Human Development
Spirit
Description:
Spirit is the immaterial principle as opposed to the material principle of existence. Philosophy disagrees on the relative importance of the two principles; materialism stating that spirit is the highest creation of matter, whereas spiritualism and idealism consider spirit prior to and in itself higher than matter, the vital essence or animating force in living creatures. According to Jung, spirit can be neither described or defined, nor is it subject to human expectations nor the demands of will; it is linked to the intuitive force or purpose connecting different events and endeavours. Religion considers spirit divine in origin, in the Bible it is the creative or animating power of God. The idea of spirit as the essence or the meaning is carried over into such expressions as the "spirit of the law". In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says "That which is not, shall never be; that which is, shall never cease to be". Spirit is interwoven with creation but is beyond destruction, leaving the physical body like a worn-out garment and going on to one that is new. The Upanishads refer to spirit as "the good of all" and austerity, self-control and meditation as the foundations of spiritual knowledge. In essence, spirit is that which transforms inanimate matter into life and which returns it to matter after death.