OK, I actually answered Charleh on Chat thread, but I'm copy/pasting it to the conversation here so it's not left hanging!
You mention "Ego Death." Ego is what you think you are...what you think of self. It's not who you really are, but who you think you have created as a persona. As you brought up Ego Death under drug influence, as a former hippie (a real one who lived on a real commune and all), I have done my fair shair of mind altering drugs in my past. Yup, it can wipe out that ego if you go deep enough, leaving you in a state of simple "being." Not all drugs take you into that same state, BTW. There are scarier places, and as I've said many times here I do NOT recommend any of them.
You were talking about what the soul/spirit/ego is and where it lives. Well, here's my take on that.
We are infinite souls in a finite body here on this plane. I don't believe the soul is manifested within the brain/heart etc. I believe we are like a radio receiver. Our Soul, or true self, is experienced by this brain and body. We are eternal beings/souls, and our true self is simply picked up by this brain and body to experience this world. I will give you an example of something I've seen over the years that has convinced me of this.
I worked in nursing for over 30 years. I watched as Alzhiemer patients slowly lost brain cells and then their core selves seemed to simply disappear. They became much like walking empty shells unable to even tell you who they were. They became unable to recognize people they loved, or sometimes even remember how to do simple tasks such as brushing their teeth or feeding themselves. Yet, as they were on their death beds and family gathered, time after time after time I watched as they had very sudden moments of complete clarity! They would sit up, talk to family like they'd simply been off on a trip, recognized everyone, said their goodbyes and shared their love before they left this world. It was like someone "returning" to the body to say those goodbyes.
This got to be so often, I finally asked one of my favorite patients on her "return" where she had been! Did she realize she hadn't been able to talk or to function! She looked right at me and told me, "Well, honey, I have been off with family on the other side, you know. I wanted to come back to this body long enough to say goodbye to family before I left for good."
Now, I truly feel that the soul can leave the body, and the body can still "function". I believe that's what these patients did and do. So, the soul is not part of the brain or body...it simply uses it for the experience here on this plane.
