Clem, thank you for a wonderful read. I was totally engaged. A couple of two-cent thoughts, if you don’t mind.
In Dutch, the word for soul is ziel, while in German Ziel means goal. These languages go way back to before people started believing a single God was indeed possible.
The word linked this way shows how the individual is responsible for making that goal come true. The contents that we are on the inside has to be brought toward its goal.
At the same time, the Dutch word zielig (soully) means something from in-a-bind all the way to pathetic. So, the pathway toward completing our intended goal is not a simple pathway. It's tough, and I think your six questions are perfectly explaining that. We have to make the effort to get outside our comfort zones and make clear to the world in which we exist that our life has a purpose (in this world).
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And, yes, I am energy. I am my quarks (damaged energy) combined into neutrons and protons, and I am my electrons (undamaged energy), pulled in from the large ocean of energy to counter the positive charges of the protons. I am alive because of my electrons which are tips of the iceberg of that larger reality that is immaterial, except for those electrons.
I wake up in the morning with the same body, because my electrons are tightly knit to the protons of my body.
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Time is real, but has no attributes of its own. So, the universe exists in the Now and it always existed in the Now and will always exist in the Now.
There is no escaping the Now (except for one clever method, but I won't get into that now).
Time is a phenomenon, and it is real because energy is never at a standstill. All matter in the universe is on the move, so there is automatically the past that is no longer. The same reason why time machines won't work because if they would work then you'd be hanging in empty space because planet Earth moved somewhere else while we were transporting ourselves through time. Dead in a second, hanging in frigid space. Better not get into a time machine that’s working. Earth won’t be there.
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Yes, there are two realities, even so in matter (there are quarks and electrons). Then, there is original immaterial energy as the opposite of matter (which was also used as the source for matter, but lots and lots of it remained immaterial). Good job therefore.
We (I mean our souls) are from the immaterial realm, but that realm had this accident occurring to it, some 13.8 billion years ago. So, a good amount of that immaterial energy is damaged now, but lots remained undamaged. We live in two realities at the same time.
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Sorry, but nothing did not create the result. That is a black-and-white answer of an immature mind. The answer has to be colored, and unfortunately, we do not have the answer (except for matter because we can explain how matter derived from the accident).
Energy existed already before the accident, and we are not able to see its origin. But... it is not God, at least, not God 1.0 anymore. We can point to God 2.0 as God exists perhaps in our Milky Way setting, but God 2.0 is not as whole as God 1.0 used to be. God 2.0 is definitely an island, and no larger than the Milky Way's environment.
So, when I am asked by you How I am, then I will declare that I am 1, whole. I am 1 in my material and immaterial sense. I am a creation of various energized formats, plus I need space to give myself a place. But the total of me is 1, whole, even when the (immaterial) parts are all over the place.
That means I am self-centered by default, but I do carry a goal within me and that goal is a little bigger than my self-centered self. It will take me a life-time to achieve that goal.
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Meanwhile, you gave me a beautiful article to read, Clem. I fully enjoyed it. You showed me very large views on reality and at the same time you provided an opportunity for me to see who you are in your soul in your true proportions.
You are doing a great job working on your goal. Thank you.
