The way of being
Anil Mitra, Copyright 1986 – 2025

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Contents

Plan

Being

Possibility

The ultimate

Elements of being

Enlightened pathways

The way of being

Plan

See design and planning.docm.

The way of being

Being

Being is existence; a being is an existent.

The universe is all being.

A cosmos is a causal domain with currently negligible interactions with the rest of the universe.

It is consistent with observation and reason for the universe to be the realization of the greatest possibility.

A law is a (reading of a) pattern of behavior for a significant range of phenomena.

The void is conceived as the absence of being—the being that contains no beings.

A being is (identical to) the being-and-the-void.

Existence and nonexistence of the void are equivalent; therefore the void exists.

The universe, cosmoses, the void, and laws are beings.

There are no laws of the void.

Possibility

If the concept of a being is such that

(i)              it is inherent in the concept that it can exist, it is logically possible (this entails a conception of logic),

(ii)            it is consistent with the nature of the universe (sub-domain) it has real (relative real or just relative) possibility (real possibility presumes and cannot exceed logical possibility).

Therefore, logical possibility is the greatest possibility.

The ultimate

If there is a possible being that does not emerge from the void, that would be a law.

But since the void has no laws, all possibilities (in the greatest sense of possibility) emerge from the void (and from every being).

The universe is the realization of the ultimate, i.e., of the greatest possibility (this is, of course, a framework for full knowledge of the ultimate).

Real and logical possibility have the same extension (but the extension of relative possibility is less than that of logical possibility).

All beings realize the ultimate (this is not a contradiction, for they merge in doing so).

The universe phases in and out of manifestation. Birth and death are real but not absolute. In birth, beings emerge from and in death they return to potential. Though we conceive this, we do not see it (discounting claims that some humans are aware of other lives). Higher forms of being see across multiple lives or manifestations. The highest forms are peak beings, in which lower beings merge—we are not apart from peak being.

Elements of being

Comment 1.              In other documents this is, e.g., Dimensions and paradigms of being

Experience is awareness in all its kinds and levels. Without it there is effectively no being. From limitlessness, experience extends to the root of being and the term effectively is superfluous.

The structure of experience is the subjective (‘experience of’) related (in experience) to the objective (‘the experienced’, which is neutral to objectivity in the sense of being devoid of subjectivity). Though being is neutral to substance, this structure is as-if mind bound to as-if mind as being-itself.

The following elements of being and means of process (becoming) may be recognized.

Pure

Element—experiential being itself (subject and object).

Means—binding or yoga of beings to being.

As-if substance

As-if mind

Elements—feeling, emotion, perception, thought, intention, will, and action (which are all bound together).

Means—metaphysics and meditation.

As-if object

The term, ‘as-if object’ is better than ‘as-if matter’ because mind (as-if) may be experienced.

Nature

Elements—nature with mind.

Means—natural sciences and technology.

Society

Elements—individuals and groups – community and society.

Means, emphasizing individuals—(i) ground – safety, security (finance, home – place and environs, community and relationships, social commitments, e.g., work roles; networking) (ii) living and deploying all (other) elements (dimensions) of being.

Comment 2.              Introduce the individual as a distinct class?

Means, emphasizing groups—sciences and institutions of groups, economics, politics, knowledge, exploration, art, and religion (religion with spirituality is understood as the entire being of individuals and groups employed in the realization of all and peak being).

Universal being

Elements—all above, especiall of pure being (in universality, the object rises to the level of being as subject-object).

Means—all above, especially of pure being and exploration of being, via science and technology, in and beyond our cosmos.

Enlightened pathways

Enlightenment

Comment 3.              In other documents, this may be ‘An enlightened pathway’; word ‘enlightenment’

Realization of the ultimate and its value are given; pleasure and pain (physical pain, doubt, anxiety) are unavoidable; however there are enlightened and efficient paths to the ultimate in which enjoyment (the ‘sum’ of emotion, particularly pleasure and pain—but note that emotion and cognition are intertwined) is ideal.

An enlightened pathway synthesizes (a) living well in and for the world (b) process toward the ultimate. It sees that pleasure and pain are unavoidable and seeks enjoyment via four ingredients:

(i)              Shared negotiation and enjoyment of paths—given that entire experiential being is agent and object of realization, full realization requires full participation of being in be-ing and becoming,

(ii)            It learns from but does not just follow prescribed ways, even with understanding—leaders arise but are not (seen as) sources of absolute truth.

(iii)          Seeing that pleasure for its own sake need not be avoided, but paths emphasize pleasure in being on the way—on the path,

(iv)           Addressing pain by (a) healthy living – physical, mental, communal, and spiritual (b) the able giving aid to the less able or fortunate and where appropriate, the best therapy of the time, and, especially—

enlightenment that avoids illusions of ideal perfection but seeks a pragmatic balance of emotion, pleasure and pain, perception and reason, will, and action on shared paths—which, as far as reasonable, seeks process through and not around pain.

Comment 4.              Regarding emotion, pleasure and pain, perception and reason, will, and action – have the italicized in one place and link or paste special from all other uses.

Enlightenment pertains to being on pathways to the ultimate; in received religion, enlightenment is often thought to be ideal perfection; however, real perfection as emerged here sees it as a balance of the ideal and the work – even struggle – of being on a path.

Pathways

Personal—beings

Defined above in elements of being.

Universal—being

Defined above in elements of being.

Program

A range of time frames

The program below is an amalgam of (i) the goals and elements of my life (ii) general options for planning focus of an individual-as-individual-as-communal-and-for-discovery-and-realization as a flexible routine. Readers may construct their own program from the program below.

Defining the program

The morning and the day items are daily and may be set up in a daily routine.

The path is a life endeavor and may be set up as a program for periods from a week through life, death, and beyond.

Morning

Awaken early – affirmation of being, dedication to realization, meditation on sustaining an attitude of achievement and equilibrium with others through distraction and pain, review priorities and how and when to die.

Recognition of ground issues—safety, security, focus on the way, health issues (medications, diet, mental and physical exercise, sleep), and discipline.

Morning tasks—medications and treatments, open files to edit, walk – stretch – vitamins – breakfast – fluids, set times and reminders.

The path

Developing and foundation for the way—ideas, experience, reflection, study, cowriting and editing, publishing, and presenting.

Living the way (one’s way)—ideas, attention to self – meditative and physical, immersion in nature and the real, attention to community – social action (see elements of being for aspects), attention to spiritual being, relations and networking, acting roles.

The day

Pressing and urgent action—being present to the real – emptiness now, security, safety, money, place, and pushing the way.

Daily and weekly tasks, lunch, review of plans and planning, preparation and planning for travel and immersion.

Exercise—aerobic, stretching, light weights; excursions and photography.

Evening rest and review, preparation for the next day, relaxation, social activities, networking; sleep early.

Summary

path programs—(i) morning routine and tasks (ii) the way – foundation and transformation, with relationships and sharing (iii) pressing and urgent agenda – emptiness now, security, safety, push and execute the way of being at personal and world levels (iii) tasks and lunch (iv) exercise (v) pm routine (vi) sleep early.