[Advaita-l] athma is mere function of the brain [was: concept of soul]

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007, Sethu Sethuraman wrote:

> The skeptics' two favourite questions are: if 
> athma is in fact a potent power, how come it needs the body to function? 
> In other words is there anything at all a soul can actually do by 
> itself?

It is the jiva that needs the body to function.  The whole point of 
Vedanta is to free the atma from needing the body!

And that atma is not a limited created entity but all-pervading Brahman.

> The second question is "it's only a matter of time before a 
> fully functional human is created entirely in the laboratory - be it 
> from harvested genetic material no less. Assuming this is a complete 
> life-form that can function like any healthy human on earth, where did 
> it get its "life" from, if not from the brain?"

Why does it matter?  A rock or piece of metal is as much Brahman as you or 
I except it lacks consciousness so it cannot know this.  If perchance it 
could develop consciousness and understand non-duality then it could 
achieve moksha just like you or I.

This is incidentally why I like to leave the word atma untranslated. 
"Soul" has too many connotations which confuse the issue.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>