CHARTING THE JOURNEY: THE ROAD AHEAD © ANIL MITRA 2012—2013 Home | Priorities | Impromptu talk | Contact CONTENTS Some in-process aspects of the work
THE ROAD AHEAD CHARTING THE JOURNEY
A Universal Journey of Realization—individual and shared. DimensionsThe dimensions are the modes (ideas and action), vehicles (individual and civilization), places (nature, society and culture), and mechanics (analysis and synthesis of Being) of transformation. BeingIdeas—now mature they imply that ideas and text are never complete; therefore focus turns to transformation. Transformation of Being—action—focuses on the individual transformation which is at an early stage (recall ‘In the life of the spirit, we are always at the beginning.’) CivilizationCivilization and Being—focuses on human civilization and Civilization of the Universe. Artifact and technology—use and development of technologies for transformation of Being and Civilization of the Universe. Assessment of ProgressBeingIdeas—the ideas are mature; two aspects of maturity (1) the ideas are innately reflexive—self-assessing and (2) completeness of foundation and breadth. Transformation—assessment will clarify achievement, hone principles of action, suggest areas and places of activity. Brief assessment (a) Dimensions above (details in Blueprint for Realization, below) (b) Yoga in its most general sense—ways and catalysts; application—self transformation, self healing, influence and transformation in small groups (c) Places—an aspect of dimensions, from my experience and travel—nature as ground (inspiration, and source of Being and connection) and civilization and community as fabric (sustenance and sharing). CivilizationCivilization—work includes developing the idea and function of Civilization, investigating social sciences, and nature of science and implications for social science and their use. The present form of the idea of transformation has practical origin in personal and small scale group settings and is confirmed and enhanced by the metaphysics. Focused sources of particulars are Civilization and Transformation, and document Journey in being-detail.html). Artifact and technology—component studies in which I have experience and exposure: social science, history, cosmology, and cognitive science; design, computation, and programming. These may be useful, especially in design of artifactual Being for Civilization. (e.g. artificial intelligence). Blueprint for RealizationBeingIdeasIdeas—topics for study and research Development of the following has begun. (1) Foundation and development of the metaphysics; inclusion of all dimensions of psyche; that as study of Being, metaphysics must be reflexive. (2) Unification of science and Logic; and concrete and abstract objects. Analysis-synthesis of the realms harbored in Realism (Logic). (3) Application—i.e. interaction of the metaphysics with academic disciplines and human endeavor, especially metaphysical thought of the past (e.g. Leibniz and the speculative systems,) Logic, mathematics, the sciences (fundamental physics, physical cosmology, and evolutionary biology), and science and philosophy for and of society. (4) Science—general interpretation—local fact versus universal hypothesis versus hybrid of fact and generalization without universalization; interaction with the metaphysics. Requirement of participation and immersion for limited form. (5) Symbolic systems—interaction with the metaphysics. Special application of the fundamental principle (the Universe is the object of Logic) to symbolic systems, e.g. language, logic and logics, set theory, mathematics, and computation and programming languages. An emphasis—mutual application of the symbolic systems (e.g., inflected languages and mathematical innovation) and mutual application with the metaphysics and Logic. What does it imply for foundations of general (and point) set theory that set theory must have an object or objects in the one limitless Universe? While the foregoing are of interest in the universal metaphysics and its application and implication the following are foundation for further study. (6) The system of human knowledge as system and in its categories. For interaction with the metaphysics. See System of human knowledge. Analysis of the secularism and trans-secularism—their standard forms, domains of validity, and limits—on their own methods and from the universal metaphysics. (7) Explicit meta-study—review all aspects of the process, especially analysis and synthesis of ideas and Being—including formulation in these terms. Nature of meta and planning process. The following concern extension to action and transformation. (8) Extension of metaphysics to action as implied by continuity of ideas and action. Principled deployment of the dimensions. Interaction with experience and disciplines to found and develop dimensions of transformation—modes (ideas and action), vehicles (individual and civilization), places (nature as ground—and inspiration and connection, society and culture as fabric—sustenance and sharing), and mechanics (analysis and synthesis of being—see method—with step increment-risk and consolidation by adaptation, reason and recollection). The idea of nature as inspiration has a source in the idea of ‘Beyul’ that in Tibetan Buddhism is a hidden land whose revelation and discovery parallel and precipitate inner revelation and process. (9) Study of ways—(1) The elements—grounding, transformation, and consolidation; (2) Approach—method: (a) analysis and synthesis of Being (which include experiment: ideas cannot be developed in isolation from action) with focus on catalysts of Being in interaction with emotion-cognition and integration with (b) tradition. Dynamics, catalysts and catalytic states is a source for catalysts. Select ways. (1) Samkhya and yoga (and meditation); Yogas of the Bhagavad-Gita; Tantra—opening to the world via embrace without seeking of death, the ugly and the evil, Eros in death and death in Eros (2) The way of Buddhism—Mahayana and Tibetan (Chöd, Beyul); (3) Mysticism—Greek, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic (4) Modern—hypnosis, EMDR, psychoanalysis, psycho-behavioral re-education (REBT), 12-step logic (5) Religions of native peoples—Shamanism, Native American religion. The way of the Buddha—an example. Four truths—there is suffering; it has a cause; there is a permanent end to suffering; there is a way to this end. Eightfold way—eight ‘rights’—Wisdom or prajna (1) View (2) Intention; Ethical conduct or sila (3) Speech (4) Action (5) Livelihood; Concentration or Samadhi—(6) Effort (7) Mindfulness (8) Concentration. The eightfold way has been analyzed as cognitive-emotional-behavioral. Shamanism includes a way of psychic transformation—ways of transformation neurology to receptive states, especially vision seeking without and with psychoactive substances. Shamanic systems—(1) Communally guided tradition of plant use (a. plant chemicals, b. preparation) (2) Communally guided and interpreted vision quest. The purpose of the list is for experiment. The goal is to experiment with ways at a number of levels—particular ways; analysis and synthesis variety of ways; which includes the concept and elements of the ways. (10) Study of artificial Being—stand alone, evolutionary, and symbiotic; technology for civilization and Civilization; cognitive science—especially, AI, A-Life: symbolic, computer implementation, and designs; reflection on and analysis of symbolic and computer models, significance, enhancements (quantum, distributed), and alternatives; development of dynamic and automated text: development—writing, revision in interaction with world (object). (11) Theoretical and experimental study of transformations with organisms, individuals, selves, and dissolution of self—psycho-biology. TransformationTransformation and action—report and record for immersion, sharing, and vertical interaction between execution and design. Design (1) Approach—mechanics: above, in Ideas. (2) Method and review—in light of experiment and learning. In method and review refinements are made in approach or ways and catalysts. The process is iterative: approaches are tried from the disciplines, experience, and reflection and the trials suggest modification. Grounding | Everyday | Everywhere (3) Death—adaptation to death—understanding it, its nature as horizon to this life, conditions and time for death, death as normal and real and gate to the ultimate, is a first task. (4) Place—home—society and culture, continued—normal living, transient or stable, conducive to truth and realization. An ideal—share with others who enjoy and support these aims. Aim—empower and sustain increment and understanding by shared endeavor. (5) Practice and action. Yoga, meditation in practice and in action and living. Practice of elements of ways first chosen to ground the present and link beyond (including the ultimate) and further selected by experiment. See study of ways under Ideas above. Execution Places are nature and civilization (see ‘home’ above). Enhancing or catalytic factors—perhaps the essential principle is single minded psychic, social, and physical action toward the goal of grounded realization. Inducing factors—person or mind-body—(1) physical isolations and deprivations, inaction, physiological alterations from exposure, extremes in environment, shock or trauma (2) exertion and exhaustion, pain, fasting, sleep alteration (3) presence, fear, crisis and crisis sense—opportunity and opportunistic sense, anxiety—imposed or volitional and purposive (4) repetitive, ‘distracting’ (from distraction), calming (ANS / CNS), march, repetition and rhythm and dance, focusing on breath (5) ritual or symbolic reinforcement and inducement of ways and catalysts, e.g. Chöd (6) use of psychoactive substances; and fasting and diet. Inducing factors—charismatic development and interaction—details below. Inducing factors—social—(7) alteration of perspective—e.g., immersion in different cultures and micro-cultures, ‘changing’ handedness—e.g., writing with the non-dominant hand, speaking different languages. Source—dynamics, catalysts and catalytic states. (6) Place—nature—ground of Being… of individual and civilization—gateway to insight and Universe (Beyul) and as place for physical being, immersion in Being—porosity and transience of boundaries, and experiment with self and catalysts. Aim—a place for insight, for catalytic experiments, and for consolidation via records, recollection, and renewal. Inducing factors for nature—emphasize items 1, 2, 3, 4 above. Sacred places—nature—human ground—and immersion in nature. Ways—reflect; experiment with nature practice, especially Native American and vision search. Charismatic development—(1) Risk toward the goal (grounding and realization) (2) Preparation for encounter (content and manner) (3) Insight into motivation (4) Conserve and develop psychic and physical energy. Acting—attitude… (7) Place—society and culture—travel and immersion—especially ‘secular’ institutions (e.g., culture and knowledge, politics) and ‘trans-secular’ institutions (e.g., spiritual places-institutions-persons and influence on civilization and its processes). Aim—learning from and influence on civilization and its processes; staying to learn, share, and work. Institutions—secular—with focus that is pertinent to grounding and realization; university; transformational movements. Staying to experience, learn, share, work. Persons with useful elements of knowledge… Institutions—trans-secular—with focus that is pertinent to grounding and realization; transformational movements. Staying to experience, learn, share, work. Charismatic persons with insight—teachers… Sacred places—conducive to receptivity, engagement; immersion may be transformational; churches etc. Inducing factors for society—emphasize items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 above. Charismatic development—(1) Risk toward the goal (grounding and realization) (2) Preparation for encounter (content and manner) (3) Insight into motivation (4) Conserve and develop psychic and physical energy. Acting—assumption of personality / attitude and transformation in performance, ability, and reinforcing effect on others; reinforcement is the result of success and others’ attitudes, persistence in face of the negative. Ways—reflect; experiment with nature practice, especially Samkhya, yoga, and meditation; Buddhism; Christian mysticism Travel—tour; bicycle, bus, auto, ocean, and air… Notes on consolidation The question of consolidation is open and experimental. It is not clear what consolidation may occur in the individual (this is in part a question of the relations among local and less local identities) and what may be transmitted to others via sharing. Modern evolutionary theory asserts that individual gains are not transmitted to children; however if a significant group were to undertake experiments and isolate (reproductively) selection—natural or breeding—may, consistently with modern theory, result in permanent change in the gene pool that would not be Lamarckian or teleological. CivilizationCivilization and BeingDimensions—see A Vision for our world. (1) Internal (2) External Approach—participation and immersion; integration with transformation. (1) Internal dimensions—individual being; culture—knowledge, morals and institutions—secular and trans-secular; political and economic; artifact and technology. Participation and immersion; integration with transformation. (2) Civilization of the Universe—shared endeavor; metaphysics and transformation of being; retreat and return; exploration, artifact, and technology (3) Shared endeavor, research group—establish or join a research and transformation community; publishing the developments; integration with artifact and technology. The idea of a transformation community is developed in TranscommunityDesign. For a preliminary plan see TransCommunity (an Excel workbook) or TransCommunity (html). Artifact and technologyUse of technology in and for Civilization. (1) Artificial Being—stand alone, design and evolution, symbiotic, and adjunct—build (hardware-software), experiment, learn; dynamic text—i.e. automation of text and ideas… and text that is interactive with ideas and life via computer implementation (software, intelligent editing, remote interaction). (2) Experiments with organisms—especially the individual experimenting with him or herself—psycho-biology. (3) Shared endeavor, research group—establish or join a research and transformation community. See the transformation community documents linked above. Priorities and sustenanceThe primary document for this material is priorities.html.
Resources for the journey
PersonalLife-journey—my skills (intellectual, psychic, wilderness, personal, initiative) my writing, books. Take the next best step—start at the beginning. NetworkingCommunicate—talk; mail / email / phone; site—possible blog, forum; visit; social media; publish. Share—find like minded people, expertise, invite collaboration, find an appropriate work setting. Transformation—teachers—ways and catalysts. Institutions—secular and trans-secular—sources of pertinent learning and insight for grounding and realization, places to stay and work. Journey—ideas, transformation, civilization, artifact—transformation community, institute Institutional resources—financial and expertise for a community for transformation (TransCommunity). Robin—be open, cultivate. Dedication and AffirmationI dedicate my life to The Way of Being— Adapted from the AA 3rd step prayer. Future of the NarrativeOverviewThe future—this place is held for reports and narratives of the journey (ideas, plans and planning, transformations, and goals) as it unfolds. The main elements for the future are (a) Sharing the narrative is essential to sharing the journey—the journey and narrative shall be open; the sharing will be with individuals and groups in the context of civilization (b) Reports on progress in transformation, ideas, and goals (plans). Some in-process aspects of the work1. Reports on transformation, ideas—for information and shared endeavor. 2. Shared authorship—open text, an aspect of a shared journey. 3. Reports on source material (see Influences and Sources, a start). 4. Reports on update of plans for the journey. 5. Review, rewrite the main ideas as one of the brief editions. 6. Review, improve, and edit this document. NotesFor the print version. |