Dr. Jimmy Henderson
Introduction
Many ancient metaphysical texts
maintain that the soul or spiritual essence of a person passes through stages
of evolution in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms to emerge only later
as a human soul. As a cognitive scientist and a metaphysician, this idea seems
outdated in the light of human psychology. This article looks at arguments
against the ancient view of the evolution of the soul and introduces a new
theory based on recent research in the human sciences.
The
earlier view
Very early teachings on what is
sometimes called ‘the transmigration of
the soul’, maintain that the human soul (as the true spiritual essence of a
human being), can pass through a variety of forms, both human and animal. These
texts suggest that the human soul had an embryonic stage during which it passed
through earlier levels of consciousness represented by the mineral, vegetable
and animal kingdoms. In other words, they maintain that the human consciousness
could, at an earlier stage, have been submerged in lower forms of life.
However, philosophically, as well as
in terms of the natural and human sciences, this view leads to a number of
serious problems. :
For instance, apart from the ludicrous
implication that a human being could earlier have been a piece of rock, a
carrot or even the rabbit eating the carrot, the concept of a ‘human’ soul
applies to a human form. When
discussing other lower forms of life, it would be more accurate to rather speak
of mineral, vegetable or animal souls
than to use the concept of a human soul. However, even this is a misnomer, as
one of the attributes of a soul in metaphysics is that it brings with it the
dimension of consciousness (or
self-awareness), which, in terms of natural science, applies more to humans
than to the other natural ‘kingdoms’.
Then there is the issue of separate
and distinct personalities, which takes place only at the level of complex life
as represented by humans and some higher animals. As it is clear from the
natural sciences that plants and insects have more of a collective mind or
hive-mentality, we have problems explaining what how a separate human soul with
a specific, complex personality can evolve from a collective consciousness.
However, these inconsistencies disappear
if the idea of evolution is applied only to the development of the human body
itself, as the problems only emerge when we link evolution to the human soul
itself, which, according to metaphysics, is the higher, authentic essence of a
human being.
Being more authentic (that is, closer in form to its origin), and higher up on
the ‘consciousness scale’ than the body, it stands to reason that the soul
should be more perfect and complete, and be a sort of a ‘template’ for the
human being. As a result, I believe that the notion of the soul evolving from
an earlier embryonic stage through the different natural ‘kingdoms’, is a very
limited and outdated view.
A new view based on science
and human psychology
A new approach based on current
research in cognitive science can resolve many of these inconsistencies.
The first clue is provided by the
Jungian notion of archetypes,
which exist within
the human unconscious mind as collections of energies representing certain
aspects of personality. For example, the archetype of the ‘inner child’
represents the original childlike innocence often repressed during adulthood,
and the ‘nurturer’ archetype encompasses
the protective feelings of compassion, nurturing and the mothering instinct
normally found in women.
These archetypes often find expression in human
behaviour.
Another area of psychological research
has identified cognitive (mental) structures called schemas, pre-existing patterns derived from earlier experiences
which are active during thinking and perception. Different types of schemas
exist, and research has shown that object-schemas
provide templates for the recognition, classification and categorisation of
objects in the mind.
At this point we need to consider the
view of reality as suggested by quantum physicists, in which we are all said to
live in a universe of consciousness
and our individual minds represent ‘quanta’ derived from this single
consciousness. From this information we can see that it is quite possible that,
if our own minds mirror the universal consciousness, archetypes and schemas
could also exist in a universal ‘Mind’, including ‘human‘ archetypes or ‘schemas’
representing the original template for human beings. Being archetypal, these
forms would represent the whole of
which they are a part, and could thus be seen in terms of philosophy as ‘ideal
forms’ (Plato[H1] ), in metaphysics as human souls, and
even in religious terms as (creations in) the image of God. These ‘souls’ would
all differ, as does the content of archetypes in the human mind.
This theory of human templates or
souls being formed from one universal essence means that any evolution of these
forms is unnecessary, as they are ideal and complete, awaiting only the birth
of human physical forms which are sufficiently complex and matched so as to act
as vehicles for their incarnation.
According to this approach, evolution
would apply only to the human body, thus eliminating all the logical problems
associated with the idea of the evolution of the soul through the earthly
mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. This theory also supports the idea that
the human soul does not evolve, but is complete and perfect when formed, and
only experiences a loss of consciousness when entering the human physical and
cognitive systems, as is already argued in most metaphysical teachings.
Dr. Jimmy Henderson is a
cognitive scientist, philosopher and metaphysician with a holistic and
integrated view of life. His books are available on Amazon.com and are also
available through his website www.discoveringyourself.co.za
