Soulful Thoughts for Animals

Rather appropriately, this essay is being written on All Souls Day, 2026 as a reflection on W.H. Auden´s observation that “The human species has the monstrous qualification of being the only animal which seemingly enjoys being the cause of harm to others”.

By Roberto Cavaleiro , in Opinion · 04 Nov 2026, 08:01 · 0 Comments

Credits: envato elements; Author: borsattomarcos;

The depths of iniquity to which humanity can descend in its perversity of the soul are diverse. Looking back through my own memory of recent history, examples of this are all too numerous. They range from the bitterness of never-ending warfare to the sadness of domestic violence.

In nearly all of this strife, animals of all species have suffered the malice of both thoughtless and intended human activity. Horses, mules, and donkeys have been slaughtered on the fields of battle; dogs and monkeys in experimental laboratories; birds and reptiles in a frenzy of extinction. The list seems endless but is now extended by the probable effects of climate change and the control of lives by a superior intelligence.

The killing fields of Cambodia, Armenia and Gaza bear full witness to this tragedy in which man has caused enormous suffering both to his own kind and the beasts over which he exerts control.

Evolution is not a ladder with humans at its top. All living species are in different stages of progress, mostly ephemeral but some of lasting consequence, and time takes no account of the speed at which some may falter and become extinct.

A spiritual conception for the souls of all animals, such as is held by most religions of the East, gives hope that evolution of life is more akin to a bush with many branches of beings, each of which is progressing in its own fashion to a culmination of harmonious tranquillity.

Hinduism teaches that in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth (samara) the soul passes through many forms of existence in which the principle of benign love (ahimsa) is similar to that of loving-kindness (metta) expressed in Buddhism. Reincarnation is believed to take many forms, including the shape-shifting of pagan faith.

The narrow view of Christianity that the human soul has an ordained future in an afterlife to the exclusion of all others should be examined more closely on this special day in the ecumenical calendar.

Whatever may be the cosmic structure of the heaven to which All Souls aspire, let us hope that this final destiny will be a haven for All Spirits who value healing without words, peace without cruelty and the immortality of universal love.