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The way
of being
Anil Mitra, Copyright
1986 – 2025
Home
Contents
Design, sources, essential
outline, styles, and more
The way
of being
Being
The
concept
Analysis
Why
being?
Universe
Cosmos
Laws
The void
Possibility
Ideal
metaphysics
Experience
Experience
and being
The
structure of experience
Real
metaphysics
Introduction
Real
metaphysics
Dimensions
and paradigms of being
Method
Limitlessness
of being
Cosmology
Value
Doubt and
certainty
General
doubt
Doubt
about the proof of limitlessness of the universe
Enlightened
pathways
Enlightenment
Attributes
and issues
Means
Pathways
The way of being
See design and planning.docm.
The way of being is shared discovery and realization of the
ultimate in and for our world and beyond.
Though the universe as all being
is commonly seen as limited, it will be shown that it is the realization of
possibility in its greatest sense.
Being
A being is an existent; being is existence.
In validly talking of a
particular being, we must know that the being is there. That is, we must have
a concept of the being. The hypothetical being that cannot be known is effectively
nonexistent. To exist is for there to be a real object corresponding to a
concept. Even in talking of a seemingly unspecified being ‘a being’ is a
specification or concept.
In asking what is real, what is
in the universe, and what is not, there is a tendency to think in terms of
individual and cultural experience, which may (i) be distorted, (ii) limited,
and therefore (iii) proliferate existents, kinds, and categories. Being is
neutral to the distinctions explicit or implied in these items, and therefore
avoids the errors they entail. This is part of its power (another part is
that it can also be a container for our being). However, that lack of kinds
and distinctions could be a weakness—it could even render being as
essentially a void concept. It will turn out that the reverse is the
case—that being is ultimately empowering, metaphysically (we will find an
ultimate metaphysics and that we are on a low to intermediate rung of a
hierarchy of being), and, as will be seen, epistemologically, axiologically,
and logically.
An approach from being promotes
the view that there is but one realm and what is called spirituality consists
in seeing its entirety. This view turns out to be (i) true in itself but not
in denying different as-if realms which are allowed and have purchase (ii)
effective in seeing the nature and entirety of the universe (iii) effective
in eliminating unnecessary kinds and even categories and a plethora of of
resulting artificial conceptual conflicts.
The universe is all being.
A cosmos is a causal domain whose interactions with the rest of
the universe are presently negligible.
Currently, our observation does not extend beyond our cosmos. Our
cosmos is the only cosmos observed or inferred by humans with pragmatic
necessity.
It is consistent with observation and reason for there to be
limitlessly many actual worlds or cosmoses of limitless variety – i.e., for
all possible worlds to be actual.
A natural law is a summary reading of a pattern
of behavior for a domain of phenomena within or across a cosmos at the
present limit of observation.
As they are immanent in the world, laws have being—that is,
laws are beings.
The void is the absence of being – nothingness .
Existence and nonexistence of the void are equivalent.
Therefore, it may be said that the void exists—that is, the void is a
being. That is—
The void is the being that contains no beings other than itself.
Since laws are beings, there are no laws of the void
Doubt should arise here and at
various points below and is addressed in doubt
and certainty.
Possibility
If a concept is intended to describe a being and
(i)
it is inherent in the concept that it can exist, it will be said to be
conceptually or logically possible (this entails a conception of logic),
(ii)
it is consistent with the nature of the universe (or sub-domain to
which the object belongs) it has real (relative real or just relative)
possibility.
Real possibility presumes logical possibility. When an intended
description does not satisfy logical possibility, a corresponding real object
cannot exist. Therefore, logical possibility is the greatest or most
inclusive possibility.
Ideal
metaphysics
Non-emergence of a logically possible being from the
void would constitute a law of the void would constitute a law of the void. However,
since the void has no laws, all logically possible beings must emerge
from the void. That is, the universe is the greatest possible—limitless—in
the sense that it contains all logical possibility.
That is, the universe is limitless in the sense that all
possibility obtains. Particularly, the universe phases eternally between peak
being and dissolution to the void.
Further, since a being is the
void and the being, every being is unconditionally limitless – realizes peak
being (which is not contradictory, for beings merge in the peaks).
While peaking is given, there are (must be) enlightened, effective, and share
paths to the ultimate.
This concludes a resolution of
why there is something rather than nothing, i.e., to the problem of why there
is being at all. Particularly, there must be phases of nothingness but they do
not and cannot span the universe.
This will
challenge intuitions that serve well in ordinary and scientific realms.
However, from limitlessness, except that logic obtains, laws and paradigms
from a cosmos – cause, variation and selection, mechanism, quantum behavior, and
coordinate measure – have no necessary purchase. This may summarily be
written – for the universe, cosmological realism is suspended.
The limitlessness of the universe shall be named the fundamental
principle of metaphysics (abbr. fundamental principle, fp).
The argument to the fundamental
principle and its consequences constitute a framework that may be called an
ideal metaphysics. The ideal metaphysics is perfectly faithful to its
object and as a framework it needs to be filled out with content that may be
pragmatically faithful at best. Later we will see that the system that
results from filling out is perfect in a value sense.
It is
effective to place further conclusions later, especially in the real metaphysics.
Experience is awareness in all
its kinds and levels.
We are experiential beings—it is
in experience that all significance registers and without experience we are effectively
nonexistent.
The hypothetical being that does
not register in experience is effectively nonexistent.
The structure
of experience
The structure of experience is
(a) ‘experience of’ (subject or as-if mind) (b) ‘the experience or experiential
relation’ (c) ‘the experienced’ (object or as-if material).
Real metaphysics
The ideal metaphysical framework
shows that all beings realize the ultimate but not how to best realize the
ultimate or what the ultimate is.
The perfect metaphysical
framework may be supplemented by what is at least pragmatically valid in the
system of (human) knowledge. The perfect illuminates and guides the
pragmatic and the pragmatic illustrates and is instrumental toward what is
revealed in the perfect. The join is not perfectly faithful to the real.
However, in terms of the value of ultimate realization, as our best
instrument toward guaranteed realization it is perfect. The join is named the
real metaphysics or just the metaphysics.
While the real metaphysics has
application in our world via, e.g., theories of science, how does it apply
across the universe? It began in the ideal metaphysics, with the universe as the
realization of possibility. It continues with dimensions and paradigms of
being, below.
Dimensions
and paradigms of being
The dimensions, which
are similar to the categories of being (the highest kinds or genera), are
conceived as kinds of or within being (or understanding, in
the case that we doubt our ability to completely list the kinds of being),
that are efficient in understanding, explanation, and prediction for
domains of phenomena of interest. The paradigms are general forms of our experience
and theories, selected so as to be useful in hypothetically projecting
understanding beyond our cosmos.
Aristotle’s
Categories, Categories,
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
We classify the dimensions as
pure and pragmatic in just the senses that the real metaphysics has pure and
pragmatic sides.
The structure of experience
The structure of experience is
(a) ‘experience of’ (subject or as-if mind) (b) ‘the experience or experiential
relation’ (c) ‘the experienced’ (object or as-if material).
The subject side has reason (perception
and thought via intention to fact and inference), emotion (with feeling, especially pleasure and
pain), value (e.g., ethics and aesthetics, which results from reason,
emotion, and selection), and will to action.
The object side includes the person (self, body,
mind), community, and world.
The subject side connects to the
object via intention, will, and action.
The universe is effectively a
field of experience – from limitlessness, experientiality (i) cannot be
inherently pervasive but (ii) can reach down in primitive form to elementary
objects (i.e., to elementary levels of description) (iii) is
therefore, effectively pervasive as an experiential, i.e.,
subject-relation-object field.
The pure dimension
Since
experientiality and being-as-being are effectively co-extensive, we
may say that experiential being (experientiality) is a pure (co)
dimension of being. Further, it is an approximation to treat the subject
and object sides of experience as real. Therefore—
Experiential being is the pure (co) dimension of
being—it subsumes subject – experiential relation – object.
Thus, the pure dimension is at a
higher level than the categories, unless, of course, being itself is taken as
a category (as suggested above).
The general paradigm—as
realization of possibility under logic (as explained in possibility).
A good – perhaps one of the best
– path paradigm is the philosophical school of yoga, understood as a way for
experiential beings to unite as with the ultimate (with only pure
metaphysical foundation). However, in the our world, yoga requires supplement
by modern scientific and technological categories – natural, psychological,
and social – which did not exist in modern western form when yoga was
written. For western readers, yoga may be supplemented by mysticism in
action.
The pure dimensions
are chosen as the relational aspects of experience, i.e., subject and object.
Pragmatic dimensions
Pragmatic dimensions are
categorized (i) according to the above
aspects of experience (ii) and then, according to divisions of human
knowledge and experience (pure or abstracted aspects included).
Object aspect of experience
A western emphasis—emphasizes
disciplines and paradigms from philosophy
and the science.
Metaphysics and abstract sciences
Metaphysics
Metaphysics as science (with epistemology, ethics, and logic), i.e.,
philosophy as general knowledge.
Abstract sciences
Abstract sciences – symbolic systems, linguistics,
ideal metaphysics as an abstract science, formal logic, mathematics, computer
science.
Paradigms for metaphysics
General logic
Concrete sciences
The sciences
The sciences – physical, life, social, and psychological; and their
application including exploration of space, time, and the universe.
The social sciences and technology
Some detail on the social
sciences and technology is relevant,
especially to exploration of the universe from the as-if material side
– sociology (individual and group, one and all, few and many), politics,
economics, law, technology, exploration, resource location and extraction, and
culture.
Culture is conceived as knowledge development and transmission
and includes tradition, art, religion, and entertainment.
Paradigms from the concrete sciences
Paradigms include indeterminist (random) process; formation by
incremental variation and selection to form (e.g., void to transients to
structures to cosmoses and particles to molecules to replicators to species
to species); causation and mechanism – with and without probabilistic
process; groups – formation and process.
What is the role of these
paradigms? Logic in its pure form allows worlds and beings that we would
normally think of as absurd; the paradigms enable estimation of probabilities
or likelihood.
Subject aspect of experience
Exploration of and with mind – metaphysics (knowledge, its development, and paradigms)
and meditation (yoga is implicit, for though yoga transcends the
subject-in-a-limited-sense, in reality the subject is not separated from the
object).
Paradigms are similar to those
of the object side.
The subject side has reason, emotion
(especially pleasure and pain), value, and will to action.
General logic
In possibility,
logic was deductive logic. It may be extended to further include establishment
of necessary fact, e.g., that the void exists. Parallel to the notion of argument, this
extension may be called necessary or formal argument. While the establishment
of logics is inductive, argument under them is deductive. Similarly,
establishment of scientific theories is inductive, while deriving conclusions
under them is deductive; and the establishment of facts and conclusions under
then constitute argument which is good in some sense but not (necessarily)
necessary. Given this parallel between necessary and good argument, they
may be collected under one umbrella notion and labeled general argument or
general logic. General logic contains both necessary and good but not
necessary establishment of fact and inference.
General logic is the paradigm of being.
Category Theory,
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Essence and summary of the dimensions and paradigms
Dimension—experiential being.
Theory—real metaphysics.
Paradigm—general logic.
Metaphysics and general logic
The metaphysics implies that all
logically consistent conceptions are realized.
Imagination
Possible worlds
Source or
study topic 1.
Possible
Worlds, Possible
Objects, Impossible
Worlds, Modal
Fictionalism, Haecceitism,
Leibniz’s
Modal Metaphysics, all from Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Binaries – opposites – and continua
Informal
Reflexive
Metaphysical
Epistemological
Axiological
Aesthetic, ethical
Logical
It has already been seen that “the
universe is limitless – it phases eternally between peak and dissolution to
the void”.
It follows that every being is unconditionally
limitless, i.e., realizes peak being, for otherwise there would be a limit
on the power of the universe.
The limitlessness of all
beings also follows since a being is the void and the being. This is not a
contradiction, for beings merge in the peaks.
While peaking is given, there
are (must be) enlightened, effective, and share paths to the ultimate.
The limitless universe has identity; the universe and its
identity phase eternally between peak and dissolution – are limitless in
extension, duration, variety, peak of being and variety of peak, and
dissolution; all beings inherit this limitlessness; birth and death are real
but not absolute – in birth we emerge from potential to which in death we
return; if we do not see this in human form we can know it (as here) and
there are higher forms in which we will see it – in the peaks we see and are
all.
There are efficient shared paths to the ultimate, which are
a balance of reflection, valuation, and action—thought and emotion – pleasure
and pain.
Cosmology is the theory of the
variety and extent of being over sameness, difference, and property.
General cosmology
The theory is general logic.
There is no distinction between
real metaphysics and general cosmology except for emphasis—the metaphysics
focuses on depth, the cosmology on breadth.
Cosmology of experiential being
General cosmology as experiential cosmology
Hierarchy of being
Cosmology of form and formation
In form we find symmetries and
causation. The cosmology of form is the theory of behavior under form and
formation. It is part of general logic.
Whereas cosmology of form is and
has theories, these are locally but not ultimately foundational. The ultimate
foundation is metaphysics > general cosmology in which there are
explanations of form and formation starting from nothingness or, equivalently,
from any being.
Physical cosmology
The theory of the general
features of our cosmos based in cosmology of form and general cosmology (and
modern physics).
Doubt and
certainty
Doubt is important where we want
reliability with confidence ranging from good to certain.
It is important that there are
purposes for which we ought to have doubt about doubt. One such purpose is
that living with risk may have better outcomes than any principle of
certainty is the best option.
Doubt ought to have arisen regarding—
A.
The arguments—the basic issue being the
existence and properties of the void,
B.
The conclusions—for they seem to go against
science and ordinary experience.
The following responses arise
A.
The meaning of existence is that there is an
object corresponding to a concept. We normally think that the object must be
manifest. However, even if the universe is nonmanifest, the void is there.
That is, for the void, the nonmanifest and manifest have the same meaning.
Thus either (i) the meaning of ‘to exist’ must change in moving from ordinary
objects to the void or (ii) the (deep) meaning of ‘to exist’ must be already
different from the naïve meaning in ordinary and common philosophical use.
That is, since the void is by its nature nonmanifest, it is manifest in the
sense of being there. I.e., for the void, nonexistence is equivalent to
existence.
B.
The conclusions do not go against ordinary
experience or science for they lie beyond the empirical boundary and there
are contradictions only with projection of experience and science beyond the
empirical.
Yet doubt may remain. Given that
essential doubt should arise regarding existence of the void, the following
options arise—
1.
To regard the existence of the void as one
or both of (i) a postulate for metaphysics – an ultimate system of
understanding of the universe and beings as ultimate (ii) an existential
principle to guide living and action.
2.
To reject and abandon the system developed
here.
Enlightened pathways
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)
Intelligent and 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 (particularly as in dimensions and paradigms of being),
(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.
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.
Attributes and issues
Dimensions and paradigms of
being
Pure
Dimension—experiential being, i.e., subject – experiential
relation – object.
Paradigms—for being – universe as realization of possibility under
general logic; for beings – yoga or uniting of beings and being.
Pragmatic
Subject
Structure and processing of
experience— emotion (feeling, with enjoyment, and pleasure and pain), intellect,
intention (will), and action.
Object
Metaphysics, science.
Focus – self, community, world, ultimate
Other
Individual with group—a see dimensions and
paradigms of being for details.
Immediate with ultimate.
Every day with universal.
Here -now with everywhere
-everywhen.
Risk with security, doubt with
confidence.
Acceptance – be-ing –
contentment with stirring – seeking – becoming.
General
The real metaphysics of the
universe as experiential being emphasizing yoga, meditation, limitlessness,
science, technology, and dual object-subject exploration of experiential
space.
Received
We do not present received
religion here but note that readers may supplement the narrative with their
preferred tradition. Received ways and masters are informative but not
merely followed (religion, philosophy
of, …and science), e.g., Christian mysticism, the four truths and the
eightfold way of Buddhism.
About religion and its use
What is religion?
Meta-questions
How can we best conceive
religion? Is it via empirical study, finding common elements and differences
among what are called the religions, and (i) in a simple or naïve empirical
approach, leaving it at that or (ii) in a rational approach superposed on the
empirical, analyzing the empirical results for essence?
But that has deficiencies, (i)
the pre-judgment in appealing to institutions named religion without a
concept of religion (ii) the idea that an ideal can be extracted even from
the ‘best’ institutions of a limited species (we are a low rung on the hierarchy
of experiential being)?
How can we escape these
apparently inescapable limits? We need an ultimate picture of the world to
frame the question and its answering. However, it is commonly thought that we
have no such picture and on this view we will forever flounder without any
finality, no matter how sophisticated our analysis (except that we may by
chance hit upon finality). But we now know that that common thought regarding
our limits is only partially correct—though the pragmatic side of the real
metaphysics is limited relative to purist conceptions of knowledge, the pure
side is not so limited – is ultimate. We might supplement this knowledge by
asking “How would an ultimate being conceive religion?” (a similar approach
may be used for metaphysics itself and indeed is implicit in the way of
being).
What is religion?
Sometimes its estimation is
limited by the limits of self evaluation and the sometimes conflict of
science and religion.
The real metaphysics suggests
the following.
What is the name of the activity
of entire being in search of all being? We identify it as the essence of
spirituality and religion in their views and shared practice. They are framed
by the real metaphysics.
On the use of religion
See means
> about religion and its use,
above.
We may use the religions for
suggestion but not as dogma or as limiting.
Personal—beings
Defined above in dimensions and
paradigms of being.
Universal—being
Defined above in dimensions and
paradigms 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.
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