Our Fragile Existence
I have been watching some great stuff on the History Channel lately. Through them I have seen many civilizations come and go. The construction of a new seats of power, thriving fortified civilizations. And also, their destruction, by nature, new weapons of war, famine and even alienation.
Our infrastructure for survival is complex and robust. However, it is not invulnerable.
We started out with the capacity to feed 1 billion people using the resources and abilities. When we surpassed that number we began to use oil to assist in more efficient production to feed our growing population.
Today we exceed 5 Billion people on this planet. Have we exceeded our capacity to feed, clothe and house ourselves? Could a catastrophe or a new war machine destroy significant civilizations of the world?
I am not here to answer these questions, and I am not predicting anything specific, and it is not part of my disposition to dwell on the negative.
With our Presidents declaration of an expanded war effort in the middle east I could not help but be reminded of our tenuous foundation. We take so much for granted.
I recently ran across a philosophy that seems like it has some merit in our times. I consider myself an athiest, but I could be compelled to adopt some of the principles of this philosophy.
They call it Pantheism. The organization is The World Pantheism Movement.
Their belief system is as follows:
The belief statement of the WPM |
| 1. We revere and celebrate the Universe as the totality of being, past, present and future. It is self-organizing, ever-evolving and inexhaustibly diverse. Its overwhelming power, beauty and fundamental mystery compel the deepest human reverence and wonder. |
| 2. All matter, energy, and life are an interconnected unity of which we are an inseparable part. We rejoice in our existence and seek to participate ever more deeply in this unity through knowledge, celebration, meditation, empathy, love, ethical action and art. |
| 3. We are an integral part of Nature, which we should cherish, revere and preserve in all its magnificent beauty and diversity. We should strive to live in harmony with Nature locally and globally. We acknowledge the inherent value of all life, human and non-human, and strive to treat all living beings with compassion and respect. |
| 4. All humans are equal centers of awareness of the Universe and nature, and all deserve a life of equal dignity and mutual respect. To this end we support and work towards freedom, democracy, justice, and non-discrimination, and a world community based on peace, sustainable ways of life, full respect for human rights and an end to poverty. |
| 5. There is a single kind of substance, energy/matter, which is vibrant and infinitely creative in all its forms. Body and mind are indivisibly united. |
| 6. We see death as the return to nature of our elements, and the end of our existence as individuals. The forms of "afterlife" available to humans are natural ones, in the natural world. Our actions, our ideas and memories of us live on, according to what we do in our lives. Our genes live on in our families, and our elements are endlessly recycled in nature. |
| 7. We honor reality, and keep our minds open to the evidence of the senses and of science's unending quest for deeper understanding. These are our best means of coming to know the Universe, and on them we base our aesthetic and religious feelings about reality. |
| 8. Every individual has direct access through perception, emotion and meditation to ultimate reality, which is the Universe and Nature. There is no need for mediation by priests, gurus or revealed scriptures. |
| 9. We uphold the separation of religion and state, and the universal human right of freedom of religion. We recognize the freedom of all pantheists to express and celebrate their beliefs, as individuals or in groups, in any non-harmful ritual, symbol or vocabulary that is meaningful to them. |
I would be curious to see what others think.
posted by Charles Bergeman @ 9:16 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
This is my first visit to PHILOSOPHMORIC, and I intend to return to your interesting Weblog. Thanks for introducing me to the philosophy of the WPM, with which I agree in most respects. I part company with the conclusion that we know what happens to the individual after the death of the body; I don't think that is known definitively. You might want to look at the contrasting "Spiritualist Declaration of Principles" which I published Dec. 31, 2006 on FLIGHTS OF PEGASUS. It seems to be in harmony with the WPM except for the "life after death" area, in which the Spiritualists believe they have experienced direct evidence of individual survival after death. My blog does not, by the way, promote Spiritualism or any other -ism or religion.
It is nice to learn that I may be a Pantheist. I could put that on my census form next time in the religion box. However, like Fleming, I am not sure about no. 6. In centuries past it was a hot issue because the afterlife meant heaven or hell, but that anxiety seems to be rare these days
So I gather that your concept of spiritual experience has to do with a literal spirit or soul separate from the body.
I know many who subscribe to this idea. I personally fall short of believing in such things.
This is not to say that I rule out the possibility that there are powers of the mind that we do not fully understand.
I have seen glimpses of my own brain functions that hold promise for experiences I am unable to tap into at will.
My own brushes with the dead have all been in the form of memories triggered by stimulous in my environment that I associate with the deceased.
Any predictions of my future by so called psychics have proven false or could apply to anyone.
I have had premonitions, which I can easily attribute to instinctual responses to circumstances that I have experienced sometime in my past. Sometimes they play out, sometimes not.
Of course, I remain open to all possibilities. But I need more to go on than faith or the word of others.
Hudini very much wanted to believe in such things, but was routinely dissapointed when he tried to contact the dead.
Skeptics have offered rewards for evidence, but to date I am unaware of any takers.
I kind of like the WPM definition of death.
At this time I have asked to be cremated and have my ashes spread near a river where my father fished as a kid. It would give me great pleasure to know that my remains become part of that place.
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