The truth they say, given enough time, always comes to light no matter how much opposition or resistance it may currently be facing. In fact, the sign of truth is its ability to withstand the onslaughts of changing times, ideas, beliefs, cultures, ambitions, and lifestyles. So no matter how old a question may be, sooner or later you shall know whether it is indeed a Truth or an error of human perception. For truth eventually brings together even the most diverse and contrary schools of thought and tradition, aligning them into recognizing what refuses to be ignored.
I wonder thus when schools of science and religion will come together on matters of spiritual importance. And not just these two, let’s add the myriad traditions new and old, the many philosophies extolled, and the hundreds of perspectives that light the way. Indeed for the most part, since the dawn of the age of reason, the human soul seems to have suffered a lot of bad press. The religious leaders will not contest its existence while the scientific community refuses to accept it. And us mere mortals hang on tight to whatever semblance of clarity we possess on the subject, for the answers are far from forthcoming.
Personally, I swear by experience. But I am also very aware that our experiences are often much too colored by our own beliefs and perspectives for them to be truly objective. That doesn’t mean they do not hold validity, but it creates space for science to step in and tie the loose threads. When it comes to proving the soul’s existence the volunteers are far and few in the scientific community. So it is indeed refreshing to see quite a few brave professors step up to the challenge and offer their supporting theories and proofs on the subject.
Profession Robert Lanza seems to be spearheading the race, centering his assessments on the insights quantum physics offers us. His arguments and work center on the theory of biocentrism that factors human consciousness into the physics of things. But Lanza isn’t the only one claiming to offer irrefutable proof; two quantum scientists Dr. Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose assert that the human soul is contained within microtubules inside the brain. They argue that when the person dies the heart stops beating, the brain stops functioning but the information within these tubules is not destroyed; in other words, the soul lives on.
For anyone familiar with ancient wisdom on the nature of the soul, the latter sounds much too simplistic, to be honest. That is not to say their observations are false, but the picture painted is just much too small and localized. But yet, this study and others like it are waking the scientific and spiritual community to the efforts made by the other. The question here really isn’t where the soul resides, as much to understand the nature of the soul as more than a spiritual metaphor in scientific terms.
With the twentieth century largely being the age of dissent on the subject, maybe the twenty-first century will bring the two opposing factions into a unified reverence of the truth at hand.