The concept of “soul” is difficult to define because it has been used differently in different contexts. In essence, it denotes the life force of the individual, as opposed to his physical body. Sometimes a threefold distinction is made - body, soul and spirit. In this case, "spirit" denotes the life force, and the soul is the core of the human person. In all religious traditions, with the exception of classical Buddhism, the soul is considered immortal, although at different times of life it can connect with different physical bodies (see Reincarnation).
The Buddhist doctrine of anatta, or "absence of the soul," says that the soul is a product of the human imagination, which implies that it is not able to survive after the death of the body. Reincarnation is a consequence of karma - the sum of all actions, good and bad - and does not include the transfer of consciousness or personality from one life to another.
According to Christianity and other leading religions of the West, the soul of the individual is created by God at the beginning of each new life and is invested by Him in the human body. After the death of the body, the soul does not die, but continues to exist in the afterlife. Christians believe that the individual will ultimately face a bodily resurrection.
Tribal cultures, such as Aboriginal cultures in America, Africa, or Australia, have more complex beliefs about the soul (see Animism). In some societies, there is a belief that the body is home to more than one soul at a time. According to some belief systems, souls are inherited from each of the parents and passed on through the corresponding gender to their children. In other cases, different souls are responsible for different bodily functions - one may be associated with breath, another with mind, third with bones, etc.
Almost always, one of these souls is considered to be separable from the body throughout life; it is also believed that the wanderings of this soul are responsible for dreams and diseases, while the constant separation of the soul results in death
(see Soul Loss). After death, the soul (or spirit) can split into two (or more) parts, it can become a ghost, a generic spirit or a reincarnating spirit, so that the contradiction between reincarnation and life after death is not recognized. The soul (or spirit) is seen as a twin of the body, and sometimes it is identified with the shadow of a person.
The concept of the soul in spiritualism is a cross between the corresponding beliefs of the religions of the West and animism. The soul is seen here as separate and indivisible, and each person is endowed with only one soul. The soul, however, is separate from the body and can leave it, as is the case in out-of-body perceptions and in states of clinical death. The astral body is seen as a "medium of expression" for the soul, almost like a reflection of the soul itself. Similarly, visions are viewed by many people as phenomena of the astral body.
Based on the premise of the quasi-physical nature of the soul and the presence of a certain mass in it, attempts were made to weigh the body at the time of death in the hope of finding confirmation of the existence of such a soul.
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The most famous experiment of this kind was carried out in 1907 by Duncan McDougal, who weighed five patients at the time of death. In two cases, there was a rapid loss of half an ounce of weight followed by a second dramatic loss of one ounce. All this happened within three minutes after death. In the third case, there was a slight weight loss, followed by a large increase, and after another 15 minutes, some weight loss again. However, these results are not scientifically convincing.
