Yes, I do believe I have a soul and that it will live on after my human body has died.

I just did a tally count, giving each poster only one answer to the question, " Do you believe you have a soul?"
Putting answers into the categories of YES, NO or UNDECIDED, the results were:

YES 14 = 45%

NO 9 = 29%

UNDECIDED 8 = 26%

TOTALS 31 = 100%

Which roughly infers we as a cohort aren't as Souly inclined than the average Aussie at 67%. I find that surprising but statistics can be fickle. Being older n literate people we have different perspectives no doubt.
I suspects Americans are more inclined to believe they have a soul?

Personally, I am undecided about the existence of my soul, but certain about a Primal cause many call God.

Special thanks to Shadowman for sharing his knowledge of Eastern Religions in his last post. Very informative that nudged me closer to a YES answer.

Being unclear. Checked, out of curiosity.
Quote. Soul. "The spitirual oral immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal."
Personally 80% Humanistic. Embraces the Immaterial and Immortal aspects If related to how one is remembered post mortal.
20% Spiritual. Have accompanied ANother to Spiritualist gatherings with some scepticism.
Result. Witnessed some quite amazing. believable revelations. AND Some attributed to mesmerisation mind bending.
Conclusion. Unable/Unnecessary. To totally disregard.

Rips wrote: I am non religious yet somewhere deep inside me there is my very being it’s what makes me ...me ..my soul.

The " what makes me ...me. ." comment brings back memories. A couple of decades back I taught a Continuing Education course called "What Makes You You?". It did not necessarily equate the self with the "soul" but that usually trickles in in discussions of consciousness, religion, immortality. etc.. Also, it compared the memories, "identity" of humans with computers. They can be given memories, a personality of sorts. Unlike humans, they can be turned off, and later turned on (brought back to life).

Imagine yourself talking to someone and after saying, "Oh, what a wonderful soul" only to find out you were talking to a computer.
Are You Chatting With a Human or a Computer?
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ar...-computer-131277499/

Shadowman wrote:

Rips wrote: I am non religious yet somewhere deep inside me there is my very being it’s what makes me ...me ..my soul.

The " what makes me ...me. ." comment brings back memories. A couple of decades back I taught a Continuing Education course called "What Makes You You?". It did not necessarily equate the self with the "soul" but that usually trickles in in discussions of consciousness, religion, immortality. etc.. Also, it compared the memories, "identity" of humans with computers. They can be given memories, a personality of sorts. Unlike humans, they can be turned off, and later turned on (brought back to life).

Imagine yourself talking to someone and after saying, "Oh, what a wonderful soul" only to find out you were talking to a computer.
Are You Chatting With a Human or a Computer?
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ar...-computer-131277499/

Great article Shadowman. Turning was an amazing person cracking the Enigma code in WWII, and later being hounded to suicide because of his homosexuality.
I'm currently two thirds the way through a Sci Fi opera by Neal Asher called "Dark Intelligence" set in the far future where AI machines are not only fully sentient but also rule human space.
A good read but Asher never gets metaphysical, thankfully.
Humans there are also able to upload their minds and can get resurrected into new tank grown bodies. Where's the soul in that context. Arnie Schwarzenegger starred in a movie where that happened. That makes the question of "What is self" quite messy. Bring in the Clones.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/22859850-dark-intelligence

IF there is a god
And we do have a soul that lives on after death
Who's to say the soul is actually reincarnated living a life of different genders and personalities And maybe animals.
The ultimate test to valuate if human existance is really worth the bother
I would rather go on believing that when we die we die

According to the historical Buddha, there is no "soul" or "self" in the sense of a permanent, intrinsic, autonomous "I" inhabiting our bodies. What we imagine to be "I" is an effect created by our brains and senses that is re-created anew every moment.

The notion is ridiculous at first glance. There’s no evidence and no way to prove it. Something peculiar has driven countless billions to secure theirs in the afterlife. Many much more intelligent than most will ever be. Who am I to say nay?

Who knows? But would have to come down on the decision of YES, until I know different .

senile1 wrote: According to the historical Buddha, there is no "soul" or "self" in the sense of a permanent, intrinsic, autonomous "I" inhabiting our bodies. What we imagine to be "I" is an effect created by our brains and senses that is re-created anew every moment.

Well said Senile1, I'm lucky to have a number of friends and family who hold Buddhism dear and talk to me about it. I've even attended a temple with such a friend.

I love some of its tenets. All is in flux.... I am not who I was.

Still Agnostic, I have been very Religious at times, even nearly entering the Priesthood. Top Alterboy and good in Latin.... but as a Christian first I remember this from the NT.


John 3:16 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

That's poingnant.