A quick summary of all the previous blogs:
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I started off the first blog post in this site on July 2008 with observations and questions about human's place and role in the Universe and how our incomplete knowledge of Universe causes uncertainty and consequently uneasiness in day-to-day life. I argued that incomplete knowledge is inevitable in a life of Duality as existential questions are beyond human knowledge. I initially thought the solution lied only in the domain of non-duality i.e. that there has to be a self annihilation; which happens naturally in dreamless sleep and in a state of flow. I soon realized a satisfactory solution is very much needed in the domain of duality as well, as we do spend substantial time outside the states of non-duality.
I argued that a philosophy for life in duality has to be synthesized to provide sails to navigate the seas of duality. Prevailing religions didn't appeal to me as they are based on an unseen God as their foundation. I am not wired to be a man of faith. I knew that any philosophy I synthesize won't comprise of 'absolute truths' of nature, but I wanted it to be at least complete, non-contradictory, elegant and rational based on human experience. The following philosophical framework is my take on the idea of god and a definition of a religion which will be a compass to live a life in duality. The hope for this is two-fold: a) that it gives me clarity in life, that it would serve as an anchor and rudder in predominantly a life of duality and b) that it would help others like me who are traveling a similar path.
Philosophical framework for life in duality:
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Non-essential
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. God - universe
Although God is non-essential in this philosophical framework, the concept of God demands clarification. God is generally considered as the being that created Universe. God outside of Universe is unimaginable. God inside (part) of Universe is finite and hence unacceptable. What is approachable is the idea that God is indistinguishable from Universe. Consequently, a reverence for everything in the cosmos is reasonable.
Essential
~~~~~~~~~
2. Religion - practice this; respect everything, contribute every day, love along the way
Religion is a guide to life. The necessary characteristic of religion is it should be unshakable over your lifetime. If you become skeptical over its fundamental precepts, then it can't serve as a guide any more.
practice: Internalizing and expertise requires mindful practice. Practice; duality imposes you to act, which you can do good job of with practice.
respect: All things in existence are equal by virtue of their existence, hence all things (animate/inanimate) deem respect. Respect everything; self-respect is an intrinsic right. Threads: Intrinsic, Self, Objective, Community, Laws & Justice, Non-judgment => Equality, Scope for Meaning.
contribute: Contribute as you consume much from this world, only that is fair. Contribute everyday; self-value is created when you create value in the world. Threads: Extrinsic, Other, Subjective, Personal, Economics & Value, Education => Employment, Scope for Flow.
love: Deep, meaningful social relationships are needed to avoid feeling lonely. Love along the way; self-love is a gift that you receive when you receive love. Threads: Holistic, Mutual, Relative, Inter-Personal, Sociology & Nurture, Parenting => Family, Scope for Positive emotions.
The progression is: respect < value < love. Ideally; everyone will respect you, some will value you, a few will love you.
3. Pleasure - Practicing a religion that makes sense to you gives meaning to life. If the quality of our experiences going through life are also pleasurable to us, then that is the icing on the cake. Just seeking pleasure without meaning is an empty, unsatisfactory life and on the other hand just having a meaningful life without enjoying it is unsatisfactory as well. So, the formula for a great life, a happy life is a concoction of meaning and pleasure.
Summary
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A meaningful+pleasurable day for a human would be as follows:
1. being in an environment where everyone's treated with dignity and equal rights are upheld and there is a compassionate social net for young and old people without a family
2. having flow experiences at work and being appreciated for the good work
3. receiving immense love from and having fun with family and friends
4. having a very restful, dreamless, great night's sleep
Most humans, however have a sub-optimal experience:
1. There are still sections of society that are discriminated even in most countries. Most countries don't give all its citizens even their basic rights. We still have homeless on our streets. We are just scratching the surface on rights of non-human entities.
2. Most people's skills and strengths don't sync up with the education they get or the jobs they do. So, they drudge through their workday instead of enjoying it and being creative at it.
3. Many don't have the social skills to be in a loving relationship, raising a family, giving unrequited love to their children, making genuine friends and having fun.
4. May be the sub-optimal experience of human lives reflects on the sub-optimal quality of sleep we have in the nights?
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
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.
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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.
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Thursday, November 11, 2010
Attitude - Focus and Progress
Philosophy:
Flow of Existence.
Knowledge and Ignorance about the Flow.
Intuition and Mathematical models are Knowledge.
Prediction is the yardstick of knowledge.
Causal nature of the Flow is apparent from Knowledge and Prediction or vice versa.
Implication:
Understand, if not, Accept the past.
Desire a future.
Act in the present.
Guide (a conscious, personal decision):
Civic focus: Fairness, Service, Science, Work
Personal focus: Sleep, Health, Relationships
Entertainment focus: Arts, Sport, Nature
Attitude:
Make progress
(Incidentally, a study from Harvard today reported that a focused mind is a happy mind.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/645790.html)
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Flow of Existence.
Knowledge and Ignorance about the Flow.
Intuition and Mathematical models are Knowledge.
Prediction is the yardstick of knowledge.
Causal nature of the Flow is apparent from Knowledge and Prediction or vice versa.
Implication:
Understand, if not, Accept the past.
Desire a future.
Act in the present.
Guide (a conscious, personal decision):
Civic focus: Fairness, Service, Science, Work
Personal focus: Sleep, Health, Relationships
Entertainment focus: Arts, Sport, Nature
Attitude:
Make progress
(Incidentally, a study from Harvard today reported that a focused mind is a happy mind.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/645790.html)
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Sunday, July 18, 2010
A Point of Reference
In an earlier blog, I stated that even if we overlook Existential Questions, we still need to synthesize a Point of Reference for living in Duality with some Peace of Mind. Here is one PoR.
Humans experience subject-object dichotomy in waking state. This is not experienced in deep-sleep state. We are primarily concerned with the experience of duality in the waking state. Our observation of Existence is; objects with some attributes interacting with other objects it is connected to and based on the interaction there are changes in the involved objects. (By object, I mean, anything we objectify; example: an atom, a neuron, a star, a dog, a person, an emotion, a thought, a country.) From one moment to the next, Existence changes; this I refer to as Flow of Existence.
Without using any kind of knowledge (like scientific knowledge), there is no way to say one object in Existence is more superior or inferior to another object. Hence, with just our experience of duality and our ability to reason, we can claim that, all objects in existence are equal, by virtue of their existence. However our ability to objectify and formulate what we objectify has led to Science. We know couple of things about Science, a) we know science works; we are able to cure diseases and send man to moon and b) we know more today than we did yesterday. And because Science works, that implies that the Flow of Existence is algorithmic i.e. there is a set of rules. The more rules Science discovers/tweaks, the more we can predict the Flow. Although the Flow is algorithmic, there is room for newness. When object A interacts with object B, a completely new object X that never existed in Existence before may be produced. That is the creative nature in Existence which is witnessed in new babies, new art, new music, new ideas to solve problems etc. Humans too, are objects in this Flow. Strangely, we are Aware of our self and other objects. Our awareness/mindfulness of our self, our choices, our thoughts, our decision process and our ability to execute the decision in action has given rise to the concept and confusion about free-will. If we look closely at mindfulness of our self, we can realize that it is not a willed condition i.e. we are not mindful before we actually become mindful of our self. Once we become mindful, we recognize it. When and what we become mindful of, is also an exhibition of the creative nature of the Existence. In light of all of this, we can say that every moment is causally-driven, the cause being the entirety of Existence.
CONCLUSIONS:
Point of Reference for a Dualistic Human World:
Religion: Philosophy
God: Existence
Ethic: Equality
Pursuit: Science
Mantra: There are causes for everything that happened. You may not know all the causes. This wisdom will give you the inner-peace to accept the past. There will be causes for everything that will happen. You may not know all the causes. This ignorance will give you the freedom to cause a desired future.
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Humans experience subject-object dichotomy in waking state. This is not experienced in deep-sleep state. We are primarily concerned with the experience of duality in the waking state. Our observation of Existence is; objects with some attributes interacting with other objects it is connected to and based on the interaction there are changes in the involved objects. (By object, I mean, anything we objectify; example: an atom, a neuron, a star, a dog, a person, an emotion, a thought, a country.) From one moment to the next, Existence changes; this I refer to as Flow of Existence.
Without using any kind of knowledge (like scientific knowledge), there is no way to say one object in Existence is more superior or inferior to another object. Hence, with just our experience of duality and our ability to reason, we can claim that, all objects in existence are equal, by virtue of their existence. However our ability to objectify and formulate what we objectify has led to Science. We know couple of things about Science, a) we know science works; we are able to cure diseases and send man to moon and b) we know more today than we did yesterday. And because Science works, that implies that the Flow of Existence is algorithmic i.e. there is a set of rules. The more rules Science discovers/tweaks, the more we can predict the Flow. Although the Flow is algorithmic, there is room for newness. When object A interacts with object B, a completely new object X that never existed in Existence before may be produced. That is the creative nature in Existence which is witnessed in new babies, new art, new music, new ideas to solve problems etc. Humans too, are objects in this Flow. Strangely, we are Aware of our self and other objects. Our awareness/mindfulness of our self, our choices, our thoughts, our decision process and our ability to execute the decision in action has given rise to the concept and confusion about free-will. If we look closely at mindfulness of our self, we can realize that it is not a willed condition i.e. we are not mindful before we actually become mindful of our self. Once we become mindful, we recognize it. When and what we become mindful of, is also an exhibition of the creative nature of the Existence. In light of all of this, we can say that every moment is causally-driven, the cause being the entirety of Existence.
CONCLUSIONS:
Point of Reference for a Dualistic Human World:
Religion: Philosophy
God: Existence
Ethic: Equality
Pursuit: Science
Mantra: There are causes for everything that happened. You may not know all the causes. This wisdom will give you the inner-peace to accept the past. There will be causes for everything that will happen. You may not know all the causes. This ignorance will give you the freedom to cause a desired future.
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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.
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(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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Saturday, September 26, 2009
Variables and Control
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years.
One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.
Taken from: http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/zen.html (Sept 26, 2009)
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One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.
Taken from: http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/zen.html (Sept 26, 2009)
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Sunday, August 02, 2009
Living In Duality
Abandon the search for Absolute, Synthesize a Point-of-Reference
Although we experience duality, we are unable to satisfactorily understand the truths about duality. Our deepest craving is to know the unsublatable truths about origin, nature, purpose etc of duality. Neither Religion nor Philosophy or Science has provided us with unambiguous and irreplaceable answers.
| Concept | Religion | Philosophy | Science |
| Existence | Existence was created by God. | The ground of existence is the transcendental, timeless, ultimate reality. | Big-bang is a popular origin theory. The ground of existence is some fundamental particle. |
| Self | You are not God. | The self immediately evident to you is non-different from the ultimate reality. | The self is a product of brain’s processes. |
| Path to Truth/God | Live a life of faith following scripture to approach God in after-life. | Cultivate mental poise that is conducive for realization of the truth. | Look forward to better theories to explain reality. |
All the three approaches; religion, philosophy and science agree on the presence of Existence but differ on its origin and nature. All the three agree on a self but differ on its nature. All the three agree that it is a process to obtain the truth and not immediately available to anyone at any time. So, our answer to questions about duality is: we don’t have unsublatable truths to understand duality at the moment.
If we look closely at the proposed paths towards truth, one way is to live a life of faith by following a religion. Another way is to live with noble ideals of an ascetic/monk which is required for mental poise as rationalized by the Philosophy. Yet another way is to pursue a career in fundamental physics or neuroscience to better understand the fundamental particle or the brain respectively. Some folks of faith may indeed pursue the above paths in search of absolute truths (rather than as a profession to make a living). But for most people, it is not very convincing just because of the lack of communicable proofs.
In this blog, I present a logical solution to only those people (including myself) who cannot commit themselves to the paths proposed by religion, philosophy or science. It’s based on the fact that life continues even without figuring out the so-called absolute truths. In light of that fact, it seems to me that the sensible thing to do would be to continue living life in duality and forget about the quest for truth. If the question arises in mind, be aware of it and ignore it. Move on and do the usual stuff. Ignore existential questions, indulge in duality is the mantra. However, can this be done?
Without the unsublatable truth there is no real point of reference for life in duality. Nothing is right/wrong, good/bad, better/worse unless there is a point of reference. Without a point of reference, living in duality is miserable as there is no way to form ethics and rules for decision-making when faced with choices etc. Metaphorically speaking, we need a map when we are lost.
A point-of-reference is an over-arching set of ideas that would explain in a very broad stroke all the happenings in duality. This set of ideas is knowledge we create by reflection on experiences in duality and are not equivalent to the intangible, absolute truths. Such a point-of-reference is our map; it should explain all the happenings of duality in a satisfactory way for us to lead a life in duality with a certain peace of mind. So, a point of reference has to be synthesized by us if we are to relinquish the quest for absolute truth.
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