“Never was there a time when I did not exist, or you, or these kings; nor will there come a time when we cease to be.” – Bhagavad Gita 2.12

Nearly every religion has some concept of the soul, and the dominant religions of this day put forth that the soul does not cease to exist after it is born. I believe this as well – for the most part. 

There are a handful of tenets I hold that have come to define my spirituality, and one of those I have called everfith, the belief in the everlasting nature of the soul. 

I do think every soul, whether human or otherwise, has the potential and inclination to persist in eternity. And I believe that those who do good with their lives, or at the very least do no harm, do walk this path. 

But sin, however one defines that word, is an all-consuming disease of the soul. To me, sin manifests as “treason to the soul,” a disregard of the rights of others. The symptoms of this disease are greed and selfishness, hatred and extreme, incurable envy. And the longer one lets these symptoms fester, the more they succumb to the disease. 

Especially in this day and age, I want to emphasize that aspects of personal identity – sexuality and gender identity among them – are not only a beautiful part of every soul, but something to be celebrated. Any movement that demonizes this threatens its own humanity. 

It is my belief that the arc of Time does bend toward morality, even if slowly, and that that necessitates the eventual end of sin. As I have written before, I do not believe sin is something arbitrary imposed by a higher power, but a choice that an individual makes. This choice is simple: look outward, or look inward. 

And it is my belief that this is the choice that determines one’s eternity – not allegiance to a certain deity, not the correct ritual or theology, but an acknowledgement and active celebration of our common humanity and our place in this universe. Those who act morally and lead upright lives have eternity to spend in bliss, but those who put down others for their own gain become so consumed by their own greed and selfishness that it devours their soul. 

I also do not think of death as the last chance to make this decision. Any moral existence, in my opinion, must present each soul a second chance and an opportunity to improve. Thus it is my belief that there are millions out there, if not even billions, who have not yet sealed their fates even centuries after their passing.  Perhaps they lived in opposition to good during their time in this life, but are making a genuine and concerted attempt at improving themselves in the next life. I think that is something to be celebrated. 

If souls have no end, what of their beginnings? I do not subscribe to the idea that souls have no beginning – if anything, the birth of a soul is somewhat fuzzy. I also do not believe in reincarnation, for the most part, but it is reasonable to think of the passing on of genetic code as a partial reincarnation. In this way, every soul has a foundation upon which to build before they enter this world, but they do not properly experience life until they are brought about. 

When one thinks of this, the idea that the beginnings of each and every one of our souls were milling about in an impossibly intertwined manner, is it not easy to begin to view your fellow humans as the family they are? 

I recognize that ideas like these are unfalsifiable and entirely subjective. All of religion is. What I believe validates subscribing to unfalsifiable ideas is their result in the real world. Perhaps the soul is truly a projection of chemical reactions, and perhaps there is no such thing as the divine. But if belief in such things moves humanity along the arrow of progress, so long as an acknowledgement of the differences between faith and science exists, then it is an ultimate benefit to humanity. 

That said, I do believe in souls and their everlasting nature. Even between wildly different subjective experiences across thousands of different cultures and billions of individuals, there must be some truth to the idea. What is written previously is my best approximation of the nature of this world we cannot readily interact with.