Bible ?

[CFTraveler]

HI again,

Why did you change your name?

The "soul" itself is female by defininition.

Huh? By whose definition? My understanding is that the soul is neither female nor male. Is this an eastern religion belief? I've never heard of it. It sounds really odd. Kind of the opposite of what we've been taught in western religion for so long..."God, the Father".

I am using the Catholic/Orthodox definition here. They are the oldest Christian Churches after all. Gnostics use the soul as a female, too.

Sant John of The Cross for example describes the soul as a she. God is *her* beloved, etc.

But as I said I am not sure what exactly the soul is anyway. I mean the term as used in the Bible is not clear to me. The Catholics do not necessarily have it right

BTW I think that JHWH is the Hindu Atman (The Self). I mean, "I am what I am"! What could it possibly be if not the ultimate subject?

In the Bible there is a spirit and there is a soul. So it may be possible that liguistically the spirit may be the male element and the soul the female. (This is just a big guess there. That's what happens when I put my western mind into ancient eastern symbology.)
I agree with the YHWH as the Atman (at least the concept.) I have always thought though, that 'being' was an attribute of God, but I imagine that for the ancient israelites 'being' is abstract enough. . So in a way, it was a very advanced concept, which the masses interpreted as
'one being'.

[Tempestinateapot]

Hi Freawaru! I changed my name for fun after I deleted my account while I was semi-delirious during a bad food poisoning episode. Bad crab. Really bad.

I never read anything in the Bible that made me think God was female. It seems pretty straight forward with assuming God would be a male. 'Course, it's been a long time since I read the Bible, so I may be forgetting a lot. I'm not that proficient in the eastern religions, but I remember the Hindu lessor Gods are both sexes, but the goal is to know the One God who is basically, everything. Everything wouldn't have a sex, but be more a combination of everything. The duality is an earthly form of illusion. Is that right?

[Freawaru]

In the Bible there is a spirit and there is a soul. So it may be possible that liguistically the spirit may be the male element and the soul the female. (This is just a big guess there. That's what happens when I put my western mind into ancient eastern symbology.)

Good idea

As I said I do not know the difference. I think that "male" and "female" as used in the Bible refer to the sense of self as subject and object: "I" and "me/mine".Might be that the term "soul" is used when recieving "me/mine" and spirit when experiencing as "I".

But on the other hand Sant John of the Cross uses spirit in an analog way as senses. According to him there are two dark nights of the "soul",. the one of the senses and the one of the spirit. Maybe he uses spirit as a kind of sense - like the third eye... ???

[/quote]
I agree with the YHWH as the Atman (at least the concept.) I have always thought though, that 'being' was an attribute of God, but I imagine that for the ancient israelites 'being' is abstract enough. . So in a way, it was a very advanced concept, which the masses interpreted as
'one being'.[/quote]

Well, there are lots of different definitions of the term "atman" out there, seems every school of Buddhism and Hinduism defines it slightly different. We just have to find out the exact definition the acient Israelites used, lol.

[Freawaru]

Hi Freawaru! I changed my name for fun after I deleted my account while I was semi-delirious during a bad food poisoning episode. Bad crab. Really bad.

Outch!

Well, if I recall correctly Marvin (Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Universe) had the most intelligent conversation in a million years with a coffeemachine - so I am looking forward to communicate with a teapot

I never read anything in the Bible that made me think God was female. It seems pretty straight forward with assuming God would be a male. 'Course, it's been a long time since I read the Bible, so I may be forgetting a lot.

God is usually male in the Bible. "I am what I am" instead of "I am me". The focus is on the subject and the subjective experience. Giving is better than recieving and all that. Unfortionatly Christians usually think in biological terms rather than spiritual ones. In Catholicism at least the female is given a better status than in most other Christian denominations. Some mystics like Mechthild of Magdeburg even call the Mary, the mother of God, a goddess. But generally Christians are under the delusion that they are human.

I'm not that proficient in the eastern religions, but I remember the Hindu lessor Gods are both sexes, but the goal is to know the One God who is basically, everything. Everything wouldn't have a sex, but be more a combination of everything. The duality is an earthly form of illusion. Is that right?

The deva and asura have both sexes, but they are karmic. As to the One God being everything - there are different opinion on this depending on the school. I am more familiar with Advaita Vedana than with the rest, and in their lore the One God is beyond creation. As such He is not the Universe, the All, but the apopathic creator beyond and independent of His creation. In the Veda, Creation is cyclic. In between creations of the universe God as the creator (Brahman) is asleep, but Vishnu, the avataric person, is awake and active. In general the "female" side of God (divine me/mine) is called Shakti. Shakti refers to energy in general, a goddess. Kundalini is a synonym for "Atman shakti", i.e. energy of the Self.

[Tempestinateapot]

Well, if I recall correctly Marvin (Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Universe) had the most intelligent conversation in a million years with a coffeemachine - so I am looking forward to communicate with a teapot

Yes, and the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42 So, I guess we can close up shop now, because it's all been answered.