Is the material world more important than the spiritual world?

Question

And what is the spiritual world really?

It seems that we are much like animals in this way that we put so much value on our material bodies. I find myself doing the same thing. I wonder if i can be more...

Answer 1

To the materialist, the world of matter is paramount. To a spiritual being; the material world is a temporary situation in which one may be of assistance to the spiritual growth of other fellow beings.

Answer 2

The spiritual world is a non material world.
The spirits that inhabit it are of many different kinds, they are very cultural specific. For example, only the Irish seem to have leprechauns, and the Indians seem to have a lot of spiritual beings with multiple arms, which seem to be relatively rare elsewhere.
I think that if we didn't live in the real world, the spiritual world could not exist, for without people to imagine it and talk, tell tales and dream about it it would disappear. Many spirits have vanished as they have been forgotten by men. There is a story that at the end of time, human beings will no longer believe in the gods, they will cease to worship or pray to them, and the gods will fade and die. This time is called the twilight of the gods. It has already happened to many gods and other spiritual beings.

So it goes without saying that I think that the material world is the most important, because it is the basis for everything else.

Of course some people like Plato, believe that the spiritual world is the real thing, and the material world is just a pale reflection of it. Or even that the material world is delusion, and that the spiritual world is the only reality.

Its a matter of opinion.

Answer 3

The spiritual world is definitely more important because it is the actual basis of the material world. The material world can not exist without spirit but spirit can exist without matter.
If you feel like the material world is lacking a certain something - then you are definitely right. Matter has inbuilt deterioration whereas spiritual energy is of higher quality.
Follow up your gut feeling and start seeking the answers. There are many places you can look. Eg; Meditation, spiritual groups (Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi, Healing, etc.), sutra, scriptures, great spiritual teachers...present and past.
Not all people are interested in knowing spiritual reality. So most importantly hang out with people that have a subtler awareness or at least are aspiring to develop it - otherwise you won't feel encouraged and maybe even feel rather bored. Good luck!

Answer 4

This is a tough question. At present, I cannot with 100% certainty say there is no spiritual world even though I would describe my beliefs as atheist.Proof of a spiritual world would be hard to come by and would disputable. Until it is possible to subject faith to religious verification under objective conditions this is always going to be so. I also think it is wrong to place great importance on material things.

I think a balance between social, emotional and material worlds is preferable to be a balanced person.

Answer 5

No matter what folk believe (and everything in life is a belief system), the material world is the most important for it sustains life as we understand it. We rely on the sun to energise the photosynthesis process, and rely on the plants (or the animals that eat plants) for nutrition to maintain the integrity of the chemical constituents of our bodies. Any other world is beyond the ability of our material brains to sense, and its existance is irrelevant in terms of basic survival.

However, humans do have an emotional and spiritually inclined drive that mere materialism cannot serve. What we do to feed our "souls" whether that be simple familial relationships, friends, work, or pondering the meaning of life somehow allows us to nurture an element of our biological makeup that does not make sense and no equation will solve. We are creatures of the world our senses allow us to perceive, and the world of our inner minds and who knows what is truly real?

Answer 6

The Material world is more important since it is the real out of the 2

Answer 7

I would say the material world for several reasons.
1. I believe there is only one world and that is the material one.
2. the spiritual world is such a vague term as to be meaningless without context.
3. There is so much beauty and so much ugliness, so much love and so much hate, so much joy and so much sadness and so much wonder and so much fear in the material world, why do we need to worry about another one?

Answer 8

In my opinion, the spiritual world is somewhat more important. Things that happen there will impact the physical world more than the other way.
The physical world is still important, but dealing with spiritual issues first then the physical problems tend to subside.
We are as disimilar to animals as plants are to rocks.

Answer 9

People should toss the concept of the material world being separate from the spiritual world. Why do I believe that there is more to life than my senses can perceive? Wireless Internet, radio transmissions and ultra violet light (among others). These are all things we cannot perceive with our senses, but we can sense the effect that these create. Likewise with the spiritual world, it is one with the physical.

Answer 10

The answer to your questions is: the material world is the spiritual world.