SKEPTIC:  The picture looks bleak so far for our survival. If the spiritual universe is completely outside of the material universe, then it has no true bearing on the physical universe, and if this is the case, then there might as well be no god. God's existence is only useful if it somehow interacts with us, in the physical universe; after all, all of our thoughts are determined by molecular motion in the brain. Prayer is initiated in the brain. A response, if it's valid, must obviously move matter through space-time. Therefore, we have this thorny problem: if we believe that there is a spiritual universe, how does it interact with the physical universe, of which we are a part?

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  First, you will have to give some definitions. What is your definition of God? What do you mean by spiritual universe? I will assume you are using the traditional definitions. If you define God as an old man with a long beard somewhere, then I agree with you that there is no God. But if you define God the same way that many experiencers do - that everything is God - then you can come close to understanding what they know. In other words, denying the existence of a Higher Power is denying the existence of the universe. 

There is evidence that, to some degree, we get what we expect after death. If by using the term, spiritual universe, you are referring to another reality called heaven which exists separately from physical reality, then I would agree with you that such a reality probably does not exist. Experiencers have some good ideas about this. From them, one can basically conclude that the realm of life after death is the realm of the mind and imagination. So far, there is some very strong circumstantial evidence that the mind survives physical death. I believe life after death means living in pure thought form. Thoughts, too, are a part of reality as well.