From: suzych@swcp.com   
      
   In article , Jyeshta   
    wrote:   
      
   > On Sun, 9 May 2004 09:05:32 +0100, "Dorian West"   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   > >Do things like silverfish, slugs, worms, amoeba, spiders, ants, flies   
   > >etc.   
   > >Have souls, NDEs and/or are reincarnated? I would like to know the   
   > >answer to that 1, that's for sure.   
   >   
   > In "The Seat of the Soul" by Gary Zukav, he says that other animals   
   > have a sort of collective soul according to species, rather than   
   > individual souls.  I'm not sure I accept that, though, when it comes   
   > to companion animals.   
      
   I've come across this idea too, elsewhere, and it makes sense to me   
   if you couple it with the idea that evolving via group soul experiences   
   is just another path of spiritual evolution.   
      
   As for companion animals, I have a feeling that they come to us in   
   order to gather a different kind of experience which they then take   
   back to the group soul and contribute to that group evolution.  In   
   the wild, all animals run on instinct which is what they depend on   
   for survival in very, very tough circumstances.  As companions,   
   animals are (ideally) sheltered (by us) from the harshness of the   
   wild, which means they can move beyond instinct and experiment a   
   bit with the concept of choice without being instantly and heavily   
   penalized for it.  Thus, the creature that in the wild flees from   
   fire literally without a thought, because that's its pro-survival   
   hard-wired instinct, may in domesticated circumstances make a choice   
   instead to brave the fire for long enough to try to warn or help   
   someone who had demonstrated choice by choosing to love and shelter   
   that animal as a companion.   
      
   C.   
   --   
   Crow   
      
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