Unlock the Secret of Your Existence:
Body, Soul, and the Ego Trap
Do we have a soul, or do we have a body?
The simplest answer is that we have both. However, the question I pose is: Are we a body, and do we have a soul? Or, is it just the opposite?
In this thesis, we will explore different points of view. I speak in plural, not because I am schizophrenic or referring to me and my secret identity, but to include you.
I write a point of view, and you do the research to reach your conclusion. That’s what I like about philosophy — the love of wisdom and knowledge. It’s all about knowledge, logic, and points of view.
In the end, you choose what works for you. Luckily, there is no right or wrong, only conclusions based on all the knowledge possible up to that point.
It’s always temporary, since a better idea will always emerge, which will complete the original.
What we know is minimal and limited, and what we do not know is infinite. This is how we improve and advance as humans. If the newly arrived conclusions are not correct, at least you have reached a conclusion. By defining something that is not, you are also practicing philosophy.
We need to clarify the concepts, so we are all thinking about the same things.
The body is simple, and I suppose there are no doubts. A body is a physical, palpable, and defined entity. It is what we see and perceive with the seven senses. The five external senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
And there are two internal senses. The first one is the sensations of the body when you relax, tense your muscles, or inhale deeply and feel your lungs fill with oxygen. The second one is the subconscious body sense — the sensations we feel but cannot decipher.
The soul is an abstract concept.
Being abstract, your definition may be different from mine. Rather, your definition is likely different from mine. That is always the case when it comes to non-palpable concepts.
Basically, it is impossible for all people to imagine the same thing about a non-tangible concept in the infinity of possibilities.
You can have a different definition of the soul than mine and still use the same word.
For many people, the soul does not even exist. For them, it is an invention of religion. Something that is used for punishment after death if you do not follow their rules.
To clarify, or to give it another name, we could also call it your consciousness.
What makes decisions is your brain and your thoughts. What I am defining is what motivates you to make those decisions. Your deepest self. Why does someone like strawberry ice cream and others like chocolate?
What drives some people to always see the positive side and others to always see the negative side?
Let’s put it this way: the deepest part of your being — that’s what I understand as a soul.
When a baby comes into the world and takes its first breath, at that moment, the soul enters the body, or a soul is born.
A human being is born, and an independent life begins.
A being receives life from the universe. It gives it a soul or a possible existential purpose.
The problem is that our culture always talks about how we have a soul and that we must take care of it. Or that you don’t have a soul if you are evil.
It is always communicated as a “thing” outside our being.
I don’t agree. Neither with those sayings nor with the fact that we have a soul. It is just the opposite.
We are a soul, and we have a body to interact with the universe.
Since this notion is based solely on logic and not scientific evidence, it is just another opinion.
But for the current system of thought, there is no scientific evidence either. It is a popular or majority belief.
It is an obsolete thought.
What is the point of knowing if you are a soul and have a body?
Furthermore, and as always in philosophy, it serves both as an act of self-knowledge and as a tool to interact with the world around us.
Once you identify yourself as your soul, you can identify the needs you feel, perceive, or think about. It is much easier to distinguish your needs and catalog them.
For example, I have to go to the bathroom. In reality, you don’t have to. Your body has that need, and you decide whether to listen.
If you decide to do it in 30 minutes, those signals from the body decrease. The information from the body was processed by the brain. The message got through.
If you decide to hold off without defining when, the body keeps giving signals, getting stronger and stronger. Do the test yourself.
It also happens with food. Your body has that need. You, as a soul, don’t have it. And you decide when, and with what, to satisfy that identified need.
With that distinction, or reversal of thought, it becomes much easier to understand what your body, soul, and ego need.
In conclusion, the body is tangible, the vehicle, and is limited. The soul is internal, intangible, and infinite.
An ego is a mental construct that allows the soul to interact with its surroundings using the body.
All three have their basic needs. All three must be satisfied and in harmony to be balanced and happy.
This knowledge is useful for interacting with other people.
You feel a stronger connection when you speak directly to a person’s soul. When you look into their eyes and try to decipher the hidden spirit within them, when you ask questions that attempt to uncover that soul.
When two people meet and start talking, they talk about tangible things that affect the body, or ego. Our egos are our self-perceptions and the way we interact with the outside world. In short, it is the construction of our image for the outside world.
It is the creation of the “I” in the brain for the outside world. And, I say, brain, not mind, because the creation of the ego begins with the birth of the human being.
As a baby, the brain registers events unconsciously or subconsciously.
The ego is linked to mental constructs, our own and others, but it reaches beyond that.
The ego extends far beyond what we think about ourselves, it is part of our being.
There is a part of the ego that is defined in the first years of life in which we are not aware of our existence.
A brain learns more from birth to 2 years of age than in the rest of its life.
However, we do not remember that learning. It is part of being.
Logic tells me that it is part of the ego and not part of the soul, because they are constructs and ways of living learned from the cradle.
The ego has a negative connotation.
It is because it is linked to egocentrism, selfishness, egolatism, egotism, and narcissism, and I do not know how many other deviations there are.
All of that is negative. Nevertheless, ego is a part of human nature, and in itself, it is neither benign nor malicious.
We all have one.
But if you talk to a person about situations that affect their soul, those conversations feel deeper.
You connect.
When you talk to someone and ask them about their interests, their dreams, or their ways of looking at life, the connection is sincere, genuine, and therefore pleasurable.
Human beings forget what you tell them, but they don’t forget how you make them feel.
Talking to someone’s soul makes them feel heard and understood.
Some people say that’s manipulation, but I don’t agree.
If you do it 100% of the time and do it sincerely because you’re interested in knowing about the soul of the other person you’re interacting with, there’s nothing wrong with it.
And you don’t want or need anything from the other person.
These are enjoyable encounters and conversations.
It helps to understand that descriptions, sizes, and colors of bodies have no influence on beings.
It also serves to realize that everything in society is designed to allow the ego to develop more easily and that its qualities are those that are rewarded.
Power, social status, money, fame, body beauty, and so on.
Everything in society is designed to promote those external qualities and, basically, make you feel inferior for not measuring up to them.
And so you buy things to feel good for a while, making you happy for what you have been able to acquire to impress others.
That bliss lasts for a moment, at most a day, then you sleep, and it gets stored in the past. It is an infinite cycle. If you don’t get out, it’s never going to stop.
Conclusion:
Be aware that you are your soul, and it has needs, just like your body and ego.
Those needs of the soul are not material; they cannot be bought, they can only be cultivated.
For example, love, peace, friendship, happiness, knowledge, wisdom, and experiences.
The ego is not the enemy, it is just a part of yourself that you must learn to distinguish and control. Either you control your ego, or it controls you.
To be happy, the needs of the soul, the ego, and the body must be identified and satisfied.
Start there, by identifying the needs and either paying attention to them or not.
Not satisfying them instantly empowers you (the soul).
PS: To clarify, I wanted to make a complex point simple to understand.
But, in my philosophy, explained in my book, “One Theory About Everything, The Natural Philosophy of Life and Love,” I go deeper with this concept.
What we call the soul (like in this article), I call “ega” and it is a complementary part of the ego, and together they form who you really are.
Together, they are your soul.
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