Ok, this is a bit personal telling about some things I learned in my journeys but lets see. I do something I call mind journeys - i think others may call it "shamanic journeys" though I dont consider myself a shaman. I did meet some guides there and felt a unity with them as if they are me and I am or was or will be them. One is a androgynous monk-like person, the others are a young and an old female. I do have a belief in something that may be called rebirth and think that while in some sense "we are all one" but in another we are all parts of that one that are experiencing some separation to live in this world. Now as it seems to me that there are souls that can be reborn and that keep a connection to the lives of the others - do souls have a gender? I feel that on one hand I think I do have a female soul, meeting the guides-that-are-me and most of them clearly being female, but at the same time I somehow feel that in the world beyond ours where the souls meet, there is no gender (represented by the androgynous monk that never speaks). What do you think and how can it be that sould do have a gender and then they don't? If you get what I am seeing there.
Interesting way to describe it. I was thinking a similar thing with the guides who are more distant, more in the realm where souls just are as souls and that was an androgynous spiritual person that does not even speak. The more worldly guides are female though. So if a soul comes back to be again in the physical realm, will it tend to choose a particular gender? Or will it just find it easier to connect with others in the otherworld that have experienced or will experience the same gendered existence?
I know that the interpretations of all this is up to a personal view. The way i describe it is that every one is looking at what is though a little window shaped in the way ones own mind and soul is shaped by the life in this world. And we all look through our own windoes at what really is from different angles and with different parts not visible. Some things are just visible for most of us, others look just different from different angles and others are simply invisible to some. But I think that what is there is there and not subject to what we as individuals believe.
Quote from: Joules on September 10, 2013, 05:54:01 PM
This is all up to personal belief, thus there is no one "right" answer, or at least one that we'll never know.
I believe in the "napkin ring" theory, I am just part of a universal ethereal fabric that has been gathered into a bunch and pulled into my present form through a "napkin ring" of sorts. The napkin ring has a gender, my soul does not. Gender is just significant in this physical realm, I'll leave it behind when my napkin ring fails to hold me here any longer, and return to being just another part of the fabric that I have always belonged to.
i love this. I agree.
It seems unlikely that souls have a gender, and much more likely that they have a "preferred gender"
That is, the soul could take on different forms, but prefers some over others.
I personally feel my soul is female thus the journey into transition. Something I can't explain inside me just says female. I think the soul is what drives me to do this. :)
Well, if it is just a preference, how to explain the pain and utter wrongness when the body does not fit to the expectations of the self, if the self is reflective of the soul. I mean - I did not really just prefer being a girl when I was little or in puberty, I had that deep longing for a female body and did not really make it into adulthood without eventuelly doing what I could to get it. Puberty was so painful - I guess something inside me was just very clear about how my body and gender should be - if not the soul, what then?
Maybe it is a preferrence , but the expectation still is there that the preferrence will be met and that is fixed then? I dont know.
I asked some people about being born again and got two different replies. The question was, if you had the chance to be reborn, what would you wish for. Some people said they would want a female body fitting to their female self. Others basically said that their most wish was to be born cis - no matter what body they would get as long as their self would then fit to that. I found this interesting that for some, the soul, their self would be fixed and forever demand a female body, while for others their self was not that fixed, their souls were according to their thoughts not gendered (or gendered male maybe?) and they just wished for a life without discrepancy.
I would be inclined to say the soul doesn't have a gender, but it doesn't explain why one might not feel comfortable in the gender of their physical body, unless of course the perception of gender is neural wiring in the brain separate from from XX/XY/etc chromosomes and reproductive/hormonal systems.
I have a complex, non religious spiritual approach to life, while my mind/ego doesn't always agree with the path in life my soul has chosen for this existence it has certainly proved challenging but rewarding experience.
My pagan friend Heidi tells me that while souls themselves don't necessarily have a gender, there usually is a preferred gender that they tend to reincarnate in more often, and that gender-switching between lives isn't the norm.
So yeah, you could kind of say that souls have a preferred gender, but at the same time, they don't, there's nothing that expressly keeps them from incarnating in male or female form.
Reading through past life regressions, studying reincarnation and different belief systems and so on. Just from what I have read and so on and my personal opinion is yes the Soul has genders, both aspects but not in a genetalia way or sexual way but more in the way of consciousness in emotions, thinking and so on. Through reincarnation many times we grow really comfortable exhibiting one or the other aspects, male or female and choose to incarnate in that physical gender over and over again. But due to having to learn different experiences in all different possiblilities we have to sometimes choose to incarnate into our non preferred gender. Just for a learning experience. Doing this supposedly leads us to far greater possibilities and tries to bring internal harmony and comfort with both gender aspects to our Spirit.
Disclaimer: This is just my personal belief brought about by reading about past life regressions, the human Soul and so on. No religion involved other than a general Spirituality that is not affiliated with any established religion.
In my faith some believe that as G-d breaths life (Nefesh) into a new born creature, a part of G-d (the Ruah) enter to dwell into the new creature. We also (at least some of us do) believe that as you develop your intellect and live a righteous life you develop an Spirit that forms a nexus with your Ruah... and that it is through this nexus that we achieve a communion with G-d.
We believe that Ruah is genderless but that the Spirit has a gender
This seems like an interesting topic to consider, but I'm having a hard time doing so. It's difficult for me to tell the difference between the concepts of "soul" and "spirit."
Is anyone willing to describe just what part of us you're thinking about, exactly?
Quote from: Jera on July 19, 2014, 05:09:36 PM
This seems like an interesting topic to consider, but I'm having a hard time doing so. It's difficult for me to tell the difference between the concepts of "soul" and "spirit."
Is anyone willing to describe just what part of us you're thinking about, exactly?
I believe that our Spirit is generated by the interaction of your Soul and your Mind. I believe our Soul is entirely Divine.
of course all depends on our operational definitions of Soul and Spirt
Quote from: peky on July 19, 2014, 05:29:57 PM
I believe that our Spirit is generated by the interaction of your Soul and your Mind. I believe our Soul is entirely Divine.
Yes, that is also the general tilt of the Blavatsky/Alice Bailey esoteric teachings I read many years ago, largely influenced by Eastern beliefs I think.
Quote from: peky on July 19, 2014, 05:29:57 PM
I believe that our Spirit is generated by the interaction of your Soul and your Mind. I believe our Soul is entirely Divine.
Okay, I think I can work with that.
My own belief system has its foundation in Gnosticism, which teaches that the Divine has an aspect which is male, one which is female, and one androgyne which is at the same time a fusion of both of these and neither of them. It's loosely similar to more mainstream Christianity's "Holy Trinity" concept. Also, they teach that we have an inner Self, the very essence of who we are, that is a "fragment" of this Divine, one and the same with it. To me, this all sounds like a semantic difference for the same concept. Does that sound fair?
If so, my personal thoughts on the matter are rather unhelpfully summarized as, "It could be, but it might not be," depending on whether this "Soul" (I would say "Self") is a fragment of just one aspect of the Divine (and WHICH one), or all of it.
Does that make sense?
What is the difference between souls and conciousness? I am leaning more and more to the unromantic idea that there is just nothingness after you die
Quote from: YinYanga on July 20, 2014, 03:16:23 AM
What is the difference between souls and conciousness? I am leaning more and more to the unromantic idea that there is just nothingness after you die
Really I haven't a clue. Conciousness is the energy and awareness that allows us to function, think and so on. We know ther are at least two levels. The conscious and subconscious. But not too long ago there is possibly another layer called the superconcsiouness, where the soul possibly resides within us. And now I have even heard of a Christ consciousness. Not related to any religion just a fourth layer that is possibly what Christ had access mentally to and why he could do things and knew things he did. How many layers of concsiousness there is is almost endless ut I believe enough to lead us back to the One or the Singularity or the Source or the Creator or God.
As for the Spirit and Soul. Think of it like mind and body. Your Spririt is that devine part of you that our Creator created. So it is like the ethereal mind. Your Soul is like a vessel for your Spirit in which all the lessons you learn are added to it and generates and forms you own indvidual personalities, preferences, knowledge and so on. Both are devine in nature. Neither can be seen with the eyes. But our SPirit or the Devine Breath or the Devine Spark is the Spirit. That Spirit is stilli n connection with the Creator and so on. It is still a part of the Creator. Our Souls are what aloow us to have our own uniqueness, our own personalities and so on.
So in short our Spirits are neither male nor female but both. Our Souls is where we get the comfort from one gender over the other but not limited to one or the other. Our Spirits are what was created in the beginning on the fifth day in the story of Genesis, I believe. Adam came after the day of rest.
Again this is just my own take and perceptions of the subject and in no way right or wrong.
Quote from: YinYanga on July 20, 2014, 03:16:23 AM
What is the difference between souls and conciousness? I am leaning more and more to the unromantic idea that there is just nothingness after you die
Your "consciousness can be tarnish or polish by your bad or good actions, respectively, but your souls cannot be tarnish
Quote from: peky on July 20, 2014, 12:52:46 PM
Your "consciousness can be tarnish or polish by your bad or good actions, respectively, but your souls cannot be tarnish
I find that hard to believe but I am not really into spirituality or esoterics anymore so I won't know that. I do like some of Buddhism's teachings
Quote from: YinYanga on July 20, 2014, 01:37:32 PM
I find that hard to believe but I am not really into spirituality or esoterics anymore so I won't know that. I do like some of Buddhism's teachings
Well think of it like Karma, what you put out you will get back. So if you put out negativeity, you will eventually have to experience that negativity. If you put out positivity, then you will eventually experience postivity. this can be in the next incarnation or incarnations farther down the line. But eventually you will reap what you sow. That is the Christ's take on Karma I am almost sure. Righteousness and Karma are pretty much interchangeable.
Spirits are genderless. This transition I think has a lot to do with consciousness, but really this experience is so deep as to even figure out an explanation, as I'm still learning myself. I think the learning experience has a lot to do with why many of us chose to be this way.
Quote from: Ms Grace on July 18, 2014, 05:54:30 PM
I would be inclined to say the soul doesn't have a gender, but it doesn't explain why one might not feel comfortable in the gender of their physical body, unless of course the perception of gender is neural wiring in the brain separate from from XX/XY/etc chromosomes and reproductive/hormonal systems.
I have a complex, non religious spiritual approach to life, while my mind/ego doesn't always agree with the path in life my soul has chosen for this existence it has certainly proved challenging but rewarding experience.
Yes, Sista Grace! My approach is quite complex, and it seems we have similar views on this. I try to simplify explanations to those who aren't spiritual, and it just winds up confusing people I guess because we're on different levels on consciousness, and because it's hard to explain such deep things in a simple way. But hey, we're all here to learn, and some just aren't ready. I feel my take on my transition seems to change (for the better) constantly with each new thing I learn.
Well not to be in any way rude against your beliefs, but I personally believe that what a soul is is just your life in general. As if a metaphor. Like if you said how many souls were killed in the plane crash, it would be the same as how many people where killed in the plane crash. But I still respect your beliefs, just that that's what I believe about souls.
Well, if you're ever interested in learning about infinite souls, there's a great book called "The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life". There's lots of good reads out there about this, I just honestly get too lazy to read; something I gotta change in the near future.
In my experience souls are free of what society creates as a gender. However, they do prefer one gender over another when moving from body to body. That's why most peoples past lives coincide with the gender they feel they are.
It's weird, but neat to think about.
I have what my Psyche called unusual spiritual beliefs :) I don't see it as unusual as it's just me. I believe Spirits are on a journey to learn allot of lessons about themselves and life, These lessons are learnt by taking either and Animal or Human form, You could need to learn a lesson that requires you to live either a male or female life but that your Spirit itself is your true gender. This could in my opinion go some way to explaining why we are trans :)
I have taught Spirituality online in the past and may return to it someday, I have gifts which I use to help people when I can although I don't look for them nor would I ever consider it as a career as what I do was a gift I got at birth and so I don't believe I should charge people when I help people :)
Just my thinking based on what I've seen, felt and heard during my many chats with Spirits. Yes I was made to have a special Psyche evaluation after my beliefs became known to the Psyche but the Indian Psyche who assessed me said he has same beliefs as me so maybe we're both crazy ;D
Hugs
Sorcha ;D
From some personal experiences this link seems to be very helpful to me. It explains that our souls are combined with different male/female ratios. Hope this helps :)
http://www.michaelteachings.com/m-f_ratio.html
The soul absolutely have a gender. Im quite certain my soul is female. Ive had a very hard time accepting this due to some abuse, but definately the soul has a gender that is as real as our physical bodies. For me it all became clear when backpacking in SE ASIA. That place is so reflective of anything sexual and romantic, and it changed me. You cannot change the essence of your soul, but what feels good for the soul is acknowledgment from others, freedom of expression, and perhaps most important for me: maturity. I think a lack of any of these spiritual needs can create mental ilness in intersex/trangenders.
I feel like gender does not have a gender. However I do also feel like our souls have preferences. I feel like the preferences may come from other lives or possibly the preferences are a part of the soul near the beginning.
I vote to be the gender of whatever God or the Universe or the Word or the Breath or the Void are made of because we are the reflection of their being.
I believe they do. My mother had an after death experience once that she told me about. In addition to meeting a being of pure love who she would or could not name she also met a bunch of her previously deceased relatives who were waiting to greet her. They were as recognizable, gender and all, there as they were here.
How that will work for us I'm really not sure. Maybe there it's not the physical form you recognize but rather the spiritual essence.
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I'm honestly undecided on that. My two explanations are:
1) Souls do have gender, however they are able to switch genders if either the soul or the gods/goddesses deem it necessary.
OR
2) Souls have no gender, since they are not physical constructs and can reincarnate many times over in bodies of any gender.
Either way, I believe this explains adult-onset dysphoria, as is my case.
As a soul out side the body before being born there is no gender , gender may be a preferance from previous lives as previously mentioned
I have had dreams of being a petite blonde female .....and as i am now i find petite feisty blondes very attractive past life perhaps
This'll be crazy but fun....
While I am a professed Catholic, and raised christian; my mind is also quite attracted to the Hindu perception of mind, self and spirit as well as its eclectic collection in its concept of the divine bound within the unity Brahma.
So... From a Christian perspective, its a no-but, in that we're made with physical and mental gender, and there's no basis to believe the resurrected/glorified body would be different in that regard; so as embodiment is always in play, thus, so is gender and physical sex.
otoh, my admittedly weaker understanding of the Hindu side leads me on a different path; in that bodies are taken, lived, discarded at death, Karma is balanced in the spiritual realm, and then a new body taken up; but there is *choice* involved. A spirit/self has some agency here, so a spirit that has been comfortably male before, may choose to continue that pattern. In this context, I have a completely parallel understanding of how I came to be as I am (gender and otherwise), which is not particularly scientific, shall we say... So the spirit here does not have gender, but may have a preference for one or the other, which leads to actual consequence.
nb.. for entertainment purposes only: my perception acquired through meditation in Hindu context is that my spirit has been female for some number of cycles, but quite violent with ample opportunity to carry out that violence, but this time around went with a male body; but then got doubly jipped by this brain being coded feminine during development, followed by an upbringing that successfully taught me a fairly strict pacifism, which I strive to perfect to this day.. I think the spirit is resentful for this turn of events, but is learning to accept a new, peaceful way of life. :-D
I would like to believe that like time that gender is just a a human concept created to assign a box for people to be in. I have hope that our souls are far more advanced and untapped by us until we transition forward beyond death. I want to believe that our souls if anything at all would be gender fluid or better still that it wouldn't even be a question that is considered or conceivable. Maybe, we move beyond the constraints of labels. I will find out someday. Right now, I can say that I am in no hurry to find out. =)
Quote from: Sushifruit on July 31, 2014, 12:16:18 PM
In my experience souls are free of what society creates as a gender. However, they do prefer one gender over another when moving from body to body. That's why most peoples past lives coincide with the gender they feel they are.
It's weird, but neat to think about.
Yes agreed i dont have to put my opinion forth now because it as you have said
Quote from: Jess42 on July 20, 2014, 02:02:44 PM
Well think of it like Karma, what you put out you will get back. So if you put out negativeity, you will eventually have to experience that negativity. If you put out positivity, then you will eventually experience postivity. this can be in the next incarnation or incarnations farther down the line. But eventually you will reap what you sow. That is the Christ's take on Karma I am almost sure. Righteousness and Karma are pretty much interchangeable.
This is a matter of faith. There is no proof for this theory to be found on earth. In fact, usually the opposite is true.it makes no sense that anyone should be punished or rewarded for something they cant remember doing. So its a subject I choose not to believe in. I feel its like a form of obsessive compulsive disorder..."bad things dont happen to me when I am a good person". (whatever that is).
My two 'nips.
I think that some souls have a gender, and some do not. I think sometimes it's just a preference, a leaning. I think it's sort of like a mark on something, left from repeated exposure. If you go through your live(s) male (ex.), and are male, it leaves an impression on the fabric of yourself. Enough impressions and you start to see the fabric reflecting that which is leaving said mark. Sometimes, it's not a major part of who you are, and only leaves a minor impression. Sometimes, it seeps through your pores, saturating everything, leaving a heavier impression. Sometimes, it just doesn't matter to you, in the end, and leaves no lasting impression. Enough exposure leads to transmutation, of sorts, adding a quality to the fabric. I think this is true for many attributes.
Mew.