Two different things?

First topic message reminder :

Or one and the same? Are soul mates and twinflames two different names for the same thing or are they two seperate things

TWIN FLAMES AND SOUL MATES

Just thought I would add my twopennorth to the discussion.

As I understand it, the Twin Flame idea is based on a one-to-one exclusive relationship between two specific people.

I see this as not on for several reasons. Firstly, it is anti-life itself. If the proliferation of life depended on specific pairings with no alternatives, this planet would be a dead world. Secondly, it is anti-species development as it would tend to limit choice of mates drastically.
Species development depends on wide-scale mixing of the gene pool, not a narrow, restricted mixing. Finally, Mother Nature always builds redundancy into systems so that there are always alternatives. Exclusive one-to-one pairings cut right across that.

You will note that I have stuck firmly to biological factors and development because much of the emotional issues are a human conceit which has little foundation in nature except in so far as to sponsor species development. Because the human infant takes longer to mature than other mammals, it requires the safety of a long-term pairing of male and female. So nature had to provide some inducement for this to happen, hence emotional factors.

Now Soul Mates is an entirely different issue. I see a Soul Mate as one of a Soul Group i.e. a relatively small number of people who have complementary personalities and talents. The mix is synergistic in that the overall value of such a mix is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
What I am talking about is the value of true team working, generally referred to as Group Dynamics. Although this is a subject I taught, it is not that exciting so I will not bore you with it. If you have a perverse thirst for knowledge, look it up.
The point being is that within such a group, there are multiple choices available of suitable pairings with a reasonable chance of success. Such groups also tend to have a degree of impermanency so that new blood can be added without drastically changing the overall character of the group. The concept of the Life Cycle is observable throughout nature and society. Soul Group conforms to this, Twin Flame does not.

I present this as an opinion based on my knowledge such as it is and as a framework to stimulate discussion.

Violet wrote:Thanks for all your responses in here, I can 'get' the soulmate thing but not the twin flame, it's just not sitting with me well that our souls split.

I'm hoping my thought may help mesh the meaning of 'twinflame'.
We are taught that twin means 'two of similar' and we elude to separateness.
In this life (which is always dualistic in nature) the meeting of your own soul is also dualistic...mirrored to you via either masculine or feminine. The soul reflects in yin/yang...or male/female in this life...this could also be likened to "twin" ...and upon meeting itself in the guise of its opposite gender, I could only describe it as the experience of ~~Eternal Flame~~ ....hence 'twinflame'.