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Discovery and realization of ultimate identity Anil Mitra, © Anil Mitra July 2013—January 2015 Origins and framework In civilization—choice and destiny. In my experience—my story of discovery and realization as a journey. Standard frameworks or worldviews: (1) Secular—the empirical universe is the only current real and source of meaning. (2) Trans-secular—a world beyond the secular is the greatest real and source of meaning. Assessment. It is not widely acknowledged that current knowledge and reason are consistent with the universe as limitlessly greater that the ‘universes’ of secular and trans-secular vision. Modern secular assessment—from its pervasion, the secular is often its own frame for judgment: omission of ‘current’ above is widespread. This is encouraged by the poverty of the trans-secular views. Even in rejecting the trans-secular, the secular assigns it too much weight. The universal metaphysics The most liberal and possible: the universe has no limit—this is called the fundamental principle of metaphysics. It would say: the universe is the possible. In terms of understanding, it says that there but one constraint on valid thought: no disagreement with valid reason and experience. This picture, the universal metaphysics, is demonstrated; yet despite proof and consistency with experience doubt remains. The universal metaphysics is therefore the greatest principle of knowledge and action. Consequences 1. There are no limits to the variety, extension, duration of being and its summits, elevations, and dissolutions. Cosmological systems have no limit to variety, repetition of form (‘Law’) or content—and of these the mirroring of ours without end is a minute fraction. A stable, well formed cosmos with weak external interactions may seem whole. Its normal, contingent behavior may seems necessary. 2. The universe has identity and manifestation in acute, diffuse, and absent phases (‘something from nothing’ is a trivial consequence). 3. All beings realize the universe; but while in limited form realization is an endless journey that is ever fresh. 4. Engagement, life, death, joy, and pain are gates to and from the ultimate. Pain and death are normal—lived and given meaning. 5. The way to the ultimate begins ever in the present. Individual and community are centers of meaning. A Way of realization 1. A Way of realization cycles through Being (sustaining) and Transformation ( of ideas, individual, civilization, and artifact-technology). 2. Elements include means (ideas and action), vehicles (individual and civilization—individual fosters civilization, civilization fosters individual; and in their mutual support they move out into the universe), places (nature and society), modes (ideas and action) and disciplines (intrinsic or of self—of being, especially experience understood properly and fully; and instrumental or of object—of science and technology) 3. Processes are transformation of individual (action-ideas); and Civilization—forming a matrix of being-civilization across the universe. 4. Final mechanics must be intrinsic—its sources are not outside individual and world—and are therefore those of all intrinsic creation: risk (outcome not guaranteed, e.g. catalysts of engagement of the entire ‘being’) and consolidation (by adaptation; ‘ways’, e.g. 8-fold). My Journey 1. Ideas (discovery of the universal metaphysics) and Transformation (ideas and experiments with self in practice and nature) 2. Civilization (sharing and immersion) and Artifactual being (in conceptual and planning stage with sources in the disciplines). |