Does the Soul Reside in the Body?

When a person loses life signs and has to be resuscitated in the field, many report that their perspective shifts to outside of their body looking down upon it. 

In the case of my father's near-death experience, he reported "that was the REAL world, this one is FAKE." It sounds like such an enlightening experience created by a new frame of reference for understanding our universe, another dimension.

We have for centuries sought to weigh, measure and photograph the soul departing the body, but does the soul reside in the body and why would it, as it is not limited to the 3-dimensional confines we exist in?

Let's begin with an example - the photograph. This photograph of me is a 2-dimensional representation of my appearance from only one aspect of me, the front view, and one second in time.  

The photograph, however, has no knowledge of the world of 3-dimensions, intelligence, biology, movement, depth.... It exists as a rather crude and simple representation of something much more complex and incredible.

For its existence, the photo serves the purpose of visually recalling me in one moment of my life. When it is destroyed, it does not affect me, except perhaps emotionally if I no longer have a visual cue to remember this period in time. 

A photograph is my image on my timeline. In the content of my life here, it is rather minuscule both in the moment it represents and the very pose and appearance of that moment from the camera's perspective. 

At that moment there were infinite other possible views, distances, angles of which to record me in that second of time. So, the photograph was even tinier a representation in my life's content, not even the blink of an eye. 

What if, however, our existence on the 3-dimensional mortal plane involves a representation of only a moment in the time of an eternal soul's journey through limitless lives in limitless forms of life.

After all, the photograph did not represent scent, movement, thought, time unfolding, events, relationships - it was missing a great deal of the content of its originator and then it was also missing every angle, every distance, every perspective one could possible take a photo from.

What if we are also not able to represent all the aspects of the soul and its infinite possibilities? What if all we represent is its mortal experience and one of infinite possible ways to play out mortal life?  

And, perhaps that is what mortal existence is; one perspective of how a life can be played out while at the same time, a trillion other decisions would have led to innumerable other possible timelines and outcomes (somewhat like the camera didn't capture every single angle and distance in that split second).


I do not need the photo of me to exist, I exist in spite of it. What if the soul does not need the mortal form to exist, as it has always existed? 

When the photograph is burned, the mortal person still stands and still possesses the physicality represented on photographic paper.

When the mortal body dies, the soul still exists. It has always existed, will always exist.  

But we can all agree that the soul is not like a mortal, as it has no "form" or "3 dimensional quality" like we do. You and me can say "hey, he's over THERE" or "I'll be HERE when you get back" and it immediately shows that we are all separate, divided by space/distance. A soul would not be limited to place anymore than we are limited by our photograph's location.

Now, we add one more dimension and the photo represents a human being with a 3-dimensional composition, biology, intelligence, strength, mobility, ability to move around in a setting. 

We may reside in the next dimension's space like the photo hanging on the wall is in our dimension, but we are able to move through depth, time, space compared to the photo. And the soul too can venture to places a physical being would not be able to interact with or even perceive (until death).

After all, the soul doesn't need the second or third dimension and if a photograph has no intelligence and we have intelligence, would the next dimension include an intelligence we do not have, could not even conceive of?  And, is this why near-death experiencers come back changed forever? Perhaps they had an "aha" moment in the next dimension.

If we are the source represented in 2D by the photographic image, then what if in our 3D world we are representing something higher up? Wouldn't that higher up source be our soul?

Soul chooses to be represented in a 3-dimensional world, just as we decided to take a selfie picture. 

Why would the soul decide to take on a mortal representation? It would be a simplified way of observing their own purpose. The photograph was on paper and a surfaced image that could only represent a limited aspect of us. We are represented in a physical playground and only a limited reflection of the soul and not all its aspects. 

If we bring in the concepts of religious doctrine, this makes sense in that we must suffer the mortal limitations to understand the importance of life (soul).  

What purpose does a photograph serve? To give an image to look back upon and recall a moment in time, a place, something beloved, perhaps an accomplishment, a wedding, a birth, a vacation. We gaze back at that photo over time and it gives us perspective of our process on earth. 

What if the soul goes to work every day without rest, working to keep the fabric of the entire universe in place for life to be infinite? 

Could we, playing out a life on earth of attempting to enact change and better ourselves be a 3-dimensional representation of the mission of the soul? 

While the soul puts its energy to building and creating, so do with with art and architecture, industry and caring for others. We feel overwhelming emotions of love and sense of belonging when we perform the soul's mission, to love, to create, to be part of the universal connection. In those moments of loving tears and hugs, we are the ideal reflection of our soul benefactor as much as a well-timed photograph can represents a person's energy and life force so ideally. 

If we could give a photograph intelligence and ask it what it believes it represents, it would likely say "an image," but it would not be able to tell you that image is 3-dimensional human being with thought, life, and movement. 

When we ask ourselves about the soul we represent, our perspective is quite limited to assuming the soul is like us - an individual being separate from the plants, sky, and other beings upon the planet. Our point of reference is very limited, as was the photograph's. If only the photograph understood the preciousness of being an image of a higher being! As is our own dilemma.