Standing Divided: Brain, Mind, Spirit, and Soul

Have you ever thought about the differences our parents, our religion and our schools teach us about the brain, mind, soul and spirit? Which one are we really? Can we trust these traditional resources or we’d better start to think for ourselves and investigate? Are there trusted definitions of these terms or everyone uses them loosely as they feel fit? What does science have to say about them? Which ones do science acknowledges and defines and which ones are out of the realm of science?

If you have questions that need answers, you are on the right path. You don’t have to buy into anything wholesale, you can question, probe, investigate, see what other independent resources say about these things and make up your mind. That is the intelligent way to do it. Don’t just believe everything that is said even if who say it you consider your elders, or think they have the authority to draw conclusions so you will not have to. It is your job to decide what you consider factual and how you question reality.

Some answers are easier to find. We all have our bodies that encapsulate our organs, our brains and everything we physically need to be alive. So it contains our brains, our little brain or the gut, all the nerves and paths through which our brain communicates with every part of our body.

And there is our mind. Can you define what mind is? It is still not very hard to answer, as our brain gives rise to our mind. We think, we feel, we perceive, we reason. Our unconscious mind influences our behaviour. So far so good. Unfortunately different fields of scientists give different definitions of the mind. It depends on if you ask a philosopher, a psychologist or a neuroscientist. I suggest you listen to them all and ponder over this problem.

We are getting into slippery fields now. What is a soul? This concept varies across religions and philosophies, it is generally defined as a non-physical part of a person that includes emotions, intellect, and the moral self. It is the essence of a living being that gives life to personality and consciousness.

Did you notice that science has nothing to say about the definition of soul? It also struggles with the question of what consciousness is.

So what about the spirit? Here is what the dictionary says: the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul. So are spirit and soul one and the same? So if you are spiritual you are soul-ual too? Sorry, I could make up a better word for it yet.

You might notice that science is not interested in spirits either. It just leaves these questions to religion and philosophy.

It doesn’t mean however that you cannot search for answers for yourself! You have to if you want clear guidelines to live your life by to the fullest, be mindful and self-confident.

The entanglement of soul, spirit, mind and brain

The above illustration shows that no matter which field you are looking at these questions, these terms are entangled and their meanings are not well defined.

So where will we start? Think about this: we are all locked into our body, in our minds. We are not able to look at ourselves from the outside, objectively, because we are inside and cannot escape. Just as we cannot look at the Milky Way from the outside ever because we are within. We can look into a mirror but all we will see what that mirror can capture, our face, maybe our clothes, depending on what you are looking at and what you are focusing on. Nevertheless, these are only physical observable traits that will not give you answers about you as a person.

Every one of us is the Center of the Universe. We look at our surroundings, nature and other people from within. We evaluate them according to our past experiences, our learned convictions. We can only think about any question through what we know. We don’t know what we don’t know. Ignorance is a bliss that some of us is not even aware of.

We live in our society, we grow up in our family, our neighbourhood, our town and our ethnic group. If it is not ours, we cannot identify ourselves with. We cannot have complete empathy for others and their ethnicities, although we can always give respect to them.

Our environment raises us, teaches us about life and beliefs. We usually don’t choose our religion, it is given to us from an early age when our brains are plastic and can be shaped. We identify with these beliefs and identities. they become us, we look at the world through these lenses.

It is very important: WE CAN ONLY SEE THE WORLD THROUGH OUR OWN EYES.

it is impossible to question and validate everything in life so we use shortcuts. We generalize, we gossip and we buy into other people’s ideas and convictions. It is our big flaw in some ways. This is why as a grown ups, we have to analyze and re-think everything that we were taught to believe without any proof or investigation.

Schooling should be a huge part of this journey. It should teach children how to investigate, what is the way to make sure we learn instead of being taught. The scientific enquiry is a great part of our growing up to become self assured and mature.

If you want to explore more, please come with me on a journey of finding answers to the questions of our existence or if you are looking for a purpose in life, Welcome aboard!

HAVE A GREAT TIME!