In the modern age we understand the physical reality(as a result of hard science) we exist in a lot more than in the past.  This can give us quite an advantage when it comes to our ability to advance further in the spiritual area.  In the past, a lot of mythology existed that filled the void that existed due to the lack of hard knowledge about the world we existed in.  The religions(spiritual beliefs)of those times were very much limited by this lack of understanding of the physical world and the mythology  that existed then as a result.  Mythology can have an addicted affect and be hard to wean oneself from, since that which is programmed deeply within ones being is very difficult to alter!   Even today, people who see themselves as spiritual will often choose to disregard the value of credible scientists and buy into crazy/wild beliefs about the past or even the present that do not have enough hard facts to back them up.  Some people do not believe a man landed on the moon!  Others think past civilizations were as advanced as our present one!  Some people even believe aliens from outer space have had a lot of impact on our recent technological  advancements!  Often people will choose to quickly believe extreme(not very well researched) views about this reality  from those that are not accepted by the body of the most credible hard scientists.

Often religious/spiritual people will devalue the spiritual importance of the physical world they now exist in and depend on.  People who devalue the importance of the physical, not only will have trouble developing the will power to get their physical body in a really fit/health state with the improved brain function(including the spiritual/emotional parts of the brain), but also will have trouble having enough will power to take on and find ways to better deal with the very serious problems that exist on this Earth!  This physical world provide the necessary resistance to challenge us spiritually, and to test and develop our spiritual strength and awareness.  The physical world functions in a rational way,  and demands people to develop a higher degree of sanity in order to better understand it and function in it.

Mythology can very much infer with being logical/rational and sane.    It is true that the images we create and project spiritual can come alive and have a lot of spiritual impact.  These spiritual  images can become strong enough to be seen and even show up on film, but they are still spiritual manifestations, not physical ones and one has to be careful  to see them for what they really are. Often religions generate a lot of images(through the power of belief) that help to guide and inspire them spiritually to living a better life.  The spiritual is not concrete, so we must do the best we can to understand it using what images function the best when challenged by a logical physical world that we must contend with in order to grow further spiritually.

Some people will put animals and their pets on the same level spiritually as their fellow humans.  But, animals can not understand hard science enough to use it to help them function on a higher spiritual level.  But, that is not a problem for those that do not see the extra value of the human brain has in its capability to understand the physical world around them and affect it.  Even humans vary a lot in their ability to spiritually connect to the physical reality they exist in on a more advanced intellectual level.  Some people tend to dismiss the importance of the human mind spiritually and its ability to use reason to improve how one is able to functions spiritual.  But, without our ability to reason things out a lot better than animals can, the distance between us an animals become a lot less significant spiritually.  We need to have more of our spiritual focus on our fellow human beings and the serious problems that they face and create in this world.  We need to be careful about overly focusing on animals spiritually.  It is hard to connect with humans since they are very complicated,  but we must become better at this, if we are to improve on the spiritual state this world is in.

When it comes to developing better spiritual beliefs which are required in order to become a lot more developed and aware spiritually, only humans(on this planet)can do this, and then test them as to how well they help one to perform in this challenging resistant physical world we exist in.  Only humans can use really advanced meditative/spiritual-physical techniques/exercises to improve their physical/spiritual(emotional) health and will power.  Only humans can put themselves through extremely challenging physical-spiritual training that can test how well their beliefs function in helping one handle and perform when put in extremely challenging physical/spiritual states.  Physical-spiritual training helps one to better handle the toughest  physical-spiritual challenges life can present to us and to make sure one has beliefs that are good enough to help one handle these challenges.   Diet and physical exercise(especially cardiovascular) are also important as part of a physical-spiritual training program.   When one is really strong and aware spiritually, one will be well tuned into ones body and able to better do that which is  best for its physical and spiritual well being.  One proves how capable one is spiritually by how effective one can function in this very challenging physical world which is so full of serious/challenging problems that need to be better addressed.