A couple of words against souls

I’ve been thinking a bit about life after death, of late. Based mainly on conversations with a couple of people who’ve come into my life.

Due to circumstances, here’s what I’ve not felt I could say at the time…

I just don’t believe there is some aspect to us (read you and me) that is not subject to change and ultimately to dissolution. I’ve spent a lifetime in spiritual introspection and I find nothing within that hasn’t changed. Except an abiding sense of “I,” which itself, however, as I look closely seems only to be held together by the continuity of a body. When it goes, well, I can’t evade the sense that so will go that sense of “I”…

I strongly, strongly suspect.

Enough, in fact, to bet a life on a life that precious, but passing.

Now, I’m totally up for being surprised. But let me tell you should I survive my physical demise, I will be very surprised.

I just have to go with the Buddha on this one (acknowledging the complexity of his rebirth argument, with which I have serious problems. But to pursue that belongs to another posting…). Hard to escape his observation we are made up of parts. And that everything made up of parts will at some point come apart.

Nothing abides.

All is contingent.

And, based upon that I have to agree with the Buddha’s teaching that the primary cognitive mistake is to cling to our sense of self as anything but contingent.

Which we do, all the time.

It sure looks like most of the ills of the human condition flow from clinging to that ever elusive desire for permanence. Sadly, the life of denial is a life filled with lies. One after another. And how can anything but hurt follow such a path?

Of course the Buddha offers some good news out of this twin observation that nothing is permanent and most hurt comes out of our trying to make things permanent.

That distress, that hurt continues. Until. Unless. We see through it.

Here all sorts of teachers point to a way of transparency, of openness, of finding our larger identity, something much bigger than the little self to which we were clinging as if it were so, so important.

The good news is that if we just surrender into what is, we might lose a soul, but we gain soulfulness.

At least that’s been my experience.