"Do we have a spitit, and if so, what rule does it play in our relationship with God?"
Two suppositions here" Spirit (soul) and God.
I just wake up from sleep, nothing enters me.
"The believer is alive in both worlds."
Welcome back, Tony. One can believe to be alive in a thousand worlds. Belief has no limits, and may not relate to facts.
".. and “assignment” on earth which comes with the package .."
That there is an assignment is a belief and not a proven fact.
"Busy not thyself with this world .."
If not with this world, then which one? What is the evidence for the other world?
Aupmanyav, You are certainly right that there is no objective proof, only subjective experiences that seem helpful in life, and may be but meaningful metaphors. But while science can’t prove another “side” that matches the spiritual beliefs, it has stumbled onto findings that at least might be consistent with some of those beliefs and subjective experiences. While editing some sections of a book in progress, I ran across my speculations about hints of spiritual dimensions and phenomena from science. If I already shared it somewhere here, I apologize for repeating, although this version has some editing changes that I think improved it:
Can we Thin our Veils?
Spiritual thinkers/writers often discuss the concept of a “thin veil,” to explain why some people are more aware of spiritual phenomena than others. A thin veil would certainly help a person know his or her Connected Self better. But can the rest of us regular Joes who don’t have a thin veil learn to lift it or make it easier to see through?
I think so. I probably wouldn’t be writing about getting to know one’s Connected Self if I didn’t think we could lift, see through, and thin our veils.
Not everyone relates to mysticism and metaphysical aspects of spiritual thought. And I’m not willing to depend on it exclusively either. I found a possible scientific match to the whole thin veil thing.
Physics has apparently found evidence supporting the existence of a particle that transforms non-matter into matter. It’s called the Higgs Bosom particle, sometimes referred to (by scientists) as the “God particle.” Stuff in the spectral domain (frequencies? energies?) can be turned into matter via the Higgs Bosom particle.
Well,
we are matter, at least the physical part of us that we normally identify with. That would mean our being has passed through a Higgs Bosom-like function. Does this gateway between the world of matter and a spectral domain of energy and frequencies remain at all open? Could it be a two-way street?
Quantum science contends that classical objects (physical things) cannot have their “quantum coherence” (ability to interact in quantum entanglement/interconnection) increased. Once the classical object becomes physical, like a particle instead of a wave, it is too busy being influenced by its physical environment to retain its previous wave-like potential and/or characteristics. It suffered wave function “collapse.”
The Bible delineates the “ways of the flesh” from “the ways of the spirit.” I don’t recall any Biblical passage about wave function collapse, but I know there is a concept of the “fall from Grace” either in the Bible or by theologians interpreting the Bible.
The scientific finding of an irreversibility of wave function collapse may not apply fully to classical objects like humans who have
minds. One wonders, can minds as energy-like fields that do in and of themselves interconnect various thoughts have some hidden capacity to go through a gateway such as the Higgs Bosom particle to tap into a quantum substrate or other highly interactive/interconnected dimension?
If so, that capacity would be traditionally called a “spiritual” ability. If the spiritual ability involves “seeing” or sensing things on the “other side,” the person would be said to have a thin veil.
A thin veil is a spiritual gift that may also seem to be a curse when it causes confusion and is misunderstood by others. Other people tend to alienate those who admit to having such abilities. They fear the unknown and would rather see the mystic as being crazy or evil, than to take their information to heart. So, a person with a thin veil may learn to keep his or her mouth shut. Which of course is not helpful for the spiritual growth of humankind. Fortunately, there is still plenty of room for spiritual growth in non-mystical domains such as learning to love one another and learning to have active faith, maintain peace amid conflict and chaos.
In terms of quantum coherence, the flesh of a spiritually affected person, thin veil or not, may not exhibit a measurable increase in quantum coherence, but perhaps small changes inwardly (at the soul level?), results in a more peaceful mind which in turn improves the health of the body. For instance, a mind in a peaceful state may help hearts beat more smoothly, efficiently, and organs function better. The subjective experience of inner peace may coincide with an actual change in
energy (“subtle” energy not yet measurable by manmade instruments).
We have in fact already discovered mind-body correlations called psychosomatic effects. Psychological stress can trigger high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, etc. A little peacefulness goes a long way toward counteracting negative effects of stress, whether the peaceful mental state represents a change in energy format or not.
But it is not unreasonable to think that the human mind may, subconsciously or during deep states of consciousness, act as a gateway (with or without the Higgs Bosom particle) between the world of matter and an entangled world of energy. Our minds as gateways seem capable of transferring information in a manner that we would call intuitive knowing or “Noesis.”
Those of us who pray to God already believe that the mind can somehow make its way through to the other side. And I believe that we have a built-in function, the Connected Self, that helps us do so. If I’m interpreting my dream signs correctly, it even goes out of and back into our bodies each night. The two-way crossing of the border between physical existence and deeper dimensions has a restorative effect (like God’s Love) on our being. It also brings us bits of information and inspirational nudges to help us make the world a better place.
You are most welcome to stick to your story.
