The Spiritual Principle states that there is more to you than flesh, blood and bones. According to this principle, you are not merely a physical creature who just happens to have spiritual interests and inclinations, but you are in fact a spiritual being who is currently having a physical experience.
Once again, this principle is said in many different ways by many different traditions. Some say that the spiritual aspect was somehow breathed into being by the Creative Principle. Others describe the spiritual aspect as being part of the Creative Principle itself, in much the same way that many individual waves can all be viewed as part of one vast ocean.
‘… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…’ – 1 Corinthians 6:19
Seekers who are not yet comfortable with this kind of metaphysical language might consider whether the thing that is referred to as ‘spirit’ in religious traditions might actually be the same thing that science simply refers to as ‘consciousness’.
Whether you call it your spirit, consciousness or awareness, the Spiritual Principle states that this is your true self, and that your physical body is merely the vehicle through which you experience human life.
‘You are an infinite spiritual being having a temporary human experience.’ – Wayne Dyer
Think of a helium-filled balloon. The helium is invisible, and all that we see is the physical shell of the balloon, which appears to have the impressive ability to float away into the sky when one lets it go.
Now we could conclude that it is the physical fabric of the balloon which has the ability to fly. From that perspective, when the physical fabric is pierced, it effectively stops working. Its ability to fly is lost and the fabric shrinks back to a motionless pile of foil or latex.
We are quite free to think of a helium balloon in that way, but we would of course be quite wrong. It is not the fabric of the balloon which has the ability to float in a normal atmosphere, but rather, it is the nature of the helium gas inside the balloon which causes it to float.
Now what if a similar principle applies to human beings and perhaps all other forms of life on this planet? What if the real you is spiritual in nature and your physical body is nothing more than the flesh-and-blood fabric of a human-shaped balloon?
Putting it another way, what if your human consciousness is not merely a useful by-product of your brain, but is in fact the very thing that animates it?
This is an important question, and how you decide to answer it will determine not only how you view your life, but how you proceed to live the rest of it. I would therefore encourage you to consider the following:
– Do you believe that you are a purely physical being, or are you a spiritual being having a physical experience?
– How does your current perspective influence the way you view and live your life?
– How would your view of life, and the way you live it, change if you were to adopt the opposite perspective?
As always, be sure to listen to your intuition as you consider these questions, and note your responses down in your journal.