Physical Manifestation

Our existence depends on physical manifestation in the form of our bodies. What manifests, though, remains a scientific, philosophical, spiritual, and even religious question, depending on who one asks. One spiritual perspective holds that this is the moment when universal consciousness, or energy, condenses into tangible form. Advaita Vedanta, often considered a philosophical system of non-dualism, treats physical manifestation in a body as "maya" - illusion - because our true identity is pure, changeless consciousness. Therefore, the physical body isn't a new creation, but a temporary, limited projection of the infinite self.

Science offers its own version of this same intuition. We are, quite literally, made of recycled star stuff, as Carl Sagan famously observed, and as Moby later echoed in his song "We Are All Made of Stars." Science leans heavily on the concept of emergence: the phenomenon where a whole has properties its individual parts don't have on their own. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms aren't alive. Arranged into a highly specific, complex biological structure, though, the property of "life" emerges.

No matter how or why we are here, the fact remains that it is nothing short of miraculous, whether or not one believes in religion or spirituality. Being alive, being physically present, learning, experiencing, aging, and eventually dying, all the while knowing this is the cycle we're part of - it's rather incredible. How, then, can we live any way other than fully? I suppose understanding that is the real curriculum of life. I'm trying to install this understanding into my operating system of life - to train my ego so it can slowly learn to hold this perspective when it's caught in the daily dance of life, even when that dance feels overwhelming.