- Religion is a set of organizing principles for life.
- Right and Wrong are subjective not objective, but that shouldn't stop us (humanity) from inventing a set of organizing principles based on human experience and reason.
- Religion should be on firm ground. Humans have traditionally invented a 'faith-based' God to be at the foundation of a religion. But it needn't be that way. God is basically an entity that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Guess what, so is the Universe (defining Universe as anything that existed/exists/will exist in the future).
- Universe is unquestionable, it exists in front of our eyes. We are part of it. However the creator of this Universe is questionable and beyond our grasp. Why even try to imagine (or invent) the creator? Just put the Universe at the foundation of religion.
- A set of organizing principles that could be embraced by all of humanity should be based on human experience and reason. All humans experience 'duality' i.e. they just know that they exist (don't need a proof) and know other things exist that which are different from them. All humans and very familiar with rational framework of 'causality' i.e. a bunch of things need to happen, come together to create something, sustain it and eventually destroy/transform it.
- Using the experience of duality and the rational framework of causality, we can define Universe as: "an interconnection of infinite, unique objects". It should be possible for every human to agree with this definition. This is critical to inventing a religion that entire humanity could embrace not just a particular group.
- If Universe is the foundation of the religion, it only makes sense to learn from it.
- From 'interconnectedness', we learn to be aware and to understand the interconnections in nature and to respect it and work in harmony with it.
- From 'infiniteness', we learn that we are infinitesimal in this Universe but it is possible to overcome this depressing fact by being among people we love and who love us back.
- From 'uniqueness', we learn that each person is unique in this space/time and whether he/she likes it or not, it is a fact. It is incumbent upon each of us to express that uniqueness and deliver positive things to world around.
- From 'object-ness', we learn that we live inside a body that makes us a person. It is a pre-requisite to take care of the body as when the body wears off we cease to exist.
- Knowing the right thing is very different from doing the right thing. Being = Knowing + Doing.
- There is a lot to learn with regards to "doing" the right thing. There are a lot of skills that once we learn and incorporate in daily life will help us stay consistent with word and deed.
- There are two attributes that define a great life: meaning and pleasure. You don't want a life with just one of those things. Ideally you want a life filled with great meaning and satisfaction but at the same time very pleasurable.
- Religion gives meaning.
Showing posts with label causality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label causality. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2014
Final Post
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Rational Empiricism - a religion for nonbelievers
What happens if you don't have a religion?
You conform unconsciously or get confused when you have to make choices in life. Looking back at such a wavering life could cause much distress. You might regret the lost opportunity and it may be too late to fix it.
What is a religion?
A religion is a set of guiding principles for making choices in life. Religion gives the person clarity to make those choices and to consciously decide where to spend their time and energy in this world. It facilitates the person to live a meaningful and pleasurable life and gives the strength to navigate through the painful times.
Does religion need a God?
Religion has to be based on some solid, unshakable foundation. Belief in a God and God's word or a God's messenger's word is one way to create a religion. One downside to such God-founded religion is that there are powerful middlemen interpreting the God's message and laying down rules for others to follow. A second problem is, at times practitioners of religion vilify other Gods and religions and cause communal disharmony. A more serious downside is the nature of faith itself; a faithful can't rationalize why he has faith but he has to always protect his faith. After living a long, devout life, if some incident suddenly converts him to a non-believer, then it invalidates a large portion of his life which would be quite devastating.
What is the foundation for Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism is a non-theistic religion founded in reflecting and reasoning human experiences. Every human can testify to these two experiences; a) duality - that he exists and he is different from other things in Universe and b) causality - that there are causes for things to come into existence, causes for their sustenance and causes for them ceasing to exist. From these experiences, one can rationalize a definition for the Universe to be ''an interconnection of infinite, unique objects'. How?
1. Duality gives rise observation of objects
2. Duality also gives rise to distinction of self from other objects and to distinction of one unique object from another.
3. Duality also gives rise to observation of incomprehensible number of objects in Universe which gives rise to infinite, unique objects.
4. Causality indicates that these objects are interconnected as they continuously interact in space and time creating, sustaining and destroying each other.
Putting these concepts together, the definition of Universe as an interconnection of infinite, unique objects is justified. This definition of Universe forms the basis for the religion: Rational Empiricism.
What are the guiding principles of Rational Empiricism?
There are four guiding principles of Rational Empiricism interpreted from conception of Universe:
1. Principle of Uniqueness - Each human is unique, so is every other object in Universe.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness - Humans and other objects are interconnected to each other in complex ways.
3. Principle of Infiniteness - Each human (himself a collection of innumerable objects) and other seemingly infinite objects constitute the Universe.
4. Principle of Fitness - Each human is a person unless he is a corpse.
What is the promise of Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism promises a meaningful and pleasurable life (pleasures within the boundaries of meaning) for the practitioner, a more peaceful and just society and a sustainable planet.
1. Principle of Uniqueness encourages expression of individual's unique passions and adding value through work and predicts that people do their best work in such environment.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness supports equality for all in the society and promotes scientific understanding of the interconnected world and policy making based on those findings and predicts that a human society in-sync with nature will thrive.
3. Principle of Infiniteness asserts that a sense of belonging and companionship is desired by every human in this seemingly infinite universe and predicts that love at home will give the recipient of love the strength to navigate through the tough times in life.
4. Principle of Fitness encourage physical and mental fitness while alive before other objects eventually figure out and transform him/her to dirt.
Will Rational Empiricism stand the test of time?
If we stop experiencing duality and causality, then Rational Empiricism can be discarded. But I am guessing that when that happens we won't any longer be humans, we would have evolved to a different species or we will be living in a new Universe.
Also, if we find new ways to rationalize duality and causality different from the way it is done in Rational Empiricism, then Rational Empiricism can be adapted and evolved to the new concepts. For instance, there are two fundamental mysteries of Universe that are purposely not dealt with in Rational Empiricism: a) What is the origin of Awareness? and b) What is the origin of Universe? Rational Empiricism doesn't bother answering these questions because these mysteries of the Universe doesn't negate our experience of duality and causality. However, if and when somebody presents rational answers to these questions and if that alters our conception of Universe, then we can evolve Rational Empiricism to the new concepts. Until then Rational Empiricism will be valid in its present form for humans.
You conform unconsciously or get confused when you have to make choices in life. Looking back at such a wavering life could cause much distress. You might regret the lost opportunity and it may be too late to fix it.
What is a religion?
A religion is a set of guiding principles for making choices in life. Religion gives the person clarity to make those choices and to consciously decide where to spend their time and energy in this world. It facilitates the person to live a meaningful and pleasurable life and gives the strength to navigate through the painful times.
Does religion need a God?
Religion has to be based on some solid, unshakable foundation. Belief in a God and God's word or a God's messenger's word is one way to create a religion. One downside to such God-founded religion is that there are powerful middlemen interpreting the God's message and laying down rules for others to follow. A second problem is, at times practitioners of religion vilify other Gods and religions and cause communal disharmony. A more serious downside is the nature of faith itself; a faithful can't rationalize why he has faith but he has to always protect his faith. After living a long, devout life, if some incident suddenly converts him to a non-believer, then it invalidates a large portion of his life which would be quite devastating.
What is the foundation for Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism is a non-theistic religion founded in reflecting and reasoning human experiences. Every human can testify to these two experiences; a) duality - that he exists and he is different from other things in Universe and b) causality - that there are causes for things to come into existence, causes for their sustenance and causes for them ceasing to exist. From these experiences, one can rationalize a definition for the Universe to be ''an interconnection of infinite, unique objects'. How?
1. Duality gives rise observation of objects
2. Duality also gives rise to distinction of self from other objects and to distinction of one unique object from another.
3. Duality also gives rise to observation of incomprehensible number of objects in Universe which gives rise to infinite, unique objects.
4. Causality indicates that these objects are interconnected as they continuously interact in space and time creating, sustaining and destroying each other.
Putting these concepts together, the definition of Universe as an interconnection of infinite, unique objects is justified. This definition of Universe forms the basis for the religion: Rational Empiricism.
What are the guiding principles of Rational Empiricism?
There are four guiding principles of Rational Empiricism interpreted from conception of Universe:
1. Principle of Uniqueness - Each human is unique, so is every other object in Universe.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness - Humans and other objects are interconnected to each other in complex ways.
3. Principle of Infiniteness - Each human (himself a collection of innumerable objects) and other seemingly infinite objects constitute the Universe.
4. Principle of Fitness - Each human is a person unless he is a corpse.
What is the promise of Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism promises a meaningful and pleasurable life (pleasures within the boundaries of meaning) for the practitioner, a more peaceful and just society and a sustainable planet.
1. Principle of Uniqueness encourages expression of individual's unique passions and adding value through work and predicts that people do their best work in such environment.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness supports equality for all in the society and promotes scientific understanding of the interconnected world and policy making based on those findings and predicts that a human society in-sync with nature will thrive.
3. Principle of Infiniteness asserts that a sense of belonging and companionship is desired by every human in this seemingly infinite universe and predicts that love at home will give the recipient of love the strength to navigate through the tough times in life.
4. Principle of Fitness encourage physical and mental fitness while alive before other objects eventually figure out and transform him/her to dirt.
Will Rational Empiricism stand the test of time?
If we stop experiencing duality and causality, then Rational Empiricism can be discarded. But I am guessing that when that happens we won't any longer be humans, we would have evolved to a different species or we will be living in a new Universe.
Also, if we find new ways to rationalize duality and causality different from the way it is done in Rational Empiricism, then Rational Empiricism can be adapted and evolved to the new concepts. For instance, there are two fundamental mysteries of Universe that are purposely not dealt with in Rational Empiricism: a) What is the origin of Awareness? and b) What is the origin of Universe? Rational Empiricism doesn't bother answering these questions because these mysteries of the Universe doesn't negate our experience of duality and causality. However, if and when somebody presents rational answers to these questions and if that alters our conception of Universe, then we can evolve Rational Empiricism to the new concepts. Until then Rational Empiricism will be valid in its present form for humans.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Full Circle
PROBLEM:
You have existential questions that keep coming back to you and bother you and you yearn for clarity to settle this dilemma once and for all so you can lead a life anchored in sound rationale. But, you know you are 'finite' in more ways than one and you realize you only have partial and imperfect knowledge about ‘stuff’, as a result philosophies/religious thoughts seem too narrow for your logic and you have a difficulty in blind acceptance of such ideologies. You wonder, is there a natural, organic, human philosophy that you can come up with that satisfies your brain so you can get on with life?
OBSERVATION:
You come to terms with the fact that Absolute Knowledge is Utopia. The chances of enlightenment or a mystical halo around your head are pretty slim to none. You want to figure out a solution right here and now, with what you know.
FRAMEWORK:
This is the best ‘philosophy’ my brain can come up with:
Equality: Every thing in Existence is equal by virtue of its existence. There is a reason for every thing's existence. Be fair and respectful, to every thing.
Creativity: Every moment is a new creation. Creativity is a domino effect of everything in existence interacting with everything else. Anything creative as long as it does not decry the principle of Equality should be welcomed and celebrated in this world. Be adventurous and explore out of the box.
Causality: Causality is making mathematical sense of the world around you. You have a causal model, if you can predict future. Make good and humane use of causal models and keep making the models better.
SOLUTION:
Dismiss existential questions; spending energy on them may not be worth your while. Instead respect animate (people, flora and fauna) and inanimate things (water bodies, natural resources).
If you are a creative person; be creative and entertain people with your art, humor, literature and music.
If you are scientifically inclined; do fundamental research, engineer, invent drugs and technologies.
If you a genius (creative+scientifically inclined), you know what to do, just do it.
[It is still a challenge to know ways and means to treat non-humans with respect, think about ways to do that. (Examples may be: Treatment of animals before they become meat, not littering in the woods, not putting chemical waste in water bodies etc).]
IMPLICATION:
If you can be mindful and remember to live a life using the principles above, then you will pass Earth leaving a positive effect on beings and things around you. Some might say, you lived a meaningful life. Simple, but effective; that you were kind to things around you, contributed to the society and had jolly good time doing it.
MANTRA:
Respect everything, Contribute every day, Have fun along the way.
SUMMARY:
Does this philosophy solve the dilemma of existential questions in your head? If it did, it is a successful philosophy. Remind yourself of the mantra as and when needed and continue leading a positive life. If the dilemma comes back to you in a few months and the mantra doesn't help, this philosophy is not for you, search for your own mantra.
-
You have existential questions that keep coming back to you and bother you and you yearn for clarity to settle this dilemma once and for all so you can lead a life anchored in sound rationale. But, you know you are 'finite' in more ways than one and you realize you only have partial and imperfect knowledge about ‘stuff’, as a result philosophies/religious thoughts seem too narrow for your logic and you have a difficulty in blind acceptance of such ideologies. You wonder, is there a natural, organic, human philosophy that you can come up with that satisfies your brain so you can get on with life?
OBSERVATION:
You come to terms with the fact that Absolute Knowledge is Utopia. The chances of enlightenment or a mystical halo around your head are pretty slim to none. You want to figure out a solution right here and now, with what you know.
FRAMEWORK:
This is the best ‘philosophy’ my brain can come up with:
Equality: Every thing in Existence is equal by virtue of its existence. There is a reason for every thing's existence. Be fair and respectful, to every thing.
Creativity: Every moment is a new creation. Creativity is a domino effect of everything in existence interacting with everything else. Anything creative as long as it does not decry the principle of Equality should be welcomed and celebrated in this world. Be adventurous and explore out of the box.
Causality: Causality is making mathematical sense of the world around you. You have a causal model, if you can predict future. Make good and humane use of causal models and keep making the models better.
SOLUTION:
Dismiss existential questions; spending energy on them may not be worth your while. Instead respect animate (people, flora and fauna) and inanimate things (water bodies, natural resources).
If you are a creative person; be creative and entertain people with your art, humor, literature and music.
If you are scientifically inclined; do fundamental research, engineer, invent drugs and technologies.
If you a genius (creative+scientifically inclined), you know what to do, just do it.
[It is still a challenge to know ways and means to treat non-humans with respect, think about ways to do that. (Examples may be: Treatment of animals before they become meat, not littering in the woods, not putting chemical waste in water bodies etc).]
IMPLICATION:
If you can be mindful and remember to live a life using the principles above, then you will pass Earth leaving a positive effect on beings and things around you. Some might say, you lived a meaningful life. Simple, but effective; that you were kind to things around you, contributed to the society and had jolly good time doing it.
MANTRA:
Respect everything, Contribute every day, Have fun along the way.
SUMMARY:
Does this philosophy solve the dilemma of existential questions in your head? If it did, it is a successful philosophy. Remind yourself of the mantra as and when needed and continue leading a positive life. If the dilemma comes back to you in a few months and the mantra doesn't help, this philosophy is not for you, search for your own mantra.
-
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Hear - Reflect - Contemplate
REVELATION
(Rupert Spira in his book Transparency of Things)
Omnipresence: Consciousness is all there is.
Omniscience: Consciousness is self-aware.
Omnipotence: Consciousness has total freedom.
REFLECTION
Something that is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent could be considered God, even an atheist would agree with that definition. The entirety of existence can be considered to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent; as Existence encompasses Everything! So, is consciousness = existence = god?
CONTEMPLATION
1. DUALITY: There is subject-object dichotomy
2. FUNDAMENTAL CLAIM: In the context of duality, every 'thing' in existence is equally significant by virtue of its existence. All superiorities and inferiorities are subjective/contextual.
3. FUNDAMENTAL OBSERVATION: Every 'thing' has some attributes and every 'thing' interacts with things it is connected to - can be visualized as a ripple effect. (Or butterfly/domino effect).
4. EXISTENTIAL QUESTION: What caused the ripple?
5. LIFE: Flow of Existence is algorithmic; proof is science.
6. DILEMMA: Our mindfulness causes confusion within us, creating an illusion of free-will. Realizing that mindfulness is not a willed condition dissolves that confusion.
From this argument, for humans in duality; the logical religion is Philosophy, the logical ethic is Equality, the logical pursuit is Science and the logical mantra for the present moment is Causality.
-
(Rupert Spira in his book Transparency of Things)
Omnipresence: Consciousness is all there is.
Omniscience: Consciousness is self-aware.
Omnipotence: Consciousness has total freedom.
REFLECTION
Something that is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent could be considered God, even an atheist would agree with that definition. The entirety of existence can be considered to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent; as Existence encompasses Everything! So, is consciousness = existence = god?
CONTEMPLATION
1. DUALITY: There is subject-object dichotomy
2. FUNDAMENTAL CLAIM: In the context of duality, every 'thing' in existence is equally significant by virtue of its existence. All superiorities and inferiorities are subjective/contextual.
3. FUNDAMENTAL OBSERVATION: Every 'thing' has some attributes and every 'thing' interacts with things it is connected to - can be visualized as a ripple effect. (Or butterfly/domino effect).
4. EXISTENTIAL QUESTION: What caused the ripple?
5. LIFE: Flow of Existence is algorithmic; proof is science.
6. DILEMMA: Our mindfulness causes confusion within us, creating an illusion of free-will. Realizing that mindfulness is not a willed condition dissolves that confusion.
From this argument, for humans in duality; the logical religion is Philosophy, the logical ethic is Equality, the logical pursuit is Science and the logical mantra for the present moment is Causality.
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