Humans, of course, see the whole reincarnation system as being centered on humans. They feel that there’s a universal moral code out there and that “good” people get reincarnated as humans while “bad” people get demoted by being reincarnated as animals.
But how does it work in the other direction? What determines which animals get reincarnated back up to humans? Are animal souls judged by the same moral code as human souls? Or is there a separate moral code for animals? Are all animals judged by the same moral code or are their different moral codes for different animals?
Or is a human being reincarnated as an animal the equivalent of a “time out” and there’s no moral evaluation of lives spent as an animal? If so, what determines which animal souls get promoted up to the big leagues and have a life as a human?
I recall an an online story that postulated that it was essentially a divine scam, a test meant to be failed because since creatures don’t retain their memories they can neither retain whatever “lesson” is supposedly taught by that life, nor have any idea of what they are “supposed” to do.
The posts in this thread mix up rebirth and reincarnation, they are not the same thing. I don’t believe in either. A discussion mixing up two concepts doesn’t fight ignorance.
I was curious so I did a quick read and the ELI5 sounds like:
With reincarnation, the soul passes from one body to the next. This is primarily a Hindu concept. A metaphor is the body changing clothes.
With rebirth, the soul does not pass from one body to the next. Instead the karmic energy from the first influences the second. This is primarily a Buddhist concept. A metaphor is a flame passing from one candle to the next.
Seems there is a lot more to it than the above. Anyone feel free to correct anything I got wrong.
There were a lot of hits for this question. I used this one:
Certainly, the brain is diminished. But if the soul (or “essence,” or “spirit,” or whatever you want to call it) is something distinct from the brain, how do you know whether the soul is itself also diminished or just unable to interface with the external world because the equipment it uses to do so is faulty?
The atheist answer of course is that there is no soul independent of the brain, and when the brain malfunctions or dies everything that makes us ourselves dies.
None of us really know what a soul actually is, but it is a useful term for what’s missing when a person says about a loved one with Alzheimer’s that the person they knew no longer exists in that body.
I agree. I don’t think anybody disputes that people have personalities. But personalities are tied to a person’s life; when they die the personality is gone. And as noted, a living person can lose their personality.
A soul (which may or may not exist) is generally seen as having an existence that it independent of a person’s physical life. A soul is generally seen as something that can still exist after you die. It may go to another plane of existence or be moved into a new body (or be bartered away to an evil entity), depending on your beliefs, but souls are generally seen as more permanent than personalities.