Plan

The aim of the way of being is to discover and realize the ultimate in and from the immediate world.

Abstraction and system

Begin with ideas that are ideal or abstract in having distortable elements abstracted out. This conception of abstraction is not that of remoteness or difficulty but is immediate, simple, and ‘more real’ than the merely concrete (note that even concrete concepts have degrees of abstraction and that abstract concepts may also be introduced directly).

Abstraction is necessary but insufficient to capture the ultimate. To attempt to capture the ultimate, we formulate an articulated system (or systems) of terms (which, since terms are in the world, refer also to terms) and select for fit. We will find such a system—precise, necessary, and perhaps of unique net meaning—at a general (inclusive) and abstract level. We will fill out the system with concrete and pragmatic knowledge that will be neither precise nor complete, but will find that, as the best available to limited beings, the join of the abstract and the pragmatic is perfect, relative to discovery and realization of the ultimate in and from our world.

How is limitlessness of the universe shown and how is the way developed? Two ingredients are ‘abstraction’ and ‘system’.

Being and beings

A being (plural, beings) is that to which applies any form of the verb to be, not just standard or received but also realistically conceived and conceivable (note that the verb to be is exemplified by ‘is’, not in ‘it is good’ but as ‘it is’); and being is that which characterizes all beings and only beings. From the conception of being, it includes becoming.

An effective (‘operational’) conception of being and beings will be given later, in being and beings, an effective conception.

The essence is in the later section, being and beings, an effective conception.

The possible

An object (defined later as a being or an as if being) is possible if there is nothing in its conception or the nature of the real that rules out existence, i.e., if it may be a being. There is more than one kind of possibility. A fundamental distinction is between merely conceptual vs real possibility. A being has conceptual possibility (logical possibility—that which does not violate logic in its deductive sense: if a premise is true, the inferred conclusion is also true) if its conception alone does not rule out its existence (a common conception of logic is, simply, valid or correct thinking and a special but important aspect of this conception is that of inference, especially deductive inference—however, the latter, in itself, can also be seen to determine possible structure, or, given premises, about actual structure, which conception, in analogy to differential equations with boundary conditions, may be expanded to include determination of necessary premises, and this expansion has also named ‘argument’). A being has real possibility if its existence is not ruled out by the nature of the universe (the universe is all being; a cosmos is a formed part of the universe; see the universe and the void for details). There are various kinds of real possibility—e.g., pragmatic, economic, political, and ethical. But interest here is in more basic kinds (the interest in these pragmatic cases, is more in feasibility than possibility). An object has physical possibility if it does not violate local physical law; cosmological possibility is physical possibility for a cosmos subject to specific conditions for the cosmos. Real (and therefore cosmological and physical) possibility must satisfy conceptual possibility. Therefore, conceptual (logical) possibility is the most permissive or ‘greatest’. While a cosmos may be less than its possibility, for the universe the possible and the actual (real) are identical. Though conceptual possibility may exceed real possibility, the excess cannot be true possibility. Therefore, we may question whether we ought to limit conceptual possibility to real possibility. That will not be found necessary, for real possibility will be found identical to conceptual possibility.

An object is necessary, if its nonexistence is not possible (i.e., impossible)

We are experiential beings

Experience—the concept and its significance

Experience is consciousness and awareness in all their forms. Experience is the ‘place of our being’ and (sense of) significance.

We are actively experiential beings capable of influencing our world and future. As experiential our being is ‘higher’ than that of some others, but it is not suggested that it is the highest. We may (and will) find that there are beings that are limitlessly higher than we are (i.e., than our limited perception of our form).

That we are experiential does not mean that we are merely ‘mind stuff’ or that we are immaterial; experience has a subject or mind-like side (‘experience of’) and an object or matter-like side (‘the experienced’) which constitute experience itself, which is, therefore, seen to be relational (subject and object will be further clarified later).

Experience is not inert but is in the form of having intended reference even in what is called pure experience; therefore, there are no exceptions to the relationality of experience.

‘Experience of’ is a concept (in the sense of experiential content of a subject) and ‘the experienced’ is a real object or being (when the experience of is only seeming, the as if experienced is an as if object—and an object is either a real object or an as if object (fictional objects, e.g., Sherlock Holmes, are as if); note that an as if object can be seen as a real object if the concept itself is regarded as the object (it is an object—and that it is, is the reason some philosophers talk of ‘mental objects’, which are here eschewed), which may be a useful extension of the concept real, but I have yet to determine usefulness). Meaning is a concept and its possible objects. In linguistic meaning, the concept is associated with a sign (concept and sign may be elementary or complex and the sign-concept is a symbol). Knowledge is meaning realized.

There are two cases in which the world is fundamentally experiential in an elementary sense—(a) if the world reduces to a single substance (in this case the world must be experiential) and (b) if the world is limitless (in this case the world is effectively experiential, for even elements without experience would have zero rather than null experientiality). This does not imply or even suggest that the elements are conscious in the way of higher beings but that the consciousness of higher beings is constituted of the experiential aspect of the elements in combination (that is compartmentalized but interactive, layered, bright, and focal).

Dimensions of psyche

The previous section is a high-level view of experience. This is one place where it would be good to treat the details of experience as in, e.g., psychology. However, it is better to defer the treatment to dimensions of experience.

Informal summary of the section

Being and beings, an effective conception

Being and beings

Being is existence and beings are existents.

But what is ‘an existent’ and what is ‘existence’? Given a concept that has reference, what is referred to is an existent (a being) whose name is the same as that of the concept—and existence (being) is the property that marks existents as existents (beings as beings). Thus, an example of an existent (or being), given later, is ‘the universe’, whose concept is ‘all being’. Where precision is not available via abstraction, a tentative thought is to think of the name-referring concept-referred object as the existent (the being).

A distinction made in philosophical thought is between the concepts of ‘being’ and ‘object’. The latter is more inclusive—in addition to real beings, it includes as if beings, ideas that we talk about as if they are beings but are not. For example, the fictional character is a real conception, and an object, but not a being. The distinction has limited importance for our purpose, and we could use ‘being’ as identical to ‘object’.

An objection to ‘being’ as ‘existence’ is that “everything exists”; but with objects as conceived above, not all objects exist (and thus we do not need to appeal to response “so what?”, even though it would not be invalid to do so). The foregoing thought is one negation what is more or less the same objection—i.e., that existence is not a concept or a merely trivial concept. A second objection is that the conception is trivial and omits the richness of the world; we respond that it is trivial but not merely so and its generality with abstraction makes for depth, which, we will see, grounds the ‘richness of being’ securely.

What has being?

We now have a way of determining what has being—any actual object of a concept is a being (i.e., objects that are only as if are not beings). This way or method of identifying beings will be used to identify beings in what follows. The method is and will be found powerful as it confirms beinghood in obvious cases and determines beinghood when it would otherwise be in doubt.

A being is an existent (plurals—beings, existents) and being is existence.

Informal summary of the section

The universe and the void

The universe is all being. The universe is a being.

A cosmos part of the universe that is currently formed, has (near) uniformity of its elements (i.e., it is substance like) and which acts somewhat as an integral whole via causation. Our cosmos, as a physical cosmos, is the physical place of our world. There is nothing in the concept of ‘cosmos’ that suggests that our cosmos or any cosmos is near the universe in magnitude, variety, and duration.

A being has a pattern if the information to specify it is less than the raw information. Patterns may be the result of formedness that results from formation. A law of nature (or just law) is a pattern that is immanent in a being, typically a cosmos. Laws of nature are beings as they are patterns that are immanent in being.

The void is the absence of being and may be said to exist because its existence and nonexistence are equivalent. The void is a being but has no (manifest) sub-beings and so there are no laws in the void.

Informal summary of the section

Limitlessness of the universe and its beings

Since the void has no laws, all possible beings emerge from the void (the contrary would be a law). Consequences of this powerful conclusion follow.

The universe is the realization of possibility—it is the greatest possible, it is limitless (i.e., if a concept is logical, it is realized and thus limitlessness is not merely ‘infinite’).

The demonstrated assertion above is named the fundamental principle of metaphysics (or, just, the fundamental principle).

The consequences for the extent, duration, variety, and peak of being, are immense—limitless, perhaps beyond (our) comprehension. Our (known) linguistic modes of expression and their forms (logic) may be infinitesimal compared to the limitless ultimate modes of expression and therefore also of the real (at a basic level, while our physics might imply that perception is discrete and perhaps finite, and while our language is discrete and perhaps finite, the cognition of beings higher than us may be infinite of limitless order—it may be the absolute infinite or limitless—it is the absolute infinite).

Some further consequences, which reveal an abstract or metaphysics are—

The universe—being—is experiential and relational; it has identity; it phases in and out of manifestation; it is limitless in extent, duration, variety, and peak of being (limitless being named peak being which is perhaps absolute being as state, relation, process, or some combination of such descriptors of situatedness).

A picture is this—there are limitlessly many cosmoses of limitless variety, and more, all in ultimate and transient-at-least-low-level transaction with one another, the void, and the whole. Every cosmos is an atom and every atom a cosmos; the universe has Mandelbrot set / fractal like aspects, even if invisible to us. Therefore, when it is said that we have multiple lives as part of overarching being, it is not implied that it occurs (or not) in our cosmos; rather, it occurs across the limitless universe.

There are beings that are ‘higher’ than human being, but peak being (God) is not higher in that we are part of it (i.e., its state-relation-process and so on). How may we visualize this? Imagine a scene at lake, the wind does not quite ruffle the water, it is teeming with living activity—the coming and going, the competition and cooperation of creatures and species; see yourself as part of it; think of it, not as life branching as in evolutionary accounts, but as living form arising from primality, as if inevitable; it is a phase in the process named peak being. You are part of that process.

Individuals inherit this limitlessness, they realize peak being (which is not inconsistent as they merge in doing so); apparent limits are real but not absolute; there are intelligent and effective pathways to the ultimate; pleasure and pain and suffering are real, neither to be compulsively sought nor compulsively avoided, and their ideal resolution is to address them while being on a path to the ultimate, as best we may; enjoyment is appreciation of all experience including pleasure, pain, emotion, and cognition; if enjoyment is a value, it follows that there is an imperative to be on and be creative of paths to the ultimate, intelligently rather than compulsively.

Why do we not see past and future lives? Perhaps we can but have not yet seen how to see, but even if we do not explicitly transcend our non-seeing in this life, it will be transcended in our higher lives, in which our vision transcends our particular being. We would then see our universal connectedness without effort in all lives of that level and higher, on up to peal being. It is important that, given that we can conceive of our connectedness in this life, it is worthwhile to make the attempt to see and realize the connection, rather than to be passive about it because “it will happen anyway”.

These conclusions constitute an abstract or ideal metaphysics, precise from abstraction on the conceptual side, a framework and foundation for the way of being.

Essence

The real metaphysics

Pathways will also have a universal side with local—pragmatic—and ultimate aspects. The ultimate aspects are given in the fundamental principle and its ideal metaphysics. For the local we appeal to tradition—cumulative human knowledge, reason, and exploration of the real to the very present. Though limited by its received criteria, it is the best we have in our limited in process form (if it is not the best possible it has aims in that direction), and since the ultimate is given, it is ideal or perfect toward the aim of discovery and realization of the ultimate. Therefore, we join the ideal metaphysics and tradition. The ideal illuminates and guides tradition and tradition illustrates and is instrumental toward the ideal. The join is a dynamic and perfect (in the sense noted above) whole and named the real metaphysics (or just the metaphysics).

That the metaphysics is perfect in the given sense changes but does not eliminate the significance of current and received metaphysics and related disciplines.

While the concept of logic employed earlier is that of ‘deductive logic’, two extensions are now indicated. First to the inclusion of fact. Since deduction is necessary inference, the consequences are limited only if the premises are true (facts). The extension to inclusion of—establishment of—fact has been named argument. Though some facts are limited by limits of (our) perception and instruments, some are necessary. For example—that there is the universe and all the ideal consequences above. The second extension is to science. The ‘logic of science’ has been said to be that of ‘induction’ in contrast to deduction. But that is based on an improper analogy—comparing inference under deductive logic to inference to scientific theories. The proper comparisons are inference to logical systems with inference to scientific theories (both incompletely certain) and inference under deduction to inference under science (both certain in core cases and far more certain in other typical cases). Given the structural similarity, science and deduction may be joined as ‘general logic’, which includes inference and establishment of fact (on the side of science, facts are typically imprecise, but given that science is not perfectly precise, this, though a limit, is not a problematic limit).

Two terms related to general logic are reason and rationality, which we will here understand as having to do with discovering and acting upon a good—perhaps best—path of action (reason will refer to the capacity and rationality to its use). An occasional objection to the rationality of rationality is that it depends on value. But that does not make rationality non-rational for value itself is subject to reflection and process and it is conceivable that there are some necessary values (which we find to be the case in talking of imperatives in limitlessness of the universe and its beings).

This is a good place to introduce the idea of yoga, which is seemingly conceptually and perhaps, since the terms are from different cultures, culturally distant from reason. When we consider a range of world cultures and their approaches to ‘careful thinking and acting’ we find a plethora of terms and explanations which seem to constitute an unsummable diversity. This is good for scholars to demonstrate their skill. However, it leaves the human world of thought and action unnecessarily complex and disunited. The yoga expert presents yoga as if it is a finished, fine honed system. It is fine honed—but unfinished. Yoga, the way of seeing and becoming the essence of universal being, is ever in process—has finish, but is yet experimentally, conceptually, and immanently (actively), ever in process.

Doubt

Doubt will arise on many fronts. Only the main doubt will be mentioned. There is further treatment of doubt about the way in the older field manual and general doubt in doubt and reason (see resources).

The main doubt concerns the consistency and validity of the metaphysics. This is addressed in two parts—the ideal and the pragmatic sides. The pragmatic side is the region of tradition considered to have validity. Even if it has imprecision and unrecognized contradictions, these are not problematic for it is understood to be a rough complement to the precision of the ideal. We therefore address the ideal.

The ideal side concerns the fundamental principle. From its equivalence to logic, it is internally consistent. And while it may seem to be at odds with empirical knowledge, it is not. For where it may seem to contradict what we know of the empirical world, it does not. Rather, it says the apparently contradictory states—or laws—occur in other worlds or cosmoses within the universe. Thus, it is internally and externally consistent. That it is valid follows from its demonstration.

One may and should doubt the demonstration. In that case, given consistency, other proper and foundational attitudes to the fundamental principle may be held (i) as a fundamental postulate &or (ii) as an existential principle of action.

Metaphysics and method

Does the metaphysics have method(s)? Let us contemplate—perhaps we may arrive at some definitiveness. As conceived here, metaphysics is knowledge of the world. The framework or ‘outer limit’ of that knowledge is precise and complete in that it refers to the entire-universe-in-abstract, but the ‘fill in’ is neither precise nor complete, is ever in process for beings while limited, but, for the aim of the way, does not need to be precise, complete, or final. Since language, words, and reason are in the world, while they are the objects of special disciplines, they also belong to metaphysics. In the abstract, precise knowledge of the real and of our descriptions of the real emerge together—as illustrated in the abstract system-with-reason that had been developed above. At the abstract level the critical side—and demonstration or proof—is well founded (and often trivial); in the concrete it is, as we have seen for knowledge of things, limited and in process but has a perfection. In the concrete there is a vast array of received metaphysics and related disciplines to which we have recourse. Imagination, as we are seeing is essential (i) in conceiving the content of the universe (subject, of course, to criticism) (ii) in creating systems of critical thought (also subject to criticism). In received thought criticism often stands as more important than imagination, but that is because criticism is capable of (or at least has been) being standardized and public, whereas imagination is private and not routine—at least, not entirely. Imagination and critical thought are empty without one another (but critical thought is pushed by the intellectual police and stern educators).

On the pragmatic side, metaphysics and method are perfect in the senses stated earlier.

Dimensions of experience

Dimensions of experience are the different ‘regions’ and functions of experience or psyche, viewed as objects as well as in their relations and dynamics.

The treatment is placed here (i) as the metaphysics enables a more complete treatment (ii) as a useful preliminary to the next section, dimensions of being.

The details of this section remain to be written.

Dimensions of being

Dimensions of being are ways or modes (of description) of the real that are intrinsic to and instrumental in realization in this world and beyond.

The pure dimension

The pure dimension of being is primarily concerned with ultimates in realization (which are abstract and ideal in character).

The pure dimension or character of ultimate process may be described as experiential being in form and formation as the world on the way to the ultimate (superposed on a background of limitless process, which includes randomness, transience, and null experientiality).

Pragmatic dimensions

While the above is ideal, we know from inference to the real metaphysics, that the local need not be ideal. We choose disciplines typical of western culture. The description that follows may seem to derive from a material worldview (‘materialism’) but may also be derived from and experiential worldview (thus the ideal, the approach from being, the cultures of the east, and the existential thought of the west are not excluded).

The chosen local and pragmatic dimensions are the natural, the social, and the universal.

Nature is ground which appears to have fixed and flexible aspects (elementary or physical, complex—or living, and experiential as intrinsic to the ground), which give rise to society and creativity (i.e., critical imaginativeness).

society (from community to civilization, formed from nature and deploying nature seen as a mix of fixed and formable, and society’s cultural, political-economic-and-ethical aspects—it is essential to view the political, economic, and ethical as interactive, even though they have distinction—and universal depictions of the world) in which we understand and further deploy nature and so find nature to be further flexible. This flexibility gives rise to the ideas of the universal and the ultimate.

In detail—the cultural encompasses language, custom, science, reason, metaphysics, and human knowledge and exploration, generally; economics is about organization and distribution of resources—means and principles; politics concerns group decision and its organization, practical and ideal, whose address is immersive and instrumental; ethics is seen as being about good ideals and ends, right actions, and virtuous behavior and thought, but, though ought to be given weight, the significance of different ethical systems, folk and philosophical, is unclear, and, further, it is not at all clear to what extent and in what manner they universalize: ethics ought to remain experimental and reflective.

Real metaphysics shows the universal to be absolutely flexible in its (our) realization of the ultimate (knowledge of which arises at first speculatively out of attempts to understand the world, and its formability, but is seen as limitlessly formable under the real metaphysics). The universal (ultimate) begins with understanding of limitlessness, and yogic and instrumental intention and action toward its realization. It merges with culture in art, science, philosophy, exploration, and spirituality and religion-in-an-ideal-sense.

Paradigms of form and formation

On paradigms

A paradigm is a way to explain or understand the form and formation—being and becoming—of beings (e.g., individuals, species, and cosmoses). The explanations are generally in terms of something more fundamental than (or prior to) the explained. A paradigm is ultimate if it needs no further explanation—i.e., is self-evident or self-demonstrating (which would seem circular, but, though it is not done in this essay, perhaps we may find exceptions) or, as in axiomatic systems, if it is a postulate. A paradigm that is not ultimate is proximate.

Paradigms may enable (a) prediction of formation (b) evaluation of population of a form in the universe. The prediction or evaluation will be with some degree of confidence or probability and may be certain in some cases. A certain paradigm is one for which, given the premise, the form or formation necessarily obtains. A paradigm that is not certain is possible or probable (in some cases and contexts, the possible will be found to be crucial—certainly more important than may be thought). An absolute paradigm is one that is ultimate and certain.

Sources of paradigms

When we seek foundations, we do not begin with foundation (in fact, we cannot, for even when it seems that we do, there is tacit reference to ground); therefore, we begin where we are and work down toward and from ground and up toward and from the universal.

Paradigms arise

1. Situation-outward (begin where we are)—the immediate in interaction with the outer limit of empirical knowledge; it is then, in this foundationless or prefoundational situation that we seek foundational paradigms—

2. Foundational paradigms—

(a) Ground-up (incremental, concrete and empirical or abstract and axiomatic—syntactic and semantic), and

(b) Universe-down (absolute, abstract, and global).

The paradigms

The following are some useful paradigms. There is some attempt at completeness, both in detail and in principle.

Paradigms arising from our situation

Fact > pattern > abstraction > science and logic.

Paradigms arising ground-up

Introduction—these paradigms, which generally derive from tradition, usually have probable purchase (it is necessarily true that they hold in some cases), and are proximate explanations.

Some paradigms from western science and philosophy are variation and selection as a means of formation of form and mechanism as process within form (on a determinism-indeterminism continuum of residual indeterminism, with causation).

Variation-and-selection explains robustness of form in a transient background and together with formed cosmoses of higher experientiality, it explains the effective population of the universe by sentient form, and it explains apparent design.

Emergence is of two types—of form and complexity in a robust cosmos and of apparent kind in the greater transient realm of the universe.

Paradigms arising from an abstract of the universe

Introduction—these paradigms are certain and may also be ultimate and therefore absolute; their explanations are necessary.

Universe (seen abstractly)-down—logic, limitlessness, possibility -and- necessity (over probability and contingency), and necessary metaphysics; limitlessness of the universe implies it to be experiential (with no ‘higher’ kind, since relation of relation is relation).

Particularly, these paradigms explain necessary design and design that is both spontaneous at root but absolute in manifestation. Though they have derivation from tradition, they require further critical and meta-critical analysis and imagination.

Paradigms of necessity or certainty include necessary metaphysics as logic; the conclusion to existence of the void and the fundamental principle exemplifies absoluteness.

Informal summary of the section

The Way of Being

Its aim

This section is a summary of prologue to the way of being adapted to characterizing the way of being.

Human purpose ranges from acceptance of our world to discovering and realizing the ultimate—via experiment and worldviews. But we found the world of common worldviews is infinitesimal in comparison to the universe.

We found the universe—all beings—to be limitless. And that, if we have not seen it, to see the fact and range of limitlessness requires tearing down our intuition with criticism and building up a new view via imagination with care to avoid wayward speculation.

The aim of the way of being is to discover and realize the ultimate in and from the immediate world.

On the way of being

This section is a summary of limitlessness of the universe and its beings adapted to framing the way of being.

The universe is the realization of the greatest possibility I.e., given a reasonable (‘consistent’) conception, it is realized somewhere (though not at all necessarily in our cosmos). Thus, the universe—being—has identity, is experiential, and relational; and the extent, duration, variety, and peak of being, named peak being, are without limit, and the limitlessness occurs not only remotely but is immanent ‘everywhere’ even if invisible to us and our instruments. The universe phases in and out of manifestation. It has cosmoses without limit on kind or number. It has fractal, e.g., Mandelbrot set, structure in parts, even if this is not visible to us.

Individuals inherit this limitlessness, they realize peak being (which is not inconsistent as they merge in doing so); apparent limits are real but not absolute; there are intelligent and effective pathways to the ultimate; PLEASURE and PAIN and SUFFERING are real, neither to be compulsively sought nor compulsively avoided, and their ideal resolution is to address them while being on a path to the ultimate, as best we may; ENJOYMENT is appreciation of all experience including pleasure, pain, emotion, and cognition; if enjoyment is a value, it follows that there is an IMPERATIVE to be on and be creative of paths to the ultimate, intelligently rather than compulsively.

These conclusions constitute an abstract or ideal metaphysics, precise from abstraction on the conceptual side, a framework and foundation for the way of being.

Further essence is in the earlier section, limitlessness of the universe and its beings > essence of the section.

Ways of being

A source for this section is ways and pathways (see resources).

Because the way in the little book is presented in principle, readers may follow compatible aspects of ‘received ways’, of which some are presented below, briefly. A second reason to consider these ways is for later incorporation of appropriate elements in the way of being.

A received way of being—e.g., a religion, a practical metaphysics, or a secular way—has a set of ideas such as a world view or cosmology or the way the world is and our place in it including conceptions of this and ultimate worlds, a communal system, a moral system for behavior in all worlds, a system of reward and punishment for this world and beyond, and a pathway, pathways, or ways of realization in the immediate world and beyond that aim at realization of the ultimate. Though received ways may fall short of ideal both empirically and rationally, they have elements that may be useful.

There is a range of primal, traditional, and modern approaches to this aim. The modern include the secular and transsecular.

Primal

Primal ways are ways of peoples living in close contact with nature, e.g., Shamanism, Dreamtime, and Shinto. There may be a spirit world behind the real and affecting the real world including our behavior. Beliefs are empirical in that confirmation strengthens while disconfirmation weakens them. They are not empirical in that specific beliefs are not necessarily connected to atomic facts and in that there may be a surfeit of belief (but the resulting holism has strengths).

Traditional

In an Abrahamic Religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) there are heaven and hell, reward and punishment for belief and behavior, a powerful and somewhat remote God that rewards and punishes, and, typically, a strict moral code. The barrenness of these religions (as seen by some people) has been ascribed by Joseph Campbell as due to their being ‘religions of the desert’. Their system of belief, reward, and punishment, may have a powerful hold on minds, induces fear as well as comfort, and has powerful historical and political and therefore economic influence.

Eastern religions stand in contrast to the Abrahamic in being more varied. Their metaphysical core is more grounded. In one version, Buddhism, the universe is a web of causation, ‘God’ is not important, and thus there is a solution to the problem of suffering and achievement of nirvana as the result of following a prescribed moral path, the eightfold way, in this or some future life. In a metaphysical abstract of Hinduism (sourced in, e.g., Advaita Vedanta), the universe is experiential (as are we), shades in and out of manifest being, has phases of peak being (‘Brahman’ which is not a remote God), to which we belong. The way is to see this truth and to follow an eightfold path (which may have been absorbed from Buddhism).

Secular

A generic secularism recognizes only experience and experienced based science as true knowledge, but may acknowledge a spiritual dimension of the psyche, though not of the real.

Secular humanism is characterized by some of the following. It recognizes only the natural and social worlds and rejects the extranatural (but aspects of the natural world may be seen as God). We (human beings) superior to nature, are inherently capable of some moral thought, attitudes, and behavior, but are not inherently good or evil. Science and philosophy are major sources of truth; to practice science and philosophy is or may be an element of secular humanism. Utilitarianism is the most common ethics, at least pragmatically. The concern for the individual and for humankind is fulfillment, growth, and creativity. Building a better world for ourselves and our children is possible and a primary value and may be achieved with “reason, an open exchange of ideas, good will, and tolerance”. Tolerance is good—it is acceptance of difference and the non-normative but is not agreement with thought or acceptance of behavior that is harmful or intolerant; yet its attitude to intolerance is, where possible, to understand and prevent it rather than to isolate and punish it. Secular humanism does not accept the speculative dogmatic aspect of religions as literal truth, but it may appeal to those and other aspects of religion for inspiration, symbolic meaning, and spirituality (as pointing to higher being).

Modern transsecular

Regarding modern transsecularism, we mention (i) new interpretations of traditional and primal systems, combined among themselves and with modern knowledge and (i) new religions.

In this connection recognize that religion is not to be defined by the religions—the empirical, which there is a tendency to see as definitive, is not definitive even though it is informative. Given that the secular is limited, and detailed empirical knowledge is not immediately to be had for the transsecular region, there is a place for rational, experimental, and exploratory action in that region. We may name that activity religion, and it may be conceived as entire being (inclusive of all its capacities) on the way to all being.

Informal summary of the section

Pathways to the ultimate

This section encapsulates the way in two comprehensive, generic, and adaptable templates—everyday and universal. The clear reason for this design is that the templates be adaptable to a range of life situations and ways to be a path and share paths in and from the immediate to the ultimate. A second but just as important reason is that adaptability enables negotiation and shared development of paths, rather than just following.

Sources for this section are ways and pathways and templates, dedication, and pathways (a pdf document for which there is also an html version), (see resources).

Everyday activity and template

As experience has two sides, the experience and the experienced, there are intrinsic and instrumental aspects of being on a path, each with sufficient attention to material needs, to quality of life in the immediate, and progress toward the ultimate. A daily routine will therefore involve (i) yoga—physical exercises and action integrated with meditative activities conditioned by exercises (these constitute yoga and are reflected in spiritual pathways) (ii) instrumental attention to the needs of body, mind, and community—with attention to love, work, and realization in the immediate and ultimate.

A normal home daily routine can be constructed. For example, the following could be set in tabular form with details from above, rise ® realize ® review times ® yoga, continue realization ® ground, tasks ® lunch ® exercise ® afternoon ® evening ® sleep. Yoga in action continues the above into life; yoga is not merely a practice.

An away routine can be constructed. It would be similar to the home routine, but would deemphasize ‘maintaining’ while emphasizing immersion, exploration, discovery, and learning.

For details see the sources above—pathways to the ultimate—and the resources below.

Universal action and template

The elements of a pathway are as follows. These are intended as more or less comprehensive over the significant kinds of action. An individual or group will choose some of the elements for focus.

Being in the world—yoga practice and action, retreat and renewal, community; and development and execution of the way.

Becoming—the pragmatic dimensions for our world—nature (a source—‘beyul’, portal, and inspiration), civilization (the dimensions of social activity above economics, politics, ideas and culture, art, religious-spiritual sources, immersion in and attention to challenges and opportunities of our world). Civilizing the universe (via yoga, science, and technology of exploration and simulated being or artificial intelligence).

Pure being and the universal. Realizing peak being in the present—appears to be rarely achieved in this life which is a beginning that is continued beyond death. The immediate means items above, the everyday template, and retreat; wide-ranging means are the metaphysics, and the way and their development, which are open.

Projects—(1) Being in the world, (2) The Way of Being, (3) Yoga—development, practice to action, for the world and beyond, (4) politics and economics—instrumental and immersive, pragmatic focus and focus on world challenges and opportunities and world problems and opportunities (see resources), with considerations on ethics—the right, the good, and the virtuous—and its nature, (5) ideas, culture, and art (emphasis to be defined), (6) civilizing the universe, and (7) ways of realizing peak being in the present and beyond.

For details see the sources above (pathways to the ultimate).

The generic character of the programs encourages more than just following—it encourages negotiation and development of ways and pathways and, so, full engagement in realization.

Comprehensive and detailed programs may be developed from templates, dedication, and pathways (see resources).

The everyday routine and universal program are captured in template, dedication, and pathways (see resources).

Retreat

A retreat is a time away from ‘normal’ society so as to return with renewal in some manner—here, in the worldview of the way and commitment to the way. The away-ness may be real or virtual. A real retreat may be alone, e.g., in nature—beyul (see resources), or communal, for both nature and community may sustain living truth. A first aim of retreat is to see, reason, and sustain the true worldview, which is the real metaphysics and its consequences—it is programming in (the truth of) the real. Retreat is not withdrawal. Though we think our worldviews are sustained by reason, they are most often sustained by being the norm of community (even if also based in reason). Since the worldview of the way is not the norm, it requires renewal. It is typical that a renewal should occur about two times a year. That is one of the purposes of retreat. Another purpose is the practice of the worldview in action. The retreat may be simultaneous with and overlap immersion in nature as the real (beyul).

Retreat is an occasion to reinforce the way via isolation from world community, perhaps also in communication with reinforcing community and nature as inspiration to and source for the real.

The purpose of retreat is to renew attitude to the world and path, and to reinforce the truth of the way where it goes beyond what is valid in ‘ordinary truth’.

Epilogue

The epilogue is in the essence.

Though reflection is not withdrawal, it is now time for me to be in the world acting and informed by the way and its development.

Others—you the readers—are invited to share the process with me (see Anil Mitra for contact information).

Informal summary of the section

Resources

The following resources emphasize discovery and realization, but also cover development of the way.

A main point of entry to resources is—

1. The Way of Being website home page—http://www.horizons-2000.org (may be explored for resources).

Some resources of specific interest to the little book are at—home > resources > resources for use in discovery and realization >

2. Received ways and pathways for yoga, meditation, and traditional ways of being and realization,

3. Path templates, dedication, and affirmation (html),

4. A system of human knowledge (supplement to the system),

5. Nature as source and inspiration—beyul,

6. Doubt is addressed in doubt and reason and the field manual below.

Some resources for development are home > resources > resources for development of the way >

7. An older field manual.

Further resources for immersion and action in the world are at home > design > topics for study > general concerns >

8. Some world problems and opportunities and challenges and opportunities of the world.

The resources provide a point of entry to the way and its development.

When the occasion and opportunity arise, the system will be expanded upon in future versions of the way.

A catalog of beings

The following derives from being and beings, an effective conception > what has being and the intervening sections. The field manual, above, also catalogs beings.

With sufficient abstraction, being is a being.

Anything that is a true (i.e., not as if) reference of a concept of a possible being—e.g., entities, states, processes, relationships, concrete and abstract objects, experiences and concepts, universals (e.g., redness), tropes (e.g., the redness of a red ball).

Whole, part, and the null part. The universe, cosmoses, worlds, elements, transients from the void, the void.

Experiential beings on a hierarchy from elementary beings (particles or fields insofar as real) to elementary living beings through animals and human beings, to higher beings (higher than we see on Earth), to local ‘gods’, and on to peak being.

The brief catalog is foundation for a detailed system and resource in negotiating the rungs of being.

A metaphysical vocabulary

The terms below are lifted from the text in the form they appear there. Some terms will be changed, e.g., ‘possible’ and ‘necessary’ will become ‘possibility’ and ‘necessity’. It remains to essentialize and order.

It is a project to work on refining and alternatives to the preliminary essential system, below.

Introduction

The aim is to have, at least in abstract, a sufficient vocabulary, keeping in mind that metaphysics is an overarching discipline that includes method, abstract systematics, science, logic, ethics, and epistemology. The following list of 151 terms, listed in their order of appearance, is tentative. A tentative list of important concepts is by bold font.

A first system

The way of being, human being, foresight, destiny, worldview, aim of the way, discover, realize, abstract, system, a being (beings), to be, being, becoming, possible, conceptual possibility, logic, deductive, real possibility, feasibility, physical possibility, cosmological possibility, necessary, impossible, experience (concept, subject), significance, real object, as if object, object, meaning, linguistic meaning, sign, symbol, knowledge, being, beings, existent, existence, universe, cosmos, formed, element, substance, causation, world, pattern, law of nature, law, void, limitless, limitlessness, fundamental principle of metaphysics, peak being, god, identity, pathways, pleasure, pain, suffering, enjoyment, imperative, tradition, the real metaphysics, argument, science, general logic, reason, rationality, yoga, attitude, method, metaphysics, demonstration, proof, dimensions of experience, dimensions of being, pure dimension, experiential being, form, formation, material, worldview, pragmatic dimensions, nature, physical, living, experiential, creativity, society, community, civilization, cultural, economics, politics, ethics, universal, paradigm, ultimate, proximate, certain, probable, absolute, situation, variation and selection, mechanism, robustness, apparent design, emergence, apparent kind, necessary design, way, received way, pathway, primal ways, Abrahamic religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, Brahman, secularism, secular humanism, good, evil, truth, utilitarianism, tolerance, spirituality, modern transsecularism, religion, intrinsic, instrumental, meditative, practice, action, beyul, culture, art, religious-spiritual, technology of exploration, simulated being, artificial intelligence, this life, death, retreat, commitment, universal text, resource, renewal, whole, part, null part.

A preliminary essential system

The concepts are arranged in conceptually cohesive units, separated by a diamond.

Destiny, worldview (secular and transsecular), limits (of the worldviews), limitlessness (consistency), aim w abstraction, terms, inference (elementary logic), system w experience, significance, concept, subject, object, relation (no higher kind), being (becoming, beings), meaning, knowledge, dimensions of experience (introduce here, but treat with or just before dimensions of being) w chain of being, whole – part – null, universe, cosmos, world, element, void, hierarchy of experiential being – sentience through agency w possibility (kinds), logic, argument, metaphysics, limitlessness, form and formation (substance), science, law w fundamental principle, abstract metaphysics, tradition, pragmatic knowledge, the real metaphysics, method, general logic, reason, rationality, yoga w doubt (metaphysical doubt regarding the way and Cartesian doubt regarding robust vs thin reality), attitude, proof w sameness, difference, identity, situation (its parameters), extension-duration-being (space-time-matter; there is at least an argument for no further parameters of situation) w range of being (identity, duration, extension, variety), cosmos, world, peak being, dissolution, individual, limits (real but not absolute), death, realization, way, pleasure, pain, enjoyment (of experience), imperative, pathway, yoga (reason) w dimensions of being, paradigms (of explanation and prediction) w ways and pathways w the way of being, means, design (aim of design), programs [everyday-immediate (dedication, affirmation), universal-ultimate, retreat, resources], the immediate and the ultimate as one.