The awful truth is that Absolute Truth is not knowable to a human mind. This comes as more of a shock for some of us than for others: those of us who were raised in a tradition claiming to possess Absolute Truth believed ourselves to be in a specially privileged “in group” until we learned otherwise.
If you, dear reader, have been led to believe that any human person, institution, tradition, religion, or conceptual framework is the sole and infallible expression of Absolute Truth, the awful truth is that you have been deceived.
Emerging from the shadowy confines of rigid dogma and entering the expansive realm of independent thought is not an act of damnation, but a courageous venture into the light of understanding. Like the prisoners in Plato’s allegorical cave, who mistake shadows for reality until they step into the sunlit world beyond, you too are on a profound journey. You are not forsaking truth but rather discovering a deeper, more nuanced comprehension of it. This transition can feel unsettling, as if the familiar certainties are dissolving into ambiguity, but it is precisely through this process of questioning and seeking that genuine enlightenment is found. You are stepping into a wider universe where the complexities of existence and the mysteries of the human psyche can be explored with the clarity of reason and the insights of modern science.
The ancient traditions, which once provided a framework for your beliefs, are not to be dismissed as mere fallacies. Instead, they can be seen as early, earnest attempts to grapple with the profound questions of existence, morality, and human nature. These religious narratives and doctrines were the best tools available to our ancestors, crafted with the materials of their time: myth, symbol, and parable. They sought to explain the ineffable and to guide human behavior in a world that was often harsh and inexplicable. Now, with the advent of modern psychological and scientific understanding, we can reinterpret these ancient stories, seeing them as precursors to the truths we continue to seek.
We invite you here to blend the insights of the past with the revelations of the present. In doing so, you are not abandoning your search for meaning but enriching it. You are moving beyond the confines of the cave, embracing a broader spectrum of light and shadow, and finding that the essence of your quest for truth remains intact, even as the forms through which you seek it evolve.
Life has meaning.
Understanding the world requires awareness of its patterns.
Awareness begins with knowledge of one’s own nature and place in the universe.
Consciousness is universal; the level of an individual’s consciousness is defined by the individual’s ability to recognize and relate to the Other.
One function of life is to decrease its internal entropy by increasing local entropy – living things can be accurately described as entropy pumps. As the outside universe slowly decays into uniformity, life evolves into ever more complex and ordered forms. This holds true for consciousness as well: the next step in human evolution is general awareness of how inescapably we are bound to each other, and to all life. When enough of us know this so strongly that we begin to act as a species, we will have transcended the current stage of our existence. The next will be defined not by our fears and limitations, but by our highest aspirations and values.