This is one of the big questions, isn't it?
I was raised in a faith tradition that taught that we are human beings- physical beings- striving for a spiritual experience but after much contemplation, I have come to believe that the opposite of what I was taught is actually true.
I believe now that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.
Our bodies are just tools to help our spirits have experiences that lead to spiritual growth.
(That doesn't mean that we shouldn't still take care of our bodies. I'm sure the connection between body and spirit is very strong- so much so that sometimes it is hard for us to separate the two. And, the better we take care of our bodies, the more we will have them to help us experience the world.)
This spiritual/physical distinction is helpful to me in a couple of ways.
First: it helps me to remember that what happens to my body does not affect my soul in the long run. People can talk about me and hurt me and I will cry and bruise but my soul will be unchanged. There is nothing anyone can do to me physically that will change the beauty of my spirit. I know that this is a slippery slope I am on because the mind/spirit connection is extremely powerful. Nevertheless, I stand by my belief that what others do to us only has power in the eternal sense if we give the power to them.
Secondly: This distinction helps me to see that everything is spiritual because we are primarily spiritual beings. Therefore, how we treat others, how we spend our time, our money, our talents...it is all spiritual. The way of thinking that makes some things sacred and others profane is really just splitting hairs. It is all spiritual and therefore, all of eternal importance.
