What is Spirit?

When most people think of “spirit” one of the first things that come to mind is a wandering ghost in paranormal realms. Such a spirit is usually bodiless, and hard to see, like a fleeting light or shadow. I would like to dispel this idea of spirit, because I believe it is seriously flawed. The universe shows us that spirit exists only in relation with matter: specifically, complex matter. Without matter, spirit cannot exist. That is one point I would like to make in this article. The second point is that there are attributes of spirit that is plain for everybody to see, and the higher the degree of spirit, the more obvious do these attributes become. And lastly, I will touch on the spirituality of technology.

Spirit is usually synonymous with “mind,” and so attributes of the mind are attributes of spirit. So we can say that anything that is conscious, holds information, and can communicate, is spiritual. In addition to that, good and evil are also both attributes of spirit. Let us examine these characteristics of spirit as they appear in the natural hierarchy of the universe. As we proceed upwards from inanimate matter to living creatures, we see the degree of spirit rise: consciousness, information and communication all grow, and coincidently, so do good and evil.

Firstly, inanimate matter, or for simplicity’s sake: rocks. Are rocks spiritual? At first sight, we may say No, because rocks are not alive. Rocks are made up of atoms and minerals, and are not very complex materially, and so their spirit is not easily identifiable. Yet, many people talk about the healing power of rocks, and even Jesus said that if the crowds did not praise him, the stones would (Luke 19:40). Yes, spirit is found in rocks, although it must be said that consciousness, information and communication are barely perceptible in them, if at all. Good and evil is also barely perceptible in rocks, but we could at least say that for a rock to exist is good, and when a rock decomposes, that is evil. (This will make more sense as we carry on.)

Secondly, plant-life. Plant-life is undoubtedly spiritual. Plants live, nourish themselves, produce offspring, and some even respond to human stimuli. Because plants are more materially complex than stones (plants are made up of millions of cells) they are more spiritual. Plants are conscious in the sense that they partake in life, they carry genetic information that they then communicate by passing along to their offspring. Because plants are a higher degree of spirituality than rocks, the degree of good and evil in them is also greater. A plant not only exists, it lives, it experiences life, and that is good. But the greater evil for the plant is that it dies. This is a higher degree of spirituality than rocks, which neither live nor die.

Thirdly, animals. The animal-kingdom contains a wide range of spirituality. From the lowly insect, to the intelligent dolphin, we see wide ranges of consciousness, information and communication. The more complex materially an animal is (animals are made of millions of complex cellular groupings) the greater is its spirit. This is why larger brains characterize very spiritual animals. An insect is rather simple life, and its consciousness is rather limited. Yet it is alive, and so it is spiritual. A dolphin has a highly complex brain and nervous system, which allows a much higher degree of spirituality. Because animal-life is a higher degree of spirituality than plant-life, the degree of good and evil in them is also greater. Animals are mobile, spontaneous, and experience many pleasures of life, which is good. On the other hand, the great evil for animals is that they can suffer. Anybody can see the anguish of animals as they suffer. It is a very real and poignant evil. Yet, this is a sign of how spiritual the animal is, for the higher the degree of spirituality, the higher the potential for evil. (It is worth noting that we sympathize more with greater spiritual creatures than less spiritual creatures. This is why we are more concerned when dolphins are captured and dogs are mistreated, but not too bothered about tuna or insects.)

And last, of course, is the human realm. Nothing on earth is more materially complex than the human brain, containing billions upon billions of neurons! And of course, nothing is more spiritual. We are not only conscious, we are self-conscious, and our brains hold almost limitless amounts of information. In addition to that, our ability to communicate is unparalleled by any other creature. Not only do we use highly sophisticated spoken and written languages, but the subjects that we communicate about are also unparalleled: art, science, love, sports etc…Humans can do extraordinary good things; we can take pleasure in truth, bask in love, and admire justice. We can be stewards for all animals and the planet itself. But on the other hand, our capacity for evil is just as outstanding. In the human realm there is not only death and suffering; there is sin. Only in the human realm do the evils of pride, envy and murder exist. Sin does not exist at any other level of spirituality, except at the high level of human spirituality.

So from what we have seen, spirit is everywhere in the universe. It is all around us, existing in different degrees. Moreover, we see that spirit is always accompanied by matter, by complexly arranged matter. Despite what we see in the movies, and hear about in ghost stories, spirit cannot exist “on its own:” it needs some sort of material body. The idea of a ghost without a body is a pseudo-reality. Even when one feels the “spirit” of a city like New York, or Paris, the “spirit” is a product of the complex social structure of that city. We have also seen that there are different degrees of spirit in the universe, and the greater the degree of spirit, the greater its consciousness, communication, and the greater the degree of good and evil (coincidently, this is why the greatest angel, Lucifer, could become the greatest devil.)

I would also like to point out the spirituality of technology. Most people do not think of technology as spiritual. But in actual fact, radios, cell phones, and the Internet are all highly conscious, informational and communicative inventions. Our cell phones are some of the most spiritual objects that humankind has created. They can provide us with any information we need, as well as instant communication with anybody on the globe, all in the palm of our hands. And this is just the surface of what a cell-phone can do! And as every spiritual object, cell-phones have a complex material body. Any engineer can tell you that the material of a cell-phone is extremely sophisticated and complexly arranged. It is a modern day marvel. Of course, people who distrust technology usual do so because of the evils inherent in them: anti-social behavior, loss of privacy, and the ability to manipulate others, to name just a few. But as we have already shown, these evils do not mean technology is not spiritual; just the contrary!

In conclusion, I would like to point out that based on what we know about spirit, the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Judaism and Christianity) have the most logical version of Heaven (the highest degree of spirituality). These modern day religions have always maintained that matter must of necessity be present in Heaven: the doctrine of the “resurrection of the flesh.” In Buddhism and Hinduism, the general feeling is that enlightenment is achieved without the human body, or that it is easier achieved by freeing the mind from bodily restrictions. Whereas it might not be 100% accurate to say that matter is left out of the heavenly picture in these Eastern religions, it certainly is not explicitly included. Spirit is always connected with matter, and without matter, spirit cannot exist. So despite the popular conception of Heaven as a community of bodiless souls floating around and communicating with each other “through their minds,” it is instead a real city with real walls, real trees, and real bodies. It is a supra-new City, the New Jerusalem. And of course, like every spiritual reality, evil is also present in the New Jerusalem, although at it’s polar opposite: the doctrine of hell.