🔒 Exploring the Ephemeral: A Deep Dive into the Soul, Spirit, and Cyclical Nature of Reincarnation

Hey there, welcome back to another episode of the Grief to Growth podcast. This is a premium episode for my premium subscribers, so thank you very much for being one of the people who supports me financially, as well as by listening and getting the word out to other people. So, as always, if you like this episode, or like any of the episodes, or like the podcast in general, make sure that you share it. Today's question comes from my good friend, claudia, and I think it's an excellent question, something really deep, and that's the difference between the soul and spirit. And, frankly, if you'd asked me this question a few years ago, I would have said there is no difference, it's just the same. It's different words that people use for the same thing. But what I'm realizing is there is a difference, there's a subtle difference, and it really helps me with the idea of reincarnation. So I'm going to talk about how I think the soul and the spirit really play in the reincarnation. So let's get started.

So again, when I was a kid growing up, I would usually use the word soul and I would heard that we have a soul, for example. So it was something like something you possessed and it was something that went on after our bodies died. Now I've come to understand that we don't have souls or spirits. We are souls or spirit, and they not only go on after our body dies, but they also pre-existent, before we were born. So both of these terms are used to refer to this immaterial essence, this true part of who we are, this true who we are, should say, not part of we are. So the soul, though. To differentiate is a Hindu tradition referred to as Atman, and Atman is your eternal essence. So imagine your soul is like the ocean it's vast, it's deep, it's ever constant. It's the aspect that holds your core self, the higher self, the bigger part of who you are, even your moral compass. You could say this is the enduring seat of your consciousness. This is a part that learns and lives and grows. Now, on the other hand, the spirit in Hinduism they call prana, and this is your life force, or your vital energy. So if you think of the soul as the ocean, then the spirit is like a wave in that ocean. The spirit is dynamic. It's tied to our emotions, it's tied to our experiences, it's associated with who I am, as as Brian, as an individual, and it's closely associated with our lived lives, as in when we're in the material. The spirit is what animates us, is what brings us to life, and it allows us to engage with the world around us. So I think that's the difference between the spirit and the soul.

And the reason why I think it becomes so important is when we talk about reincarnation. Now, when it comes to reincarnation, some people think it's just our soul, for example, that coming back to earth over and over again, and that's just it and that works for you. That's absolutely fine. But I think it's a little bit more complicated than this is why some people say that they believe in reincarnation. I think what some people think, that they don't. So when you think about the part of you that's engaged in that cycle of rebirth, I believe that is the spirit and it's kind of spun off by the soul Again. It's like a wave in the ocean and that spirit, I believe, comes to earth one time, for example, and then maybe another spirit which is part of the soul comes to earth. But there's another time when you live a different life experience, and this gets into some real complicated things, because I hate. I hate to say the words past life or future life, because I've been told, these lives are all happening at one time. So I imagine the soul is this big conglomerate that spins off our different spiritual aspects that come to earth and live these lived lives and then go back to the soul, and these lives are actually shared.

So this brings up the question sometimes people say, well, am I my spirit or am I my soul? And I think we are actually both. It's like saying, is your heart part of your body or is your heart separate? Or it's like your heart is your heart but it's also part of your body. So think of a tree that represents the soul and the leaves representing the spirit. So the tree itself. It stands tall and it endures all seasons. So the leaves sprout and in a lifespan, and then they eventually fall. So each leaf is unique but yet part of the same tree, just as incarnation is an individual experience that feeds back into the same eternal soul.

Now, this might be a scary thing because you might think well then that means I'm going to disappear. The wave actually disappears at some point, the leaf falls off the tree, and that's where the analogies, I think, kind of break down from what I'm my understanding is. Our individual aspects of ourself do continue on. It's not like they're ever lost, but they are part of our overall soul. So we are not as simple creatures as we might think we are. So this, this cyclical journey of the soul, of the spirit going back and forth to the soul, gathering very experiences, gathering wisdom and karmic lessons, that's how we grow and that enriches that eternal soul, that atman, that higher part of ourself. So why does this matter? Why is this distinction important?

Well, again, for those that are dealing with loss and grief or those just curious about our nature of existence, these concepts, I think, can be incredibly comforting. They offer the assurance that death is not the end, but it's a continuation of our spirit's journey, our soul's journey. It's a continuation of our spirit's journey, I should say that enriches our everlasting soul. So, again, don't get too caught up in the minutiae and the details of exactly how this works. I think it may be beyond our level of understanding where we are right now. But I think what helps me realize is that I love the team books and I know that I'm a part of a team and even my spirit is part of a team that makes up my soul. It allows us to look at life or death as not linear but as cyclical, and it gives us different perspectives, different perspectives on the relationships that we have, on the relationships that we treasure, and that's both with those who are still with us and those who have passed on.

And I wanna say this also it's not just a comforting thought, I'm not just saying this because it makes me feel good. It's a perspective grounded, I believe, in reason and in evidence and in thousands of years of human philosophical thought. These thoughts I'm telling you about Atman and Prana go back literally thousands of years. They predate anything that most of us understand. So I hope this explanation has been enlightening for you. I hope it's giving you something to think about, hope, it's giving you something to ponder. I hope it's giving you some hope. I hope it's giving you some peace. So let me know what you think about spirit versus soul, let me know what you think about reincarnation, and also, if you have any questions that I can answer for you in future bonus episodes, let me know that too, and I'll end up in a new episode. Have a great day.