From: whatever@twixtntween.com   
      
   On Sun, 09 May 2004 23:24:28 -0700, Crowfoot  wrote:   
      
   >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.   
      
   I like this idea; thank you.  I was having trouble reconciling the   
   group soul idea against an entity with whom one can have such a real   
   and close relationship (in my case, my cat), and who can communicate   
   choice, as you said, and have distinctive personality traits.   
      
   As I've mentioned before, one of my dearest hopes is that I'll be   
   reunited with my cat when I die.  The reunion with loved ones is the   
   reason I find quick reincarnation to be such an unattractive idea.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)