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Example & embodiment

#todo This was going to be a list of symbolic examples but morphed into an article.

The spiritual needs embodied in the material. In other words, Heaven needs representation on the Earth. The material needs purpose and identity from above. When the two meet properly, we have an example of Symbolism.

An example usually helps us to understand a difficult idea by representing it with a concrete reality, or in other words it helps answer a--

Questions are more than just the sentences that we articulate. An intrinsic question exists wherever there is a principle. Even the simplest objects, such as a rock (Example & embodiment#Example) beg a question.

We can also note from where the question and the answer come from. That is, a question often comes from below and is answered by that which is above. A student asks a question of a teacher, or a child of a parent. A teacher may also ask a question of the student, but this is to direct to the answer that they will provide.

Notice the direction of these questions, in terms of hierarchy, and who has the true answer:

The material world is lower than the spiritual. The Earth begs a question, which is answered by Heaven.

Example

Q: Of what use is a mere rock?
A: To construct a building, such as the Temple or a home. Buildings form a city, which make up a civilization, whereby men form an identity -- family, tribe, or nation.

Notice how the answer is an idea, which comes from the mind of the person. The answer becomes more abstract and broad in scale (building -> home -> city -> civilization). Identity is defined at each scale.

Q: Who is my family? My tribe? To whom am I responsible? Who will tell me what to do?

The answer to this question will vary for each individual, but is answered by an abstract idea, our self-identity. These are important questions that we are confronted with from birth until death. Because the notions of identity, authority, and duty are abstract, they are also subjective. Subjective realities are never-the-less important and intersubjective. Which is to say that they carry more weight than mere opinions by being mutually agreed upon within a society.

These mutually agreed upon realities and identities are deeply connected to, and in fact synonymous with the spirit, or spirits. The embodiment of an ideal is synonymous with a spirit moving through a person or people.

I am positing that ideas are spirits and vice versa, or that they are virtually indistinguishable. That is not to say that the ancient notion of a "spirit" is merely the modern notion of an "idea" or mental process.

This is an interesting subject in and of itself -- what is a spiritual body? Do angels take up physical space? "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" I don't care to answer such a question. However, it is notable to me that we insist on thinking about spiritual beings in reference to physical reality -- their form, how they move, etc. Suffice it to say that I am not suggesting that it's wrong to think of an angel, demon, or other spirit as a thing that has some kind of spiritual body or individuality. However, I believe it is much more meaningful to recognize that "possession" is very similar, if not the same as obsession or delusion. Likewise, to embody the principles of Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, etc. is to manifest the Spirit which in a very real way is those things.

This can also explain how something which could be described as an ideology, or a merely intellectual political movement, acts more like a communal possession by a spirit of that ideal.

In these pages, "spiritual" and "conceptual" may be treated as synonyms. Therefore, "spiritual" does not necessarily mean "good".