The Song, Self, Soul and Spirit
I found a transposer software that automatically generates the chords in a different key for a song whether you move it one key up, or one key down.
Transposing is useful as it helps us sing a song at a more comfortable pitch if the song is either too high or too low for the range of our voice.
Why is it that even if one raises or lowers the key, one can still recognize the song ?
Regardless of which octave it is on, the distinct character of the song is retained. This property brings one thing to my mind - each one of us is a song in itself.
We all have our own unique character, personality and identity. It is what we call the self in philosophical terms
or the soul in spiritual jargon.
I believe that it is possible to retain, preserve and extend this unique "self" even if the material substrate from whence the mental life arises is destroyed.
Although it cannot be denied that the brain supports much of our consciousness, for any change to the brain—from injuries, drugs, strokes, senelity and surgery or illnesses such as Alzheimer's—literally changes the mind.
But this is just one side of the coin, the other side is less obvious. How can one's sentient life and consciousness can be regenerated ? Let me begin with a premise : There is some sort of a "metadata" repository of an individual's moment by moment slice of consciousness through time.
| Our very existence leaves behind trails of information regarding our "self". |
Consider this scenario : If all of my very self, my soul, and everything that makes me who I am
- past, present and future - were laid out flat and static as one long page of musical piece frozen in time (think of Julian Barbour's Time).
Now if a Superbeing that transcends all dimensions were to change bits of the past chords of my life and rearrange notes here and there,
then my soul's "DNA" loses the unique essence of who I am - it would be the utter destruction to my soul. Every single bit of past experiences has molded the "me" in it's entirety. The choices I made in the past shaped my identity. Had I chosen different decisions, I might have been a different "me" - another song with a different tune.
Throughout life, an individual's soul is being written out on this current octave-the world. Each day is like a musical bar, and each hour we are leaving notes as the universe records the musical piece of our soul. Whether we like it or not, our very existence leaves behind trails of information regarding our "self" as time goes by. All the more reason to believe that each one of us will eventually give an account of one's life : If there's a record, it can definitely be played back by the superintellect who owns such a "database" (Heb. 4:13, Ecc 12:14).
Time goes by, i.e, it "moves forward" (and humanity is temporarily trapped in it) because there is another octave that everything is destined to move into - It is on a higher key, a higher dimension (such concepts of higher dimensions already have a mathematical description used in the field of String Theory that they call the Calabi-Yau Space).
In that higher plane, I reckon that we will completely regain our personality, memories, consciousness, and mental life. Resurrection, baby ! And by faith, I believe that the continual flow of Consciousness is engineered by the One who created "it" in the first place - the Cosmic Musician who will transpose everything at a grand scale.
Is there something beyond for our mortal life ? Or is there nothing at all ? Something or Nothing ? Eternal or Ephemeral ? It is your choice what to believe now, but whichever is your final choice, that is your faith.
But If one is still challenged by the question of life beyond death or the even existence of a personal self to begin with, then perhaps a Song itself will sing of this mystery. Each individual is a song. It is amazing how a glimpse of some understanding about the human soul can be gleaned from the field of music. As Ludwig von Beethoven said, "Music is a higher revelation than philosophy."
Indeed, music has been providing insights throughout the ages over mysteries of nature.
We hear phrases such as "harmonies of nature", "music of the spheres", and "Cosmic Symphony".
Its no wonder why String Theory, which probes the very fabric of the universe is hinging upon the metaphors provided by music. Our universe just simply screams of such patterns for us not to notice. And that is why we can say - where there is music, there will be songs like you and me.
" ...where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night.."
Job 35:10
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