Mind and Soul

Irishone21

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From the book Thomas Aquinas; Truth… Is the mind the essence of the soul or one of its powers?

I will not answer the question in the same fashion as the book. I believe that the mind is the essence of the soul, for in order to activate the powers of the soul, which assist our higher reasoning or our divine, intellectual reasoning, we have to extinguish the baggage of our mind; i.e. hatred, or other sinful emotions such as jealousy, envy, lust, rage, ect and in doing we must focus on our ambiance and senses, thus triggering our senses, causing us to feel euphoric or even touched. Therefore, because activation of the soul begins at the mind, I say it is the essence, but in the book it says “the essence of the soul is common to all the powers, because all are rooted in it. But mind is not common to all the powers because it is distinguished from sense” which leads me to the belief that both make sense and it all depends on how one perceives the answer. Therefore, I say, the mind is the essence of the soul, but our divine intellect is a power of the soul.

“The essence of the soul is the principle of life,” therefore, only by the power of the mind, can we live by the principle of life, thus activating our soul. However, we must have the appropriate environment to activate our soul, for if other minds are at work, our rationality can be obstructed, and we may be prone, or susceptible to weak emotion, thus finding ourselves spiritually incompetent.

Therefore one could say values are the essence of our soul. In conclusion, I think it would make more sense to say that mind is a power of the soul, and not its very essence.
 
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According to dictionary.com the definitions are:

Mind: 3. intellect or understanding, as distinguished from the faculties of feeling and willing; intelligence.

I figured intelligence was not only intellect and understanding, but also memory, the ability to retain new information, in addition to willing, as one must know how to go about acheiving that which he wills, i.e. centripedal force my assist an individuals will, and even feeling, for one must know how to free the mind and feel.

Heres another one...1. (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: \

soul

–noun 1. the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

Spirit

1. the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.

I guess when the soul leaves the body it is considered a spirit.


Keep in mind, I am just a studet, so I could you use some assistance in my educaton.
 
The only reason I asked, Irish, is that I've had these conversations before and I know that people often have very definite ways of defining mind, spirit, and soul. Many times the definitions have had little to do with dictionary definitions, but were instead based in obscure religious dogma that made understanding them very difficult.

It's impossible to define these words with anything like ultimate authority since we don't even know if soul or spirit exist.

On a strictly personal level I use the computer as an analogy to explain these things. Your computer requires 4 things to operate: hardware, software, electricity, and information.

I suspect that our bodies and brain are the hardware, we come with some software installed (instinct), spirit is the motivating power--the electricity if you will, and mind is a gestalt of these things that allows a "soul" to interact with and within the hardware and software. Soul, I think, is the awareness that pre-exists and continues to exist after the all the other equipment is shut down. I have been out of my body consciously, it has happened spontaneously and I can do it deliberately as well. Doing this has made me realize that I am not my "body", I am something else that transcends the physical body and I think that upon the death of the physcial body that the consciousness continues to exist.

But PLEASE, before anyone comes down on me like a ton of logical or religious bricks: this is my opinion based on my experiences, I don't proselytize it, I don't tell other people that it's true for them, I have no proof beyond my own personal experiences, I am not God's emissary on Earth, I don't have Jesus' cell phone number, and I have no idea whether I am correct in any of these things. Anyone can obtain a copy of Robert Monroe's JOURNEYS OUT OF BODY and in a very short time learn how to lift your consciousness out of your physical body (or at least FEEL like that's what is happening), Amazon has the book for less than $10.
 
Thank you for sharing.

I've seen a spirit, a cloud of energy, and also a body become a spirit (at night), not to mentions spritual-like smoke surround me. Difficult to believe, and even more difficult to prove, but I will do my best. Now that I am off lithium, I should, God willing, be able to reach divine levels again, and at that time, hopefully, I will have heavenly experience, not those in which instil fear. I need the protection of love, not the lessons of fear.
 
Thank you for sharing.

I've seen a spirit, a cloud of energy, and also a body become a spirit (at night), not to mentions spritual-like smoke surround me. Difficult to believe, and even more difficult to prove, but I will do my best. Now that I am off lithium, I should, God willing, be able to reach divine levels again, and at that time, hopefully, I will have heavenly experience, not those in which instil fear. I need the protection of love, not the lessons of fear.

Don't we all!
 
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