2. What is the difference between soul and spirit?

Summary:

•	Human language evolved to describe physical things, so any discussion of soul or spirit must rely on symbols and metaphors. 

•	The soul and spirit are different: the soul is the enduring self that holds consciousness and memory, while the spirit is your intention expressed through your choices and actions. 

•	The mind depends on the physical brain and varies by biology; the soul is immortal, equal in worth to every other soul, and not limited by the body. 

•	The soul is “alive” in the sense of enduring existence; the spirit is “living” in the sense of actively engaging with the world. 

•	In near death life reviews, the soul experiences every moment of life, while the spirit—your intentions—is evaluated by you, not by God. 

•	You cannot literally lose or sell your soul; this warning is symbolic, urging you not to abandon moral reasoning due to fear or temptations. 

•	God has a spirit because God interacts with us and has intentions toward us—but God does not have a soul confining God. 

•	Different religions teach different ideas about the soul and spirit, but most agree that something non material lasts beyond the body, and that good behavior matters more than knowing every idea.

Soul and spirit are non-material. They are not physical objects, and this makes them difficult to describe. Human language evolved to name physical things—stones, trees, bodies, colors—so that when we try to describe things that are not physical, our words become symbolic approximations.  For example, when people hear the words Heaven or Paradise, they may imagine a place with clouds or gardens.  But clouds and gardens are physical.  Near-death experiencers often describe the ultimate Heaven or Paradise—which may call “Home”—as non-material.  What would a non-material place look like?  Could physical eye even perceive it?

Or imagine a world where the color green does not exist.  How would you describe green to someone who has never seen it?  Now imagine a world with only one color. In that world, the very idea of “color” would be impossible to explain.  Many people who have had NDE face this problem: they report having seen colors not found on Earth, or hearing music more beautiful than anything here, and they struggle to describe them because human language has no words for such things.

Language also misleads us in everyday life.  We say “the Sun rises,” even though the Sun is not rising—Earth is rotating.  People speak of “before the Universe began,” even though time itself began when the Universe began.  Scientists say the Universe is expanding, but expanding into what?  The Universe is not surrounded by outer space; the entirety of outer space is part of the Universe, which means there is no “outside” for the Universe to expand into.  Human language was not built for these ideas, and so we use metaphors that are not literally true.

Due to these limits of language, religions use symbols to discuss non-material concepts, including soul and spirit.  Since words originated as descriptions of physical things, this can cause confusion when we intermix material and non-material concepts.  For instance, the word light has multiple meanings.  In science, light is a form of electromagnetic radiation.  In religion, light symbolizes wisdom, truth, the Divine, and achieving enlightenment.  Religious definitions of light might include brightness, but they usually do not mean electromagnetic radiation. 

The words soul and spirit are sometimes used interchangeably, but they refer to different non‑material aspects of yourself.  And because they are non‑material, almost any description of them must be understood symbolically.

Your soul contains your consciousness, which is your awareness that you exist.  Your soul also contains your subconscious.  While your soul is connected to your body, your subconscious uses your brain to regulate your heartbeat, breathing, and other essential functions.  After death, when your soul fully leaves your body, your subconscious merges with your conscious awareness.  Your soul retains your memories, including subconscious ones.

Your mind is not your soul.  The mind depends on the physical brain.  When the brain is damaged or decays, the mind is affected.  Minds differ in intelligence and ability.  Souls do not.  Souls are equal.  No soul is better than another soul.  The mind is remarkable but also limited by biology.  The soul is immortal and, when free of the body, is limitless.

Your mind processes information for your body.  Your soul decides what to believe for eternity.

Your soul is not your spirit, and your spirit is not you.  Your spirit is your intentions.  Your soul is alive but not living; your spirit is living but not alive.  In this framework, “alive” refers to the soul’s enduring existence, while “living” refers to interaction with the world.  You are alive because your soul is alive—but living means more than being alive.  Living means interacting with the world.  Your interaction with the world is your spirit living.

Your spirit is your emotions in action.  It is the intention behind your behavior.  It is you living your life.  When you speak sharply, was your intention to wound, or were you misunderstood?  When you show kindness, is it genuine, selfless, or manipulative?  Your spirit is the intention behind these choices.

Some ancient languages use words for breath or wind to symbolize spirit, but those were metaphors.  Your spirit is not made of vapor or mist or even atoms.  Your spirit is non-material.

Many cultures use the word heart as a symbol for emotion or intention.  In science, the heart is a pump inside your chest, continuously pushing blood throughout your body.  When your emotions suddenly intensify, your heart must push more blood.  You may feel that increase in pumping, and this is why some cultures and languages use the word heart as a symbol for emotion, especially love.  The Hebrew Bible uses heart in this symbolic way:

Notice that this commandment includes the words heart and soul, which means they refer to different aspects of yourself.  In this context, the word heart refers to your intentions, your spirit.  In three of the Christian Gospels, Jesus calls this commandment the most important (Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).  Those three Gospels also include the word mind, again showing that your heart (spirit), soul, and mind are distinctly different from each other.

Describing intentions as “spirit” matches how religious scriptures usually refer to spirit, and this is why the word spirit is used in addition to the word soul.  This definition of spirit also reminds us of how important our thoughts, words, and deeds are, because their importance is literally spiritual.

The difference between soul and spirit is also evident in near-death experiences that include a life review.  During a life review, the soul does more than watches the review, the soul fully experiences every situation covered by the review, learning the histories and thoughts of everyone involved in every situation the person has lived through.  You feel the feelings of everyone involved.  Your spirit is judged—not by God.  Near-death experiencers report that there is no judgment by God.  Your spirit is judged by you.  Remember that your soul is alive but your spirit is not.  Your spirit is your intentions and behavior, which are not alive.  Your soul learns from the experiences that your spirit participated in.

Can you lose your soul or sell your soul?  Many Christians believe this because of something Jesus said: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”  (Matthew 16:26.)  This warning is definitely reasonable, but the words are probably more symbolic than literal.  Like the English expression “Don’t lose your head,” it means that you should never forfeit your moral reasoning by succumbing to the fears and temptations of the material world.  If you ignore moral considerations, there will be moral consequences.  No experiencer of an NDE life review has ever reported a case of literally losing their soul.  (Your soul is yours and always will be.)  But many experiencers have reported feeling the moral consequences of their actions when they experienced a life review—often by feeling shame, guilt, anguish. 

In Hinduism, its many faiths use the word Ātman—spelled आत्मन् in Sanskrit—sometimes translated as “soul” or “spirit” but more accurately as “Self.”  The Ātman of a person is called the Jiva— जीव —or the Jīvātman—जीवात्मन् —the latter word combining the words Jiva and Ātman.  Hindu faiths teach that every living being has an Ātman.  One of the primary Hindu scriptures is the Kāţhaka Upanishad, also called the Katha Upanishad.  It is an ancient text, written perhaps as long ago as the fifth century B.C.E.  It declares:

A similar verse appears in the Bhagavad Gita, which was written probably in the second century B.C.E.—“The soul is unborn and eternal, everlasting and primeval.  It is not slain by the slaying of the body.”  (Bhagavad Gita 2:20.)

Hindu faiths teach that each living being has an Ātman and that all living beings are connected to each other in a supreme Self called the Paramātman— परमात्मन्.  The Paramātman is connected to the Ultimate Reality of the Universe, called the universal principle of Brahman— ब्रह्मन्.  That universal principle is the presence of the Divine Creator, called Brahmā— ब्रह्मा —the Creator of everything, which also exists in everything and is more than everything.  The principle of Brahman and its substance is also the substance of Ātman.  In other words, something Divine is within each of us.

In the Jewish tradition of mystical knowledge, called Kabbalah— קַבָּלָה‎ —the soul is believed to have five “worlds” of existence.  Only three are well understood: Nefesh— נֶ֫פֶשׁ‎ —the world of natural instincts; Rûach— רוּחַ —sometimes translated as “spirit” and linked to your awareness of God; and Neshamah— נשמה —your emotional experiences and moral decisions, which encourage you to seek God.  The other two “worlds” are so advanced that they are largely mysterious: Chayah— חָיָה —meaning a “living being” and therefore a part of the Divine Creator; and Yechidah— יְחִידָה‎ —meaning “unity” or “singularity” because it is achieved only when you become completely one with God.

Does God have a soul?  The answer is both yes and no.  If all living beings are part of God—a unity which many NDE experiencers report—then yes, God has many, many souls because many, many beings have souls.  If the question is, instead, does God have a soul unique to God, a soul which confines God?—then the answer is no.  God created souls.  You may wonder how God retains memories if not within a soul.  The answer is that God created the existence of memories.  We create memories within a framework of existence created by God.

God does have a spirit.  The names we humans call it include the Divine Spirit, the Great Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness, and the Spirit of God.  (Some English-speaking Christians call it the Holy Ghost, although the name Holy Spirit is probably more accurate.)  That God has a spirit is taught by Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and many other religions. 

God has a spirit because God interacts with us.  God has intentions towards us.  God is sharing our experiences of living.  Remember: the soul is alive but not living, while the spirit is living but not alive.  God is not alive—God is beyond alive, because God created all who are alive.  And because we are alive, God is living through us.  God interacts with us, and we interact with God.  That interaction is intentional and, therefore, is spirit.

The language of Arabic uses the word nafs— نَفْس —to mean soul, and the word rûh (pronounced rooh)— روح —to mean both spirit.  In Islam, the Holy Quran records that the Prophet Mohammed was instructed to answer human questions about the rûh as follows:

In ancient China, a belief developed that every person has two souls, called hun and po— 魂 and 魄.  The hun (meaning “cloud soul”) survives the death of the body, but the po (meaning “white soul”) stays with the corpse and therefore stays on Earth.  In Daoism, to honor your ancestors and ask for their help is performed with religious rituals and prayers devoted to the po of your ancestors.  Daoism associates hun and po with the yin-yang principle of duality: hun represents yang, po represents yin.  Daoism teaches that the hun is part of a Divine energy or spirit throughout the Universe, a spirit called qi— 氣 —which is the purist form of spirit, generally called shen— 神.  Some Daoist writings teach that every person contains ten souls: three hun and seven po, of which the three hun souls may involve important personal relationships, such as between ruler-and-subject, parent-and-child, and spouse-and-spouse.  The seven po refer to body functions or emotions, and these became important ideas in traditional Chinese medicine. 

Confucius valued rituals and prayers, but his students recorded that he rarely talked about souls or spirits (Analects 7:21).  Confucius emphasized achieving harmony in society today through personal service and respect for others.  When a student asked him how to serve spiritual beings, Confucius replied that the student was not yet ready to serve men, so how could he serve spirits?  The student then asked about death.  Confucious replied, “When you do not yet understand life, how can you understand death?” (Analects 11:11-12.)  

The first Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was asked by a student if there is a Self.  The Buddha replied with silence.  The student asked if there is no Self.  The Buddha replied with more silence.  The student walked away.  The Buddha then explained to a friend the reason for the silence.  If the Buddha had answered that a Self exists, that answer would support the theory that the Self is eternal, which would contradict the Buddha’s own beliefs about what little essence remains.  But if the Buddha had answered that the Self does not exist, that answer would support the theory that the Self dies when the body dies.  That answer would further confuse an already confused student who assumed that he had a Self until he asked his questions but, after hearing this answer, would assume that he did not.  (Saṃyukta Nikāya 44:10.) 

There is a Buddhist teaching that the soul is like the flame of a burning candle.  When the flame is used to light a second candle, the second candle might become newly lit—but is the flame already old because it came from the first candle?  Is it the same flame?  This is the Buddhist idea of rebirth.  Like the flame of the second candle, a soul reborn into a new body might not be identical to whatever existed before, but something from before does remain.  Whatever that something is, Buddhism teaches that the answer is not very important because what would you do with that knowledge?  You cannot use it.

The difference between soul and spirit matters only if that knowledge encourages love and contentment.  In Hinduism, early contemplation of the Ātman developed into teachings on non-violence, which later influenced other religions including Buddhism.  In the Jewish mystical tradition, revelations about the soul and its relationship to God led to a deeper awareness of what the soul is capable of, though humans still do not fully understand the soul’s most advanced forms.  In Christianity, historically, many Christians who lacked political power sometimes swayed the decisions of the powerful by warning that a person’s immoral behavior can have consequences for the person’s soul.  That warning became a moral argument.  In Daoism, ancient studies about the environment, the body, and the soul, led to medical treatments and to mental well-being.  In Islam, Buddhism, and Confucianism, knowledge of the soul is definitely valued, but they also emphasize that moral behavior does not depend on having that knowledge.  You can be a morally good person without knowing anything about your soul.