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The Way of Being © Anil Mitra, 1986 – 2025 Contents A balance of emotion,
reason, sharing, and action The place of ways from
tradition First things – on waking before the sun Activities for the way of being Foundation and development of the way Other activities – also elements of realization Ideas—foundation and development of the way Becoming—immersive and instrumental The Way of Being Introduction
and background
This
work presents path templates for realization according to the way of being as
in the short way of
being.html, the long little manual.html,
and the in process outline
of the way-new.html. The
templates are samples and may be seen as templates for templates, which
readers may adapt to their situations. Background
The way
of being is background. The essentials are that the universe is the
realization of the greatest kind of possibility and therefore has identity
and is limitless in extension, duration, peak and dissolution; all beings
inherit this limitlessness and merge in the peaks; and – there are efficient
and intelligent pathways to the ultimate. On pathways
Comment 1.
The following outline is detailed in outline of the way.docm at
enlightened
ways. Enlightened ways
A balance of emotion, reason, sharing,
and action
Pleasure and pain
Effective pathways
About religion
The place of ways from tradition
Path programs
Overview
of the templates
There
are two complementary templates in this document—everyday and universal. Both
attend to the immediate and the ultimate, the individual and the universal. Their
foci are— 1. The everyday template focuses on
the immediate, the individual, and the communal. 2. The universal template focuses
on the ultimate, the communal, shared action, and peak being or Brahman. Resources
There
are three downloadable, editable, and printable Microsoft Word 365 templates—every day - home.docm,
every day - away.docm,
universal.docm. There
are also pdf versions—every
day - home.pdf, every
day - away.pdf, universal.pdf.
The pdf versions were created and may be edited with Word 365 – some
formatting may be needed. The
templates have further information in footnotes. Everyday template
The
template is designed to be adaptable to life
situations, interest, being at home vs away, and choice of activities. It
is a template of templates – a menu (i) of possibilities for a range of
persons and situations (ii) options for activities. First
things – on waking before the sun1
Affirmation
“Every
being is all being. The
void, the universe, and all beings are one. Tat
tvam asi— ‘Thou art that’ “. Dedication2
“We
dedicate our lives to (the way of) being, To living in the immediate and ultimate as one. To its
shared discovery and realization, Under
the pure and pragmatic dimensions of being. To
shedding the bonds of limited self, So
that the path is flow, relative to force. To
realizing the ultimate in this life and beyond.” 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. Plan
Review the day3,
life, path of realization. Rise
before the sun
Greet
others. Coffee
in nature. Set
times for optional activities. Breakfast. Short
walk, stretching, light weights. Activities
for the way of being
Foundation
and development of the way
For realization—study, experience, reflect,
critique, synthesize, write, publish, advertise. For
living—ground,
below. Ground
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. Pressing
and urgent issues
Being
empty this instant – present to the world, beauty, horror, without design
judgment. Safety. Security
– income, place with access to nature and relationships. Push
the way of being. Directed
realization
The
day—physical
yoga; meditation – emptying; mindful – on awareness, living, the real,
realization. Immersion4, home—nature5,
societies with culture6 (languages), meditation as
portals to the universal. Immersion,
away—items
above – travel, journey, exploration; solo and shared. Instrumental—science, technology (AI),
politics, economics, communal spirituality as universal portals Other
activities – also elements of realization
Tasks
Daily—check and resolve needs,
cleanliness, lunch. Weekly
through monthly—shop, clean, prepare food,
appearance. Exercise
Two
hours—walking,
biking, excursions for exploration and photography. Evening
Review—the day, plan the next day
(details below) – items, times, exercise route, review the way, meditate. Network—friends, relationships, share
the way; create opportunities for publication, publicity, and funding. Last
things—relaxation,
snack, entertainment, music, and simple enjoyment. Planning – everyday
Select
activities. Set up
a daily schedule, perhaps in the form of a table. Enhance
the schedule by introducing flexibility. Given access to software with
programming capabilities, automation of the schedule may be introduced. Sleep early
Universal
template
The
template 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 being7, 8
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 world9
Pure
being—yoga,
meditation, immersion, ideas to action. Community—education (general, paradigm, ways of life),
retreat to the real, renewal, development-reemphasis of paradigm. Ideas10—foundation and development of the way
Relation—knowing as relation to the
world, reason, art; acting—effective creation of the real. Means—reason, imagination, meditation and yoga, and the
real metaphysics. Becoming—immersive4 and instrumental
Nature11 as catalyst to the real. Animal
being and devolution—observation, situational empathy, defocus, reason. Society12—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. Artifact13—civilizing the universe
(especially technology as enhancing being in the universe). Universe
as peak consciousness via spread of sapient being with agency. Universal14, 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. Being
in the universe15
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. Endnotes
1 On waking before the sun—rising before the world, enables
looking at the world as special, sets a good tone for the day. It is an
efficient use of daylight. 2 Dedication and
affirmation—detailed versions—the headings and explanations on the right
are not said; the first line of each paragraph on the left is said boldly,
while the next lines are said in response. DEDICATION We dedicate our lives to (The Way of) Being What does ‘living in the immediate and the ultimate as one’ mean? THE
WAY OR MEANS To its shared discovery and
realization In the metaphysics, the universe is shown to be limitless, It follows that all beings are limitless (Logic is not a limit on the real but, The universe is found to have experiential identity The effective path is not just the followed path, The means are the aware and object sides of experience— To follow a path is enjoyment itself, While there are no ultimate limits, THE
PATH To shedding bonds of limited
self Approaches to shedding the bonds are SUMMATION
OF THE PATH To realizing
the ultimate in this life and beyond— AFFIRMATION—A ritual reminder of
identity of self and Being “That pure unlimited consciousness—transcending all
principles of form… that is supreme reality. That is the ground for the
establishment of all things—and that is the essence of the universe. By That
the universe lives and breathes, and That alone am I. Thus, I embody
and am the universe in its ordinary and most transcendent form.” Abhinav
Gupta, 10th century philosopher and mystic of Kashmir. Identity of every being with the being of the universe AFFIRMATION—Groundlessness
of being Every being is, grounds, and
reflects all being— The void and therefore every being is generative of all
being(s); 3 Supplement to review—meditation on the needs of the
day. This Vipasana meditation may be unstructured. The extent of the
review depends on need. An accumulation of expectation and planning may
occasion extensive review, perhaps of a few hours to days. 4 Immersion begins with focus on first order experience,
i.e., defocus on experience of experience—and, thus, defocus on self. 5 For nature—Beyul—a
tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is travel and being in nature, sometimes to
remote places, in search of extended experience of self and the ultimate,
with openness to inspiration. Nature photography. 6 For culture—experience traditions for learning and impact
on identity. 7 Being-in-the-world—pure, community,
retreat. Ideas—reason, metaphysics, action. Becoming—nature, society, artifact, and
beyond (the incompletely known universe) as catalysts and path to the real. Being-in-the-universe—realizing
Peak Being in the present or beyond death—means: the previous items (being,
ideas, becoming) the everyday templates,
and open. 8 Most individuals and groups whose emphasis is realization, will
follow being in the world, becoming, and being in the universe. 9 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. 10 Ideas and experience are the first and final place of
being, significance, and action; and are instrumental in realization. 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”—T.S. Elliot. |