Wake Up

The Intersection of Physical Reality and Spiritual Laws: A Deep Dive with Dr. Douglas

• Douglas James Cottrell PhD • Season 2 • Episode 14

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What does it truly mean to be "spiritual" and why do so many of us feel that our spiritual practices alone aren't creating the transformation we seek? In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Douglas James Cottrell tackles this profound question that lies at the heart of the human experience.

Drawing from over four decades of spiritual teaching, Dr. Douglas reveals why spirituality alone isn't sufficient for our journey through the physical world. We are complex beings with spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional bodies—each requiring attention and development. Like socks and shoes that work best together, our spiritual and physical aspects must be integrated for a balanced existence.

The conversation ventures into fascinating territory as Dr. Douglas explains how spiritual laws function like physical laws—they're impeccable, unchangeable, and operate whether we acknowledge them or not. Just as gravity doesn't require our belief to function, spiritual laws govern our existence regardless of our awareness. Understanding these laws provides us with a roadmap for navigating life's challenges and finding our true purpose.

Perhaps most captivating is the discussion of how spiritually advanced beings like avatars appear to transcend physical limitations. Through compelling examples of manifestation and transmutation—from biblical miracles to modern spiritual masters like Sai Baba—Dr. Douglas suggests these individuals understand the atomic structure of reality so deeply they can manipulate it through consciousness and spiritual power.

The episode culminates in a powerful realization: everyone is already on a spiritual path, but becoming conscious of this journey allows us to take shortcuts and avoid unnecessary suffering. True spirituality isn't about escaping the physical world but embracing both our spiritual and physical nature with balance, compassion, and humility.

Whether you're a dedicated spiritual seeker or simply curious about the deeper dimensions of existence, this episode offers profound insights that will transform how you view your spiritual journey. Subscribe now to continue exploring these timeless teachings and discover the power of conscious spiritual development in your own life.

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Announcer:

Welcome to Wake Up with Dr Douglas James Cottrell, your source for helpful information, advice and tips to live your life in a mindful way in this increasingly chaotic world. For over four decades, Dr Douglas has been teaching people how to develop their intuition and live their lives in a conscious way. His news and views of the world tomorrow, today, are always informative and revealing. And now here's your host, Dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Welcome to the Wake Up, the broadcast where curiosity leads to deeper understanding. I'm your host, Douglas James Cottrell, and my good friend and co-host Les Hubert is here with me, along with editor Jack Bialik, as we delve into the fascinating realms of life, metaphysics, spirituality and the pressing questions that shape our world. Good morning, Les. What's on the menu today?

Les Hubert:

Hi Doug. This question is concerning many people out there. In this world, this dimension called the physical, why is just being spiritual and that's in quotes seem to be not enough, and some of us are not even sure what the term spiritual means.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, we're a binary of different bodies. We have a spiritual body, we have a mental body, we have a physical body, we have an emotional body. So if we were spiritual, we wouldn't be here in physical form. We would be a light, we'd be in thought form or something along those lines. So what does that mean, that spirituality is not enough? It's because, as a spiritual being in a physical world, we need to have a physical form. And so, as we develop ourselves through our spiritual journey, we need a vehicle. It's kind of like we're taking a trip and so we have to have a vehicle that we can transport ourselves from here to there. So the short answer on that one is spirituality is not enough, because what is spirituality? Well, I don't know. I mean, if you ask 100 people on the street in different parts of the world, you say, have you ever had a spiritual experience or do you know what a spiritual experience is? And chances are people say, yes, I want to have a spiritual experience. But they have no idea what to compare that with. They have no reference points, and I guess that's the problem we have. We don't have any measurements, reference points, to say, aha, you've had a spiritual experience or you're spiritual, unless we look into the religions. And then, as we do so, we have to look at the metaphysical, the mystical, these experiences that are beyond everyday occurrences. Like somebody having a dream of the future, and it occurs. Like somebody holding their hand up and something appears in their hand, like food appearing. Or divine lights and sparkly things experienced around us, and then maybe even the form of a divine being, an angel, for instance. If you saw an angel, what does an angel look like? Well, I don't know. I would expect to be a being with big wings and, you know, maybe a harp or something you know, all the, all the things that we've been told what is supposed to be expected. But what if it just looks like you and me? Ri ght. A very loving, kind person. Chances are that is an angel or it's somebody that comes, in my experiences, they know exactly what your problem is, they know what to do, they give you the ideas, suggestions, or they take you by the hand and they get you out of the trouble you're in. And usually they don't talk much and most often they appear in pairs. One does the talking and one does not. And so when you have experienced your expectations, then you'd say, okay, that was an angel.

Douglas James Cottrell:

But in understanding what spirituality is, what a spiritual experience is, well, having a dream about some event and then coming true, that's a prophetic dream, that's a spiritual experience. Having a feeling of love and comfort come over you, when you're feeling sad and blue, and you look around and you're the only one in the room, well, that's being loved by the divine or by people that are praying for you. And understanding prayer and thought process and meditations and all those things that spiritual practices that people do, those are designed to have spiritual experiences or to teach you that there is a spiritual world and that you're connecting with it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So why is spirituality not enough? Well, it's like socks and shoes, isn't it? You can put on your shoes, but if you don't have your socks, it's uncomfortable. If you put on your socks, you don't put on your shoes, it's uncomfortable. But together you have a nice, comfortable pair of shoes to walk in and you have socks to comfort your feet and, ta-da, you can walk anywhere you want.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the point being is that in this world that we're in, to be a combination of all the different parts you are, and still keep looking up and seeking to find more in the heavens above, that's your spiritual journey. But you have to deal with the mundane: you have to have a shower, you have to eat, you have to go and do things, work and effort and rest and play and all the things in the physical world. But beyond that, there's that inner desire, that curiosity. What's above? And as you reach out, using contemplation, meditation, prayer and all the other things, to reach to the great beyond, again through dreams and visions and other things that go bump in the night when you sleep, you're on the path, and so it's kind of like where's that lifeline? Sleep, you're on the path, and so it's kind of like where's that lifeline? Where can I grab that rope to pull myself back up into the heavens above? That's your journey. You're trying to find that lifeline.

Les Hubert:

So is it a necessity to learn the spiritual laws? Because we know we have to learn the physical laws, like you just mentioned, taking care of the physical, you know the mundane. Is it necessary for us to also learn the spiritual laws?

Douglas James Cottrell:

There's no other way. You can't learn how to get from here to there unless you know the directions, the road, the roadmap, where the bridges are, where the stepping stones are, where the pitfalls are. Which way is the right way? Are you going up, are you going down? Are you being misdirected? So all those things about finding your way is what you need. And so you have to go through this experience, kind of saying, okay, hi-ho, hi-ho, here I go. Where I'm going, I don't know. And then you find your way. And as you find your way, you learn that if you see a hill in front of you, it's going to be hard to go up, but if you can find a pathway around the hill, ha-ha, that's the easier way to take, even though it looks like it's meandering up the hill, it's going to be easier than to try to climb up a straight embankment.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the spiritual laws there's no adjudication. Nobody made them up. For instance, when people ask me, sometimes sarcastically, who made up these spiritual rules and these laws, I say, who made up the law of gravity? It's there. But I guarantee, if you don't know about the law of gravity and you step out on a ledge, you're going to fall down and you're going to find out what the law of gravity is, in a big hurry. So it's the same thing about finding the laws of the universe. They are there. They are impeccable. They're not changeable. They cannot be adulterated. You might think you can, but you cannot.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Now, velocity is something that we can go up to the speed of light, but since we haven't been there yet, we can theorize what it's like. And there is a theory that as you approach the speed of light, time slows down for the traveler. To the people who our person left behind, time continues on, so they might go out in the speed of light for a day and come back and they're one day older. The people that they left behind are now 100 days older or something to that effect. So understanding the rules and the laws is like anything else.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Understanding the rules of the road. If you are driving a vehicle and you obey the rules of the road, you get safely from where you started to where you want to go. Any infraction of those rules and you're putting yourself in jeopardy. Sometimes you can sneak around them and you know you can speed up and slow down and get by. Other times you cannot. You cross that white line, you're in difficulty.

Les Hubert:

So these people who seem to be, as you mentioned, avatars, the people who are very spiritually advanced in this world, that are visiting us now, why is it that they seem to be able to transcend physical law?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Because they understand physical law. What is physical? it. is It what we think it is. Have you ever seen martial arts people having a martial arts? c

Les Hubert:

Uh, long time, yeah, some time ago. Yeah, they're pretty cool.

Douglas James Cottrell:

They can do things with their body, kick their legs out, they can kick their foot as if it would be a punch of a fist, they can wrap their legs around, they can jump up high, they can roll around and survive any combat. But the point I'm making that in a very poor description of that is that they understand the rules, but they are like you and I. They are beyond yoga, being able to stretch or flex the body. They are in a frame of mind, they understand the limitations and beyond, and they can do things with their body that we can't: stretching their legs and doing the things that they do, being able to jump up and do wonderful things. That's a simple thing to say they understand the laws of reality, the physical world we live in, and they have adapted, they have improved, they have changed, and we watch them. We are amazed, but we can do that too if we apply the same training that they did.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the rules in the physical world are the limitations on what we have gone ourselves. Not everybody wants to be a weightlifter and have huge muscles. Not everybody wants to be a distance runner and be very thin and lean. Not everybody wants to be an athletic person where they have lower body muscles so they can jump up high, like basketball players, or they need upper strength, like people who row boats. So the reality is what are you going to apply yourself in, in the physical world? And then you develop to the rules and limitations of the physical world, you adapt and then you become in control of that..

Douglas James Cottrell:

However, people tell us that we're made of atoms, and around each atom there's an electron that spins around, and so there's a space between electrons and the - the atoms are made up of nucleus. And so we, okay, if an atom is a single, tiniest, compact speck of reality or physical things and it has space around it, then basically, Les, you and I are transparent. We're made up of air. And so, when I put my hand on the table, meaning that I have atoms in my hand and atoms on the table, my hand should be able to go right through that table, but it doesn't. What's stopping it? I don't know. The laws of reality, the laws of consciousness or different things that I don't know about, but theoretically, atomic structure is such that it should merge right through each other. We just don't know how to do that yet. We're locked up and maybe that thought power, that perception of what we are, is what's stopping us. You know, beat my chest. That's solid. Well, it's solid to some degree, but I guarantee if something was to come and push on my chest, that was strong enough, my chest would not be solid.

Les Hubert:

I've seen video footage of like Sai Baba when he appeared in India and he could do incredible things. He could bring things out of mid-air, he... We've seen some people have said that they saw him levitating and that he could go through solid structure. Was that because he had mastered the spiritual laws or the physical laws?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, that's a very interesting point, because I've seen some of that myself and the manifestation of things out of thin air. If you understand that everything can be reduced to one common denominator, and that is ash. Holy ash is called vibhuti. If everything can be reduced to ash, then the ash can be transmuted into anything else. Instead of going down, it's now manifesting to go up. So people hold out their hand and an orange appears. In the Christian teachings, Jesus created the multiplication of fish and loaves, but he had to have the fish and loaves to start.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Oh, just like the water into wine.

Douglas James Cottrell:

He had to have something that he could transmute into something else. Exactly, Les. That was his first miracle recorded in the good book and for any students they know that, you know, his mother came to him, mother Mary, and said hey, son, you know we're at this festival, we're at this wedding, our relatives here are running out of wine. Do your thing, you know, do that thing with the water, you know, make it into wine. And he said Mom, come on, you know it's my time. I don't want everybody to know I can do these things. Oh, mom, and she insisted. He did it. And of course the rest is history. We're talking about it today.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the transmutation of matter from one thing to another is a combination of changing the atomic structure, right? One atom to another. You can separate hydrogen and oxygen from water and what have you got? Nothing. The water disappears. But you put hydrogen and oxygen together again, do you create water? I guess so, because those elements coming together become what they're made of. So what if you have the mental capability to dissect the atomic structure and the ability to put it back together differently, like water into wine? I'm not sure, I'm not smart enough, I don't know enough, but I'm sure there's some chemists out there who could tell us that the difference between water and wine is just a teeny, tiny little bit of some element or some atomic structure.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So, as I'm putting forward the idea to change things is, you need to have the spiritual ability, power over things, over matter, to be able to alter it, change it or manifest it into something that you decide to do so. So there are lots of stories over the ages of beings that were able to do this, including in our own world, in the Christian world, that the Christ was able to do things . And, and more recently, in the 1980s and 90s, lord Satya Sai Baba or Bhagwan Satya Sai Baba was able to do that, as was Shirdi Sai Baba, the first of the three incarnations. And the third Prema, purdi Sai if Baba and I'm saying that incorrect, apologize, I he is apologize is the third incarnation of the prophesied three. . They, they have the same ability. He's here in the world now and they have the same ability to transmute material. That's why diseases can go away in the wave of a hand, because the disease is being transmuted into non-disease and the atomic structure or the well-being of a person's body is being instantly transmuted, transmuteduted or altered to become . And, and that's why these spiritual beings can raise people from . the dead In my theoretical mind, how they can do that. The body is opened up, the soul comes back and raises the vibrations of the deceased form, the blood starts circulating and the body regains its normal health or being alive. Okay, that's not really part of your question, but that's kind of down the road of how we can change things by thought, by spiritual power, by being an avatar, having control over the physical world and each other, for that matter. But they don't abuse it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I've seen Satya Sai Baba wave his hand in the air and beads manifest, come out of his hand like a chain of beads, one after the other. It's incredible. Yeah, I've also seen him produce Vurubuti out of his fingertips by rubbing it, and people put it in their hand and then they absorb it. So the long and the short of it is is: where is this coming from? Well, that's the avatar's world and domain. I can only tell you or report to you what I've seen, but I have seen the manifestation of our a little case. I was in a place where devotees were gathered and a little box, a silver box, holy ash appeared in the box. People took it out in gobs. The medical doctor was who was charge of this, was a devotee, closed it up, said a few prayers, opened it up, was full of verbudi again. Only this time was it was warm. The first time, it was cold, because he had it in his pocket. Oh. He that several times during the evening and I was sitting there just observing this. It was absolutely amazing. So I've seen the manifestation of Burbuti, or holy ash. I've also seen the manifestation of other things, in this shrine that I was in from over time. So it makes sense. In the Christian world we have, where people have stigmata their hand, we also have the Virgin Mary with tears coming down her eyes. That's called amaranth and that appears in other paintings, religious paintings in other religions as well. So there's something about that, that has to do with prayer manifesting into these substances that can be transmuted or transferred or become everything in the essence of what they are, liquid or ash. So then, does it not follow, that if I had the power and ability and enough thought and belief and faith, I could make an orange appear in my hand right now, out of the air. But it's not out of the air. It's the atomic structure or whatever atoms forming a mass, a critical mass, what appears like an orange. I believe that's possible.

Les Hubert:

You've touched upon, you know, how he said he could reduce everything to an ash. So the way we should look at this is because, to me, when life is, the more I study the sciences and the arts, it's like climbing into the cockpit of a 747 and somebody says, fly it. And you go, oh my, where do I even begin? You know? So is it the key to this being more spiritual is simplifying?

Douglas James Cottrell:

No, it's understanding. I guess the rule is this: the only thing that limits us, the only thing that limits us is the limits of our thinking. That's true of everything. Now, if I were to jump into a cockpit of a 747, I think I could fly it, even before I even tried it, just because I believe I think I could figure it out. You know yoke, steering wheel, gas, you know flaps, brakes, step on the pedal. I could kind of have that familiarization and I would know how to do that. However, as I would take off and I know you have to pull back after giving it full power, you have to pull back and the plane will go up and then it keeps going up until you push the stick forward and it levels off. I know the basics, but beyond that, I need to have the experience. I need to do it. And so, and also, I need to have a mentor, right? I mean, I need to have a co-pilot, more exactly, an instructor, who says okay, Douglas, no, no, that's the brake, no, no, that's the gas. If you turn this way, the plane's going to rotate over, it's not going to turn. Right? So, having somebody to tell you the difference between rotation and yawing and banking, which are three different ways to turn the vehicle, you need somebody to explain that to you, and that's where mentors and spiritual teachers and guides come in handy. But after a while you get to solo, you get to try it on your own and, oh boy. And then after a while it's kind of old hat. You know, make a 30 degree turn to the left, you know, ok, no sweat.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the point is that, like everything else, your spiritual development is such that you think you can do something. You've seen it, you have a notion to try it. But you need a mentor, instructor, a teacher to help you do it correctly. But you can get there by making every mistake in the book, that's for sure. But in order to understand that, it's not necessary to be a master, to understand the spiritual world completely. It's only necessary to have a notion, an inkling or a desire to understand the spiritual world. I mean, you see somebody meditating and you say, hey, I want to try that. You see somebody doing yoga and you go like, hey, I want to be flexible like that. You observe something, there's a trigger point, there's a notion, there's an idea, and that's what gets you on that path and that's where spirituality kicks in, in its various levels. Of all the different ways to God, there are maybe 108 different ways. Meditation is one, spiritual work is another, but becoming a master electrician is another way. Becoming a master mathematician is another way. Becoming an opera singer is another way. So the specialist in creativity is the way to find a way to God.

Douglas James Cottrell:

However, the manifestation of things is the ability to have control over the physical world, and you do that with compassion, understanding and balance, and then you're in harmony. You know, God creates and God destroys. If we understand God being the creator and the destroyer, the Alpha and Omega, then we can begin to see that, okay, God can be really nice, God can be really bad, from our point of what good and bad is. You know, you go through the harvest season, we've had a wonderful summer, there's been all this bounty, this extra, this food. That's wonderful, and we have this, thank God, this Thanksgiving time. And then what happens? Well, the land goes back through the winter and gets destroyed. All the plants that were there in the summertime are now gone, until next year it starts all over again. Do we worry about that? No, we say that's the cycle, that's the way it goes. The spirituality behind it is the thought process, it's nature, it's what we call nature, it's the creation and of course it has... beyond me. I'm trying to grab an example here, but it's beyond our understanding of what that is

Les Hubert:

So in wrapping this up, I think people would want to know should we seek a spiritual path or are we already on it?

Douglas James Cottrell:

There it is, right there, Les. You're on it. I remember once talking to somebody in Spain and I was explaining the concept of awareness and the consequences of making mistakes, spiritual mistakes, karma, if you will. And they said, oh, if that's what it is, I don't want any part of that. And I said, well, you're here in the world. Whether you want to have part of it or not, you know, you're stuck.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the idea is that you're on a spiritual path. If you're consciously aware of being on that path, you have the advantage and you can short-circuit, if you will, the path that you're on. In other words, you can take shortcuts. You can go up the staircase one at a time. you can go up two steps or three steps at a time. But that comes from a consciousness of where you are and what you're doing. In other words, you know when you walk into a room and there's ten dollars on the table, you're in the only room and you know that doesn't belong to you. The temptation in your mind to take it doesn't even enter your mind. You just walk by. Other people look around and say, well, snatch, you know. And they forget that there's a big mirror in the ceiling and everybody's watching you. It's like in Las Vegas where all the people are watching you all the time and you forget. But a spiritually conscious person knows that that's not mine and that doesn't belong to me and that if I take that it's going to cause somebody pain.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So you're constantly looking at A) not causing people pain, B) going through the world, which you know of things to do. So you don't do things you know without looking around and saying I'm going to get away with this. No, you're not. And by that, you become a just and moral person, and by doing that, you become a good and upright person, and by becoming that, you become a self-disciplined person with integrity. And then God says, okay, over here. I'm selecting you. You know, many are called, few are chosen, and that means many want to be ,. but But the few that are chosen are chosen by God Almighty, because God looks on their heart. For whatever reason, they say this is the one I want, because this one fits the task I have. For whatever reason, reason again, it's not a better or worse, it's like this is the one God ., And and that's why spiritual beings come into the world and develop their life to become ;, perfect, perfect souls in a perfect body, experiencing the highest spiritual experience they could have as a human being. Many would like that, but many fall short. Number one, one because they desire it. So to have no desires, it's kind of like along the way, and I don't mean by not desiring a car, material wealth, I'm talking about having that balance where you don't desire things, they just occur to you.

Douglas James Cottrell:

And if you're along that way, then what you're going to do is find yourself. You're going to find out who you are, your limits, where you can be tempted, where you can be challenged, what you can endure, but you'll have a consciousness, and that consciousness is what we're attempting to understand as perfection. But remember when Christ was in the garden and he was about to be arrested, beat up, crucified, falsely charged and then executed for just being a good guy, he knew that was going to happen to him and he was afraid. And he got down on his hands and knees in the garden and he asked God, please let me out of this. If there's any other way, let me out of it. But if there isn't, then from this cup I will drink deeply, meaning I will suffer deeply. I will go through this experience to its fullest experience.

Douglas James Cottrell:

And that, I think, is what an avatar is about. You go through all the world's experiences until you come to the end of the line, which has to be finite because we're in a finite world. And so there's a spiritual path, the path you're on. Do you know it? It doesn't matter in the beginning, but as you begin to become spiritually mature, you realize, oh my gosh, I thought I had free will and free choice. It sort of looks like I have fate and destiny and I really don't have free will and free choice. Oh my God. My free will and free choice is limited to the kind of clothes I'm wearing while I'm going to work, but I still, on destiny, have to go to work. And so then you begin, you surrender, you obey the divine and you become perfected through trials and errors and experiences in life. So to be spiritual is to know what's right, to find out what's right, to be right and, in order to be right, to be humble and just be. And that, my friend, that takes a lifetime, or more than one.

Les Hubert:

Well, thank you, Doug, for that great information. Ladies and gentlemen, if you enjoyed the podcast, you can support us for as little as $3 per month, and for details you can go to DouglasJamesCottrell. com and click on that big blue banner, and we have a shout out for Marie, PJ from California, and Michael from Idaho. Thank you very much for your support. We deeply appreciate it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

What have we got coming up next week, Les? Where are we going with this in the future?

Les Hubert:

Oh, we've got some interesting things. We've got a question about death and what happens to us when we die. Where do we go? What do we do? Karma versus sin, and quite a few others. We've got some interesting stuff on the docket for you, Doug.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I look forward to it. Take care.

Announcer:

Thank you very much for listening to Wake Up. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll be notified when a new episode is posted, and we'd greatly appreciate your review of our show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts to let others know about the great content we're producing. For more about Dr Douglas's self-development classes, books and other related products, please visit his website douglasjamescottrell. com. Until next time, we wish you all of God's blessings health, wealth and peace of mind.