be “absolute freedom from bondage” — because this experience of merging with a Higher Self or greater Consciousness exists beyond the bounds of culture. It is a universal experience documented across mystic traditions such as Sufism (“entering the Garden of Truth,”) Advaita Vedanta (“Liberation” or “Moksha,”) and Taoism (“attaining the Tao.”) It redefines our sense of Self away from the identity given to use by society. The nature of this experience of merging with a Higher Self, God or Universal Consciousness lends itself to a certain unity of spiritual Truth that can be perceived if we look beyond simple religious narrative.
So back to the question of souls. In short, culture is defined by our subsistence pattern, which is our means of gathering food. So you will find predictable patterns in how a religion is organized based on subsistence patterns within a society. The religion of a Capitalist society is going to have some marked distinctions in its definition of a soul that are separate from an Agricultural society or a Horticultural society. And these are predictable patterns that are replicated across the world.
And — wait for it — Psychology as well is rooted in Culture. So we find within the field of Psychology certain concepts such as mindfulness, self-esteem, resilience, narcissism, depression, or specific mental health disorders, all contained within our American Capitalist narrative. So it’s difficult to say at this point how much we really know about anything regarding mental health beyond the restrictions of culture, besides what can be learned through Attachment Theory, which finds a basis in our biological systems.
Therefore, take everything people say and do with a grain of salt. Everyone lives under a sort of delusion. Don’t feel bad about your own absurdity. Our sense of objective reality is really just our culture talking. So Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland is right.
As the Cheshire Cat says: “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” says Alice.
“You must be,” replies the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
We are all mad here. And culture functions as a sort of “mass delusion” or “Wonderland” that’s enchanted the entire human race. So when discussing the concept of a soul, we should be careful to consider first what kind of religion we are discussing, and whether the society is Capitalist, Industrial, Agriculture, Horticultural, etc. Because you will see this influences our concept of a Soul.
In Hinduism, we have something like the soul called the Atman. Atman is a sanskrit word synonymous with Heart, because the Atman is known to exist within the Heart, but in English-Hindu literature, Atman is often translated as Self. So Atman, Self and Heart are all synonymous with one another. And by Heart, this refers to our spiritual Heart, which is at the center of the Vedic energy body. And the unrealized Atman is bound by this idea of karma, which in simple terms is the cause and effect of every action we take — good actions lead to good karma, and bad actions lead to bad karma. Eventually, over the course of many past lives, our good actions all culminate into purity of the heart, which leads us into Liberation.
However, through the lens of culture, knowing that religion is an element of culture, and culture imbues us with beliefs that lead to practices, we might also point out that for thousands of years, India has operated under a rigid caste system (Anikeeva, E). This concept of “past lives” and “karma” can be posited as a product of the caste system, culture creating the concept of “past life karma” to justify why people should remain at the station they are born into, why the lower classes should remain in their relative station and serve the upper classes, and why the upper classes should keep their rank. And so here we can see that the idea of “past lives and karma,” though perhaps having some basis of spiritual truth, might also serve as a facet of culture, which in short, makes us want to do what we have to do, and justifies why society exists as it is, and why we live as we do.
From the perspective of an Enlightened guru, we can look at The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna published by The Vedanta Society, which is an account of Sri Ramakrishna’s life and teachings. This is the firsthand perspective of someone who has received the mystic experience of “moksha” or Enlightenment, and gazed beyond the veil into the higher realms of Consciousness.
In The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, I find it interesting that Sri Ramakrishna does not speak of past lives with a great amount of certainty, but instead defers to his own culture when asked about the idea.
When asked by one of his devotees: “Sir, do you believe in the reincarnation of the soul?”
Sri Ramakrishna responded: “… they say there is something like that. How can we understand the ways of God through our small intellects? Many people have spoken about reincarnation; therefore I cannot disbelieve it.”
It appears that Ramakrishna remains detached from the concept. He doesn’t directly say, “Yes, 100% reincarnation is true and real.” Instead, his response is a bit vague: “I cannot disbelieve it.” I think the only explanation is that from the perspective of an Enlightened being, some truths are either still obscured, or, there must be much more to reincarnation or the soul than what culture tells us. Sri Ramakrishna says he cannot disbelieve it. But he doesn’t say, “This is true without fail.” And I think this shows that he was truly an Enlightened guru, because he spoke to the Reality, not the narrative, and he understood that a large part of our comprehension of past lives is influenced by culture.
In Non-Denominational Protestant Christianity, the mainstream religion in modern day America, we see our concept of a Soul defined by our cultural values of manifest destiny and individualism. So, we believe that we all have an individual soul. This individual soul is the immortal part of ourselves that is born into us. It’s either Saved or Not Saved. We don’t know where it comes from, whether a fetus has a soul or if the soul comes into the baby after the mother gives birth. Some people speculate that God gives us a soul, and maybe atheists don’t have souls. The prevailing idea is that our mortal body and our soul are two separate things. Our soul is married to our cultural value of individualism. So we think of the soul as having specific attributes, such as, “Carrie Smith is a creative soul, she does so many creative projects” and this idea of Carrie Smith is eternal, everlasting, individual, and when Carrie dies she will go to Heaven, remaining exactly the same as she was in life. We might say, similarly, that “John Smith is such a kind soul.” So we think of the soul as being the mark of individuality within a person that makes us separate, unique and special. It justifies our sense of personal destiny. It allows us to believe that we were put on this Earth to get a degree in Secondary Education and teach children English. It makes the laborer seek to fulfill his role in a Capitalist society, which is to say, your identity is your job, your skills, your specific usefulness to the labor system, and these special talents and qualities are uniquely who you are, and that is your Soul, and because you are Saved, your Soul is eternal, so after death you will go to Heaven, which is a very nice place. And this is culture.
In Buddhism, the Buddha taught against the existence of a soul. And this can be quite at odds with the Christian emphasis of a soul, but very appealing to people in the West who might be seeking an alternative spiritual practice to monism. However, there is debate in Buddhism about whether or not the term “Anatta” or “Anatman” has been correctly translated. Remember that in Hinduism, Atman is our term for “soul” or “Self.” So Anatman or Anatta in the ancient Pali language means “no soul.” Or maybe it means, “not-soul.” We aren’t 100% sure.
Again, we have to think of culture. Pali is a dead language that’s no longer spoken, and at this point, these ideas are thousands of years old. So this disagreement over the translation of Anatta, and other Buddhist concepts, has led to dozens of Buddhist schools branching off in different parts of the world. So when people say “I practice Buddhism,” understand it’s fairly loosely organized around a few central core concepts and practices, but in truth, it is an extremely diverse practice that has been adapted to many different cultures across history. Buddhism does not believe in a soul, but it sometimes believes in a Self or an immortal essence. But sometimes it doesn’t. Buddhism does not have a central canon such as the Bible, and what is called the Pali canon has around 50 books. I say around 50 books, because the canon is different depending on the specific Buddhist practice, the country of origin, the translation, etc. In either case, that’s a lot of books.
So we can’t know with 100% certainty what the Buddha taught about the soul, but our best guess is that it could be the Buddha taught there was no individual soul. It could also be that Buddha tried to encourage people to detach from impermanent traits that are “Anatta” or “not soul,” and cleave themselves to the immortal essence within. If that is the case, the Buddha sort of taught of a soul, or at least the idea of having some sort of immortal, eternal essence that is beyond change or impermanence.
So for the sake of mental gymnastics, let us consider that anatta simply means “no soul exists.” There is no immortal essence beyond impermanent reality. Therefore, everything in the world is impermanent and underneath it all is a sort of total Emptiness. Everything came from the absolute Void, which is a fascinating concept to wrap our mind around, especially if we were raised in a Christian family.
Personally, I was raised in an atheist family, and so my experience is that most Western atheists believe this way by default. We tend to reject any religious or mystical concept about the nature of life, and defer to Science alone to explain those things. The way I was raised, I was taught that when we die, we sort of just “go poof” and become, well, nothing. We return to this sort of Emptiness. And I remember being a child of around 10 or 11 years really wrestling with this concept that I would die and become nothing at all. It really raises the question, if I am to become nothing at all after death, then what am I now? Do I even exist? What in me is Real? If I can just become nothing, then how am I here? And this is the gift of Atheism. If we follow that question all the way down to the root, which we can do if we are very brave, we might strike on something within us that is far greater than the concept of Soul, or any concept found in mere religion. And maybe that’s what the Buddha was talking about.
But let us continue with our exploration.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “Nephesh” is often translated as Soul in the English Bible (Bible Project, 2024). However, the concept of a Soul in America is different from this word, Nephesh, which is really used to indicate a whole person, including their body. According to the entry for Soul/Nephesh on BibleProject.com, “For example, in the Torah, a murderer is called a nephesh slayer, and a kidnapper is called a nephesh thief. On the first pages of the Bible, both humans and animals are called a living nephesh. And if the life-breath has left a human or animal, the nephesh remains. It’s just called a dead nephesh, that is, a corpse.
So in the Hebrew Bible, people don’t have a nephesh; rather, they are a nephesh — a living, breathing, physical being. And to love God with all of your “nephesh” is to devote all of your physical existence to the Creator. It’s about offering your entire being with all of its capabilities and limitations in the effort to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. And that’s the Hebrew word for soul.”
In some cultures, those who practice animism such as Shinto believe that everything has its own soul or life energy, which is this concept of chi or mana. This idea is also found in shamanism. In other ancient traditions, the soul is not just a vital force, but believed to have different parts to it. According to New World Encyclopedia:
“Several ancient cultures such as the Egyptians and the Chinese posited that individual beings had different elements in their soul. For instance, Egyptian mythology taught that an individual was made up of various elements, some physical and some spiritual, the Ren (name), the Bâ (personality), the Ka (vital spark), the Sheut (shadow), and the Jb (heart). Chinese tradition suggests that every individual has two types of soul called hun and po. Daoism considers there are ten elements to the soul: three hun and seven po.”
So as we can see, the concept of the Soul is not simple. It is often defined by our culture and specific to our spiritual tradition. And so if we can learn anything about understanding the concept of a Soul, it’s that we should retain a broad perspective, and not become too attached to any one idea. Our belief in a soul touches upon the heart of our nature, it is highly personal, and should be respected.
One thing is certain: if a soul does exist, then the only sure answer we can know lies within us.
And now for a bit of personal testimonial. I am a spiritual person, and my personal comprehension of the Soul came from a vision I had while deep in meditation. During this vision, I imagined myself sitting at the base of a pine tree. As my meditation deepened, I found myself sinking downward into the ground, until I felt comfortably embraced by the roots of the tree. I felt like I could sleep there forever within the earth.
Then suddenly I found myself at a hidden chamber at the heart of the Tree. It was flooded with light. My father had recently passed away, and within this chamber, I felt his presence suddenly manifest next to me. I couldn’t see him, but I knew him to be there with me. I could feel his presence standing next to me. Then, with an indescribable sort of jolt, I felt our souls become One. Then I felt the Spirit of God join with us, and we became One with God.
Then we sailed upward as the tree exploded around us, becoming a massive redwood Tree, growing up and up. As the Tree grew, I felt thousands of souls all combining as One great vital Force of Life — a vast Ocean of thriving Consciousness.
When I came out of this vision, I was changed. I could feel my father still with me. He was in Me, and I was in Him. And of course, God is present within All Things.
So my own comprehension of the Soul, as bestowed upon me by this experience, is that there is no individual soul. And although I compare the soul to a seed at times in my writing, and sometimes I refer to the Atman when teaching spirituality, the concept of an individual Soul might not be the best way to understand the nature of reality at all. Just as my father and I combined as One and then became One with the Tree of Life, so I am in you, and you are in me, and there is no distance between us.
So is there an individual soul? You can believe in one, and I don’t think it will harm you. But my understanding through experience is that all souls are connected as One. Coming into this realization of Unity is moving through various stages of Consciousness and Self-Awareness, and in fact, some spiritual traditions like Advaita Vedanta say there is no true Consciousness until we merge with this essential, unitive nature of the Universe. This is the idea of nondualism or Cosmic Consciousness. God is in us, and we are in God. I am in you, and you are in me. All things are One.
So to answer this question, according to personal belief through informed experience, the Soul can be understood as the Self, the “I AM.” And the true nature of the “I AM” is Oneness with all life. And this is why I say, “We are all One in the Tree of Life.” My Salvation is your Salvation. My Enlightenment is your Enlightenment. My Liberation is your liberation. We are the ocean.
SOURCES
Gupta, M. (1942). The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The Vedanta Society, NY.
Anikeeva, Elena N. (2020). “Cultural Anthropology, Cast Heirarchy and Religious Values in Modern India,” Atlantis Press: Advances in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities Research, volume 416. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/iccese-20/125936995
Braff, Nelson. “Introduction to Anthropology.”
Bible Project (Soul / Nephesh) — https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/nephesh-soul/#:~:text=The%20Hebrew%20word%20is%20nephesh,and%20that's%20kind%20of%20unfortunate.
New World Encyclopedia — https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Soul
