Layers of Reality: What “Spirit” Actually Means

Many search for meaning in life, only to realize it is right in front of them.

For most of my life, I could not understand what the word “spirit” meant. While growing up in a Christian household, my family tossed about that word like a motivational speaker throws around the word “potential”.

There is the “spirit” within us, the “Holy Spirit”, the “holiday spirit”, living “spiritually”, raising your “spirits”, hell, even drinking “spirits”. As a kid, I thought this entailed some magical force that exists within all living things. At least, that is how stories often depicted it…

Spirits are not as magical as you think.

You probably won’t be flying any time soon…

Our reality has many complex elements to it that we cannot fully understand. For example, our bodies contain trillions of cells that rapidly move, change, and multiply to ensure our bodies function properly. However, we cannot possibly keep track of all of these processes. Thankfully, we do not need to concern ourselves with these complexities because we can focus solely on the aspects that matter most. These essential aspects denote the “spirit” of something.

Life organizes itself into “layers”.

The tiny, seemingly minute aspects of life point toward the fact that life lays itself out in layers of exponential complexity. At the surface you have a unified concept that captures the essence of its entirety, making it simple to understand. However, the deeper you dive into a concept, you will find it much more difficult to grasp. For example, people can understand the concept (“spirit”) of cars pretty quickly. It goes “vroom” and can quickly take you to your destination. Simple. Cars contain enough “car” qualities that they distinguish themselves from everything around them. However, if you look under the hood, you will realize that cars also consist of millions of parts, each of which have a distinguishable set of characteristics and functions. This example points to the two basic layers of reality:

• Unity: When parts come together to create something that serves a different function than what the parts could serve on their own. That function denotes the surface level or “spirit” of that structure.

• Multiplicity: The “soul” of a structure. It consists of the parts that make up a unified structure. When you separate one part, you can usually separate that part into more fragments. Thus, each subsequent layer of multiplicity multiplies in density.

The Innermost to the Outermost

The Center

The self, goals, names, functions, and the “point” all fit in the idea of the center.

At the innermost part of reality, you have the center. A center is an established point. You can think of “vehicle” as the center for what a car is. Or, we can think of ourselves as “the center” of our own realities.

The Inner Circle

“Observe”, “care”, and “accept” partly denote the inner circle (spirit) of love.

The most valuable or representative parts of a unified structure. The accumulation of these parts makes up the “spirit” of something. As an engine exists in the inner circle of a car, your heart exists in the inner circle of you.

The Edges

Outside of any boundary lies endless space.

As you explore the multiplicity of a structure you will find parts that seem strange or do not fit the norm. These parts still serve the unity but do not exist in the essence of it. For example, no one would think of a car when they see a single screw, nor care if one gets loose. However, if all the screws get loose, the car would fall apart.

The Periphery

The periphery always seems strange when compared to the structure. It can be dangerous but also valuable.

On the outside of a structure, you have the infinite. Most of the things on the outside do not impact the structure, though some parts of the periphery act to dissolve the structure (this is called “entropy”). Because of this, the unity must also integrate aspects of the periphery to either prevent entropy or repair the damage it causes (this is called adaptation). Although you don’t need to tie your mechanics to your car for it to run properly, you will probably have to see them if a loose screw pops your tire. Thus, your mechanic exists as an integral component of your car’s periphery.

Find your spirit

By understanding the layers of our reality you can see how the “spirit” exists within it. Rather than denoting some magical force, it points toward the essential components of our reality. This awareness will, hopefully, help you find the “spirit” of spirit. However, this article cannot incorporate everything that a spirit is. Therefore, you must explore until you find the edges of my understanding. Afterwards, you can adapt it so that we can all have a better grasp on what this concept means.

-Yak

#Symbolism #Metaphysics

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