Yes.

Absolutely. Third eye, etc

can it be activated from the outside with an electro magnetic wave? en masse wake up to reality?

What is real?

Conspiracy - Push the concept of a soul via organised religion and spirituality, so that the masses fall for it, and are so more easily manipulated in this, the only life we will ever have.

Why would they be "more manipulated"? I'm less inclined to play by their rules, allow myself to be spoon-fed bullshit or worry about my mortality knowing that I'm pure endless existence, self realizing through experience. Knowing there are no "bad choices" allows me to experience without limit or self-judgement, and not necessarily through the medium of defined "good choices" or by taking a societally reinforced "path". I am able to freely choose to not participate in garbage that doesn't further the growth of my Self - which is the whole point of this physical nonsense, is it not?

Mind/body/soul - conscious/subconscious/superconscious - id/ego/superego

You can call it what you want, but the concept of the "soul" is not limited by "religion". And although many people find their spirituality through religious expression, one can connect with the Self/Soul in infinite ways (reflection, art, meditation, yoga, walking, singing etcetcetc) - those two terms (Religion/spirituality) are not interchangeable.

Okay, well I can expand on my original statement, certainly.

We can see the manipulation in statements like discussions of "karmic justice", or "they'll get what's coming to them" for the elites / TPTB.

But if there's no soul, and I don't see anything to suggest there is one, they won't get what's coming to them because people will be less likely to do anything about them, if they think the bad people will go to Hell, or be reincarnated as an earthworm for the next 10,000 lives, etc.

So it does make sense for TPTB to push, via organised religion this idea of an immortal soul.

Here's a oddly insightful related bit of humour from Red Dwarf that encapsulates the same concept. (Regular people are like Kryten to the elites.)

We are having two very different conversations my friend. Firstly, I don't disagree with the sentiment that "they'll get what's coming to them", because ultimately all they have done through their own actions has limited their opportunity for soular growth - if BEing is all there is, they have limited their ability TO BE (limiting their own growth only limits their opportunity for experience - the soul's quest). Secondly, you are assuming that "karmic justice" is some grand retribution - but who passes judgement? Who bestows the punishments/rewards?

So then - you believe that it is your duty to judge others for their actions? Sounds very much like the mentality that your "elites/tptb" push on the masses through organized religion, that some behaviours are preferable to others "in the eyes of [god/allah/cthlulu]" and that some are "bad" and will leave you suffering in eternity (but how nice of "god" to give us the free will to make the "choice" to suffer eternally...?)

The soul knows not or cares not for the judgement of the ego - it is unencumbered experience. It cares not about the actions of any other, it passes no judgements on them or on the actions you yourself have taken, it simply relishes the experience of having the opportunity to choose. You may make choices that limit it's ability to make further choices for experience and growth, but that is to the detriment of the soul itSelf and affects no other being. One can only be responsible for their own actions/choices - and therefor has no right or reason to judge any other's actions/choices as right/wrong.

Their are many paths to the soul, mine was through quantum/meta physics - in fact, the most "religious" individuals I've ever met have been in the quantum physics department. You need to set aside the perspective you have on organized religion, because it is colouring your opinion of the idea of the soul. You can't contain it between the pages of a book and you can't limit it's modes of expression by expecting it to appear to you a certain way.

I would say, in my experience (having been an athiest leaning agnostic for the majority of my life) that it is not the Self that comes to realize the soul, it is the Soul that comes to realize the Self, and only then does it marvel at it's own beauty and grandeur.

I am very sorry if this is something that you have yet to see ("I don't see anything to suggest there is one"), because in truth everything you see is a projection of your Soul.

Wow just wow. You really must be into tin foil hats because the idea of the soul is much more than just organized religion exploiting it. Excuse my language but for fucks sake not everything is a tool to control! The soul goes as far back as the birth of Hinduism and transferred to Buddhism and so forth found its way to philosophers. Logical thinkers who deduced that yes you may in fact have a soul. You need to do some chakra cleansing, or first of all find out where they are located and what they represent in the human psyche. You are so pessimistic it is in vain for me to go in further detail because this response will just fall on deaf ears.

No soul, so no.

But possibly DMT, so it's all gravy. Who needs a soul anyway?

No. There is no such thing as a soul that anyone has ever been able to show, let alone that it improbably resides in a gland the size of a grain of rice.

Pineal glands, how do they work?

Electricity and magnetic forces are both capable of interacting with the physical world, and can be directly measured. The same cannot be said for the soul.

Also, I hope that wasn't you downvoting my opinion either, since you've made a post that specifically asks for people's opinions, rather than requesting a circlejerk of opinions that match your own.

Excellent response!

Oh, diatribe. Nice word. I'm not sure two brief sentences counts as a 'bitter and forceful attack' though.

I can see I'm now being called a paranoid selfish fool. That seems like a closer fit.

...How can the same not be said for the soul?

If one supposes that such a thing exists, then one must assess the soul as continuously interacting with the physical world - through it's host physical vessel. You. By that measure, everything you see is a direct result of your soul interacting with your physical environment - but how does one measure the SELF? Just because we don't know how to quantify such a thing YET, doesn't mean it isn't quantifiable. Just because we're unable to detect visual distortion with our limited field of vision doesn't mean it's not there to be seen. In fact - quantum physics will tell you that such an interaction is possible because distance is meaningless if two particles are entangled - who's to say you don't experience such an entanglement between your mind/soul through the pineal gland?

Okay, well let's query one of your points. This started off as "is there a soul?". But now we have this idea of human bodies as host vessels for the soul. So where are our souls? Are they remote from us in some distant unreachable realm?

If they can interact with us, probably not. That means we could likely interact with souls from the physical realm.

puts on mad scientist lab coat

If the soul can interact with the physic world, then there is a link, and that means that link is exploitable.

What stops some sufficiently advanced science from building a machine which can track back to the soul and interact with it, say using them as a source of power? Or just horribly torturing them all?

takes off mad scientist lab coat

Of course, you could just say the link doesn't work that way. But then it starts to sound suspiciously like magic or something.

We could also take the viewpoint, since no one here has actually defined what they mean by a soul, that the soul is something generated by living beings. But that means that even if we had a soul, it would die when our physical bodies die, and I'm sure that will also be unpopular.

I very much suggest that you look into the idea of "spooky action at a distance" and "quantum entanglement". I highly suggest the book "the tao of physics" or "the dancing wu li masters - an overview of new physics". Your physical perception is limited to the physical realm, of three dimensions, but that does not mean your soul is. In fact there are at least 12 mathematically acknowledged dimensions - so we are really at a loss to even begin to describe what we think we know - we are only able to perceive (at best) 1/4th of dimensionality.

So yes, I am indeed suggesting that the soul is something that exists within a realm (maybe remote: THERE, maybe overlayed: HERE or maybe some level of dimensional interaction we haven't begun to describe: NOWHERE) that is interacting with this one while maintaining it's own boundary. In such a case, the pineal gland is thought to be a quantum receptor of sorts - a physical receiver for the soul. This isn't to say that your soul is pushing the "command buttons", but maybe has certain intentions or "goals"/"lessons" that would further our growth. But it wouldn't care if you were to act on it's intentions now, because if you live endless existence then eventually - you will come to make the choice that aligns with those intentions or produce the desired outcomes. In this way, your free will is not negated by the existence of the soul, but enhanced by it. It is through SELF realization that one comes to know the desires of their soul and acts upon those desires - it is a very gratifying experience.

And maybe you meant it as a joke, but I find your idea of physicality generating a soul intriguing as well - not a viewpoint I've heard before, so thanks for opening me up to that idea as well :)

Oh you know it's just been practiced for several thousands of years being the art of meditation, yoga, mantras, prayer which connecting with your soul. Read some Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. Then you will begin to believe. Atheists make me sick sometimes. It is so simple to deny? than to actually come up with your own view and the truths supporting it. Maybe you lost your soul but I am sure I have mine.

The idea of the soul is a great comfort to many, but if you think about it, it's a lot like a belief that there's some "little invisible man" who drives your body around like a car, when we are the car.

But I've already been told a number of times that this isn't the accepted view in this forum, and that when someone asks "Do you believe that reality is derived from the seat of the soul", the only acceptable answer is "Yes".

Don't limit yourself from BEing, my friend.

You are both the car, the invisible little man AND the road you find yourself driving upon.

The particle, the wave, and the observer.

It is so simple to deny?

Yes.

^ See?

what a shame it is that you yourself, are eternal, and you do not realize this magnificent truth. May fortune and wisdom find its way to you in your next life.

Praise the Cage.