Here is a conversation(mostly one sided) between me and my friend.

He asked the question: Do animals have souls?

Outofbodydude:

Yes my friend. Animals have souls. But what are souls? Souls are simply the energy of consciousness, which allow us spiritual beings to have an earthly existence in a host body for a temporary amount of time for the purpose of spiritual growth in this world. When we leave this world, we shed our physical bodies and are left with nothing but our energy bodies-our souls, as most will say. But what that energy body is is the energy of our consciousness. When i leave my body.. you can say that is my "soul" going out and exploring. But what it really is is my consciousness. For example, when i am in the higher dimensions, I am usually not aware of having any body. I just exist, I just am. I can change the form of my energy body simply with thought. At the basic level of existence, we are nothing but consciousness. Me, you, the animal, that rock over there... we are all the same thing at the level of the source.

Friend:

My question to you then is, if a being exists, but isnt consciously aware of his existence, would it still have a soul? I agree that animals have energy but are they consciously aware of themselves and can they reflect on their own consciousness as you and I can? If they simply exist by a set of natural laws such as instinct, and cause and effect relationships, to what extent would they have a soul, I guess if you put it in terms of energy and consciousness, How conscious are they really? And some animals have capacity for reflection and consciousness to varying degrees. Dogs and other mammals would have a much higher possibility than say an ant or a bee, which are colonial organisms that are simply acting for the best interests of the group. Where do you draw the line?

Outofbodydude:

hahaha very good.. these are questions that can only be answered after a lifetime of spiritual training(or death). My feeling is that alll energy is the same, for it all comes from the same source, whether it is a bee or in a human or in a plant. The difference is the degree of awareness that energy has of itself, as you said. I believe there is consciousness in all things, and that all things play a role in this existence, regardless of how tiny that role may seem. Of course, the degree of consciousness in a piece of wood is going to be nearly infinity times as minute as that in you or me. I believe the line is drawn dimensionally. All things come from the source of creation. At the dimensional level of this source, consciousness of all things can be experienced, and is experienced, all at once. Once there, you are everything and everything is you. You are awareness in itself.

I believe that if you have any awareness at all, then you have a "soul", and after your life on earth you go on your individual quest, constantly seeking a greater degree of awareness of yourself and your connection to the source. I believe all life has some form of awareness. I believe there is a line between having awareness and not having awareness, and that line is the line of life. Cells, as low of a life form as they are, most likely have some form of soul which will naturally be on a quest for greater self awareness. I believe this is the purpose of life, for true self realization and reintegration with the Source consciousness. We are all on the same quest, you me dupree and that tree. IMHO all biological life has some form of awareness, and therefore a soul which progresses beyond their physical life. The non biological life energy in this world can be experienced consciously only in higher dimensions, possibly even only in the ultimate dimension of the source.

Lets step away from theory for a moment. When Im out of my body exploring, I occasionally go to the lower realms, inhabited by beings of lower energy. These beings at times appear to be big and scarey, but when approached, they run like scared little insects. They appear to have very low intelligence, and sometimes work in groups, such as the bee hive example you gave. I believe these beings are intellectually at the same level as the lower species you were talking about, such as insects and less intelligent animals. They appear to have and use all the same basic instincts, and have the same level of intelligence.

Once I encountered this being that looked like a giant aobeba. I sensed that this being had almost no intelligence at all, and almost leach like instincts, simply feeding off the energy of others. There are just as many beings of high intelligence in the higher dimensions as there are beings of extremely low intelligence which opperate off of preditorial or insect-like instincts in the lower dimensions. It could be that these lower beings once had lives on earth as a member of one of the less intelligent/less self-aware species. It certainly makes sense to me.

Your right dute,When I was 14 years old,I was walking down a dirt road.it was dark except for a few lights in the windows of houses on my left.Then I saw a large white dog crose my path running in slow mochine acrose the road and on up in the garden.so anamiles do exist in spirit after death.George

If we go as far as plants and rocks and things though, are you saying they all have consciousness of some sort as being an individual? I mean every blade of grass? Every pebble? What if a bit of rock falls off a cliff - does it feel like it's become seperate? What about grains of sand? What about viruses? Or do you think any matter can be conscient to some degree and all this discussion of indiciduality is ultimately meaningless because we are "all one" anyway?

Is this even a question, I mean without light within a being it would not, could not exist. No plant no animal no human can exist without light, being part of its essence. Where there is life there is light. Where all on an eternal journey moving froward to-wards greater light.

My little dog came to me within a dream to tell me she was on vacation , because she was finding the evolutionary process to hard. I can understand wheres shes coming from and why she would want a holiday. But within this communication she showed me her past life when she was female human! and how far she had progressed. So all beings be it plant animal or human are to be respected as we are all from the same source, we are all one, for we are all light! Who's to say that even a rock or blade of grass has no consciousness, If my little so called dogs is on holiday! them maybe our rock friends are doing the same, they maybe experiencing the quiet of the moment, something we so long for.

Love each other do no harm and you will return to wholeness.

Trees have a quite incredible vibe sometimes, some more than others. Very old trees seem to really crank it up. There's a circle of huge redwood trees I know. (not native to this country - planted by somebody back in the 1800s) It's like standing a in a power station - there's a slightly discordant humming vibration that's for me almost audible...


This is just me talking but I suspect that when we think of the possibility of seemingly inanimate objects like rocks and plants having consciousness or mind  that our belief in the reality of our own separate, independent and egotistical 'self' probably blocks our ability to conceive of the possibility - our ongoing need to validate our own 'selfness' somehow makes it a lot more difficult to accept the possibility of anything that's very different to ourselves.

So called 'self' when closely examined seems to be a peculiar combination of a body, brain and sensing elements that quite clearly are a part of this physical reality  - which physical vehicle is the result of, wholly dependent on and related in complex  ways with every other aspect of the physical reality - mixed with other stuff that's fairly clearly not physical.

Even the physical bit doesn't have a stable existence - we change all of our atoms and molecules in a very short period (three months or something like that?) which implies that if anything is more permanent it's the mind, intention or blueprint that brings into existence and maintains the illusion.

While the body appears separate, it's in fact created as a result of a complex interaction of all sorts of factors from the surrounding reality - sunlight, start dust, other beings (food), plants, rain, our parents  etc.

Not to mention that it has no permanence - we're born, flower, wither and die in a very short period of time. (not much reassurance there if we're depending on the physical body for immortality)

Nobody seems to be quite sure as to where awareness or consciousness resides. It's clearly not located in specific parts of the brain, and may well be somewhere wholly 'offshore' in the quantum level zero point energy field.

And within 'me' there are lots of entities that themselves behave as though they were living beings too. Cells for example.

Add to this our selective perception and the fact that we can only know the output of our senses (which is basically internal experience) and we in fact have no direct physical knowing of our surrounding reality at all.

Our awareness can in fact shuffle quite happily between the normal physical and other realities. Especially when it becomes clear that higher states of consciousness access not just personal but much higher and more generalised collective and maybe ultimately unitary states of consciousness.

Sleep and waking are the obvious ones. We don't know if we truly experience sequential time continuity or not either. We presume it, but in practice it may be we're like a TV set switching from frame to frame.

So it's in my view pretty hard to say just where the boundary that defines 'self' actually lies. And if we can't quite decide what it is then maybe too it's a bit of a delusion - at least in terms of the rigid 'this is me and that is them'  distinctions we like to make.

The best that can maybe said is that what's me and what's not is very dependent on view or perspective....

Considering the fact astral projection is real (I know from personal experience), why wouldn't lower life forms have souls? I'm not the only thing walking the earth with a spirit, so I think every creature has a spirit. And if this isn't the case, then whatever can dream has a spirit.

Seeker has good summation my opinion "if everything is god (light) god is everything."
so if god is every "thing" we are included in the things..and so we are one with god in truth, and so I conclude the animals and trees and rocks are extentions of Infinite mind of which we live and have our being.
In that sense, what I discovered in obe, I was one with my pet, my personality and emotions subsided within her eyes, as I looked deeply into her eyes, I found only myself, and what I also found within her eyes was a deep longing to have her with me again physically, which could not be. emotions are important. I was told by spirit to get rid of my guilt concerning her departure. this guilt she would also feel, in her nonphysical spiritual being. since I would only have her feel good, I had to get rid of my guilty feelings that it was somehow my fault the gate blew open.

Hi Bets, just a personal note. I moved to a region has rocks underground when u dig to plant, pretty nice size ones too! they are like condensed minerals, and if we analyze the human body has copper, zinc, minerals in it the same in minute quantity, its supposed to be there. so thats one way to see oneness with rocks.
what with all these rocks here where I live, I have become fascinated with the sizes and shapes and colors and any day you might see me with my wagon pulling them here or there....I am generally not sensitive to their energy though, like I am with plants and trees..I am attracted to bright colors of a garden, but the Japanese surely have a nice touch with various gardens..much enjoy the cultural differences.

love, alysia

Interesting stuff - I once had a person tell me what it felt like to be a lava flow. Considering the "lower life forms", I personally recall life as a worm. And I have several ex-girl friends who would say that I'm still a lower life form. There must be some kind of meaning here ... 

dave