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LukeyoutheU
podcasts listen essays look books consider Sometimes, the thing to do is to jump in. The realization that the material and the spiritual are both real, two sides of the same coin, has taken hold of me. It is not an idea original to the world, I would guess; it is, however, an idea I do not consciously recall having heard or read in the way I think about it. The material and the spiritual are presented in some of their dictionary definitions as opposites but, in my opinion, are really/ can be seen as different perspectives of the same thing: life. On the side of the material, the materialists, we have in all likelihood most scientists; the great majority of our own personal, everyday experience; probably most people's view of what is and what life is about. In general, these folks believe that that which is usual, observable, measurable, repeatable, and physical, or combinations of them, is the real. Is the really and only real. For them, all else appears fantasy, imagination, fairytale, delusion, an error of observation or recording, or an outlier that will be fully explained when we know more. On the side of the spiritual, we have most religious figures, purportedly, though many of them say they support one thing but do elsewise; those who claim that all of our current experience, this life, is an illusion, pointing to the transience of physical life and individual life experience as part or whole of their proof; and those who seem, and/ or are, off in their own mental worlds. There are also plenty of others, on either side, from all sorts of areas of human activity and interest, some noncatagoricalizable. I suggest the ones above as examples. If I had to make a guess, just for the sake of a guess, I would guess that about three-quarters of the world leans toward the materialistic understanding of life, a quarter toward the spiritual one. I suppose there are the few who claim neither. Though there is evidence on both sides, neither viewpoint, alone, in my opinion and observation, adequately explains the available evidence. The materialists present usually repeatable tangibles but discount one-off findings and experiences, and outliers; the illusionals try to pretend matter does not matter. Support for the material position tends to come from the physical, so-called stable, touchable, and visible; for the spiritual position, from the unique, unexplainable (or currently unexplained), invisible, and internally felt. I find that proof is there for both: it depends on where one looks and what one counts as evidence. In fact, it is more specific than that: the proof is where one, where you, dear reader look. If you, dear reader, look for support of the material, you will find it. The same for the spiritual. My take is this: one side of the coin is more real to you, in a certain moment, depending on which one you look at in that moment, but the other is completely real all the same, though just not at that second apprehended or appreciated by you. I hope it is clear that I am on both sides of the coin. More on one side than the other whenever I look at that particular side of the coin. When I consider life from a materialist perspective, I see and believe it materialist, The same from a spiritual. But even as I am talking about and considering the one side, I know the other equally exists. I have looked at both sides and often enough to know/ believe both are real and right. Many, perhaps most, get in the habit of looking at life only from a physical perspective, or only from a spiritual one, and so that is what they see, get, find proof of, and, in general, experience. Live. "How can this be?" I hope you ask. "How can life be both physical and spiritual?" Because both sides are part of the same thing, I answer. They are understandings of, they are, both life. To me, this idea/ belief/ perspective that the material and the spiritual are part of the same points to an even bigger view: that all of life is interconnected. Is part of, is the same organism. Is one. These are some of the themes/ theories/ explorations of LukeyoutheU. Ready to jump? Note: I voice strong opinions and suggest a variety of belief systems in LukeyoutheU. I do not claim or believe that any of them are necessary for a good life well-lived. There are other useful and good belief systems in the world. I speak of these because they speak to me; and because I think that by exploring them, you are likely to come to a clearer understanding of what you think and believe, and why. more, including about the movie Iron Man explore 
The photo directly above is the source of this page's header image. I took the photo while riding a bus ride from Palm Springs to Fullerton, CA, creating the header image by the application of color saturation and painterly effects.
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