From my point of view , life appears in its entirety as an immense wave...which rises, and which is opposed by the descending movement of matter.... this rising wave is consciousness....running  through human generations, subdividing itself into individuals. This subdivision was vaguely indicated in it, but could not have been made clear without matter. Thus souls are continually being created, which, nevertheless, in a certain sense pre-existed. They are nothing else than little rills into which the great river of life devides itself, flowing through the body of humanity. The movement of the stream is distinct from the river bed, although it must adopt its winding course. Consciousness is distinct from the organisims it animates , although it must undergo its vicissitudes.... the brain underlines at every instant the motor indications of the state of consciousness; but the interdependence of consciousness and brain is limited to this;... consciousness is esentially free...     PLAY CHESS