Finding the Common Ground Between Science and Spirituality Genesis is very clear in its differentiation between a person and his/her body The body is just physical; like all matter, it is inanimate without any life It is not conscious, it has no feelings, thought, or will and therefore it cannot move, it cannot breathe, and it cannot reproduce by itself It is the Spirit of God that causes it to live and, when that spirit leaves, the physical body becomes lifeless and begins to decay in time When it comes to Adam, his body was made of the earth through its produce, his mind is the firmament that divides the body made with food from the self-existent breath (spirit) of God, which, when blown into Adam’s nostrils, makes him a living soul ( See Figure 4-4) The story of Adam is the story of the rest of world There is the outer body of things, which can be perceived by our senses, there is the Spirit of God at the innermost core of all Existence, and there is an infinite number of subtle in-between things separating the outermost from the innermost Section 3: Realization of the Infinite and the Infinitesimal Thus, we have a faculty of our minds that makes us behave in a creaturely way, another faculty that makes us behave in the fashion of an animal, and yet another one that can make us divine in our behavior In other words, we have in our minds the built-in capacity of creaturely consciousness, animal consciousness, and also of divine consciousness What is the responsibility that goes with the authority of dominion over the earth? Stay away from the temptation of likes and dislikes, good and bad Be careful with our likes; they cause temptation The possibility of not getting what we like causes anxiety and fear Also, be careful of our dislikes; dislikes are just the flip sides of the likes Any possibility of getting what we dislike causes anxiety and fear as well Do not be afraid of the serpent; understand and 105