Spiritual Realities We Can’t See But Know Exist

Ron asks: "Hello. I am becoming more observant, and I had a debate with a friend who thinks that the only reality we know is the reality of nature. Could you give me some examples of spiritual concepts in reality that we know for certain exist, even though they cannot be seen? Thank you."

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Hello Ron, and thank you for your question.

There are many spiritual concepts whose existence we know with certainty, even though we cannot touch or see them, because they are not part of the material world. In fact, we learn that the most important things in our lives are not physical at all:

1. Love. Nature is built on survival. Love, however, contradicts this: people are willing to sacrifice their lives for those they love. This is a profound and priceless feeling that cannot be explained physically, yet the whole world is built upon it.

2. Compassion. A cat walking by another injured, dying cat on the street will simply ignore it. Animals act purely out of utility, without the ability to choose goodness. Compassion crosses beyond nature — it is the ability to feel the pain of another and want to help them, even without personal benefit. The Torah says: “He will give you compassion and show you compassion” (Deuteronomy 13:18). Compassion is a gift from God, above nature.

3. Justice. Humans will fight wars, give up wealth, and risk lives for justice and values which are invisible and intangible. In nature, however, there is no justice, only the survival of the strong over the weak. Justice and values are spiritual, and have no physical atoms or molecules.

4. Free Will. Animals are bound by instincts: ants are industrious by nature, dogs loyal by nature, cats indifferent by nature. Even a mother cat ready to die for her kittens will later fight them for food when they grow, because her maternal instinct switches off. Humans, by contrast, can choose to resist instincts such as anger, lust, and jealousy, and act otherwise. Free will contradicts the laws of matter, which function only by deterministic rules. Its very existence proves the soul.

5. Disgust with Materialism. Every creature in nature is satisfied with material existence. A dog can eat the same food every day and wag its tail with joy. Humans, however, tire quickly of material pleasures. A person who works years for a fancy car soon gets used to it and desires the next thing. Even at the height of fame and wealth, many people feel empty. As the sages taught: “No one dies with half his desires in his hand; if he has one hundred, he wants two hundred; if he has two hundred, he wants four hundred” (Kohelet Rabbah 1:32). The soul refuses to be content with material things and yearns for the spiritual — wisdom, kindness, and above all, connection to God.

6. Faith. The vast majority of humanity believes in God or in some higher power. Faith is a deep awareness, a sixth sense, that cannot be explained in material terms. Billions experience the presence of God as something more real than what they see or hear. As with colors to the blind or music to the deaf, faith cannot be described to one who has never felt it, yet it is profoundly real.

7. Love for Its Own Sake. The strongest human drive is religious devotion, for which people have given their lives, as in Masada or the Crusades. The Torah demands the highest form of this devotion: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). Rabbi Akiva explained: “With all your soul — even if He takes your soul” (Berachot 61b). Rambam taught that serving God out of pure love, not for reward or fear of punishment, is the highest spiritual level. No material being could even understand such a demand, because it contradicts all natural self-interest. The fact that humans can give their lives purely for truth or for God is one of the strongest proofs of the soul.

The ability to love beyond survival, to feel compassion, to pursue justice, to exercise free will, to reject materialism, to believe, and to devote oneself in love without reward, are all clear signs of the spiritual dimension in man, the presence of the soul within us.