What is the relationship between soul and body?

[joesugar]

Following up on the question of where the soul comes from, I have a question I have been wrestling with lately. That is, what is the relationship between the soul and body?

I have heard people say you cannot separate the soul and the body. However, if the soul and body exist on different planes and the soul enters the body at some point during the nine month gestation period, it would seem that they do have separate existences, as indicated by the fact that the soul separates from the body at death. And if the soul and body are separate, does this also imply you can have a body without a soul?

Also, what about the ego? We speak standing apart from the ego as if it is a separate entity. In that case, what is it?

I'm beginning to think the body and soul do have separate existences and conciousness with the ego being the body conciousness and the two working together in a symbiotic relationship. Kind of like in the movie Phenomenon, when the character played by John Travolta is moving a pencil with his mind and is asked how he is doing it. He replies "I ask it to move. I could say that I will it but that would be more like a command. This is more like collaboration, a partnership."

By no means complete, but I would be interested in others' thoughts on this.