I was curious what people think connects physical reality with a spiritual reality. By spiritual reality I also mean things that are not naturally physical like abstract math concepts or feelings.
It is an old idea: Mind/consciousness is fundamental and time and space emergent from it. Lines up nicely with the idea of a God who creates ex nihilo. So I tend to favor that notion, given my current (meager) understanding of physics, psychology, etc. The spiritual reality is fundamental and all we perceive is simply layered on top of that, the way our finite brains can make sense out of the myriad complexity of reality around us. Maybe that's not what you meant. The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms...
I'm not sure I have a meaning yet. The brain is physical, is that the link to consciousness for us or is it something else? Define mind. The brain?
I wonder what we could define absolutely as an entirely "spiritual reality" and then build from there...
Sure, love is a good starting point. Jesus is (in my understanding) *the* ground truth of reality. All things are made in and through him, and all of that. And what is Jesus/God? Fundamentally, love, afaik. Everything else springs from him and from that. How does it play out in more scientific nomenclature? Beats me, but I imagine it has something to do with all those dimensions mathematics tells us exist but that don't seem to serve any "purpose." I would say "mind" and "brain" are two different things. The latter is the physical entity. The former is more "spiritual," if by that we simply mean disembodied. How are the two connected? Perhaps the brain is (part of) the emergent physical reality of the more fundamental non-physical mind. I'm way out in the deep weeds on this, but it's fun to think about!
I agree. They are interesting things to ponder. There was this interesting video I watched that was trying to define what exactly a number is. I feel like you can't actually do it without assuming and having faith in a number of different things first.
What was it that Sagan said? “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Then what, I wonder, must we first have in place in order to make the Universe?! [EDIT: Found actual Sagan quote] You may find this of interest:
Looking back at John 9:1-3, we see Jesus responds to the disciple’s false assumption that all physical suffering is caused by an individual’s sin. Jesus tells the disciples that this man’s blindness was not a result of the man’s own sin, or his parent’s sin, but rather so that God could display His power through the man’s blindness. It pleased God that this man be born blind. His blindness was to God’s glory. Jesus healed him to display His glory.