Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now.
Eckhart Tolle
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
after Anthony Oettinger
A little further into the future, D+ predicts that Time will finally be reconsidered, and split into ‘Measuring Time’ and ‘Experienced Time’. This distinction, will, I suggest, lead to new insights in eg, cosmology. And the current world of ‘probability’ that quantum physics deals with will eventually be accepted as being not a random system, but an extreme case of ‘chaos’, meaning ‘rational and law-abiding, but far too complicated to analyse mathematically’, like the movement of all the molecules in the oceans of the world. The input of Mind will be seriously investigated, without the current embarrassment scientists feel as the hangover from the hyper-reductionist nonsense of Behaviorism.
In other words, the quantum world will change (as will the genetic world) from its current ‘random-Materialist’ form into ’caused-Idealist’. This will mean that Cause and Effect will be reinstated to its prime position as the foundation of science, but with Mind at the helm, somehow.
§ ‘..and you will find someday that, after all, (quantum theory) isn’t as horrible as it looks.’ Richard Feynman. (But, to be fair, he wasn’t talking about the role of Mind.)
As it becomes accepted that brain and genes are associated with thought and aptitudes rather than the cause of them, science will re-adjust its thinking on what is Cause and what is Effect in the Mind-Body puzzle.
§ This list of predictions is not complete. What of the future role of psychometry in archaeology, for example? And in police work? There are many cases of success here already: see The Psychic Detectives tv series. And what of history being reconsidered from a D+ point of view? Education? Criminology? Sociology? Other ologies?
We will one day accept that Reality is multi-levelled. At the lowest end we have the physical, our current environment, in which it is possible to say with an element of truth that we are
• ‘99.9999999999999% nothing’
• ‘Stardust’, as all the chemical elements of our bodies seem to have been
forged in stars at some point
• Or ‘nuclear waste’, if you prefer…
• ‘Nothing but a few kilos of carbon, oxygen and phosphorus’ etc
• ‘Chemical scum on the surface of a moderate-sized planet’
• ‘Merely animals’
• ‘The naked ape’
….and all those other Materialist claims. They are obviously contradictory and paradoxical even to a Materialist, so none is satisfactory. To an Idealist, however, they do make sense, but only in terms of the various levels of the physical mode of our existence (as above: at the sub-nuclear, then physical, chemical, and then biological levels of reality).
Our real Reality, to coin a phrase, lies within each one of us. In sleep we visit the Astral/Emotional world: we dream in another Reality. Upon death, it seems we quit the physical ‘dream’ and accept the Astral Reality. Above the Astral Reality lie higher realms of ever-increasing Reality to which we gradually aspire.
We may possibly come to eventually ‘realise’ that the only Really Real Reality is Unified Consciousness (‘Yoga’; the ‘re-ligare’ Quest completed), and that all the lower Realties are dreams, thoughtforms, Platonic forms, created by Mind in order to experience what needs to be experienced, for reasons known perfectly only in the realm of panmentia, locus uncertain (to most of us, but apparently not to all), but revealed to us (eventually) via the practice of the Golden Rule, and paying attention.
§ If we adopt the Golden Rule as our normal guide, do we need even the concept of ‘ethics’? Is ‘Ethics’ another distracting Materialist fabrication?
This acceptance of ‘relative realities’ should come as welcome news to all those scientists who at the moment tread an uneasy boundary between Materialism and Christianity. Medicine will one day address illness (especially mental illness) with this ‘hierarchy of realities’ in mind.
***
In terms of that ‘Circle of Life’ I mentioned in Chapter 21 (and repeated here)…
the human race in general would seem to be now approaching the bottom of the curve and about to begin the long climb upwards, coming together via cooperation rather than the compulsion of the downcurve, and the fragmentation of the bottom curve. There are many signs of this, although we are generally so lost in nihilistic-Materialist depression that we do not notice the great movement there has recently been towards a global way of thinking. If we compare the attitude to The World in Victorian times with the current one, we already see a difference. Where Victorians saw Empire (to plunder at worst, to guide at best), we are beginning to see One World (to share and understand). These days we are more likely to speak of the ‘international community’, than of ‘foreign powers’ or the ‘Johnny Foreigner’ of previous decades, or the ‘Spanish Dogs’ of Captain Drake’s era.
§ In 1455 Pope Nicholas V licensed Alfonso V of Portugal to reduce the inhabitants of Africa ‘to perpetual slavery’, as ‘enemies of Christ’. Definite improvement here, at least.
First there was the League of Nations, followed by the United Nations; the World Health Organisation; The World Bank and the IMF (for all their ills); the Olympic movement, and other globally-thinking institutions, now including the incalculable power of the Internet. Then there are the thousands of international charities and other less obvious movements.
§ Just a few: the Boy Scouts and Guides; Live Aid, Band Aid, Comic Relief; Oxfam; the British Council; Amnesty International; the BBC World Service; Médicins Sans Frontières; Cafod; the Red Cross and Crescent; communication satellites; package holidays; ROCK & ROLL; telephones; collaborative science and technology; Fairtrade; English as the language of shipping, airlines, and a World Lingua Franca; DVD’s, mp4’s, streaming; Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and the burgeoning influence of Avaaz; SOCCER; the World Cup; foreign footballers leading to breakdown of racism; UN policing in Bosnia and Rwanda; the International Criminal Court in the Hague, showing that we no longer accept genocide or mass murder (compare with the atrocities carried out in Roman times; the spiking of heads in the English Civil War; the Indian Wars in the USA; and of course the Nazi outrages); Hollywood!; eradication of smallpox, and soon of polio and guinea worm; sport in general; and, oddly, war, in that a) people realise that the enemy are mainly decent civilians like themselves, and b) efforts are made after wars to prevent repeats, which is why we have a UN now. War means chaos, and chaos concentrates the mind. Crisis precedes growth. And the European Union. Our ancestors witnessed, and probably cheered, as the empires of France, Germany, Britain, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Turkey squared up to each other, in their pompous stars and feathers, for the greatest ever slaughter of their young men. It seems impossibly savage to modern Europeans, wouldn’t you say? And then there’s the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the release of all the nations of the former USSR; and, astonishingly, British, American, French, and Polish troops joining in a parade to mark the defeat of the Nazis, in Red Square…
And China re-engaging with the world; and democracy trying to surface in Arabia… Perhaps most persuasively, thanks to the EU, Europe has experienced its longest period of extended peace since the Romans.
We may one day perceive history as having begun with a long period of right- brain domination, when superstition and then Belief in Big Religion ruled us all, and reason was irrelevant. The positive residue was a vague feeling that there is more to this life than is apparent and that we should be nice to each other. The negative residue was fear, ignorance and superstition. There then followed a few centuries in which the left-brain rose to the fore, via science and technology. The positive residue is a better standard of living and respect for reason and Understanding. The negative is the selfishness and arrogance that over-stimulated left-brains are associated with, and the exploitation and ruin of the environment. But as the ideas re-presented by D+ gain acceptance, so the right-brain will be seen as a full working partner of the left, (in conjunction with the growing emancipation of women), so our Intuition towards empathy, cooperation and internationalism can flourish at last. Gradually, right-brain Intuition will lead to greater Direct Knowing. When the process is complete, the ‘Wheel of Life’ will have fully turned, as a Yogi might put it. And we might come to accept that civilisation is what happens despite Great Men.
***
Once people realise that there is purpose to their life, we will be able to relax more, knowing that Being (kind) is the key, and not Doing (stuff). We won’t be so easily distracted by silly novelties and will value our time more highly for making things like music and craft work; gardening; carving; painting; beautifying; co-operating on social projects; building links; caring; creating. We won’t be so sheepishly seduced by ‘fashion’ and the eco-curse of ‘shopping’. ‘Choice’ won’t impress us as we see through the advertisers’ lies. We will insist on simple high quality goods instead, so the pollution and waste of consumerism will fade away, along with ‘labels’, flash trash, the throw-away mentality. We will become.. happier.
Socialism, in its sense of ‘fairness for all’ will become possible (..and then inevitable? Was Marx right here?) when we work ‘with detachment’ (ie, work for the sake of ‘doing it right’), intending its benefits for all, rather than for our own selfish ‘reward’. Buddhists have been recommending this approach to life for 2,500 years, as have followers of the Yogic/Esoteric Philosophy in general. After all, all anybody (except the psychopaths) has ever wanted throughout history is fairness, and the Golden Rule, flying whatever flag you choose, is the key to delivering this ‘simple’ wish.
§ An extraordinary example of the positive effect of the Golden Rule is the ‘Pygmalion Effect’ discovered by Bob Rosenthal (and confirmed by others) that children who are encouraged and expected to do well, actually do so. This may seem to be obvious…. but it’s an effect that is frequently missing in families and schools, and even in cultures. Be dammed (anti-Golden Rule) and you will fail. This Effect also works on rats, which raises a question or two.
***
When I started on this book, a friend asked if I realised I would be offending 90% of my readers. I said that I was recounting my own voyage of discovery concerning logic and dogma. Tact is fine, but when a Belief is just plain wrong this should be pointed out. Most Beliefs are questions of opinion and a dogmatic stance either way is foolish, but now and then there is a non-disputable point to be held firm.
The Earth is not flat, and no amount of seeing the other guy’s point of view will alter this fact. Similarly, Materialism is just plain wrong, as it requires raw chemicals to have spontaneously created themselves into Life, Mind, Consciousness and Meaning. Again, I can see no way of seeing the other guy’s point of view on this one fundamental issue. My problem has been that as Materialism is so profoundly buried in our culture (or ‘in our DNA’ as journalists are fond of saying …with no trace of irony) I have felt the need to batter away at one or two points to be sure that I am not misunderstood. It is a fact that we read new information through the prism of our own Beliefs, and Materialism is one of those Beliefs for many people who do not know that it is questionable, never mind fallacious. Sometimes one needs to shout. I apologise if I’ve sometimes deafened you.
While researching the writing, I have found a high level of negativity. Some people just find the whole thing boring and me a total bore.
§ Quite true, alas. I have no small talk any more. Best left alone with a small sherry and a dog to pat.
The Scientists I have spoken to have been almost entirely dismissive. The message is ‘I am a scientist; I know what’s True. You aren’t and don’t.’ They will not listen, let alone judge impartially. I do not mean all scientists. There have been one or two who have not been dismissive, and even helpful. But, alas, the balance is well towards psychosclerosis. This was true also of almost all the Religionists I spoke to.
Non-scientists/religionists have generally responded with lack of interest or a sort of fear. They didn’t wave a calculator or a crucifix at me, but I knew that they were prejudging what was coming: here’s some sort of crank or Bible-thumper, or another conspiracy theory. After a few of these experiences it was clear that the fear came from lack of information with which to refute my comments. People are astonishingly ignorant about science, and even more so in even elementary logic. I was conscious of the irony that I was trying to offer them the very tools they needed to challenge my comments, but it is impossible to engage with someone who has decided against engagement…. (or logic). I gradually realised that I was on a hiding to nothing writing this book, but I felt it needed to be done, because somebody somewhere would see the point, and would tell other people about it. These people would be the very people I wanted to reach. Bigots and Skeptics are likely to ever remain so, but agnostics, doubters, and wo(men) of reason would think things through and decide for themselves. That would do just fine.
I respect all seekers of wisdom, via science, religion or philosophy. And I’ve found that the more I discover, the more I realise that all seekers have more in common than they generally realise. I hope D+ will supply a tool or two to increase mutual respect and understanding.
One’s actions are based upon one’s ideas: Beliefs or Understandings, in the main. All the atrocities in the world that God has been blamed for are the result of people acting upon what their (often inherited) ideas tell them is Right. Mass murder is fine as long as the other party can be labelled with the idea of being an infidel or a subhuman. We can choose to change our own ideas and hence our future actions.
‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.’ Buddha
In the Materialist West we tend to worship knowledge and take little note of wisdom. The two words are regularly confused and academic medals are taken to automatically mean a better candidate for the job. But we have all met people with a lot of academic qualifications, who are far from wise. Cleverness is of no use if a sound premiss or common sense is lacking. D+ will, I hope, help to balance right-brain wisdom with left-brain knowledge.
It has struck me that Mankind is in a teenage phase at the moment (see diagram above). We’ve partially rejected the Belief of our Fathers in favour of Reason and Understanding, and have begun to think for ourselves. However, we are not yet aware enough to realise that ‘Reasoning’ means thinking things through properly. We’ve only got half the story at the moment, and think we know the lot. ‘The arrogance of ignorance’ is the result, bringing pollution, destruction, industrialised murder, etc in its wake.
More reason, based around D+ or similar, will bring more wisdom, and more wisdom means more happiness… which is all any of us wants, non? I predict a bright future: but each one of us has to choose it for every one of us.
>>> Read Chapter 30 on 15th of August>>>>
At Last!
To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than the establishing of a new truth or fact
Charles Darwin
Only a life lived for others is a life worth while
Albert Einstein
>>> Read Chapter 30 on 15th of August>>>>