The fact is, there isn't mind/spirit/soul seperate from the physical body. One cannot be over the other as there isn't one and the other...jsut different facets of the same system. Saying different is, in fact, a form of dualism. Inj the end, the energyu that permeates the univers is the universe. I canot tap into that and manipulate...except in the standard ways in wich oine physical nody interacts with other physical bodies...bound by the physics.
you are 100% right about the energy of the universe being the universe, but i think you might be mistakenly thinking that monism or non-dualism is inherently transcendental. the fact is that even though the universe is non-dualistic our minds are literally unable to process reality in a single bite...hence our tendency to see dualism where there is none.
this idea of one-ness is common in many traditions, east & west. it's more common in the east because organized religion operates differently over there, but that's a whole other can of worms. the one-ness is the mystical part; only it's not actually mystical, it's simply that our minds/brains can't process it (without satori anyway, depending on who you listen to). we can understand it academically, but that is different from experiencing that oneness. that is why many eastern traditions have sayings like "the tao that can be spoken of is not the tao". some esoteric western traditions have the same ideas, only the tao may be called the pleroma or the ineffable, or whatever. but no matter how much we talk about it our minds still operate in a linear, sequential way. hence the apparent dualism.
ki, as i perceive it, is exactly how you describe it: the energy of the universe is the universe, nothing more. but the question in my mind is not "is mysticism real" but "is reality mystical". in my opinion, the answer is yes, the fact that the same laws of physics & nature permeate this entire universe (!) which each & every one of us is an essential part of is pretty damn mystical. it's also no big deal.
so imo, when you say the energy of the universe is the universe, & someone else says that ki/chi is an extension of the tao, you are saying essentially the same thing. i can tell by your posts that you have an excellent mind for science, so it makes sense that you perceive non-dualism as you do. not having an overtly scientific mind myself, i understand immenant non-dualism in "mystic" language. but too often people think mystical means supernatural, when in fact it is the essense of nature.
just my thoughts, hope it made sense.
jf