The aim of the way

The aim of the way of being is to live well in the immediate world on the way to shared discovery and realization of the ultimate.

The universe is the greatest possible

The void is not ruled by laws, or gods, or other beings (existents).

All that is possible emerges from the void.

This possibility must be logical, for if such a possibility did not emerge, it would constitute a law, and logical possibility cannot exist in any world (thus, logical possibility is also the greatest possibility).

The universe is the greatest possible (‘greatest’ includes but is not identical to ‘best’)—

Characterizing the universe

It phases between manifest and void form; it has identity.

There is but one universe.

The universe and its identity are limitless in every possible way—particularly, in variety, extension, duration, and peak of being (existence).

The cosmos in which we live is one of limitlessly many, which are relatively stable and symmetric in form, and, which, together are limitless in magnitude and quality—and which are in transient transaction with the void. This description is—most likely—inadequate to convey the variety of being.

That our cosmos is the way it is and not another is consistent with the realization of the greatest possibility, for no thing can be what it is not, and the realizations of other cosmoses are events that are distinct from the realization of ours. It is clear, then, from its derivation, that the picture built above, is logically consistent. It is also consistent with our physics and physical cosmology, for science is empirical and is not known to have purchase beyond the empirical boundary. The thought that our cosmology does extend beyond the empirical boundary is circular for it depends on tacitly thinking that the entire universe has been captured in science.

The universe and the individual

Individuals inherit the power of the universe for, otherwise, the universe would not be limitless. Individuals and civilizations merge with the universe in peaks.

This realization is given.

Whatever ought to be labeled ‘God’ is an ultimate of which we are part. In so saying we would call the ultimate God which inverts the typical approach of describing a god and then asserting its ultimate nature.

Apparent limits and real limitlessness of the individual

There are apparent impediments to realization—the limits of pain, birth, death, and physical form.

Birth, death, and physical form are real but not absolute limits.

If they seem absolute it is because the elements of perception and thought are part of the form of individuals.

For some individuals, seeing and realizing the ultimate is a continuous thread, beginning in this life.

It is so for all beings, except when the quality of vision is limited and, therefore, the truth may be hidden.

Where we do not have full vision in the present, it is acquired in merging with others, beyond this life.

That the ultimate is realized is given.

Paths to the ultimate

There are effective, intelligent, enjoyed paths to the ultimate.

The paths are incompletely known—to be on a path is also to engage in its discovery in perception, feeling, thought, experiment, and action.

Sangha—community and sharing pathways—is effective in discovery and realization.

The aim of being

If enjoyment is a value, to be on a path is a human and moral imperative.

This is a source of ethical principle.

The aim of being is the aim of the way of being.

The best address of pain and other impediments is dual—therapy and being on a path.

The place and means of realization

What is the place and means of realization?

Experience is consciousness and conscious awareness in all its forms—

From perception and thought, to feeling and emotion, to will and choice in action.

There is experience.

Being is existence.

Experience is the place of our being.

The phenomenal world or world of appearance is the range of experience. The real world is the true object of experience.

There is experience of experience. Thus, experience itself is part of the real world. Experience of experience is essential to directing experience to efficient use—i.e., to intentionality and intelligence.

Since memory is imperfect, even the phenomenal world as it seems to present itself may be doubted. However, that doubting is part of the phenomenal world.

Interpretations of experience

This section explores the real.

An interpretation of a range of experience is a description of the real that is self-consistent and consistent with experience. If the range of experience is the entire range, the interpretation is an interpretation of the world.

The broadest interpretation of the world is the world as a field of being and experience, in which individuals—selves and others—are bright centers of intelligent experientiality, and the variety and limitlessness are as in the earlier description of this greatest universe.

Consider the following kinds of world—(i) a world that is just the experience of what we call an individual (ii) a world in which behavior is the same as in our world but is strictly material and consequently there is no experience (this may be called a ‘zombie world’) (iii) a world as in #ii except that it is not strictly material and in which there are true selves and others in an environment where the experientiality from zero to low in level, but not null, and (iv) the greatest universe as described in the previous and earlier paragraphs. All those worlds are logically possible. The universe is (identical to) #iv and contains such worlds as #’s i, ii, and iii without limit. #i, however, is not consistent with a world in which either (a) the information content assigned to the phenomenal is greater than the content assigned to the individual or (b) the term ‘I’ is an indexical. In its common interpretation as a world of selves and others in an environment, our world is just like #iii, but cannot be #i or #ii.

Ideal and pragmatic classes of being

The classes of being are explored here, as they constitute a framework for realization.

The classes have been otherwise called ‘dimensions’ and ‘categories’.

The ideal classes of being are experience of and the experienced—i.e., mind and world (world includes mind).

The ideal system of thought emerging from the universe as greatest, implies that experience is the intrinsic place of becoming. The truth of this system is perfect (in contrast to pragmatic truth, which is ‘truth’ for limited contexts).

As the place of art, science, and technology it is also the pragmatic instrument. Art shall include the humanities, especially philosophy. Logic and mathematics may be assigned either to science or the humanities.

To render the ideal system practical, we may begin by observing pragmatic classes of being—of the mind, or psyche; and of the world or nature (which includes mind), civilization and society, and the unknown elements of the universe.

Tradition and the real metaphysics

In this section, the ideal system developed so far joins with tradition to form a real metaphysics as basis for realization.

Tradition will mean—what is valid in cumulative cultural history (inclusive of art, science, and technology), of in process and enhanced by reflection, experiment and action, and learning.

These disciplines of tradition are understood as mind engaged in transformation of the world (via understanding and reason), and in transformation of mind itself (yoga and meditation, adequately understood).

There are two systems of understanding—the ideal and tradition or the pragmatic. The ideal shows an ultimate real and value and so illuminates and guides the pragmatic; the pragmatic illustrates and is instrumental toward the ideal. The pragmatic is ‘limited truth’ according to traditional criteria of perfect faithfulness. However, the pragmatic is the only and therefore ‘best’ instrument so far in realization. Thus, in terms of the ethic of realization, the pragmatic has an ideal or perfect character (and the ideal may be seen as a limit of the pragmatic). Thus, the ideal and the pragmatic constitute a single perfect system for living in the world and realization of the ultimate. This system is named the real metaphysics.

Using the real metaphysics

Employing the real metaphysics takes use of (i) tradition, (ii) imagination and criticism, emphasizing paradigms from tradition.

To employ this system, we have appeal (i) to tradition and its approaches or methods, of which the foregoing captures a framework (ii) for the ideal part, to imagination subject to critical thought (iii) for likelihood of occurrences, to various paradigms such as mechanism and evolution as known in our cosmos. For example, to see how individuals merge into one, consider that the ‘individual’ is a unity of individuals, and, by analogy, the one is a unity of the many. Though the idea is introduced by analogy, it is logically possible and therefore necessarily realized. To see why the majority of cosmoses would be formed, analogy from the theory of evolution, suggests an incremental emergence in which forms with near symmetry are more stable, and it is the longevity that accounts for the majority. Cosmoses with intelligent experiential beings would obviously the ones that are recognized.

A program of realization

A program of realization may be constituted of action in the immediate or ‘everyday’ and action toward the ultimate or ‘universal’. Program templates are linked in the next section.

Reading

Everyday template—http://www.horizons-2000.org/2020/narratives/everyday template, compact, with endnotes.pdf.

Universal template—http://www.horizons-2000.org/2020/narratives/universal template.pdf.