Documenting more premises of belief

First premise:
There tends to be an assumption in the majority of Western educated society that our technology will progress in linear direction with an implied geometric increase of complexity over time. However, I believe that human society evolves in a cyclic manner, with perhaps nested linear models; ultimately- there is a grand cycle of history. The idea our society is in its "infancy" in regard to technology at least, implies a dogmatic resolution to our origins. Finally, I  believe it is a fallacy to say that geometric technological progress is one of the primary identifiers of an advanced civilization.

Second premise:

There is a prejudice to materiality within the Linear/Geometric Progress faction. Our rationalist and materialist forebears have influenced our thinking. Until there is at least an integration of the material and spiritual, the rational and intuitive, I think there will be a dualistic conflict. I think that human society will progress in a nested cycle, but it will reach a limit within the material sphere of influence. In order to cross this boundary, human society, and more specifically human beings collectively, will need to transcend the physical into the meta-physical or spiritual. There is a limit to material technology. If nothing else, I believe the next step of technological progress will be and already is, into the bio/chemical arena. However, I see danger of objectifying subjects and their rights if we advance only partially. This needs to be a holistic transcending. At least an integration. The material has limitations. Quantum Physics is showing us there is a meta-physical reality that transcends pure rationality. The disciplines need to ingrate into holistic unity; imagine your math teacher singing equations while students worked problems on art canvasses that displayed not just the correct data processing, the representation of following proper algorithms and calculation, but the brilliant translation of intrinsic form, the inherent meaning of the mathematical concept. Pragmatic value? Pragmatic values are false values of a house of cards society. Fascist Capitalism is a tyrant to education and the arts. Do we want to produce well conditioned biological automatons to run the machinery of tomorrow society, or do we want to evolve as a human species, to take true leaps into another dimension of life and experience? It can't be done in splinters. We can do it for you wholesale, or not at all! It will take every village on every continent.

Third premise.

The ego needs to be transcended. I would say integrated, but I think it will always usurp the other parts of the human soul. The ego insured our survival long ago, but now it causes a constant war. It reinforces fascism in every sense, nuance and sphere of human relations. It breeds factionalism. By its very existence it insures factionalism. It is the androgynous parent of dualism. While ego exists, unity can only last a generation or two before it is toppled by the ravenous lust of "I". Furthermore, while Ego intrinsically ensures individuation within human society, the negative aspect of Ego generates its dialectical brother of positive Ego. Horus and Set, Cain and Abel, The Yin and Yang, the Left and the Right. I believe too, you must separate the "good" from "truth". Truth stands alone. Truth is pure form, it is not a reaction, a reflection, or a representation. The Good may often represent the truth, but it is always in dialectical reaction to evil. Therefore, when "good" opposes "evil", the very opposition contributes to the dialectical response of evil. "Evil" should be transcended. This is why "Religion" just produces a stalemate, an equilibrium. What is needed to break this cycle is either total entropy or no entropy at all. This to me is an impossible dilemma. However, what gives me hope is the presence of paradox in the world. For me, paradox are 'glitches in the code'. Paradox betrays a different level of reality; when this other reality intersects with our material/temporal one, it produces conundrums, cooperative dichotomies, tesseracts. So, the story is incomplete; the movie is only half over.

I'm just waiting for the house lights to come on.

                                  Tesseract:

From Norman Mailer's On God - The Vow of the Bodhisattva

I just finished reading Norman Mailer's book, "On God- an Uncommon Dialogue". It truly was an uncommon message; I was expecting the usual exegetical discussions on the nature of God and the cosmos and instead got blown away by a visceral and gritty heart to heart with a grizzled old novelist. I wonder if he ever talked with Joseph Campbell or Phillip K. Dick, because I think they would have had some good discussions. The image of the creator as an artist hooked me immediately. Very unconventional but casually profound, Mailer was still grounded, earthy and realistic in his intimations. This book was written the year he died, a synchronistic event in that the intent was to capture his unique belief system. He defies many conventions confronting religious orthodoxy despite maintaining a spiritual faith while retaining the brutal rationalism of his past atheistic stance. However, it was refreshing to have someone step out boldly while defending his beliefs intelligently and with common sense. An honest man who is aware of his imperfection but who is willing to share his fascinating view of the world and cosmos.

Towards the end of the book, the interviewer, Michael Lennon, mentioned the concept of the Vow of the Bodhisattva. Those who take the Bodhisattva Vow, renounce entry into the blessed state even when they attained perfection. Instead, they vow to stay in the fight; strive to free the rest of creation still struggling in the muck, like repeatedly Halo'ing back in as spiritual special forces to help humanity through the centuries. I looked it up and the prayer is absolutely beautiful, right along with Isaiah 61 or Prayer of Saint Francis. (I love tweaking -playfully- the nose of my conventional religious friends when I find parallel beliefs in non-Christian religions).

In the end, we are all human.
I think it articulates an excellent daily attitude.

Bodhisattva Vow


As long as there is suffering
As long as there are sentient beings in the 6 realms
May I never attain Enlightenment
And never cross over into Nirvana.


May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road;
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall,
And a lamp for those who long for light;
For those who need a resting place, a bed,
For all who need a servant, may I be a slave.

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of plenty,
A word of power, and the supreme remedy.
May I be the trees of miracles,
And for every being, the abundant cow.

Like the great earth and the other elements,
Enduring as the sky itself endures,
For the boundless multitude of living beings,
May I be the ground and vessel of their life.

Thus, for every single thing that lives,
In number like the boundless reaches of the sky,
May I be their sustenance and nourishment
Until they pass beyond the bounds of suffering.

Profoundly moving metaphors. Beautiful.

And... the parallel:

The Year of the Lord's Favor

61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor; [1]
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; [2]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. [3]
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen