Navigating the Chaos - Part 6 - The Purpose of my book Navigating thye Chaos

 It isn't easy to make sense of the chaos that is modern-day reality. Transformational change, information deluge, and a preponderance of bad ideas often leave us feeling isolated in a world that seems to be edging closer to an expedited collapse.

Post-truth has made itself heard across virtually every intellectual discipline, leaving one navigating a turbulent pathway to a workable clarity.

It is my experience that if you wish to live a life of meaning that you also have to adhere to beliefs that are well thought out, clear, and based on sound reasoning and logic.

I would say that my eventual goal is making sense of the universe. A cynic would claim that such a task is futile, fraught with obstacles, and ultimately a bridge to eventual disappointment. Perhaps this is true, but I would not renege on the journey, its path may be convoluted, but the serendipity that it invites is overwhelmingly rewarding.

Navigating the chaos is a formed-in-the-fire product of me wrestling with a multiplicity of ideas that I have come across in my stay on the planet so far. It is a consequence of both my practical experience and independent inquiry that reflects issues as diverse as the nature of science, the ebbs and flow of history, and the trajectory of our future.

A great deal of what I write here is based on my judgment that I have endeavored to substantiate with evidence and reasonable speculation. I will admit when I am at a loss and most certainly welcome the reader to challenge my conclusions.

Over the years, I have learned that all issues are not as clear-cut as their champions make them out to be, and in virtually every case, one's personal position is a derivative of the net information available. While it is necessary to have principles, it is equally important to listen to contradictory standpoints, which is why the free flow of ideas is so critical to any debate.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 5 - Thoughts on Buddhism

 There is an essence to Buddhism that, at first glance, appears to be extremely soothing. As a philosophy, it puts on a kinder face that, to so many, appears to be more welcoming than the harshness of the Judeo-Christian belief system. One such facet that has engendered one to think of Buddhism in a more enlightened framework was the replacement of the all-powerful judging God viewing each and every one of our actions with the belief in karma that argues that every action has a consequence to it. In reality, both God and the karmic system function to guide our actions toward doing what is the 'good.' 

Bad acts in the Buddhist world invite bad karma, which leads to suffering. In Western theology, these acts are punished by the wrath of God that, too, leads to suffering. So what we have here are alternative explanations for the same outcome. But are they really alternatives, or is the one, karma, perhaps merely a description as to how God meets out justice? My problem with the karma view on its own is that it is too convenient and mechanistic. It provides for the predictability of outcomes that deduces B from A. In short, it is deterministic, like the theological version of classical physics. The complexity of human nature fits neatly into an equation of fortune that 'makes it all too easy.' 

I believe that consequences are murkier on the outcome of action because the ultimate decider of our fate is Ein Sof, and Ein Sof's logic is not so simplistic. We, for example, cannot explain why infants die at such a young age. Ein Sof must clearly know the reason. 

People once believed that the rules of mathematics and classical mechanics could be used to predict the future history of the universe with complete certainty. Quantum Mechanics (uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, etc.) threw this 'certainty' on its head. Now it appears that the universe is more intricate and unpredictable than we could ever imagine. There is a logic there, but it is hidden behind a complex veil that I am not convinced we will ever breach. The same is true of the exact repercussions of our actions.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 4 - Why Free Will Matters.

Free Will gives us a choice. We are no longer automatons. However, a consequence of Free Will is a bad choice that can lead to pain and suffering. Free Will can also lead to a life of greater harmony. Both consequences need to be present. Otherwise, our Free Will is meaningless. Existentialism also deals with this issue but has a different basis - it argues that in a world of no innate meaning, we are free to make a choice, but we have to live with the consequences of our choice.

New Lists #3 - Options after we die.

 I have absolutely no idea. Although I figure it will be one of these ten situations.

1. We cease to exist completely in all dimensions.

2. We are recycled and reborn as humans somewhere else on Earth.

3. We join with a singularity so that our consciousness becomes one with the new medium.

4. We are reborn as a life form somewhere else in the universe.

5. We are reborn as a non-human life form on Earth.

6. We join with another consciousness and are reborn in some form or another.

7. We move into another dimension that our living conscious here on Earth cannot comprehend.

8. We ascend to the paradise described in traditional views of heaven. Never to be reborn again.

9. We are reborn in another world but keep our knowledge gained from the previous life.

10. We (or at least some of us) become 'angels' or messengers. Building new worlds across the universe that will themselves be populated by life

Scientific materialism would suggest 1. I am personally hoping for 3 or 6. They are way cooler.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 3 - Why do many People hate truth tellers?

 The problem, in the words of Jack Nicholson (taken from A Few Good Men), is that we 'cannot handle the truth.'

In order for us to function in the world, we have a tendency to create structures of coping that center around the way things ought to be, not how they are. We are all guilty of this and, in time, often turn the 'ought' into the 'is.'

This may serve us well until reality comes around to remind us of our short falling. When our deception is revealed, we are forced to re-evaluate our ingrained paradigm creating much anxiety and angst. The natural response is to prevent this re-evaluation from happening in the first place, which we implement by turning our anger.

Navigating the Chaos - Part 2 - A Quick thought on Prayer

Prayer must come from the heart. I prefer to produce my own prayer words that are of a personal nature. I realize others prefer pre-written templates or established prayer. It is their choice. The way I see it, prayer opens up a lane of necessary communication with a transcendence that enriches and makes more meaningful the notion of belief. On a communal level, it acts to provide solidarity between like believers in a specific system. Psychologically it may act as a mechanism to provide and enhance the clarity of thought.

 I think that not a day goes by without me contemplating my relationship with Ein Sof. This cuts to the very core of who I am as a being, and without such personal dialogue, I would certainly be much poorer. However, in a way, I am envious of the soul who has no doubt about their faith as they appear to have contentment that has escaped me so far. My faith comes not with ease; it is a tug-o-war complicated by the rivulets of thought that color my essence. I constantly joust with my belief and have, throughout my life, gravitated from one locale of inner comfort to another

Navigating the Chaos - Part 1 - My Personal Belief Structure

 I am by nature a scientific rationalist and consequently seek proof for my beliefs and avoid as much as possible any leaps of faith. However, I am also aware that science is bound to the material world and consequently has a limited realm through which it can access knowledge.

On a personal level, I have dedicated much of my life to science, but I am consciously aware of its zones of applicability. Having said this, I will exhaust all scientific explanations before deferring to an extra-material analysis in grasping the phenomenology of events. I owe this to myself. In a sense, I am a skeptic, not a logical positivist, but a realist armed with Occam's Razor but cognizant at the same time of the extra-material universe. 

I personally believe in an essence that extends beyond the physicality of the matter/energy universe. Perhaps this is a function of my individuality (so defined by my genetics and environmental history), but as much as I have tried to shrug off its presence and succumb to scientific materialism, I simply cannot. 

The Kabbalistic concept of Ein Sof, which translates (from the Hebrew) as 'without an end, appeals to me.' This makes the extended point that to truly define the essence is to actually limit it. All power, I believe, ultimately resides with the Ein Sof, which cannot be fully articulated, reduced, or even truly conceptualized. However, its presence is ubiquitous. 

I envision Ein Sof as multifaceted, and this is a consequence of omnipotence. It can be perceived on many levels. The Spirit God is 'the transcendence' from which our souls originate, and the personal God is the one that I communicate with. However, they are intrinsically linked as one.

The way I see it is that individual souls are derived from the Ein Sof. Our abstraction from the Ein Sof does not in any way reduce the Ein Sof as it supersedes the material. The laws of physics do not limit the Ein Sof as all its constraints and realities are ultimately a product of the Ein Sof. The Ein Sof is consequently the cause of why something, as opposed to nothing, exists

As Ein Sof Derived Souls, we can interact with the Ein Sof by following the path of goodness. This involves the extension of our sense of self and a concerted focus on the positive growth of our being and the assistance of others

In the Hindu Uppanbishad, it is written - That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. The infinite proceeds from infinite. If you subtract the infinite from the infinite, the infinite remains alone.

The Ein Sof is similar to the Uppanbishad definition of the Infinite Soul - Brahman. I am actually very much taken by the Hindu understanding of our individual soul - the Athman - being in its essence a derivative of the Brahman. As mentioned, we can approach the Ein Sof/Brahman by performing meaningful acts of goodness.

Others have addressed this dynamic but have unfortunately allowed themselves to lose focus in the vortex of cultural noise. Meaningful belief has to extend beyond this 'noise' to reclaim the connection with the Ein Sof. This brings us the greatest joy.

The direct approach toward goodness involves the elucidation of perspective. This substantiates itself in the prioritization of goals, daily events, and thoughts. Perspective is triage for the mind; it places our challenges in context so that we never lose sight of the goodness of the Ein Sof. 

Meaningful acts are tantamount to acts of kindness – an extension of one's sense of self to include the other. Martin Buber wrote about this in the 'I and Thou.' These bring one closer to Ein Sof and allow us to appreciate its magnificence. Life also has to be lived with purpose. In doing so, we discover the Ein Sof 'Spark.'

We must be thankful for what we have. I call this a consolidation of reality. Once such a step has been undertaken, the mind framework towards goodness is rooted. This catalyzes the drive.

I would argue that each morning until the end of the day, we awake with a new opportunity (for the most part) to prove and better ourselves. We should appreciate that we have life and act to help others.