{"id":1626,"date":"2022-12-15T16:53:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T21:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spiritualnaturalist\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2022-12-15T16:53:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T21:53:02","slug":"what-is-soul-what-is-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spiritualnaturalist\/2022\/12\/what-is-soul-what-is-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Soul? What is Spirit?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n

\u00a0

by\u00a0

Daniel Shkolnik<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/head>

\n

I was recently asked, \u201cWhen people say they are \u201cspiritual,\u201d what do they mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>I thought it was a brilliant question \u2014 one that spiritual seekers themselves often don\u2019t stop to ask.<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are countless practices, beliefs, traditions that fit comfortably under the heading \u201cspirituality,\u201d I think there\u2019s a simple answer to this question that unites them.\u00a0<\/span>In short, I believe that to be spiritual is to seek connection with spirit: the soul, or \u201cessence,\u201d of reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here it\u2019s useful to distinguish between \u201cspirit\u201d and \u201csoul\u201d \u2014 two words that are often used interchangeably.\u00a0<\/span>Psychologists and spiritual writers like John Welwood and Bill Plotkin define \u201csoul\u201d as the essence of an individual entity, and \u201cspirit\u201d as the soul of the universe \u2014 the essence of reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

The spiritual landscape can be roughly divided into traditions that focus more on spirit or more on soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plotkin characterizes spirit as the upward path while soul is the downward path (though not in a negative way). Spirit is universal, transcendent, and is characterized by the upper world: the realm of light. Soul is personal, immanent, and is characterized by the descent inward to the essence of who we are: the intimate darkness.<\/span><\/p>\n

While all religious traditions acknowledge the \u201cupward\u201d and \u201cdownward\u201d movement of spirit and soul in some way, Plotkin argues that the dominant world religion focus on the upward path of spirit. This includes Buddhism<\/a>, Abrahamic traditions, Hinduism, Taoism, where the goal is to know, unite, or align with the universal essence.<\/span><\/p>\n

By and large the earth-based, indigenous, animistic, magical, traditions emphasize the path of soul, where the goal is to descend into the earthy, watery depths to find there your true self (which is a unique expression of the universal Self).\u00a0<\/span>The traditions that focus on the downward movement to soul \u2014 those that are earthy, natural, or \u201cdark\u201d \u2014 were historically demonized (often literally) by traditions based on the upward movement to spirit.\u00a0<\/span>However, the movement upward and downward are really both a movement toward a central truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether our spiritual practice seeks to touch the universal spirit (the essence of reality) or our personal soul (the essence of ourselves) we are reaching for, and connecting with, the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Hinduism, atman is considered both the universal soul and the soul contained in every individual.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>In Kabbalistic Judaism, each person carries a \u201cspark\u201d of the same divine.\u00a0<\/span>In Christianity, the Kingdom of Heaven is said to be within.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another common question about spirituality is what distinguishes it from philosophy? I believe the key difference here is that philosophy (as it is generally understood today) seeks to understand with the mind, spirituality seeks to experience with the whole being.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the practice of philosophy, the tendency is to try to understand the world with reason, keeping it at a distance in order to maintain intellectual clarity.\u00a0<\/span>In the practice of spirituality, the aim is to let the world wash over and through us, to achieve an intimate, felt experience of connection \u2013 or union \u2013 with reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, to be spiritual is to seek connection with the spirit of the world \u2014 to experience the essence of reality with our whole being \u2014 in order to enter fully into the heart of life and live completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

__________<\/em>
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SNS strives to include diverse voices within the spectrum of naturalistic spirituality. Authors will vary in their opinions, terms, and outlook. The views of no single author therefore necessarily reflect those of all Spiritual Naturalists or of SNS.<\/em>**
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\u00a0by\u00a0Daniel Shkolnik I was recently asked, \u201cWhen people say they are \u201cspiritual,\u201d what do they mean?\u201d\u00a0I thought it was a brilliant question \u2014 one that spiritual seekers themselves often don\u2019t stop to ask. While there are countless practices, beliefs, traditions that fit comfortably under the heading \u201cspirituality,\u201d I think there\u2019s a simple answer to this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[149,164],"class_list":["post-1626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-soul","tag-spirit"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Soul? 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