The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-02-19
The Soul of MAN is
Realm of Mystery

preme mystery OF lire. fre-
historic man imagined that
IN his dreams something left his
body which returned to 1t before
he awoke.
For the ancient Egyptians the
present life was scarcely more
than q preparation for the exis-
tence beyond the grave. when the
soul should at last be freed from
the yoke of matter. In the Jewish
religion rewarded the good and pun
ished the wicked. The soul left the
body at death to pass to the dark
underworld Of the souls Of the
dead-Sheol.
In the vedants Of the Hindus
the soul was a particle Of an all
pervading principle, the universal
intellect of the soul of the world.
Among the prehistoric religions
the followers Of Zoroaster, or
Zarathustra. had tho following le-
gend or belief:
THE good soul remains three
nights seated by the head Of the
dead man; on the morning OF the
fourth day 1t seems to be a place
of fairest plants and scents, in
haling sweet-scented wind; there
comes to It a maiden of exceed
ingly great beauty. which Is the
mans conscience Then the soul
takes its way. first to the Good
Thought paradise. then to the
Good-word paradise. and so finally
to endless light. The fate OF the
evil soul is the reverse, ending in
eternal darkness"
DIR. Bernard Hollander surveys
the old religions in his remarkable
work. I'm search Of the soul" He
covers the PHILOSOPHERS OF the
world, and treats Of philosophical
speculations and scientific re-
scratches from ancient time to the
present day.
His conclusion is that the soul
and it's flight are still beyond de-
finite human knowledge, and only
to be conceived by faith.
Science has made wonderful
progress" he says, but the prob
lens of the first cause, OF the ma
ture Of the-soul, of the possibility
of life after death, the nature OF
the forces which are beyond our
control, are still where they were
In prehistoric times. Science has
never touched the psychical; 1t 10
bound to be material-to be limit
ed by phenomena which can be
verified by the senses"
will the time ever come when
the nature Of the soul is realized7
DISTINGUISHED spiritualists, like
Sir oliver Lodge, claim that 1t has
come, and that across the abyss
beyond life man carries the sem
blance Of his corporal body and
his living soul. Others of his
school claim to be in converse
with disembodied spirits.
DR.. Bernard Hollander half sug-
gests that the soul is lodged In
the brain, since hA alludes to the
brain as 1.-The organ of psychic &C
tivities," and Psyche is the soul.
or the brain itself he says that
the scientists know but little.
Notwithstanding some twenty
five centuries of philosophic spec
ulation and more than two CEN
turtles of scientific research. we
are still in ignorance Of the ma
ture of mind, OF the varieties OF
mental activities. and the laws
which govern them.
"One OF the reasons for this
lack OF progress is that most ply
biologists until quite recently con-
cerned themselves almost exclu.
sively with conscl business and the
ideas and understanding of man,
studying thought for its own
sake, whereas the science of mind
also embraces strivings and de-
sires, feelings and action. 1. O..
character and conduct.
All these attributes are Of the
soul. 1t may possibly be that
when DR.. Hollander and his col.
leagues realize what the brain is.
a clue will he given to the hiding
place ei the soul.