Poddnamn: Axess TV
publicerad: 2023-12-14 12:28
The Double Self in Religious Experience – On the Double Nature of Man in Indian Thought
Far from being a modern preoccupation the idea of man having a double soul, partly divine and partly earthly, has very old roots, and can be found in a number of ancient cultures and societies. A split within the human person, or a second figure of the individual (the Roman’s idea of alter-ego), can be found in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Anthropological, mythical, theological and philosophical conceptions usually insist on presenting the double as the higher, better, truer part of the individual.
The idea of a double soul entails that at death, the higher soul departs from the body, to rejoin its heavenly abode. Historians of religion, have identified and analyzed ideas about the dual nature of the human self in different traditions. A whole array of patterns, as so many variations, developed from that presumed original dualistic structure of the self. In that sense, the idea of a split person is reflected in the conception of a detachable soul. The soul, unlike the body, cannot be grasped, as its existence is not material: and sometimes called a shadow.
The duality of the self, moreover, has also been studied by social anthropologists. Multiple phenomena of ecstasy, trance and out-of-body states, reflecting so many conceptions of the self’s nature and its relationship with heavenly or divine powers, have been observed and analyzed. The shaman, a religious specialist of sorts within the community, is able to enter an altered state of consciousness, and knows how he can leave his body and undertake heavenly travels. In other words, he possesses a detachable soul or self.
How can we understand the nature of these experiences today? What importance do they have – to our understanding of Man’s relationship to the eternal and of the secular world? Can they be explained psychologically? The objective of our gathering at Engelsberg, a gathering of Historians of Religions, Anthropologists, and Psychologists, is to better understand the meaning of the experience of the double in Culture and Religion.
The idea of a double soul entails that at death, the higher soul departs from the body, to rejoin its heavenly abode. Historians of religion, have identified and analyzed ideas about the dual nature of the human self in different traditions. A whole array of patterns, as so many variations, developed from that presumed original dualistic structure of the self. In that sense, the idea of a split person is reflected in the conception of a detachable soul. The soul, unlike the body, cannot be grasped, as its existence is not material: and sometimes called a shadow.
The duality of the self, moreover, has also been studied by social anthropologists. Multiple phenomena of ecstasy, trance and out-of-body states, reflecting so many conceptions of the self’s nature and its relationship with heavenly or divine powers, have been observed and analyzed. The shaman, a religious specialist of sorts within the community, is able to enter an altered state of consciousness, and knows how he can leave his body and undertake heavenly travels. In other words, he possesses a detachable soul or self.
How can we understand the nature of these experiences today? What importance do they have – to our understanding of Man’s relationship to the eternal and of the secular world? Can they be explained psychologically? The objective of our gathering at Engelsberg, a gathering of Historians of Religions, Anthropologists, and Psychologists, is to better understand the meaning of the experience of the double in Culture and Religion.
[[poddavsnittetDetaljer]]