Do animals have a soul?
Ernest Schmitt
Ancient philosophers, for example Pythagoras (c. 580–c. 500 BC), had granted to the animal a sensitive soul. Descartes (1596-1650), however, reduced it to a machine, an automaton, without intelligence, volition and feeling, therefore without spontaneity. His disciple, Malebranche (1638- 1715), even added a theological reason why it was impossible for the animal to have a soul.
According to him, suffering was justified only as castigation of sin. If animals had a soul, they would suffer, and it would be contrary to justice and goodness of God. And to show that animals did not suffer, Malebranche beat them in front of his audience.
For animal lovers, there is no doubt that they have a soul. The great friend and fervent defender of animals, Manfred Kyber (1880-1933), wrote in the preface of his “Animal Stories”: “Like us, animals are aware of comedy and tragedy. Most people believe that a gulf separates them from animals. However, it is but one echelon in the cycle of life, for we are all an integral part of a whole.”
For philosophy, science, and even theology, the question of the animal soul and its union with the physical body remains open.
Also outstanding is the question whether the animal is self-aware.
Origin of man and animal
How can we understand human nature as well as the animal if we ignore the fact that life has a wonderful meaning well worth the struggle and self-conquest?
We learn, thanks to the knowledge given in the Grail Message, of the initial act of creation and how it was realised. All that took on form issued from divine radiation. By an Act of Will, God allowed His Radiation to cross the Divine Sphere which has surrounded Him from all eternity. The radiation brought light, life and heat to what was hitherto void.
While moving away from the transmitting centre of divine unsubstantial- ity, the radiation undergoes a cooling which initiated a succession of precip- itations. Each of these stabilised at a certain distance, thereby giving rise to a plane with possibilities of life according to its consistency and gravity. The precipitations occurred in a downward gradation, each plane with less possibilities of development and different from the planes above.
In a first approach, we can say that Creation is formed of spirituality, animistic and matter, each with many subdivisions. The existence of the various planes enables us to figure out and understand what we have in common with animals and what differentiates us.
The animal and the human being are both creatures and as such are subject to the same natural laws. Coming to live in dense matter they both need a body or physical cloak. So it is that the bodies present common features on the biological, morphological and biochemical level.
The first incarnations of spirit germs could only be in the bodies of the animals most highly developed, which served as receptacles. Thereafter the superior faculties inherent to their species made it possible for the human spirits to ennoble their cloaks. They acquired the upright gait and developed language. Their blood radiation also changed and enabled them to receive power from their spiritual origin.
The different planes of origin provide each species with a framework and strictly defined modalities of evolution. Hence, no creature can develop anything that is not consis- tent with its own species.
Upon the departure from the spiritual plane, the spirit germs, though strictly equal, are already individualised, and each one bears within the abilities of its species. The spirit germ only needs to develop these abilities. It is not so for the animal, as explained by Abd-ru-shin: “The soul of the gross material animal, however, puts itself together first, it forms itself, so as gradually to become strong through development. As it becomes strong it is able to form ever more firmly and durably.
“The soul of the animal that belongs to the World of Gross Matter can only gradually receive a permanent form. In most cases, following severance from the physical body, after a shorter or sometimes longer period, the animal soul again loses its form and is absorbed by the accumulation of homogeneous species, absorbed as a homogeneous species which indeed brings increased warmth, but which does not yet remain in a stable form. Hence the expression “group soul”!
“Only one thing can maintain the form of the animal soul, the strongest thing there is – the love!
“If an animal has taken to loving a person it is thereby uplifted, and through the voluntary connection with the spirit it receives a supply of power which also keeps its soul together more firmly.” (In the Light of Truth - the Grail Message, Volume III, Lecture 55)
This knowledge of the origin of the animal and its mode of development provides the answer to the nature of its soul.
The animal has, as its living core, a soul which originates from the animistic plane. It is indeed the only one to possess a soul, since the living core of the human being is his spirit. The human being thus does not have a soul in addition to his spirit. Abd-ru-shin clearly states: “... the animal alone possesses a ‘soul’ in the truest sense. A soul which is something for itself alone! Besides his spirit, however, man has no soul which is independent as such.” (Volume III, Lecture 51)
What we have the habit of calling the human soul is therefore the spirit enveloped by finer cloaks, as it appears when it incarnates by taking possession of the growing body at the middle of pregnancy.
On account of its spiritual origin, the spirit always possesses the freedom of decision and thus has the capacity to choose how it develops; its free will lies in this. The animal soul does not possess this faculty since it is directly integrated into the natural laws.
The level of consciousness is also different. The animal is only aware of its existence but does not go beyond this level. Forthehumanspirit, it is only the first stage. In the course of maturing it becomes aware of his individual ego and ultimately becomes self-conscious. The behaviour of the two creatures also reflects the difference. While it is natural for the animal to submit to its master, such an attitude would be unnatural for the human spirit, who must replace submissiveness with consciously
willed faithfulness. The animals, which were present in dense matter before the arrival of human spirits, have largely contributed to preparing the conditions that make it possible for humans to incarnate on earth, to survive and find all the possibilities promoting their blossoming.
