"Life," Just What is That Anyway?

In this blog I am going to consider some aspects of non-physical reality, primarily relating to the term, "life."  If you look for a dictionary definition of, "life" you find that it is, essentially, believed to be, that which distinguishes some organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, and the presence of which is indicated by growth, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally.  The other definition given is the period of animate existence of such an organism. (Dictionary.com)

Unfortunately, such definitions of, "life" are simply descriptions, which, basically, ignore the underlying factor, (and it is ignored by all the Life Sciences), which is what that animating factor of life is, regardless of whether the subject is classified as animal, including humans, or plant life.

In other words, what is missing in the Life Sciences, and what is common to all of these, is the actual quality or condition called, "life/living."  For Scientists, life is either present, or it is not, as to what it is, exactly, is not considered important.  The primary reason for this is that all the Life, and other, Sciences refuse to even contemplate the idea of any kind of non-physical aspect of life and living organisms, no matter what they are.

Contrary to what might be expected logically, the majority of these sciences, which purport to study living things, study them by dissecting what remains, after, life has left them.  Medical students study cadavers, in order to learn about the human physiognomy.  In other words, the component that is generally missing in all of these sciences is the study of a healthy living example.

Further, as to the study of humans, until recently, due to the degree of specialization in the Medical field, only General Practitioners still purport to treat the whole individual, but, actually, refer out any problems concerning specialized areas of medicine.

In the fairly recent past a whole new group of Medical Practitioners has appeared in the Western World, which are the Holistic Doctors.  The Holistic Practitioners thus join the Chiropractors, Acupuncturists and Homeopathy Practitioners, who have different philosophies when it comes to the treating of human dis-ease.

There are, of course, alternate belief systems which do allow for the possibility of non-physical aspects of living things.  Those regarding Humans are generally, but not all, connected to various Religious Belief Systems.  However, since the introduction of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, and its wholehearted incorporation as part of the, then developing, Scientific Belief System, all such alternate beliefs are considered unscientific, and generally ridiculed by those having been educated, (Indoctrinated) into believing the Official Scientific Belief System.

These two primary Belief Systems, the Scientific Belief System, and the various Religious Belief Systems have been at war with each other over the question of the existence of a non-physical component to human life, ever since.  The belief that all of Reality is nothing but physical in nature is a basic tenant of the Official Scientific Belief System.

There has recently arisen a contrary Scientific tenant that maintains that the accepted Darwinian Theory cannot be substantiated, because of discoveries made by advances in research technology.  Those discoveries provide evidence refuting existing theory.  This new theory has been called, "Intelligent Design."  One major reason for these dissenting Scientists changing their beliefs has been the discovery of, "irreducible complexity," i.e., basic complex aspects of life that cannot be explained by Darwinian Theory of slow, small, gradual changes over a long period of time.  These Scientists have been attacked ferociously by the believers in the Official Scientific Belief System as actually being followers of the religious belief in Creationism.  Understandably, these rebel Scientists do not want to go there!

 To my knowledge, they also do not want to acknowledge the possibility of a non-physical reality underlying all of what is considered to be physical, let alone that the non-physical may far exceed what is physical, as well as being an essential aspect of all that is physical.

Regarding the possibility of the reality of a non-physical basis to all of reality, I have come to accept as likely in my Philosophy.  Personally, I use the term, "Metaphysics" and "Metaphysical" to put labels on this, generally unacknowledged, field of study--that is, a non-physical reality, as well as aspects of physical life.  The Dictionary.com web site indicates that the term, "Metaphysical" pertains, "to or of the nature of metaphysics," and, as a subject of Philosophy, it is, "concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth."  It is also, "concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance," and is, "highly abstract, subtle, or abstruse."

If we split, "Metaphysical," into "Meta" and physical," we find, also according to Dictionary. com, among other definitions, that, "meta" is a prefix "from Greek, with the meanings "after," "along with," beyond," "among," "behind"..."  Whereas, "physical," is: "Of or pertaining to the body"; also, "of or pertaining to that which is material: the physical universe; the physical sciences."

The Physical Sciences are, of course, separated from the Life Sciences.  (The reason for this is that the Scientific community compartmentalizes everything.  The very action of compartmentalization divorces all the Sciences from each other, thus making it almost impossible to conceive of them as a seamless whole.)

My definition of what the study of, "Metaphysics" is about, to repeat from above,  is, "what is along with, after, beyond or behind the physical."  This is to state that, there is an aspect of all living things that is non-physical which survives, in some form, the "death" of the physical.

As for an alternate possibility, or one existing alongside the previous possibility, recently, I have been re-reading a book I purchased some time ago, its title is: Summer with the Leprechauns, A True Story, by Tanis Helliwell.  The book is a telling of her experiences, during a summer that she spent in Ireland, interacting with the local Elementals.  The modern world has so succeeded in suppressing the existence of Elementals, that there is no definition of them in Dictionaries.  However, some idea of what they are still exists in the memories of some peoples and some individuals, mostly primitive societies, and the young and the older people in, so-called, "less-primitive" modern societies.

The Catholic Church has done its best to wipe out the awareness of their existence even in Ireland.  The abode of the Elementals is the non-physical world, so it is no wonder that both the Religions and the Official Scientific Belief System have done their best to stamp out all awareness of their existence.  The only acknowledgment of the Elementals in Science is that of the four Elements: air, fire, earth and water.  Many of us have recently experienced the power of these elements over our well-being.

The Elementals include Leprechauns, Elves, Dwarfs and Fairies, which are only a few of the manifestations of the Devic Kingdom.  I found a definition of, "Devic Kingdom," which states: "Those things relating to an order of existence beyond the visible, demonstrate-able universe, that which is above and beyond the laws of nature, and/or matters involving the action or influence of the supernatural or paranormal powers and the secret knowledge of them."  (I believe I found it at wiki.answers.com, but cannot bring it up now.)

Tanis Helliwell is one of those individuals able to see aspects of the non-physical world.  She is not alone in this regard, many humans have the capacity to see that which is non-physical.

Unfortunately, and especially in the West, as well as those areas dominated by Religions, few are willing to talk about those abilities.  An added factor, here in the West, is the fear of being labeled as, "crazy."   On top of that fear is our Programming from childhood, and our educational Indoctrination in the Official Scientific Belief System.  As a result, such individuals try to brush off such awareness' as their imagination, and, when talked about by friends, dismissed as other peoples' gullibility.  Unless they happen regularly, most individuals are able to suppress any memory of such experiences.

According to the Leprechauns and higher levels of the Devic Kingdom, as reported by Ms. Helliwell, "life" is a product of the presence of the Elementals in ALL forms of life.  In other words, confirming that there is, "an order of existence beyond the visible, demonstrate-able universe, that which is above and beyond the laws of nature, and/or matters involving the action or influence of the supernatural or paranormal powers and the secret knowledge of them."

Those who refuse to acknowledge that that which we call, "life" has a non-physical existence which underlies everything have diminished our ability to truly experience our lives.

And, so, with that, I end these ruminations.

Shirley Gallup