The way of being

Anil Mitra, Copyright 1986 – 2025

Home

Contents

Design

The way of being

Being

Universe

Cosmos

Laws

The void

Possibility

The ultimate

Metaphysics

Enlightened pathways

The way of being

Design

See design and planning.

The way of being

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

The concept

A being is an existent; being is existence.

The term ‘existent’ suggests but is not limited to entities and may include processes, relations, concepts, words, and tropes. Further, as far as matter, mind, and spirit are real, material, mental, and spiritual objects are also existents.

The following material may be placed in a separate strikethrough section to be placed after the section, universe.

The existence of particular beings may be questioned. Introduce abstraction—to filter from observation, detail that is distorted. This notion of abstraction is essentially concretion and shows that there are beings. Anticipating the next section, it further follows that there is exactly one universe, to which all beings and kinds of being belong. Thus, if there are such kinds as matter, mind, and spirit, they belong to the universe.

Analysis

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.

That is, awareness is essential to (knowledge or talk of) being. One line of development of the narrative would be to introduce awareness immediately. However, though it is not more instructive, it is more effective to introduce awareness later for (i) to introduce it now would require later re-develpoment with the benefit of emerged insight (ii) an enhanced conception of awareness will turn out to be a fundamental co-dimension of being, which will require an extension of the idea that is not yet possible without tentative argument.

Therefore the development of the idea of awareness is deferred to experience, which shall be the name for the enhanced conception.

Why being?

What is real?

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.

That we are on a low or intermediate hierarchic rung is not a judgment of value but a (judgment of) fact. It is a judgment that our sometimes over-optimistic estimation of our place on the hierarchy is negative in its consequences—e.g., how we treat other humans and species and how we limit ourselves when we think ‘we are it’ or that ‘our knowledge is it’. The limit to ourselves is, especially, that in thinking we are at some apex of being, we limit our achievement in this world and beyond.

Nonproliferation of kinds

That is, of

Kinds (categories, substances) – in particular, there are no substances; and at the level of being, no distinctions,

Knowledge (and disciplines; and fact, inference, and reason), value, world, and action are one.

The aim and result of ‘the way’ are one – to develop the metaphysics (whole) requires the metaphysics (framework).

Yet potent

As will be seen.

Vehicle for and focus of realization (be-ing and becoming)

Universe

The universe is all being.

Cosmos

What lies beyond the empirical? Can we talk about it? Realistically?

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.

Note that ‘beyond’ does not mean only in space and time but also (i) within our world but at too low a level of interaction to be significant (ii) beyond spatiotemporal description or even above such description.

Laws

Here and subsequently, strikethrough is used to indicate brief vs more complete treatment. It eliminates the need for two versions of assertions.

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

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

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),

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.

The structures that deductive logics allow are examples of logical possibility except where such a logic has known or unknown errors. In that our logics are not all logics, the deductive logics are just examples of logic in the sense in item #i, above.

The laws of physics, so far as valid, define examples of real 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.

The ultimate

Title was ‘Ideal metaphysics’

Metaphysics is knowledge of the real. The analysis so far develops and thus shows that such knowledge is possible, even if only elementary. The validity of the development is addressed in the discussion of abstraction in the section on being. The development will now continue beyond the elementary.

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.

Metaphysics

Introduction

The ideal metaphysical framework shows that all beings realize the ultimate but not how to best realize the ultimate or what the ultimate is.

Real metaphysics

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.

Doubt and Certainty

General doubt

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 about the proof of limitlessness of the universe

Doubt ought to have arisen regarding—

The arguments—the basic issue being the existence and properties of the void,

The conclusions—for they seem to go against science and ordinary experience.

The following responses arise

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.

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.

Further, alternate proofs may be given.

Yet doubt may remain. Given that essential doubt should arise regarding existence of the void, the following options arise—

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.

To reject and abandon the system developed here.

On proof

The kind of proof

Other proofs

Dimensions and paradigms of being

Aristotle’s Categories, Categories, (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

See essence of the way - short for details of headings and content.

The concepts of dimension and paradigm

Dimension

Dimensions are similar to categories (the highest genera or kinds, just under being understood as the most inclusive real). However, there are differences of concept and emphasis.

The dimensions will begin with being itself – existence or existents without further qualification. This is not traditional however being can be regarded as the kind that transcends kinds (thus disagreeing with Aristotle’s argument that there cannot be a highest kind but also agreeing with his point). Therefore, being will be regarded as a level 0 category or dimension.

The aim in identifying dimensions emphasizes explanation and prediction, which leads to the concept of paradigm.

Paradigm

The paradigms are general patterns to which being and beings are subject.

We have seen that there is no general world paradigm to which being is subject.

However, understanding (prediction, explanation) regarding being is subject to logic.

Therefore, logic is the paradigm corresponding to being as a dimension or category.

Logic will be regarded as a (the) level 0 paradigm.

Logic as paradigm will be rendered ultimately inclusive later.

Principles

How ought the dimensions and paradigms to be decided—i.e., arrived at and justified?

First, there is the question of kinds. Aristotle’s approach was to ask what can be predicated of subjects. Second, the problem of subjectivity: in writing down distinctions that we think to be real, are they in fact real or artifacts of our understanding or both? Aristotle thought of the categories as real but since Kant, the idea of categories as pertaining to our conceptual system has been emphasized (Kant thought of his categories as both real and artifact, i.e., as real artifact, and this is what will be done here for the high level dimensions and paradigms). Third, one would like ‘the’ categorial system to be complete and perhaps unique.

We will address these issues via the real metaphysics and the concept of experience.

Experience, introduced and developed in the next section, is pivotal in deciding the dimensions and paradigms, which are real at high enough levels (while also being artifacts), which at lower levels are artifacts of our understanding but also of the local structure of the universe, and which are complete at the highest level, fairly comprehensive at our local level, but completeness at levels between the local and the highest is not known. This incompleteness is the result of the limitations of our being in its present form. Further, while there is uniqueness at the level just below being itself, at lower levels it is more appropriate to think of different systems as suited to different objectives.

Experience – the concept and its development

Experience is implicitly but necessarily present in talk of anything at all and especially in talk of being and beings. Though it could have been introduced earlier as motivation, it is effective to introduce it here to make the development more efficient.

Experience and being

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.

It will now be seen that the word ‘effectively’, just above, may be omitted.

Why experience

We are experiential beings

From the metaphysics as justified by the metaphysics—

We are experiential beings—it is in experience that all significance registers and without experience we are nonexistent.

The hypothetical being that does not register in experience is nonexistent.

Being is essentially experiential.

The universe is a field of experience

From the metaphysics, it may be ssen that—

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 main structure of experience

The structure of experience is (a) experience of – the subject or as-if mind (b) the experience – the experiential relation (c) the experienced – the object or as-if material.

Comments

In what is called pure experience there are no real objects but may be potential ones.

Matter and mind are neither affirmed nor denied but may be regarded as ‘as-if’ ways of speaking about experience.

Elementary distinctions

The structure will be based on the following aspects and distinctions

The little manual has finer distinctions.

State

Bound – free (if there is free attachment to objects, there are intention and free will; that there must be free will follows from the metaphysics),

Quality – form,

Imperative (high intensity) – contemplative (low intensity),

Self – world (inner – outer),

Elementary – compound, reflexive.

Process

The elementary state distinctions are integrated via structure and process.

Fast (seems like state but integrated) – slow (observed) – quasistatic (so slow as to not normally be observed per se but noticeable on introspection or retrospection, e.g., as in personality formation, growth, and change).

The structure of experience in detail

Collect and finalize detail.

Experience itself

See experience

Experience of experience and memory

Subject aspect

The subject side has reason (perception and thought via intention to fact and inference), emotion (with feeling, and enjoyment, especially pleasure and pain), value (e.g., ethics and aesthetics, which results from reason, emotion, and selection), and will to action; which; the integration of the subject aspect is in structure and process (of organisms).

Object

The object side includes person (self, body, mind), community, and world.

Relation

The subject side connects to the object via intention, will, and action.

High-level structure of the world (universe)

Here, ‘world’ is used in the sense of ‘universe’.

Introduction

As experience as experience is co-dimension with being, the structure of experience reveals the structure of the world (i.e., universe).

But how?

At a high enough level, where sufficient abstraction reigns, the structure of the world and of experience are identical.

At lower levels, the pragmatic and approximate structure of the world is inferred from experience.

Beyond experience?

If we think of (as-if) matter as entity-like and experience as relation-like, then a higher order as-if kind would be relation between experience, which is experience.

Therefore the as-if kinds are matter and experience—there is no kind beyond experience.

Rather, there are levels of experience.

Extension, duration, and relation

Introduction

The property of having being does not distinguish or refer to (i) kinds (if any) (ii) change (duration, time) or other-ness (extension, space) (iii) entity, relation (cause), process or property thereof.

The most basic experience

The most basic experience is of sameness and difference

Derivation of extension, duration, and cause

From sameness and difference, the following can be derived – duration, identity, extension, relation, and property

Dimensions and paradigms elaborated

Dimensions

As explained above, the dimensions will include being itself (existence or existents without further qualification). Thus, being will be a level 0 category or dimension. Further, since being is experiential being, an equivalent level 0 dimension is experiential being (it could be called a co-dimension or co-category).

Also, as has been seen, the structure of experience has subject – experience – object aspects, while the metaphysics has pure and pragmatic (high and low level) aspects. This gives a principled way to highest level distinctions—the high-level dimensions as developed and justified below.

The dimensions will also included low level and pragmatic aspects of being, e.g., as known in a world or cosmos; the low level may go down at least to specific theories from science.

Paradigms

The paradigms are paradigms of understanding—explanatory and predictive. Paradigms corresponding (numberwise) to the dimensions above are

Logic and theories of abstract sciences, particularly logic, mathematics, and formal metaphysics; absolute indeterminism of emergence from the void (which is also absolute determinism)

The integration of experience in structure and process with pure and pragmatic sides. Understanding from philosophy, art, history, and that spirituality which sees the world-universe as one, not divided as kinds of being or planes of existence.

Paradigms from the sciences (incremental evolution via variation and selection, mechanism and causation, individual and group behavior); down to specific theories of physics (relativistic, quantum-wave, and their classical approximations), biology, psychology, and the social sciences. The choice of western science explains suitedness to certain objectives but non-uniqueness at this level.

The dimensions and paradigms

In the following, entity, relation, and process are implicit.

Pure – experiential being

Experiential being, which subsumes subject – experience relation – object.

The general paradigm—as realization of possibility under logic (as explained in possibility).

An inclusive path paradigm is yoga understood in a broad sense, in process, inclusive of philosophical (and scientific) and technological categories. For western and Christian readers, yoga may be supplemented by mysticism in action.

Pragmatic

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 (with justification from the metaphysics).

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 is elaborated in the structure of experience in detail > subject aspect.

Joint considerations—subject – object relations

Immersive approaches to the object aspects—e.g., economics as study of value; spirituality as creation of value which is limitless but for the cost in risk and pain.

General logic as paradigm

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 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 of the dimensions and paradigms

Dimension—experiential being.

Theory—real metaphysics.

Paradigm—general logic.

Method

Metaphysics and general logic

The metaphysics implies that all logically consistent conceptions are realized.

That we do not experience all possibilities in our world is not contradictory, for the world is but one possibility. In and beyond our cosmos, the realization of all possibilities constitutes the universe.

Some possibilities seem absurd. Examples are that the world was created a moment ago, complete with histories and memories, and will be destroyed in a moment seem absurd. Similarly, that the world is nothing but the content of my consciousness, also seems absurd. That the world is as in the big bang cosmology seems robust. To rule out the absurd, and to rule in the robust we appeal to the paradigms. Incremental adaptation makes robust worlds more likely, and the fact it takes beings capable of high level perceptivity to experience such worlds makes their apparent preponderance great.

Imagination

Possible worlds

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

Limitlessness of being

It has already been seen that “the universe is limitless – it phases eternally between peak and dissolution to the void”.

Further conclusions now follow—with some repetition.

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 (locally) 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.

The following to be reviewed for adequacy of the elements “reflection, valuation, and action—thought and emotion – pleasure and pain”.

There are efficient shared paths to the ultimate, which are a balance of reflection, valuation, and action—thought and emotion – pleasure and pain.

Cosmology

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).

Value

Add…

Enlightened pathways

For a beginning, see essence of the way - micro.

Words yoga, enlightened.

Received ways.

Background

The essentials so far for realization are (i) the universe and its identity are limitless in extension, duration, variety, peak, and dissolution (ii) all beings merge in the peaks—birth and death are real but not absolute and their seeming absolute reality is an artifact of limits of our present form but not of our ultimate form (and even in this form, we can conceive and argue for non-absoluteness0 (iii) there are intelligent and effective pathways from our world and cosmos to the ultimate which are a best balance the elements of experience—especially cognition, emotion with pleasure and pain, will, and action—in the process (iv) shared negotiation of pathways beginning in our world are a moral imperative which do not ignore but require attention to the quality of life in the world.

The idea of an enlightened pathway

Preliminary – ultimates, recurrence, and issues

Eternal recurrence of ultimates is given. Issues are (i) (dual) focus on this world and the ultimate (ii) effective pathways with shared and intelligent negotiation based in emerging knowledge (with suggestions from received ways – secular and transsecular (iii) full use of dimensions of being and experience, especially (iv) the issue and use of pleasure and pain.

The idea

An enlightened pathway is shared and intelligent discovery and realization of the ultimate in and from this world which emphasizes (i) a balance of dimensions of experience (ii) pleasure in being in the world and on a path (iii) and does not seek to – cannot – avoid all pain but addresses pain via healthy living, which includes right attitude, speech, and action for and toward all being.

Though ideal perfections of tradition are possible, the perfection of the way emphasizes process and a balance of the dimensions of experience, especially cognition, emotion, will, and action.

Design – elements and means

In the dimensions and paradigms

Pure

Dimension—experiential being, i.e., subject – experiential relation – object

Process—integration of dimensions, ultimate with immediate, risk with security – doubt with confidence – stirring with contentment

Paradigms—for being – universe as realization of possibility under general logic; for beings – yoga or uniting of beings and being; dual object-subject exploration of experiential space.

Pragmatic

Subject

The following on is paste special from the structure of experience in detail.

The subject side has reason (perception and thought via intention to fact and inference), emotion (with feeling, and enjoyment, especially pleasure and pain), value (e.g., ethics and aesthetics, which results from reason, emotion, and selection), and will to action; which; the integration of the subject aspect is in structure and process (of organisms).

Object

Focus – self, community, world, ultimate.

Paradigms – metaphysics, science, technology.

Synthesis

Dimension—experiential being.

Theory—real metaphysics.

Paradigm—general logic.

In culture, tradition, and religion

Religion

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.

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 religion is

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

We may use the religions for suggestion but not as dogma or as limiting.

See The Varieties of Religious Experience.

As far as unjustified belief or disbelief are religious, most people who have a position on the truth of dogmatic religion are religious.

The path of the way is open to use of religion though not to its dogmatic insistence. We recognize two approaches in religion—one that emphasizes a relationship with a powerful divine element which may symbolically energize a positive life and another that emphasizes correct thought, speech, and action on the way to realization which may be mundane or universal.

The place of ways from tradition

The mix of (i) the ideal and the struggle vs perfection and (ii) negotiation vs following are two differences between the path described here and common received ways. As the worldview of the present system is ultimate, the paths here frame received pathways. The present system gives preference to those received pathways that see limited being as on the way to the ultimate rather than the ultimate as a remote reward. Still, all systems are recognized for symbolic and community value.

Secular humanism

Secular humanism is a worldview and attitude that rejects dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition but employs reason, logic, secular ethics, as the basis of knowledge, morality, decisions.

It may be naturalistic or neutral to the nature of being. If naturalistic, its spirituality would be symbolic. If neutral, its sprituality, if more than symbolic, would see the world and what lies beyond as belonging to one rather than multiple realms.

Other

An enlightened pathway

Enlightenment

Eternal recurrence of ultimates is given. An enlightened pathway (i) gives weight to all beings, their worlds, and beyond (ii) is shared, effective, and intelligently negotiated—received ways and teachers are useful but not seen as absolute (iii) is based in best knowledge available—framed by the universe as realization of most inclusive possibility (iv) recognizes and addresses all elements of experience (the structure of experience in detail) and their integration and the issue of enjoyment (v) particularly, pleasure in the path is emphasized and pain is not shunned but addressed by healthy living.

On intelligence

In considering intelligence, the focus is on cultivating it rather than on native intelligence (it naturally incorporates such notions as conceptual, spatial, linguistic, emotional, and charismatic intelligence).

Intelligence is optimum use of elements of experience elements of experience (the structure of experience in detail) and emphasizes negotiation within and for the world.

Healthy living

Healthy living addresses

Dimensions of being—natural, mental, communal, and spiritual aspects of being, and their integration in process (regarding ‘spirit’, as observed earlier, “an approach from being promotes the view that there is but one realm and what is called spirituality consists in seeing its entirety”),

Pleasure and pain by neither excessive seeking nor avoiding but emphasis on finding pleasure in being on a path and pain by (a) the able giving aid to the less able or fortunate (b) where indicated, the better therapies of the time (c) avoiding illusions of idea perfection but seeking 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

A summation

Enlightenment pertains to being on aware pathways to the ultimate in, for, and from a world; 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.

Leave this here for now. Later—either absorb to ‘The idea of an enlightened pathway’, earlier, or import any material from the other main documents.

Pathway

There are two complementary and interwoven programs

Personal and everyday,

Global and long-term (merging with universal and eternal).

Program elements

Personal – beings

Defined above – see in the dimensions and paradigms.

Universal – being

Defined above – see in the dimensions and paradigms.

World (what are the players), Home (America)

Timelining the universal elements.

How they are incorporated in the daily program.

Universal program

Timelining the global – long range through universal elements – 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.

It is designed to be adaptable to life situations, interest, being at home vs away, and choice of activities for individuals and societies. Kinds of activity have a basis in the dimensions of being as coded in universal.pdf in the way of being. In the template, the dimension or other important aspect is underlined. Related and secondary items are in separate paragraphs or lines without underlining.

Being in the world

Pure being as if timeless and placeless—yoga, meditation, immersion, ideas to action.

Pure being here and now… being as if timeless and without restriction to place in the present—means: everyday (everyday template) process is bridges the immediate-ultimate.

Sangha or community—a spiritual home and sharing community (home and community are ground to truth which gives back to normative truth in Sangha) means: building community and civilization (c) Retreat for vision quest and experience of Being. Education (general, paradigm, ways of life), retreat to the real, renewal, development-reemphasis of paradigm.

Ideas—foundation and development of the way

Relation—knowing as relation to the world, reason, art; acting—effective creation of the real.

Ideas and experience are the first and final place of being, significance, and action; and are instrumental in realization.

Means—reason, imagination, meditation and yoga, and the real metaphysics.

Becoming—immersive and instrumental

Nature

Nature as catalyst to the real. Animal being and devolution—observation, situational empathy, defocus, reason.

Nature, psyche, and their interactions; immersion in nature as a place of being and catalyst to the real. Effect on culture and understanding of the universal.

Sources—nature as ground for the real and renewal—with focus on nature as gateway. Beyul, quest for the real, as in Tibetan Buddhism.

Explanation and details. Nature is inspiration as essential place of and portal to Being, catalyst to meditation and ideas. Life in nature exemplifies being (a useful reflection is—on the Being of land, plants, and animals and to know that Being is illuminative of self and attained not just by meditation but also in immersion, for which one beginning is defocus on experience of experience and focus on earth, sky, trail, and plant and animal worlds). Meditation (yoga) is an intrinsic way to centered and transformative attitude in this world and shedding limitations (bondage) of self and growing into the universal.

Society

Society—civilization as vehicle and path to the real. Transformation via psyche—by immersion in social groups as place of being and catalyst to the real.

Civilization and society as vehicle and path to the real (culture and its dimensions; instrumental and immersive politics and economics). Transformation of individuals via psyche—by travel and immersion in social groups, informal and institutional or formal, as place of being and catalyst to the real. Informal—self, family, community, and world. Institutional aspects—(i) accessing the range of social and cultural institutions of society (from earlier: political, economic, technological, military, academic or research and education, artistic and religious) (ii) building specific institutions for realization and community. One beginning of political immersion is seeing politics not as institutionalized, but as individual and common endeavor toward individual and common goals, particularly with defocus on state and focus on individual action and effective levels of individual and group action.

Sources—the system of human knowledge—is a guide to secular and transsecular elements of local through global action. Meditation is (self) guide to shedding bonds of self and to action. For instrumental transformation of society see political and cultural economics.

Details—immersion. The individual does not stand outside the world as just objective observer and commentator. The individual as experiential-relational being is key. Engagement may begin at any point in a cycle of self and social awareness > speaking one’s truth and action > group action and Sangha > re-form (self, other, world). Self and world awareness are essential to the cycle and an effective place to begin—

Details—attitude. Awareness of self and limitation—and to openly aim at the highest in this life and beyond (and recognition of poverty of exclusively secular and exclusively dogmatic). Cultivation of attitude in meditation-yoga-practice.

Details—problems, challenges, and opportunities of the world. A crucial problem is that of the nature of the world. The real metaphysics is true and illuminating. However, since there are so many views, many held passionately, there will be natural resistance. One default that may be found acceptable is a limited secular view. This, however, presents a paradox—because world views are in conflict, it promotes the least of them.

A resolution is to hold to the real metaphysics but speak it where effective; this is perhaps the minimal resolution consistent with truth. Thus, the truth may illuminate the world of problem and opportunity. Another problem is to identify the problems and opportunities.

Some common approaches identify only the material problems such as war, hunger and so on). Such approaches are limited (a) in identifying only material problems, but not the entire range of challenges and opportunities, material and other (b) in not identifying the world political-economy as key to resolution of the issues and therefore a problem-opportunity in itself.

Approaches to political-economy are (i) the way politics and economics are done (ii) the science and practice of politics and economics (iii) related philosophy, not ideological per se, that identifies the nature or kind of thing (referent) that politics-economics is (iv) immersion via reflection, meditation, and action in politics-economics by the individual.

Sources for problems etc—see challenges and opportunities in journey in being.

Artifact

Artifact—civilizing the universe (especially technology as enhancing being in the universe). Universe as peak consciousness via spread of sapient being with agency.

Artifact has potential as sapient being, reservoir of our being, and auxiliary in our search for intrinsic and instrumental being (e.g., the spread of ideas and civilization).

Details—artifactual being as realized being and as adjunct (science and technology of advanced civilization on the way to the ultimate; use of computation and networking in realization—as adjunct and as independent identity). Address of pain via modern medicine and therapy, supplemented by what is good in the traditions, is important to individuals and realization by civilization—either in part or in whole.

Sources—see system of human knowledge, for artifactual being.

Universal

Universal, incompletely known. The common way from self to Being (Atman to Brahman), via the block universe and extended secular worlds consistent with experience of and in the world.

The path to Being—where secular and transsecular paradigms visualize completeness or impossibility of completeness, there is neither completeness nor impossibility. This action is on the way to the ultimate.

Details—transformation aimed at the universal deploys catalysts and ways and their conceptual and experimental development under the real metaphysics, for the transformation of being-civilization. The use of the catalysts and ways is in everyday process, renewal, knowledge, and technology.

Sources—see dynamics, catalysts and catalytic states, and ways and catalytic states.

Being in the universe

Universal—realizing Peak Being (Brahman) in the present.

Said to be rarely achieved in ‘this life’ which is a beginning that is continued beyond death.

Outcome of previous items, being in the world, ideas, and becoming—immersive and instrumental.

The means are in the previous dimensions, the everyday templates above, and are further open to discovery.

The open life may be chosen (or natural to the person) at any phase of life, but may be most natural to the phases of retirement and late retirement through death

Planning – universal

Review phases of life, reflect on possible emphases for life and the phases.

Assess current phase and select activities of focus.

Review and plan daily, short, and long term aims and possible activities.

Include timeframe to execute and then review, assess, renew, and alter plans.

Build these elements into everyday planning.

Everyday program

Defining the program

How the universal program is incorporated into the every day program

Periodic and as needed brief plan with inspiration.

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 for the day through long-term, 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.

Rise before the sun.

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

Affirmation

“Every being is all being.

The void, the universe, and all beings are one.

Tat tvam asi—

‘Thou art that’ “.

Dedication

The dedication is an adaptation of the third step prayer of twelve-step programs. Text to the right is explanation, i.e., not said.

“We dedicate our lives to (the way of) being,

To living in the immediate and ultimate as one.

What does this mean?

How do we know it is true and good?

How are we to live it?

Why being?

These questions are now addressed.

To its shared discovery and realization,

Under the pure and pragmatic dimensions of experiential being,

In form and formation as the world,

On the way to the transparently limitless ultimate.

This derived from the metaphysics—

Being--from neutrality and power.

The world is experiential and beings are its centers.

The way is healthy living in this world on the way…

Especially emphasizing pleasure found in the path, and

Address of pain via sharing, therapy, balance with process.

To shedding the bonds of limited self,

So that the path is flow, relative to force.

The bonds are overcome in process,

In the ways above, especially,

Pleasure and pain through process.

To realizing the ultimate in this life and beyond.

The process version of the transcendent

Living in the immediate and ultimate as one.”

Set attitude

Set attitude for the day+—limitlessness, dedication and affirmation, relationships.

Reset attitude if in doubt, insecurity, distress, or pain—meditate – accept, reflect, breathe; exercise (hatha yoga) in nature.

The way of being – path

Foundation and development

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

Realization—living the way

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.

Particularly included are (a) meditation, calming, analytic, and visionary (including an attempt to visualize and ways to actualize panbeing) (b) yogic or healthy living directed at individual, family, work, and community – local to global and immediate in time to ultimate.

Realization—the world—detail

Material—finance, place to live, place to retreat.

Discipline—balance moving forward with waiting for aware readiness, flexible routine, minimize diversion.

Relationships—attention to others, shared attention to all activities of mutual need and interest.

Empowerment—self (attitude, meditation), engage with the world, consultation on needs.

School—school is a focus, yet energy of youth through early retirement may make it possible to include other activities.

Work—see comments in the previous item.

Retirement—an opportunity to focus on relationships with persons, nature, society, and the universe.

Late retirement through death—continuation of retirement activities at a level that matches lesser capacity balanced with an awareness of the magic of being, awareness and acceptance of death as real but not necessarily as absolute (for those—but not only those—who regard death as absolute, an existential attitude may be adopted).

Adaptability—adapting and learning how to adapt to changing circumstance of self and world, e.g., in relationships, school to work to retirement to late retirement through death, and the losses and gains involved.

Note—of course existential and learning-from attitudes to death are appropriate at all aware phases of life.

Directed realization—detail

The day—physical yoga; meditation – emptying; mindful – on awareness, living, the real, realization.

Immersion—in the world in itself and as transformative—home – nature (beyul), societies with culture (languages, cultures for learning, impact on identity), meditation as portals to the universal; and away – the home items with travel, journey, exploration – solo and shared.

Instrumental—science, technology (AI), politics, economics, communal spirituality as universal portals

The day

Pressing and urgent issues

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

Tasks

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

Exercise

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

Evening

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.

Resources

printables