Do the soul, the spirit world, and reincarnation
really exist?
Many friends in the comments section have been urging me to talk about the soul, the
spirit world, and reincarnation. To be honest,
I haven't dared to
because I know that
our channel has many staunch materialists
and a group of truly spiritual practitioners
who firmly believe in "no-self" and "no-existence,"
considering clinging to the existence of the soul itself a form of "attachment to self."
Of course,
this issue has been debated within Buddhism for two thousand years. The
Madhyamaka and Theravada Buddhism do indeed advocate complete "no-self,"
but the Tathagatagarbha school says "all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature."
Yogacara uses the Alaya-vijnana to explain the continuity of reincarnation, and the Vatsiputriya school
even directly acknowledges the existence of a "pudgala" (person) transmigrating in the world. Even within
Buddhism itself, there's no consensus, so
we shouldn't rush to take sides.
But regardless,
I respect both types of viewers and don't
want them to feel that this channel has changed its nature. As for
myself,
limited by my current preconceived notions,
I tend to accept the logic of "no-self" as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha—the five
aggregates are empty,
there is no fixed, unchanging entity in reincarnation.
But I must honestly say...
I haven't experienced this state.
All my thoughts and experiences are
still based on the duality of subject and object.
I find it difficult to detach myself from that subjective "self" to experience the world.
I even find it hard to imagine what that state is like.
However,
through interaction with a large audience recently,
I've become increasingly aware of one thing: a
considerable number of people
believe that the soul truly exists.
They believe that the
spirit world,
or in other words, the
Western Paradise, Heaven, the Great Void, and the Bardo, are
also real.
If what they say is true,
does that mean there's a higher level of unity
between "no-self" and "having a soul"? Does that mean that at
that level, the duality of subject and object no longer holds true?
I'm not sure,
but I really want to explore this with everyone. Hello
everyone,
I'm Wang Lijie. In
today's video,
I won't be lecturing
or dissecting academic papers.
I want to tell you something:
a new path this channel will take.
To avoid interfering with staunch materialists
and to avoid offending those practitioners who firmly believe in "no-self" and
"no inherent existence,"
I've decided to use a membership channel as a separation.
All series on the free channel will continue to be updated daily, and the
quality will only be higher, not lower. The
bottom line remains unchanged,
but those deep-water topics that many categorize as "metaphysics"—whether the
soul exists independently, whether consciousness can detach from the brain, the
scientific explanation of near-death experiences, the underlying mechanisms of spiritual practice in ancient civilizations—and
assuming the soul and spirit world truly exist, will
we find new interpretations when we dissect ancient texts like the Heart Sutra, the Tao Te Ching,
and even the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic and the Classic of Mountains and Seas? I will
elaborate on
these topics
seriously and systematically in the Member Channel.
Before discussing the specific design of the Member Channel,
let me first mention two things that have been keeping me up at night recently.
First, in
2025,
Nature Reviews Neuroscience published a paper that
is the first comprehensive neuroscience model of near-death experiences in human history.
Charlotte Marshall's team at the University of Liège in Belgium
formally proposed a systematic theoretical framework in a top academic journal. The
scientific community has finally stopped glossing over near-death experiences as "hallucinations of brain hypoxia." At
the same time, the
large-scale study by the Parnia team showed that in about 40% of
567 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest,
brain activity consistent with conscious awareness
re-emerged.
Some cases involved patients who, after an hour of CPR and an hour of cardiac arrest,
theoretically had their brains shut down,
but the gamma band—a frequency that typically only appears during periods of heightened alertness—
suddenly lit up.
Secondly, a
recently unpublished book in the Ziwei Civilization series came into
my possession. Page
441,
this book proposes an extremely bold hypothesis: the
underlying codes of Chinese civilization can be deciphered in eight steps.
From the worship of the North Star to the projection of the Big Dipper,
from the physical evidence of the soul to the concept of "Qi" equal to a torsion field in physics, from the
activation mechanism of the pineal gland to the Hetu and Luoshu as "instructions for using Qi energy,
"
I got goosebumps the first time I read it.
Not because I believed it all,
but because this book did something I'd always wanted to do but hadn't dared to:
it aligned the most mysterious and unspeakable content of ancient Chinese texts
with cutting-edge modern scientific research. Let me give
you two examples.
First,
Northwestern University published a discovery in *Nature* in 2021: the
moment human sperm and egg meet,
a burst of intense light erupts, with
over ten billion zinc ions instantly leaking out,
creating a "zinc spark."
This discovery itself is biochemical,
but if you've read the Daoist classic *Xiangyan Poyi* (象言破疑), specifically the
line—"When the Yin and Yang energies of man and woman interact,
a spark of life arises from the void, what is
called the Primordial True One Primordial Qi"—you'll find that the
ancients were describing the same phenomenon two thousand years ago,
only they called it "spiritual light entering the womb," while
modern science calls it "zinc spark."
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
But this coincidence appears dozens of times in this book.
Secondly,
the book proposes the theory of "Beidou Projection." The
eight stars—Polaris and the Big Dipper—
project onto the land of China, forming eight "Heavenly Lands." The
projection point of the Jade Balance star
precisely corresponds to Guanghan, Sichuan—the location of
Sanxingdui. What puzzles archaeologists most about Sanxingdui is
its sudden appearance and disappearance, and
why the numerous artifacts unearthed are all objects of "communication between humans and gods.
" If you accept the framework of "Beidou Projection,"
these questions suddenly have a logically consistent explanation. Moreover, the
same projection pattern can be found in eight ancient civilizations worldwide. The
axis of the ancient Egyptian Giza pyramids points to Polaris. The
latest evidence from the ancient Mayan civilization points to the Amazon.
Eight civilizations share the
same projection logic.
I'm not saying every conclusion in this book is correct;
it contains a lot of conjecture,
some leaps in logic, and
some chains of evidence aren't strong enough.
But that's precisely where its value lies.
It provides a complete, debatable, and falsifiable framework.
We can dissect it chapter by chapter and
verify it point by point.
Okay,
now back to the membership channel.
I've designed four levels,
the names themselves being the admission tickets—which level you choose
depends on your current perception of the nature of consciousness. The
first level costs
only one dollar per month.
This level is called "I believe in the existence of the soul."
If you always have a voice inside you saying, "Consciousness may not just be a
byproduct of the brain,"
regardless of whether you can prove it or not, regardless of whether
you dare to tell those around you,
then you belong to this level.
Here, I will do an in-depth series on near-death experiences,
dissecting core papers and ancient scriptures one by one. What did
Parnia's research actually discover?
How to interpret the end-of-life EEG data from the University of Michigan? What
other hardcore cases are there from the University of Virginia?
There's also a member-only comment section—a private space for
viewers who believe in the immortality of the soul. The
second level
costs only five dollars per month. The
title is "I believe in the existence of the soul and the spiritual realm."
The key word here is "spiritual realm."
You not only believe that consciousness can exist independently of the brain, but
you also accept the possibility that after consciousness leaves the physical body, it
may enter some realm or dimension. Buddhism
calls it the intermediate state (bardo), Pure
Land Buddhism calls it the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss,
Christianity calls it Heaven, and Taoism
calls it the Great Void.
These descriptions span thousands of years and several major civilizations, and they
have a striking structural similarity.
Some people may only believe that we have a soul,
but they don't feel that such a spiritual world exists.
I don't deny this possibility,
but we want to
create a private space for those who believe.
At this level,
I will create a major series - using 32 video
episodes to dissect the unpublished book chapter by chapter. Rest
assured,
I have obtained full authorization and guidance from the author.
We will start with the belief in Taiyi (the Supreme Unity),
why the ancient Chinese regarded the North Star, rather than the sun, as the center of the universe, and
Sima Qian said, "All are connected to the Dipper."
What does "connected" mean?
Then we will talk about the theory of "projection,"
how the eight stars of the Dipper form the eight trigrams in the sky, take
shape on earth to form the eight major civilizations, and
form the five viscera and seven palaces in the body.
Then we will dissect the soul and the spiritual realm.
What does the zinc spark at the moment of fertilization really mean? The
"Five Zang" in the *Huangdi Neijing* are not the five internal organs,
but rather five levels of the soul. This is
dissected down to Qi energy and guidance – Lao Tzu's *Tao Te Ching* states,
"Reversal is the movement of the Tao," and "Weakness is the function of the Tao," corresponding
word-for-word to the vortex motion of the torsion field and the characteristics of extremely weak energy.
Are the Hetu and Luoshu diagrams metaphysical patterns or a forgotten
blueprint for energy engineering?
Each episode revolves around a core question.
Simultaneously,
this level delves into hallucinogen research. A
2024 study published in *Consciousness Neuroscience* compared the experiences of
31 people who had both near-death experiences and tried hallucinogens.
They reported deep structural overlap,
but also key differences. A
systematic cross-cultural comparison of descriptions of "spiritual states" from various civilizations will be conducted. The
third level,
costing ten US dollars per month, is
called "My Soul Has Left My Body." At
this point,
you have experienced some kind of unconventional consciousness:
feeling your consciousness leave your body during meditation;
seeing yourself lying in bed in a half-dreaming state; or
entering a "bystander's perspective" under extreme stress.
You may not be able to explain it,
but you know it happened.
Here, I will systematically dissect the scientific literature on out-of-body experiences and
collect and organize personal sharing from practitioners online. The discussion of the
pineal gland as a "soul channel" in this Ziwei Civilization series,
from Descartes to the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead to the Taoist "Niwan Palace," will also unfold at this level.
Why did ancient civilizations around the world place the pineal cone symbol in the most sacred position? The
fourth level, the
highest level,
costs twenty US dollars per month and is
called "My soul went to a realm
and returned safely."
This is the deepest level.
You not only went out of your body, but
in that state you "went to a certain place,"
saw a certain scene,
encountered a certain being, and
obtained certain information.
Here,
Jung's active imagination, the Taoist internal alchemy's "returning light," and
Grove's holographic breathing method
will be systematically dissected. The
final chapters of the Ziwei Civilization series will provide a
point-by-point argument for "Qi is the disturbance field," the
double helix structure of the Hetu Luoshu and the geometric isomorphism of DNA, and the
ultimate question of civilization, "Heavenly Dao Intelligence versus Artificial Intelligence"—these are the
most controversial and imaginative contents.
I will examine this level with everyone.
I will also try to invite people with truly in-depth practical experience to share their insights—
not internet celebrities,
but those who have quietly cultivated for many years.
You might ask: which level are you at?
To be honest,
I'm probably the most conflicted one.
Rationally,
I accept the logical framework of "no-self" and
feel it's philosophically impeccable.
I've never entered that state, nor dared to try.
My rationality has always kept me on this side of the river,
but I'm also full of curiosity about the other side.
I'm still a mortal trapped in the "consciousness realm,"
pondering "spiritual matters" every day.
I'm conflicted, right?
But I've made an assumption:
if one day
I really become the kind of enlightened being defined by everyone, would I still be
interested in running this channel? Would
I think about "returning to that spiritual world" every day? During
the two years I lived in Silicon Valley,
I learned that many people there are obsessed with meditation,
attending various offline classes and
meditation workshops. It seems like
a kind of attachment, not to mention
another, more extreme
type.
I won't go into details about how extreme it is on this channel.
I'm more at ease cautiously exploring along the riverbank.
When the time is right, I
will understand what I'm meant to understand, and I will help those who need to be helped.
Right now,
I just want to share and discuss with everyone every day.
I find that very joyful. When this
joy can no longer satisfy my greed, anger, and ignorance,
I will find a suitable way to
upgrade myself.
Right now, I
enjoy this state.
You are willing to listen, and
I am willing to speak, so let's
maintain this state for now.
Because I have no prejudice against the existence of souls or
spirit worlds.
I am just temporarily on this side of the river,
looking towards the other side with everyone.
I believe that
those who have already reached the other side
probably wouldn't bother coming here to discuss with us.
It's like a postdoctoral researcher watching a group of elementary school students discussing calculus; they
might just smile and
continue on their path.
This is the essence of the membership channel—
not answers, but
a group of people willing to move forward with the unknown. It's
not superstition,
but leading people of different beliefs
to different rooms. The
four levels are not a hierarchy of contempt. The
difference between one dollar and twenty dollars is not about who is more advanced. If
someone who has never had an unconventional experience
examines these phenomena with pure logic and pure data,
their thinking may be more valuable than someone who has "visited a realm." The
meaning of the levels is self-selection. Knowing where you are
and choosing to discuss with others at the same level makes it
easier for audiences at each level to resonate with each other,
ensuring the quality of discussions in the comments section.
Finally, returning to the initial question: do
souls, the spirit world, and reincarnation
truly exist?
For those who believe,
no one's permission is needed;
they certainly yearn to reach the other shore,
like my mother, a
devout Pure Land Buddhist.
Every utterance of "Amitabha" brings her closer to the other shore.
For those who don't believe,
like myself in the past,
these things simply don't exist, and
naturally, I wouldn't pay to join a membership area discussing "air."
I respect both sides.
Of course,
I suspect some purely curious individuals will come in,
treating the content like fantasy novels, just for entertainment. Frankly,
good fantasy novels are indeed enjoyable, and
we welcome such viewers.
In extreme cases,
staunch materialists might infiltrate the spirit world section,
using logic to criticize the content.
How to put it? It's like a
Northern Kung Fu master challenging a Southern Kung Fu master. Both are
experts,
but when in someone else's territory, I personally
believe it's more appropriate to be humble.
Everyone has their own beliefs and way of life. It just does
n't feel right to trespass on my neighbor's property and offer unsolicited advice about their marriage.
Of course, the
only thing I can do is not delete the posts.
The channel's backend data tells me that the
approval rating for all videos has never been below 98%.
I know this is due to everyone's support; most
people who are willing to spend time watching
are compassionate enough to
tolerate a primary school student's clumsiness in trying to discuss calculus.
My current answer remains: I don't know if the soul exists,
but I know
this question deserves to be taken seriously,
not dismissed with a simple "this is superstition"
or "you can believe it if you want."
It deserves to be dissected piece by piece on the operating table of evidence and logic.
This is what the membership channel aims to do: exclusively
released overseas and exclusively on YouTube.
What kind of content would you most like to see on the membership channel?
What suggestions do you have for the four tiers?
Please tell me in the comments section.
Your voice
has always been the most important guiding system for this channel.
I'm Wang Lijie.
See you next time.