~ Physical vs. Metaphysical ~

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is the study of that which transcends the physical, although it was originally used to describe abstract physical concepts in early pioneering physics. For purposes of this book however, metaphysics is the study of the manifestations of Oneself. These manifestations make up the Cosmos at large, which includes of course our own physical universe.

Since all things have metaphysical attributes, on another level metaphysics can be regarded to be the study of the essence of all things. Since Self/God (Consciousness) is all things, metaphysics can be regarded to be the study of Consciousness Itself. Since Consciousness is embodied as the Soul, metaphysics can be regarded to be the study of the Soul, the embodiment of individuality – the strictest of illusions!

Realms

A realm, such as this reality is not a container. It does not contain things within it - it only appears to do so. No, a realm is a dimension – a means to an ends. The “ends” is of course the Ultimate Truth, which has necessarily to be Yourself, for where else then did you come from if not from Yourself? The means is how you understand your True Nature. Any dimension or realm is thus the essence of understanding. The physical dimension to (way of looking at) this world for example is how, in “physical” terms, you come to terms with and appreciate Yourself. The appreciation is understood to be your “lower self” embodied as your incarnation. It is for this reason that reality and an incarnation are one and the same.

All things are but skewed expressions of Oneself. Take a chair for example. The entire nature and purpose of the chair is created by one’s own consciousness, for the chair has to come from somewhere! It doesn’t just so happen to be there! No, your consciousness creates it. So a realm is consciousness. The entire nature and meaning of the chair is how your lower self comes to terms with and understands Yourself. Since the chair is an understanding of Yourself, it is said to rise from within Yourself as an expression of Yourself.

Superior Realms?

There is nothing to suggest that the metaphysical realm is necessarily superior to that of our own, or that one type of realm is superior to another. It is only our brains that have the tendency to consider things unknown as special and thus superior. It is erroneously accepted that the metaphysical realm is superior to our own physical one because it lies outside and appears to encapsulate it.

In your Head

Physical entities are known as such strictly through definition alone. It is the brain that perceives the entity and judges for itself all that which is “physical about it”. During this process, other things likewise perceived to be physical are compared against the entity in question. This is purely subjective however, because the brain views all things that fall into an “accepted category of physical” as “physical” and all things that “fall outside” as “non-physical”. Clearly then, the physical is but a product of the brain as we associate it with other entities that the brain has already chosen to regard as “physical”. Things that appeal to "physical" senses would be regarded as physical and exist only as a cognitive state. So too would things “metaphysical”. For any particular entity, the brain would merely be in a certain cognitive state as opposed to another state when perceiving another type of entity - be it physical or metaphysical. So the brain functions solely within itself, comparing itself to itself. A miserable catch-22 scenario! It is only the madness of the brain that keeps it sane under these conditions.

Metaphysical Housing the Physical

It is perhaps the easiest consideration to view the metaphysical to be beyond the physical and to thus encapsulate it.

Physical & Metaphysical

The physical is found within the metaphysical and is finite because of the finite set defining it. The metaphysical encapsulates the physical and is infinite because it is all things, the physical included.

Here the metaphysical is a superset of the physical and the physical a subset of the metaphysical. It makes good sense to say that the physical must have a home and that home would be within everything that is outside of itself. So from a basic viewpoint, this is quite acceptable.

Physical and Metaphysical

Often one may know something to be true and subsequently find out that it in fact was not. So either one was just wrong physically and metaphysically, or perhaps merely wrong physically and not metaphysically. After all, it can be argued that something indeed must have rendered the feelings of “rightness” and “certainty of conviction”. It could well have been that one was in fact right metaphysically, but wrong physically. So the two realms appear to contradict each other.

Now if the metaphysical were to encapsulate the physical, it would not be possible to be physically wrong but metaphysically right, since the metaphysical must always be able to explain the physical. The converse is also true. It's a logical conclusion then for the metaphysical to be just another realm - no superior or inferior to the physical.

This is a very comfortable, down-to-earth viewpoint of the physical and how it relates to the metaphysical. Basically both are two different manifestations of consciousness. One type of consciousness produces the physical world and another, the metaphysical. This is anyway true because energy comprises Mind, the Cosmos, whilst organized energy, this world. Although the one so happens to project the other, they are distinctly different – each arising out of distinct types of consciousness. The one type is energy, whilst the other, organized energy.

There is the physical and the metaphysical, the dimensions through which entities are made known in the present moment. The physical and metaphysical are thus amongst the various characteristics of entities.

Subtleties of the Physical

All physical entities are not just purely physical but also metaphysical in nature. This is the case because all physical entities exist in the present moment, and this element of existence alone is a metaphysical property of every entity, physical or otherwise. A physical object with a purpose only adds to the metaphysical essence of that object. For example, a chair is not just physical; it also possesses metaphysical qualities in the form of purpose, where its primary purpose is to be sat upon. Some of the metaphysical energy of its manufacturer and of the person requiring the chair in the first place went into it when it was thought up and made. Think of how metaphysical a physical statue is as some of the sculptor's intended expressionism found its way into it as metaphysical energy. It's a way of giving life to the statue, much like the manufacturer of a chair rendering it its purpose.

One view has the chair as physical but made for a purpose. This makes part of the chair physical and the rest metaphysical. Another view, however, has the entire chair simultaneously both physical and metaphysical, since all of it is physical and all of it was created for one or other purpose. Even if a chair is just existing on its own in an empty room and not reacting with anything at all, it is nonetheless undergoing this present situation. The unveiling of the present moment is what expressly brings on reality. This is after all how the chair is able to take on a physical form and exist in the first place. This, the present moment, is, for man, the complete meaning of God; for the present moment is all that there ever is.

Many Dimensions

So far we have considered just two realms - the physical and the metaphysical. Consider now the notion of having more than two realms:

Though defying conventional logic, the reasoning behind why that which is not (not metaphysical) is not necessarily either physical or metaphysical is explained in the section “A and ~~ A” in the Chapter on Metaphysical Mathematics.

The manifestation of any world (physical or otherwise) arises always from out of one of countless vibrational planes of consciousness. Each of these planes is a metaphysical dimension in its own right, there to channel an expression of a Higher form into Its lower counterpart. All that there is, is the metaphysical, with the physical being but one particular instance.

Going Full Circle

Consider again, the physical vs. metaphysical scenario. The slightest hint of introduction would involve the physical, the metaphysical, or both. Introducing both at once gets us nowhere because it simply leads us back to the scenario where both physical and metaphysical are considered at once, thereby being equal in stature.

Introducing first the physical would be an attempt at trying to consider all things physical. It is madness to view all things as physical since we know, through definition, that there are some things that just plain aren't - such as ideas for example.

Introducing first the metaphysical would be an attempt at trying to consider all things metaphysical. This is viable, for we know that even physical entities have metaphysical qualities, such as a chair's purpose. So to consider the physical to be metaphysical would make more sense if it were again encapsulated within the metaphysical. Here, the metaphysical would always transcend.

In Summary