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The way of being Introduction The way of being may appeal to those who see scientific-empirical views of the world as true but incomplete, who see religious and metaphysical attempts at completion as inadequate, and who seek beyond the world as known so far. The way of being is a search for discovery and realization of the ultimate for, in, and from the immediate world. The document is not a manual (which might inhibit initiative and devolve into dogma); its aim is to show an essence—a framework upon which others can build. The document is simple in form; difficulty might arise as follows—First, in its minimalism, the document addresses address of some of the deepest problems of thought, but the address is only implicit… and the problems are, whether and to what extent perfect and ultimate knowledge is possible and how it may be arrived at; the nature, support, and fate of the being of the universe and its beings; what aims and actions are therefore desirable; and how the perfect and the imperfect mesh. Second, meanings of concepts are intended as defined (small capitals mark definitions); the given meanings should not be confused with other extant meanings; and the meanings are not merely atomic, for individual terms and arguments build toward and derive from system meaning. Third, definiteness and perfect knowledge of the objects as defined through ‘universe as a field of experiential being’, below, follow from their abstraction, which is to remove from a concept all detail except that which corresponds precisely to the object. The way of being A being is that which exists; being is existence. The universe is all being; the universe is a being. The void is the absence of being; since its existence and nonexistence are equivalent, the void may be validly said to exist; the void is a being; the void has no sub-beings. Logic is that which has no exception (in any world). Therefore, the greatest possibility is logical (in a formal sense); real objects are innately logical; therefore, real possibility does not exceed logical possibility (physical law for our cosmos is an example of real possibility). A natural law is a pattern within the universe; laws are beings; there are no laws in the void. The void is equivalent to the greatest possibility, for the contrary would be a law in the void. The universe is the realization of the greatest possibility; from the abstraction of the concepts, this results in an ideal as follows. The universe has identity; the universe and its identity have limitless variety, extension, and duration; they endlessly phase in and out of the void state; they realize peak states of being without limit of any kind (it is understood that logic cannot be violated). All beings realize peak being; in doing so they merge as one. There are intelligent and effective pathways to the ultimate. Pain is unavoidable, but there are enjoyable pathways to the ultimate that best address the problem of pain. Every individual is original, so, while cultural pathways are a ground and an instrument, they are insufficient. There will always be impediments; the way is to give attention to both overcoming and realizing. Experience is conscious awareness in all its forms; all significance is seen in experience; we are essentially experiential beings, for without experiencing, we are effectively dead; the very root of being must be experiential in some primitive form (derivation omitted); the universe is a field of experiential being. It does not follow that the universe is or is not of mind or of matter, for experience has aspects that are—at least as if—of mind (the experience) and matter (the experienced). As we are experiential beings, the instrument of discovery and realization is experience with its as if mind and matter aspects. This instrument may be named, ‘yoga’, understood as derived from its traditions but itself part of ongoing discovery and realization. In this ultimate sense, yoga is and encompasses the best available cultural traditions (integration of the ideal and the cultural as a real unity is omitted) of philosophy, science, technology, and more, which (yoga) is understood to always be at a beginning and in process. |