Mythology
by Daniel D. Hromada
(daniel@udk-berlin.de)
@ Studium Generale / Theorie / Wissenschaften
Daniel D. Hromada
daniel@udk-berlin.de

presented at

Studium Generale / Theorie / Wissenschaften

Mythology

Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.

Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FRS FBA

Warmup Exercise

Create groups of five. Discuss & present to each other Your personal answers to the question "What is soul / (How) can/do You define it ?

Group 1

split - some people believe, some not, some unsure

lot of questions, no answer

can one have soul if You are not conscious ?

the essence of something, that's what makes something uniquely that - sorbian fable about the frog

don't believe in soul as something individual, tends to define it as something collective / floating

something given to animals to define feelings

doesn't exist

??? mind / consciousness ??? ant or bee HOPEFULLY has soul

Group 2

housed by the body

there's physicality to it (the soul)

soul only exists when we believe it and feel it

Group 3

bridge between the one that sees and what is being seen

the whole is the ocean, the individual is the droplet

more abstract, not something You can fit into logical pattern, it's about experience of yourself and the world

when words soul comes up there is the ghost of something even higher

Group 4

supposed to represent the Core

as a metaphysical existence, something very crucial

what the person "really" / "objectively" IS

person's way to go beyond

Group 5

matryoshka

not material ? how to materialize it ? is it soft / does it break ?

soul can be (not be) influenced by experience

where is the soul ? (in whole body ? in head ? in heart?)

Proto-psychological terms of ancient India

Vṛtti (वृत्ति) – Fluctuations of the mind (thoughts, emotions, perceptions); most dynamic and gross.

Saṁskāra (संस्कार) – Latent impressions or mental habits left by past vṛttis.

Manas (मनस्) – The sensory mind, coordinating input and response; "inner instrument" of perception.

Citta (चित्त) – The storehouse of impressions, conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind.

Buddhi (बुद्धि) – Intellect, faculty of discernment, reason, and decision-making.

Ahaṁkāra (आहंकार) – Ego-identity, the sense of "I am this body/mind/personality" & "I do this".

Aham (अहम्) – The primordial I-sense, pure self-reference, "the strange loop" symbol.

Jīva (जीव) – The embodied self, individual, distinct soul undergoing experience, transformation and change.

Ātman (आत्मन्) – The true Self, pure consciousness, transcendental soul, unchanging, infinite, witness of all.

Vrittis - Manas - Chitta

Vṛttis are mental waves — thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions constantly rising and falling. Cognitive events (thoughts, perceptions, emotions) / contents of working memory.

Manas is the part of the mind that collects sensory data and handles attention — like a gatekeeper deciding what to focus on. Working memory / attention / sensory integration.

Citta is the overall field of mind-stuff: it stores memories, habits, and deeper patterns.  Long-term memory / unconscious processing.

If the mind were a lake, vṛttis are the ripples, manas is the surface movement reacting to wind, and citta is the deep water reflecting everything.

Buddhi (बुद्धि)

The capacity to discriminate, reason, judge, and make decisions. It evaluates inputs from manas and chooses a response.

Cognitive Science Correlates: Executive function / decision-making / Analytical reasoning /Cognitive control & inhibition

Ahamkara (आहंकार)

The function that identifies the pure “I” (aham) with thoughts, roles, body, emotions — forming the personal identity and ego. It says “I am this.” and "I do".

Cognitive Science Correlates: Narrative self / autobiographical identity, Self-concept and ego structure, Ego-identification / default mode network (DMN) activity

Aham (अहम्)

Definition: The bare, pre-reflective sense of being a subject — “I am.” Not yet identifying with roles or narratives .

Cognitive Science Correlates: Minimal self / self-referential consciousness, First-person perspective, Sense of agency

Atman (आत्मन्)

The deepest layer of identity — pure awareness, witness of all experiences, beyond mental content and roles. In some philosophical traditions equivalent to substrate of the universe.

Cognitive Science Correlates: Pure consciousness / background awareness, the ultimate substrate

Jiva (जीव)

"That which lives" or "the living being"

Jīva is the individualized expression of consciousness that experiences and engages with the world as a distinct center of awareness. Localized, embodied soul undergoing experience and change.

Bhagavadgita

The Bhagavad Gita (cca. 500 BC) is a philosophical dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and his mythical charioteer Krishna, set on a battlefield symbolizing the inner struggle of human life. It presents a deep psychological model of the self, describing layers of mind—manas (sense-mind), buddhi (intellect), ahamkara (ego), and the true self, atman. 

Its Core psychological teaching: freedom arises when one acts without attachment, transcending ego-identification and aligning with the deeper, unchanging Self.

soul is eternal

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.20):

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

Translation:

“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain

soul changes bodies like garments

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.22):

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāni
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

Translation:
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”

soul cannot be destroyed

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.23):

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi
nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

Translation:
“Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, and the wind cannot dry it.”

Myth of the Androgyne

And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love. There was a time, I say, when we were one, but now because of the wickedness of mankind the gods have dispersed us ....

(Plato, Symposium)

Myth of the Androgyne

Does this Platonic myth appear in current art, culture ?

Is it somehow relevant to You ?

With which psychological concepts which were already introduced could be this myth associated ?

Eros and Psyche

%20Psyche%20Receiving%20Cupid's%20First%20Kiss%20(1798)%20by%20Fran%C3%A7ois%20G%C3%A9rard

Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss (1798) by François Gérard