A lot of the trouble I had mentally with the shift from "Belief to No Belief," as Zylark called it, was the death issue. Where do I go? I was confident but worried. More worried about where the people who have been in my life went--Death is easy but boring. My mind inquired itself of the existence of a soul, something that rests within you that's an entity that occupies the body. I came to a pretty sudden realization on my definition of the what the soul is. A soul, in its essence, to me, is what you're left with when the body is gone. Not in a religious sense, "The soul goes to heaven/hell after the body shuts down," but more along the lines of things that you've experienced with somebody. The soul stays on earth. What memories, thoughts, quotes, even pictures or video, do people have of you when you're gone? Your soul is ever-changing. My grandparents left their families and friends with good thoughts, good memories. I remember stories my grandpa coming over to our house just to chill when my brother and I were youngens, taking care of us. Quotes from my grandma, her "spirit" and how she looked at life. Your soul affects others much less than it affects you, in a way. Or on a much wider scale. You know you, but others know you as they know you, and that's what they have when you're gone, is your soul. The people, who have passed, and even people who are still living, their souls are in the room I'm typing in right now--Not flying around like ghosts, but they're in my mind and in my soul, to remember and take information, memory, thought from. My grandparents, their soul is here; Daphney/Shakemytrees, her soul is still here on the city because I bet you that every day when people log on here somebody remembers something funny she said, or a photo of her smiling, and it's just things like that that represent who you were, thus they are "your soul." I know that if my brother dies before myself (these things happen,) I'll look back on his "soul," all the bowls we smoked, the back porch where I smoked my first pipe, our first cigarette, the living room where I dipped for the first time, getting drunk with him, just chillin, frisbee, all the thoughts and philosophies that we shared, the times growing up, the times as young adults, adulthood, nurturing families and friendships and everything. And if I go before him, I'm sure it's the converse for him, or anybody who I've spent good time with. Life goes on, but life goes on with your soul. My mind (and soul) have been at peace since.
The soul...haha, ya know man. The soul is you. You reading this...yea you...wake up, you are your soul. Your soul isn't seperate from me typing this. You n' me come from the same thing, we are the same thing really. Haha, yep...when ya die, well you are still alive because their isn't but one overall consciousness or "thing" in existence. Think about it...all matter all of everything, the entirity of infinite is at a base one thing. Doesn't matter that we don't know what it's physical properties are yet, but at it's base their must be one thing in common...one source. That's the identity of "soul". That's "were you go" when you die. You return to the overall...your point of perception changes. You move to the next part of infinity! Is it really that hard to see? Do YOU sitting in your chair feel like you came from matter. Did YOU form from matter that just came from a 'big bang'? haha...laughable once you gain some perspective.