VISION STATEMENT: To establish and sustain a local-to-global cooperating body of individuals, groups, and networks for the pursuit of peace, justice, and an environmentally sustainable civilization for all races, cultures, and religions based on universal ethical and spiritual principles DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
We the People, hereby declare our interdependence -- our connection to the Source of All Life and to all life forms. We affirm that diverse individuals, groups, and networks are necessary for the creative development of humanity, and that to strengthen UNITY-AND-DIVERSITY throughout the universe is our individual responsibility and privilege.
We therefore pledge --
- To affirm the existence of a Supreme Beingness, called by any name or no name;
- To advance both individual initiative and human fellowship through mutual trust, understanding, and respect;
- To seek the truth in the spirit of love;
- To integrate reason and faith, science and religion;
- To ensure that all aspects of life be kept in dynamic balance for maximum health and well-being;
- To respect the teachings of the prophets and sages of all times and cultures;
- To provide present and future generations with the opportunity for full realization of their potential; and
- To build with joy a new civilization of freedom, justice, and peace founded on reverence for life.
Rev. Leland Stewart, B.S.E., B.T.
UDC's World Interfaith Network (WIN)
19 September 2010(10)
One of his more famous quotes is, “Whatever is produced in haste goes easily to waste.” Another famous poem focuses on the oneness of mankind.
The same poem is used to grace the entrance to the Hall of Nations of the UN building in New York with this call for breaking all barriers:
بنی آدم اعضای یک پیکرند
که در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی
Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.
http://news4themasses.word
Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (1184 – 1283/1291?), better known by his pen-name as Saʿdī (Persian: سعدی) or, simply, Saadi, was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is recognized not only for the quality of his writing, but also for the depth of his social thoughts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
"O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.”
Philosophy
She was the one who first set forth the doctrine of Divine Love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. The definitive work on her life and writing was a small treatise (written as a Master's Thesis) over 50 years ago by Margaret Smith.
Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating:
"You know of the how, but I know of the how-less."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
And "Up" and "Down" by Logic I define,
Of all that one should care to fathom,
Was never deep in anything but--Wine.
LVII
Ah, but my Computations, People say,
Reduced the Year to better reckoning?--Nay
'Twas only striking from the Calendar
Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday.
One thing at least is certain--This Life flies;
One thing is certain and the rest is Lies;
The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.
LXIV
Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who
Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,
Not one returns to tell us of the Road,
Which to discover we must travel too.
...
LXVIII
We are no other than a moving row
Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go
Round with the Sun-illumined Lantern held
In Midnight by the Master of the Show;
LXIX
But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays."
The Rubaiyat
By Omar Khayyam
Written 1120 A.C.E.
The category of person and the theory of values.
Ontology, in both its traditional, philosophical, acceptation and the new, computer-based acceptation.
The category of the future and in particular the theory of anticipatory systems.
From my own perspective point, these three topics are mutually interrelated and are but different sides of a unique categorical framework.
http://www.robertopoli.it/Papers.html
One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it. ~Sidney Howard
koino- (Greek: Mutual, Shared in Common)
iso- (Greek: same, equal)
poly- (Greek: many, divergent)
Think Globally, Act Locally.
"Socrates said "I am not an Athenian, or a Greek, but a citizen of the world" and Thomas Paine said "My Country is the World and my Religion is to do good."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_citizen
"I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy." - Thomas Paine, Age of Reason
"According to Amil (www.amilimani.com), "Baha'is have a very rosy and possibly unrealistic view of humanity. They say that their goal is for every human being, irrespective of any and all considerations, to be granted all his God-given rights and be allowed to worship his creator the way he sees fit...Baha'is believe that God sends his teachers to his school, from time to time with new lessons...that people cling to the old school-work and the old teacher and doggedly resist accepting the new teacher and his teachings. Baha'is think of God's prophets as renovators who come from time to time to tear down walls of separation and to bring God's children together in an open-air general classroom out of their own foolishly walled-in dungeons of exclusivity and ignorance." Here "are some of the Baha'i teachings that clash heads on with Islam's and provoke the Islamists to do all they can to destroy the new religion."
The people of God. Muslims believe that they are the chosen people of Allah and recognize no other system of belief as legitimate. Baha'is believe that all people are the chosen people of God: that there is only one God, one religion of God, and one people of God, the entire human race.
Pearls on a string. Muslims contend that Muhammad is the seal of the Prophets; that God sent his best and final messenger to mankind, and any other claimant is an imposter worthy of death. Baha'is believe that God has always sent his teachers with new and updated lessons to educate humanity and shall do so in the future. There have been numberless divine teachers in the course of human history who have appeared to various people. They say that these teachers are like pearls on a string and that Baha'u'llah is the latest, but not the last pearl.
Independent thinking. Blind imitation is anathema to Baha'is. Baha'is believe that the human mind and the gift of reason should guide the person in making decisions about all matters. To this end, they place a premium on education and independent investigation of truth. Baha'is consider the education of women as important as that of men, since women are the early teachers of children and can play their valuable part by being themselves educated. By contrast, Muslims look to religious authorities for guidance and often deprive women of education and independent thinking.
In recognition of the importance of independent thinking, no one is born Baha'i. Once one is born to a Muslim, he is considered Muslim for life. If he decides to leave Islam, he is labeled apostate and, apostates are automatically condemned to death. By contrast, every child born in a Baha'i family is required to make his own independent decision regarding whether or not he wishes to be a Baha'i. Freedom to choose and independent thinking are cherished values of the Baha'is, in stark contrast to that of the closed-minded Islamists.
Religion or science. Baha'is believe that truth transcends all boundaries. Scientific and religious truth emanate from the same universal source. They are like the two sides of the same coin. To Baha'is, science and religion are as two wings of a bird that enable humanity's flight toward the summit of its potential; that any religious belief that contradicts science is superstition. Muslims believe that their religious scripture and dogma, irrespective of their proven falsehood, are superior to that of science.
Gender equality. Muslims hold the view, expressly stated in the Qur'an, that men are rulers over women. Baha'is reject this notion and subscribe to the unconditional equality of rights for the two sexes. This Baha'i principle emancipates one half of humanity from the status of subservient domestic to that of a fully participating and self-actualized human. It aims to put an end to the heartless exploitation of women and demands that women be treated with all due respect under the law.
Participatory decision-making. Islam, by its very nature, is patriarchal and authoritarian. Baha'is believe in the value of decision making through the practice of consultation; a process where everyone, irrespective of any and all considerations, has a voice in making decisions. This participatory decision-making principle abrogates a major prerogative of Islamic clergy who have been dictating matters to their liking and advantage. Also, at all levels of society, including the family, all affected members have the opportunity, even the responsibility, to make their views known without fear. Baha'i teachings clearly emphasize this commitment to a democratic decision-making in their scripture, "The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions."
World-embracing outlook. Baha'is love their native countries, yet extend that same love to the entire planet and its people. Baha'is believe that love has no limit and need not have limits. One can love his country and love the world at the same time. This love of the world is frequently used as a pretense by the Islamists to accuse the Baha'is of Iran as traitors to their own homeland. It is for this reason that the present mullahs ruling Iran falsely claim that the Baha'is are agents of the Zionist Israel and its American sponsor.
Eradication of prejudice. Prejudice of any type is alien to the Baha'i faith and severely undermines its pivotal principle of the oneness of humanity. Muslims are notorious when it comes to prejudice. Prejudice against others is thoroughly exploited by the Islamists. In contrast, Baha'i scriptures say, "again, as to religious, racial, national and political bias: all these prejudices strike at the very root of human life; one and all they beget bloodshed, and the ruination of the world. So long as these prejudices survive, there will be continuous and fearsome wars."
Abolition of priesthood. A major point of conflict involves the abolition of the clergy. Baha'is believe that humanity has matured enough that it no longer needs a cast of professional clergy to serve peoples' religious needs. By one stroke, this Baha'i teaching puts hundreds of thousands of mullahs and imams out of business and arouses the powerful cast of the do-nothing clergy to fight to retain their highly privileged parasitic positions.
"We don't need mediators between man and God." Hashem Aghajari"
http://www.sullivan-county.com/islam/bahai.htm
"The essential meaning of the koinonia embraces concepts conveyed in the English terms community, communion, joint participation, sharing and intimacy. Koinonia can therefore refer in some contexts to a jointly contributed gift. The word appears 19 times in most editions of the Greek New Testament. In the New American Standard Bible, it is translated “fellowship” twelve times, “sharing” three times, and “participation” and “contribution” twice each.
In the New Testament, the basis of communion begins with a mystical joining of Jesus with the community of the faithful. This union is also experienced in practical daily life. The same bonds that link the individual to Jesus also link him or her with other faithful. The New Testament letters describe those bonds as so vital and genuine that a deep level of intimacy can be experienced among the members of a local church."Koinonia
"The uses and abuses of numerological mysticism are endlessly fascinating, and it is no surprise that Martin Gardner has come upon the uses made of the number 19 in religion. Because cabalistic numerological meanings can be and have been widely misused as sources for an odd mixture of bizarre beliefs, it is tempting to toss all such uses into a single basket labeled "superstition." One may thus miss the metaphorical possibilities of such symbolism.
It seems to me, in any investigation of such topics, that we would do well to be skeptical of all facile analysis. I am both a skeptic, and a Baha'i. I like to think of myself as combining the possibilities of skeptical reason and of reasonable faith. It is clear from Mr. Gardner's discussion of the Baha'i religion and its early Babi phase, that he may not have a close relationship with a knowledgeable Baha'i who can place the numerological symbolism of Baha'i in context. There are also some errors of fact in his column. I would like to address several points, if I may.
First, I would note that the significance of 19 as a mystical representation of physical creation and of divine "revelation" is not based upon some superstitious magical notion. In some strands of Islamic mysticism, the entire Qur'an (or Koran) is believed to be enfolded in the first chapter of that book. That first chapter is likewise believed to be contained in the first verse. The first verse - bismi'llah al-rahman al-rahim "In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful!" - is composed of 19 letters in Arabic. That first verse is believed to be contained in the letter "B" ( ) at the beginning of the verse, and that letter "B" is believed to be contained in the dot or point beneath the letter. The mystical significance is that the initial "B", the "19 letters of the first verse", the first chapter, and the entire Qur'an were generated from the first point. In the realm of physical creation, the universe began from a single point, generating all the galaxies, stars, solar systems and living organisms. In the realm of spiritual creation, the unknowable divine reality we term God created a first will from which all things were created; the embodiments of that divine will are the inspired personages known as Messengers, Prophets or Manifestations of God, who generate holy books and civilizations, transforming societies according to new principles. The Bab (the "Gate", 1819-1850), was titled "the Primal Point," in honor of that point from which the universe and the Qur'an were generated. I can think of no better illustration of the Baha'i principle of the harmony of true science and true religion than this notion of all created things emerging from a single point. It accords with scientific understanding, and it has a powerful symbolic significance in religious terms."
http://bahai-library.com/essays/nineteen.response.html
“From the point of Light within the Mind of God Let light stream forth into human minds. Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God Let love stream forth into human hearts. May the Coming One return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known Let purpose guide all little human wills - The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the human race Let the Plan of Love and Light work out And may it seal the door where evil dwells. Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.”http://www.green-agenda.com/spiritualunitednations.html
"Modern societies face an increasing incidence of various complex problems. In other words, the defining characteristics of our complex problems are a large number of variables (complexity) that interact in a nonlinear fashion (connectivity), changing over time (dynamic and time-dependent), and to achieve multiple goals (polytely)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
"In ancient Athens, equality before the law with citizens, granted to an alien; immunity from the disadvantages of alienage."
http://www.wordnik.com/wor
"Language, too, is characterized by the isotelic and polytelic principles; there are many words for each meaning and most words have more than one meaning. The two principles apply equally to a variety of other biological, behavioral, and social phenomena. Thus, there is no contradiction between the vascular and the communicative functions of facial efference; the systems that serve these functions are both isotelic and polytelic."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
"As far as I can see, this illusion is mainly due to ignoring that antipoles are counterparts. As such, i.e. in virtue of their being opposed to each other, they must have something in common. Making their opposition possible, this something cannot be outside the antipoles. For example: the journey from A to B is opposed to the journey from B to A; even more so if the very same road is followed. But the different journeys cannot be opposed to each other, unless the road is such, that it can be travelled in two opposite directions. Or, to give a similar example, heads and tails are opposite sides of one and the same coin. There must be something, different from the two sides, that has them both. Nevertheless, it is impossible to isolate the coin from the two sides it has."
http://www.math.ru.nl/~landsman/Boukema2.pdf
"Syndiffeonesis - The expression and/or existence of any difference relation entails a common medium and syntax.
Reality is a relation, and every relation is a syndiffeonic relation exhibiting syndiffeonesis or "difference-in-sameness". Therefore, reality is a syndiffeonic relation. Syndiffeonesis implies that any assertion to the effect that two things are different implies that they are reductively the same; if their difference is real, then they both reduce to a common reality and are to that extent similar. Syndiffeonesis, the most general of all reductive principles, forms the basis of a new view of the relational structure of reality."
http://megafoundation.org/
"Individual solipsism becomes distributed solipsism through the mutual absorption of SCSPL syntactic operators, made possible by a combination of distributed SCSPL syntax and shared teleology."
http://www.megafoundation.
Another way of formulating it: Koinotely/Isotelesis
"Regarding possible kinds of truth, RBH asks a good question. "Suppose, just for the sake of argument, that the 'direct apprehensions' of two people differ on some matter. On what grounds can one decide between them? What is the certifying agency that says 'This one is true, that one illusory'?" That agency is the distributed cognitive-perceptual syntax of the self-spoken language of reality (or in CTMU terminology, of SCSPL). It can be shown that if reality is connected - if we are really united in an objective manifold of common perception - this level of syntax must exist. Remember, science is primarily concerned with the formulation of general laws of nature as required for prediction, and these are just structural and grammatical components of this distributed reality-syntax.
Regarding the methodology associated with this consistency-enforcing, connectivity-enforcing agency, RBH asks whether "the purpose of the new experimental methodology that you and others are working to develop, to decide among conflicting direct apprehensions? Or are all direct apprehensions of equal standing and no conflict is expected among them?" On the distributed level of SCSPL syntax - i.e., on the level of direct apprehension - no such conflict is possible. If there is a conflict, then by definitive deduction, we have either a deviation from syntax (illusion) or a simple misunderstanding.
RBH goes on to ask: "If the issue of biological origins can be "logically and philosophically" decided without some new experimental methodology, why do we we need that methodology? And is there a distinction worth making between "logically and philosophically decided" and "experimentally decided"? That is, what is gained by having some new experimental methodology if Truth can be arrived at via pure thought? Why do experiments at all?"
Some truths can be deduced by pure thought; others, particularly those involving some degree of freedom or self-determinacy, cannot. The new methodology will be designed to distinguish deterministic processes governed by distributed syntax from processes involving freedom and intelligence, which involve the spot-synthesis of "localized syntax". The trick is to distinguish localized from distributed syntax. The CTMU is the sole framework in which this distinction can be made."
http://www.iscid.org/board
Langan begins by recognizing the pioneering work of Physicist John Wheeler who united the world of information theory with quantum mechanics ("It from Bit").
http://ctmucommunity.org/wiki/Infocognition
"All things physical are information-theoretic in origin and this is a participatory universe... Observer participancy gives rise to information; and information gives rise to physics."[1]
In "How come existence", John Wheeler wrote:
"No escape is evident from four conclusions:
(1) The world cannot be a giant machine, ruled by any pre-established continuum physical law.
(2) There is no such thing at the microscopic level as space or time or spacetime continuum. (3) The familiar probability function or functional, and wave equation or functional wave equation, of standard quantum theory provide mere continuum idealizations and by reason of this circumstance conceal the information-theoretic source from which they derive.
(4) No element in the description of physics shows itself as closer to primordial than the elementary quantum phenomenon, that is, the elementary device-intermediated act of posing a yes-no physical question and eliciting an answer or, in brief, the elementary act of observer participancy. Otherwise stated, every physical quantity, every it, derives its ultimate significance from bits, binary yes-or-no indications, a conclusion which we epitomize in the phrase, it from bit."[2]
The CTMU builds upon this work by retooling the information concept to incorporate reflexive self-processing in a reality-theoretic context so as to make it "self-transducing information", where information and cognition are recursively inter-defined, their nexus point is infocognition. A quantum of infocognition is a syntactic operator or a noeon.
"As readers of Noesis will recall, this crucial redefinition begins with a mutual, recursive interdefinition of information and cognition within a "reified tautology" called a quantum transducer. The quantum transducer, being paradoxiform by direct analogy with tautologically-based inference, models the way subjectively-tautological cognitive syntaxes transduce information in time. The universality of this model allows reality to be reduced to it, and thus to (cognitive) information. "Information" is the objective aspect of the quantum transducer for itself and for all others; it is cognition-for-cognition, equating generalistically to a cognitive identity relation on that part of reality to which it corresponds (i.e., the part containing all the transducers playing active and passive roles in it)."
Langan, 1992, Noesis 76
"Because cognition and generic information transduction are identical up to isomorphism – after all, cognition is just the specific form of information processing that occurs in a mind – information processing can be described as “generalized cognition”, and the coincidence of information and processor can be referred to as infocognition. Reality thus consists of a single “substance”, infocognition, with two aspects corresponding to transduction and being transduced. Describing reality as infocognition thus amounts to (infocognitive) dual aspect monism. Where infocognition equals the distributed generalized self-perception and self-cognition of reality, infocognitive monism implies a stratified form of “panpsychism” in which at least three levels of self-cognition can be distinguished with respect to scope, power and coherence: global, agentive and subordinate.
[...]
Retooling the information concept consists of three steps. First, it must be equipped with the means of its own transduction or transformative processing. Where information transduction is (cognitively) recognized as generalized cognition, this amounts to replacing it with a dual-aspect quantum of reflexivity, infocognition, which embodies telic feedback. Second, its bit structure, a simplistic and rather uninspired blend of 2-valued propositional logic and probability theory, must be extended to accommodate logic as a whole, including (1) predicate logic, (2) model theory and (3) language theory, broadly including the theories of mathematical languages, metalanguages and generative grammars. After all, since information does nothing but attribute linguistically-organized predicates to objects in the context of models, its meaning involves the mathematics of predicates, languages and models. And third, it must be generalized to an ultimate ancestral medium, telesis, from which cognitive syntax and its informational content arise by specificative feedback as part of a unified complex…a recursive coupling of information and metainformation, or transductive syntax.
[...]
The answer is hiding in the question. Laws do not stand on their own, but must be defined with respect to the objects and attributes on which they act and which they accept as parameters. Similarly, objects and attributes do not stand on their own, but must be defined with respect to the rules of structure, organization and transformation that govern them. It follows that the active medium of cross-definition possesses logical primacy over laws and arguments alike, and is thus pre-informational and pre-nomological in nature…i.e., telic. Telesis, which can be characterized as “infocognitive potential”, is the primordial active medium from which laws and their arguments and parameters emerge by mutual refinement or telic recursion."
"6) Even if CTMU were a definition rather than a theory, definitions are necessary components of theories. There is an inclusory relation, not a total distinction, between the two. In fact, the CTMU can be characterized as a THEORY of how the mind DEFINES and IS DEFINED by the universe. If you must, re-read Noesis 46 and 47."Langan, 1991, Noesis 58
"The similarity between the ideas of John Wheeler and other leading scientists and some ancient philosophies and scriptures are striking. [...] And as we do, let us not forget that knowledge is not all objective. Subject knowledge (call it intuitive, instinctive or revelationary) and objective knowledge (call it rational or scientific) go hand in hand. Observers, whether they be fundamental particles or human beings need to be brought into the picture too for it is them and their sensory and perceptional tools that give rise to the illusion of time. The digitization of perception in terms of bits of information may well be the way to go to complete the picture. Quite relevant to this effort are the provocative ideas contained Stephen Wolfram's book, A New Kind of Science. That is because, he has laid out the foundations for a program for a renewed understanding of all aspects of Nature recognizing that everything in Nature is ultimately digital and therefore the best tools to probe into its secrets are digital concepts and computer algorithms. This is especially appealing to the Hindu mind for it recognizes that the very first step in creation from a state of non-duality (Advaita) to a state of duality (Dvaita) is a binary process."
http://www.metanexus.net/magazine/tabid/68/id/8043/Default.aspx
Isotelesis: Teleonic Isomorphism, Teleosemantic Equivalence, Local-Global Intercomplementarity, Ontological Feedback, Telestic Syndiffeonesis, Reflective Equilibrium, Multi-Teleological Confluence.
"IS-Multivarifolds" (ISMs), Multiply Nested Virtual Realities: "forming abstract nouns of action, state, doctrine" or "is-what-it-is"). Infocognitive Semantics (IS) within holofractologic {IS} (Isocognitive Stratifications) of Infomorphic Self-Dualities (IS) accepting transductive {IS} (Isomorphic Syntax) within co-teleonomic automatons {(ISOTELESIS)}.
http://knol.google.com/k/conspansive-manifold-complexity-generation-generative-automata-ontological#
"It is what it IS
"Fihi Ma Fihi" is the title of Rumi's lesser known prose book that preceeded his masterpiece Masnavi. You can read the English translations of these books from the ebook publisher Omphaloskepsis.
Fihi Ma Fihi or Discourses of Rumi (Translation by A.J. Arberry)
Masnavi (Translation by E.H. Whinfield)
The "Fihi Ma Fihi" is a prose work of Rumi written in Farsi (Persian). It consists of 72 discourses. Like Masnavi it was written during the last few years of Rumi's life.
The literal translation of the term "Fihi Ma Fihi" is "In it what is in it". I have also seen the translation of "There is in it what is in it". Doug Marman pointed out that it should be translated as "It is what it is" which is closer to my interpretation of the inner meaning of "Fihi Ma Fihi". In my opinion, we should pay attention to "is" in the sentence. I would write it as "It is what It IS".
Immanance
"Fihi Ma Fihi" refers to the "Immanent" aspect of the Cosmic Consciousness. Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere - "to remain within" - refers to the divine essence permeating the whole Cosmos and forming the basis of existence and life. Without this essence there is no existence and there is no life. The life giving essence is at the core of each entity from elementary particles to the entire Cosmos and from viruses to human beings. This essence is also known as the Soul. Unit Souls and the Cosmic Soul seem different but they are reflections of that nameless indescribable ocean of love and bliss. Rumi experiences this infinite ocean, he is unable to explain it and unable to describe it. He simply says "It is what It IS".
The existential "I" or the soul which is also known as the "átman" was referred to as "I am that I am" consciousness in other philosophies. "It is what It IS" is another way referring to the existential "I" and sounds similar to the sentiment of "I am that I am".
In modern times, there were similar expressions of this sentiment. In English language, no one expresses the "It is what It IS" sentiment better than P.F. Dziuban. He says [1] "Consciousness IS" and he goes on to say that "There is nothing greater than consciousness.", "Consciousness is what you are.", "Consciousness is the infinite itself.", "Consciousness is not the human mind.", "The all-inclusiveness is consciousness.", "Consciousness is neither physical nor metaphysical.", "There is only one consciousness.", "Consciousness is what the present is.", "Love is what existence is.", Consciousness cannot ignore its own presence.", "The present is All that is present.", "Time is not continuous.", "The present is perfection itself.", "Now is undelayable.", "Ideas cannot withhold themselves."
In the preface to A.J. Arberry's translation of "Fihi Ma Fihi" Doug Marman says that:
" 'It' refers to God. Therefore God is what God is. This is the same as the Muslim saying, 'There is no God but God.' In other words, Rumi asks, 'What more is there to say?' All the words here, all the stories and explanations are saying nothing more than this. There is no more to reality than reality. God is. Reality is. It is what it is. Explanations cannot explain it. Words cannot reveal it.
Subject and Supreme Subject
The Sanskrit term for the soul (unit consciousness) is átman. The term átman can be translated to English as "subject" or "witnessing entity". But when we use the word "subject" or "witnessing entity" we lose the other meanings ("essence", "life giving", "sustainer") of átman. Mind is different from átman. Mind which has five different layers conceals the átman. The átman is the subject (essence, life giver, witness) of the mind and the body.
There is the unit soul (átman) but there is also the Cosmic Soul (Paramátman). The relationship between the unit soul and the Cosmic Soul is a mystery. We can only defer to the sages to give us hints. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti reminds us that while átman is the subject of the mind and the body when it comes to the relationship of átman and the Paramátman, the átman is the object and Paramátman is the subject.
"Now regarding the relationship of átman and Paramátman, the átman is the object and the Paramátman is the subject. So Paramátman is the Supreme Subjectivity. He is the Supreme Subject of all other subjects. He is the supreme multiple of all other expressed multiplicities. Because He is the supreme – in Sanskrit “supreme” is parama – He is known as Paramátmá. He is the Supreme Subject."
Paramátman is the first cause of the Cosmos. In the article "A Fundamental Principle" I mentioned that the objectivation has to continue as long as the nucleus/center (soul, subject, átman) exists. Since the Cosmic Nucleus (Cosmic Soul) is the subjectivation of the infinite potential (Nirguna Brahma) the objectivation/creation will go on forever. The mind of Paramátman (Cosmic Mind) is projecting/externalizing the infinite potential of Nirguna Brahma as the Cosmos. The potential of Nirguna Brahma is infinite therefore the creation has to continue forever. The concealment or constriction of Cosmic Consciousness creates the Cosmic Life. "
http://knol.google.com/k/suresh-emre/fihi-ma-fihi-it-is-what-it-is/35vsnxisjn2mw/306#
"Although Kabir labored to bring the often clashing religious cultures of Islam and Hinduism together, he was equally disdainful of professional piety in any form. This earned him the hatred and persecution of the religious authorities in Varanasi. Nearing age 60, he was denounced before the king but, because of his Muslim birth, he was spared execution and, instead, banished from the region."
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/K/Kabir/
"Plotinus studied philosophy in Alexandria, Egypt. He then joined a military campaign against Persia, in the hope of learning Persian and Indian philosophy. Around 244 he went to Rome at a time when Christian churches competed with Orienta...l religions. Plotinus, under the influence of these events, developed his own philosophic ideas. He believed that man should reject material things and should purify his soul and to lift it up to a communion with a higher spirit. Plotinus became the founder of the Neo-platonic school of philosophy, which became the most formidable rival of Christianity in the ancient world."
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/persons3_n2/plotinus.htmlSee More
"Aristotle, or Aristoteles, (c.384-322 BCE) was born in Stagirus in the Greek colony of Chalcidice, which lies to the north of Greece near Macedon. Aristotle was never an Athenian citizen, despite having spent most of his life in Athens. Nicomachus, Aristotle's father, was court physician to King Amyntas III of Macedon.
Aristotle came to Athens to study and joined Plato's Academy in 367 BCE. Aristotle became Plato's best student and was generally felt to be Plato's successor. He remained at the Academy until Plato's death in 347 BCE, when, bypassed in the election of the Academy's next president, Aristotle left Athens with a few students and friends.
He journeyed to the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, where he established a school at Assos at the behest of the ruling Persian vassal, Hermias. Aristotle married Pythias, Hermia's adopted daughter. When Hermias fell out of favor with the Persian authorities and was executed, Aristotle and his followers fled to the Greek island of Lesbos. Here, Aristotle met Theophrastus, his successor. It was also at Lesbos that Aristotle made some of his most famous zoological observations and marine experiments in biology. In 343 BCE, Aristotle returned to Macedon at the invitation of King Philip.For three years he became the tutor of the adolescent Alexander the Great.
Aristotle returned to Athens to found his own school, the Lyceum, in 355 BCE, after Alexander had assumed the throne. The Lyceum had a special status. Alexander had made a large donation to his former tutor's new enterprise, and additionally the Lyceum was under Macedonian protection. At the Lyceum, Aristotle had the freedom to pursue a vast number of scientific and philosophic interests. He developed a course of study that in many ways resembles the modern Western university system. In fact, many of Aristotle's surviving works were probably intended as notes for his advanced courses. He also gave lectures to the general public. His philosophical school was known as "Peripatetic," either because Aristotle had a habit of walking around while addressing his audience, or because the roofed courtyard at the Lyceum was called a peripatos."
http://www.watson.org/~leigh/philo.html
"No man is free who is not master of himself." - Epictetus
Moulana Rumi:
"Rumi speaks about "khod-shenâsî" (self-knowing) in the one instance in the Mathnawî where he quotes the saying so often quoted by the sufis and attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him: "He who knows himself knows ...his Lord" (man `arafa nafsa-hu fa-qad `arafa rabba-hu), which he translates directly into Persian [V: 2114]: "har ke khod be-shenâkht, yazdân-râ shenâkht."
http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/self-discovery.html
“The way to become a king is through servanthood when you submit to be a slave of the Beloved, you become the beloved”
The ego self uses everything for its own benefit, including truth, justice, fairness and even God. It even worships God to get something in return. This is why the self needs to be dismantled.
“A true believer and an infidel both say ‘God’ but there is a difference between the two
The beggar (infidel) says ‘God’ for the sake of breadthe true believer says ‘God’ in his very soul”
http://www.australiansuficentre.org/article_paradoxself.htm
Hafiz:
"I am the slave of the Master who has released me from ignorance; whatever my Master does, is of the highest benefit to all concerned."
"Unless you go against your lower self, you cannot unite with your higher Self."
Hadith Qudsi:
"I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed."
"Although Ibn al-'Arabi was primarily a mystic who believed that he possessed superior divinely-bestowed knowledge, his work is of interest to the philosopher because of the way in which he used philosophical terminology in an attempt to explain his inner experience. He held that whereas the divine Essence is absolutely unknowable, the cosmos as a whole is the locus of manifestation of all God's attributes. Moreover, since these attributes require the creation for their expression, the One is continually driven to transform itself into Many. The goal of spiritual realization is therefore to penetrate beyond the exterior multiplicity of phenomena to a consciousness of what subsequent writers have termed the 'unity of existence'. This entails the abolition of the ego or 'passing away from self' (fana') in which one becomes aware of absolute unity, followed by 'perpetuation' (baqa') in which one sees the world as at once One and Many, and one is able to see God in the creature and the creature in God."
http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H
"The GOD, or primary teleological operator, is self-distributed at points of conspansion. This means that SCSPL evolves through its coherent grammatical processors, which are themselves generated in a background-free way by one-to-many endomorphism. The teleo-grammatic functionality of these processors is simply a localized "internal extension" of this one-to-many endomorphism; in short, conspansive spacetime ensures consistency by atemporally embedding the future in the past." - Christopher M. Langan
"Unity in Diversity" is implied by MU:
"Syntactic Coherence and Consistency: Multiplex Unity Principle (MU) - The minimum and most general informational configuration of reality, defines the relationship holding between unity and multiplicity, the universe and its variegated contents. Through its structure, the universe and its contents are mutually inclusive, providing each other with a medium.
In other words, we can equivalently characterize the contents of the universe as being topologically “inside” it (topological inclusion), or characterize the universe as being descriptively “inside” its contents, occupying their internal syntaxes as acquired state (descriptive inclusion). The universe generically includes its contents by serving as their syntactic unisect, while the contents contain the universe in a more specific sense involving specific event histories that become “entangled” by interaction. From the first viewpoint, the syntactic coherence of the overall medium enforces mutual consistency of contents, while from the second viewpoint, the coherent syntaxes of its contents contain and consistently recognize and transform the medium. Thus, the universe enforces its own consistency through dual self-containment.
Diagram 10: In the syndiffeonic diagram [Diagram 6], we can plainly see the containment of objects by the medium, but we cannot see the containment of the medium by the objects. Bearing in mind that the terms syntax and content are to some extent relative designations, the upper node in Diagram 10 corresponds to the global medium (global syntactic unisect or “metasyntax” of reality), while the lower node corresponds to the objects therein (syntactic operators contained in the medium); each is a multiplex unity. Coherence flows from global syntax into local content by way of global topological containment, thereby enforcing unity across diverse locales, and back to global syntax in multiple entangled streams generated by cross-transduction of content. Syntax becomes state, and state becomes syntax (where “syntax” is understood to encompass an “ectosyntactic” distribution of syntactic operators). The universe thus remains coherent and consistent in the course of evolution.
MU expresses syndiffeonic symmetry of syntax and content on the spatiotemporal level of reality. Just as syndiffeonesis can be regarded as a paradox identifying difference with sameness, MU can be regarded as an ultimate form of paradox identifying spatiotemporal multiplicity and unity (the MU diagram is an explosion of the syndiffeonic relation diagram in which the stratification dimension is split into descriptive and topological strands or “temporal dimensions”). MU structure resolves the MU paradox in situ by dual stratification, providing closure as the open-ended informational stratification of type theory cannot. Because MU can thus be regarded as the resolution of the paradox it describes, its meaning, like that of syndiffeonesis, can be expressed as follows: reality is a self-resolving paradox.
MU, by the way, need not be regarded as the ultimate guarantor of consistency; that honor can safely go to the stability of perceptual reality itself. Quite simply, the syntactic stability of reality overrides any and all objections regarding the limitations of formal systems. MU merely describes how reality, considered as a reflexive SCSPL theory, achieves intrinsic stability in the course of evolving. Thus, it is not functioning as an algorithm guaranteed to terminate on consistency but not on inconsistency, and is therefore not in conflict with undecidability. The stability of reality affirms its consistency regardless of whether or not any lesser theory happens to be consistent.
MU serves as a unifying concept for a complex of ideas having to do with coherence and consistency in the reality-theoretic context, including hology and several CTMU duality principles." - Langan, 2002, PCID
"Because states express topologically while the syntactic structures of their underlying operators express descriptively, attributive duality is sometimes called state-syntax duality. As information requires syntactic organization, it amounts to a valuation of cognitive/perceptual syntax; conversely, recognition consists of a subtractive restriction of informational potential through an additive acquisition of information. TD [topological-descriptive, state-syntax, attributive] duality thus relates information to the informational potential bounded by syntax, and perception (cognitive state acquisition) to cognition.
In a Venn diagram, the contents of circles reflect the structure of their boundaries; the boundaries are the primary descriptors. The interior of a circle is simply an “interiorization” or self-distribution of its syntactic “boundary constraint”. Thus, nested circles corresponding to identical objects display a descriptive form of containment corresponding to syntactic layering, with underlying levels corresponding to syntactic coverings.
This leads to a related form of duality, constructive-filtrative duality." Langan, 2002, PCID pg. 26
"Any set that can be constructed by adding elements to the space between two brackets can be defined by restriction on the set of all possible sets. Restriction involves the Venn-like superposition of constraints that are subtractive in nature; thus, it is like a subtractive color process involving the stacking of filters. Elements, on the other hand, are additive, and the process of constructing sets is thus additive; it is like an additive color process involving the illumination of the color elements of pixels in a color monitor. CF duality simply asserts the general equivalence of these two kinds of process with respect to logico-geometric reality.
CF duality captures the temporal ramifications of TD duality, relating geometric operations on point sets to logical operations on predicates. Essentially, CF duality says that any geometric state or continuous transformation is equivalent to an operation involving the mutual “filtration” of intersecting hological state-potentials. States and objects, instead of being constructed from the object level upward, can be regarded as filtrative refinements of general, internally unspecified higher-order relations.
CF duality is necessary to show how a universe can be “zero-sum”; without it, there is no way to refine the objective requisites of constructive processes “from nothingness”. In CTMU cosmogony, “nothingness” is informationally defined as zero constraint or pure freedom (unbound telesis or UBT), and the apparent construction of the universe is explained as a self-restriction of this potential. In a realm of unbound ontological potential, defining a constraint is not as simple as merely writing it down; because constraints act restrictively on content, constraint and content must be defined simultaneously in a unified syntax-state relationship." - Langan, 2002, PCID, pg. 26-27
"Cosmic expansion and ordinary physical motion have something in common: they are both what might be called ectomorphisms. In an ectomorphism, something is mapped to, generated or replicated in something external to it. However, the Reality Principle asserts that the universe is analytically self-contained, and ectomorphism is inconsistent with self-containment. Through the principle of conspansive duality, ectomorphism is conjoined with endomorphism, whereby things are mapped, generated or replicated within themselves. Through conspansive endomorphism, syntactic objects are injectively mapped into their own hological interiors from their own syntactic boundaries.
In the language of TD and CF duality, this shifts the emphasis from spacetime geometry to descriptive containment, and from constructive to filtrative processing. As a result, new states are formed within the images of previous states. Nothing moves or expands “through” space; space is state, and each relocation of an object is just a move from one level of perfect stasis to another. This ties conventional motion, in which worldlines are constructively created by additions of state in Minkowski diagrams, to differential endomorphism, in which the internal descriptive potentials of attributes are cumulatively restricted." - Langan, 2002, PCID, pg. 27
"A (Minkowski) spacetime diagram is a kind of “event lattice” in which nodes represent events and their connective worldlines represent the objects that interact in those events. The events occur at the foci of past and future light cones to which the worldlines are internal. If one could look down the time axis of such a diagram at a spacelike cross section, one would see something very much like a Venn diagram with circles corresponding to lightcone cross sections. This rotation of the diagram corresponds to conspansive dualization, converting a spatiotemporal lattice of worldlines and events to a layered series of Venn diagrams." - Langan, 2002, PCID, pg. 28
"It is instructive to experiment with the various constructions that may be placed on LS and LO. For example, one can think of LS as “L-sim”, reflecting its self-simulative, telic-recursive aspect, and of LO as “L-out”, the output of this self-simulation. One can associate LO with observable states and distributed-deterministic state-transition syntax, and LS with the metasyntactic Telic Principle." - Langan, 2002, PCID, pg. 46
"SCSPL - According to the Reality Principle, the universe is self contained, and according to infocognitive monism, it regresses to a realm of nil constraint (unbound telesis or UBT) from which it must refine itself. According to the Telic Principle, which states that the universe must provide itself with the means to do this, it must make and realize its own "choice to exist"; by reason of its absolute priority, this act of choice is identical to that which is chosen, i.e. the universe itself, and thus reflexive. I.e., "existence is everywhere the choice to exist." Accordingly, the universe must adopt a reflexive form in which it can "select itself" for self-defined existence, with the selection function identical to that which is selected. This means that it must take a certain general or "initial" form, the MU form, which contains all of the requisites for generating the contents of reality. Due to hology, whereby the self-contained universe has nothing but itself of which to consist, this form is self-distributed.
By the Principle of Linguistic Reducibility, reality is a language. Because it is self-contained with respect to processing as well as configuration, it is a Self-Configuring Self-Processing Language or SCSPL whose general spatiotemporal structure is hologically replicated everywhere within it as self-transductive syntax. This reduces the generative phase of reality, including physical cosmogony, to the generative grammar of SCSPL."
http://www.megafoundation.org/Teleologic/main.htm
"Entities such as the Web, mankind, life, the earth, the solar system, the Milky way, and our universe are viewed as massive dissipative/replicative structures. This paper will examine the structure and process of massive dissipative/replicative structures. In addition, it will examine the concept of massive dissipative/replicative structures and what are the necessary issues in structuring the scientific understanding of the phenomena. The methodology of comparative complexity is suggested to help in the construction and analysis of scientific theories.
"The progress of science is the discovery at each step of a new order which gives unity to what had seemed unlike." -- Jacob Bronowski
...
"The concept of measure is intimately involved with the notion of number. Modeling, a sophisticated form of abstract description, using mathematics and computation, both tied to the concept of number, and their advantages and disadvantages are exquisitely detailed by Robert Rosen in Life Itself, Anticipatory Systems, and Fundamentals of Measurement. One would have hoped that mathematics or computer simulations would reduce the need for word descriptions in scientific models. Unfortunately for scientific modeling, one cannot do as David Hilbert or Alonzo Church proposed: divorce semantics (e.g., symbolic words: referents to objects in reality) from syntax (e.g., symbolic numbers: referents to a part of a formal system of computation or entailment). One cannot do this, even in mathematics without things becoming trivial (ala Kurt Godel). It suffices to say that number theory (e.g., calculus), category theory, hypersets, and cellular automata, to mention few, all have their limited uses. The integration between all of these formalisms will be necessary plus rigorous attachment of words and numbers to show the depth and shallowness of the formal models. These rigorous attachments of words are ambiguous to a precise degree without the surrounding contexts. Relating precisely with these ambiguous words to these simple models will constitute an integration of a reasonable set of formalisms to help characterize reality."
Existence Itself: Towards the Phenomenology of Massive Dissipative/Replicative Structures by David M. Keirsey http://edgeoforder.org/pofdisstruct.html
"In line with our theory of space, the real physical space is considered as a mathematical lattice of closely packed topological balls with the size around the Planck one, ~ 10-35 m. We have proved that such lattice is a fractal lattice and it is also manifests tessellation properties. That is why it has been called the tessellattice. In the tessellattice, a ball allows both volumetric and surface fractalities, which are associated with such fundamental physical concepts as mass and charge, or electromagnetism in general, respectively (see papers [18,22])."
http://www.inerton.kiev.ua
"In the cosmic organism theory, the ultimate law is the cosmic gene. The cosmic organism theory follows the Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of organism. According to Whitehead (Whitehead, 1929), the actual world is a process, and the process is the becoming of actual entities. An actual entity is not an inert and permanent substance, but a relational process of becoming. Its ‘being’ is constituted by its ‘becoming’. Michel Bounias (2002) applied the Hamiltonian concept to living organism in the evolutionary process.
The paper is divided into seven sections: the introduction, the cosmic digital code for the object structure, the digital code for the space structure, the cosmic dimension, cosmology, force fields, and the summary."
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/
Koinotely/Isotelesis >> Self-Multiplexing/Self-Selection >> Generative/Restrictive >> Dissipative/Replicative >> Diffusion/Reaction
Complex Systems from the Perspective of Category Theory: I. Functioning of the Adjunction Concept
"We develop a category theoretical framework for the comprehension of the information structure associated with a complex system, in terms of families of partial or local information carriers. The framework is based on the existence of a categorical adjunction, that provides a theoretical platform for the descriptive analysis of the complex system as a process of functorial information communication."
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00001236/01/Axiomath.pdf
Complex Systems from the Perspective of Category Theory: II. Covering Systems and Sheaves
"Using the concept of adjunctive correspondence, for the comprehension of the structure of a complex system, developed in Part I, we introduce the notion of covering systems consisting of partially or locally defined adequately understood objects. This notion incorporates the necessary and sufficient conditions for a sheaf theoretical representation of the informational content included in the structure of a complex system in terms of localization systems. Furthermore, it accommodates a formulation of an invariance property of information communication concerning the analysis of a complex system.
Keywords : Complex Systems, Information Structures, Localization Systems, Coverings, Adjunction, Sheaves."
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00001237/01/axiomath2.pdf
Introduction to Coalgebra. Towards Mathematics of States and Observations (2005):
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.142.4414
http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.3959
http://conconto.stanford.edu/conconto.pdf
The Yoneda Lemma without category theory: algebra and applications
"3.3 Ontology of properties and qualia
Three long-standing problems of philosophy are, in decreasing order of seniority, Cartesian dualism, the nature of properties or attributes, and the existence of qualia.
...
Communes are a new mathematical construct that provide a common solution to all three problems by giving a way of thinking about them. Since communes are well-defined, this allows the questions to be formulated more sharply as, how faithfully do communes capture the notions of mind, property, and quale? Communes also suggests novel ways of defining and organizing those notions so as to make them more consistent both individually and in combination with each other."
http://boole.stanford.edu/pub/yon.pdf
''Scientists . . . are used to dealing with doubt and uncertainty,'' he says, an experience the value of which ''extends beyond the sciences. I believe that to solve any problem that has never been solved before, you have to leave the door to the unknown ajar. You have to permit the possibility that you do not have it exactly right.''
http://books.google.com/books?id=WlDVv9J
According to Bahá'í teachings, God is so far beyond His creation that, throughout all eternity, human beings will never be able to formulate any clear image of Him or attain to anything but the most remote appreciation of His superior nature. Even if we say that God is the All-Powerful, the All-Loving, the Infinitely Just, such terms are derived from a very limited human experience of power, love, or justice. Indeed, our knowledge of anything is limited to our knowledge of those attributes or qualities perceptible to us:
Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the essence of a thing and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities; otherwise, it is unknown and hidden.As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? ... Knowing God, therefore, means the comprehension and the knowledge of His attributes, and not of His Reality. This knowledge of the attributes is also proportioned to the capacity and power of man; it is not absolute.4
Thus for human beings the knowledge of God means the knowledge of the attributes and qualities of God, not a direct knowledge of His essence. But how are we to attain the knowledge of the attributes of God? Bahá'u'lláh wrote that everything in creation is God's handiwork and therefore reflects something of His attributes. For example, even in the intimate structure of a rock or a crystal can be seen the order of God's creation. However, the more refined the object, the more completely is it capable of reflecting God's attributes.
...
Although a rock or a tree reveals something of the subtlety of its Creator, only a conscious being such as man can dramatize God's attributes in his life and actions. Since the Manifestations are already in a perfected state, it is in their lives that the deeper meaning of God's attributes can be most perfectly understood. God is not limited by a physical body, and so we cannot see Him directly or observe His personality. Hence our knowledge of the Manifestation is, in fact, the closest we can come to the knowledge of God.
Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived.... He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His mission than the proof of His Own Person.6
And in another similar passage:
The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being [God] hath ever been, and will continue to be, closed in the face of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self.7
Of course, only those who live during the time of a Manifestation have the opportunity of observing Him directly. It is for this reason, Bahá'u'lláh explained, that the essential connection between the individual and God is maintained through the writings and words of each Manifestation. For Bahá'ís, the word of the Manifestation is the Word of God, and it is to this Word that the individual can turn in his or her daily life in order to grow closer to God and to acquire a deeper knowledge of Him. The written Word of God is the instrument that creates a consciousness of God's presence in one's daily life:
Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth.... He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God.8
http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-2.html
The use of the phrase unity in diversity and similar concepts is not a new phenomenon. Its roots reach back hundreds of years in non-Western cultures such as indigenous peoples in North America and Taoist societies in 400-500 B.C. In premodern Western culture it has been implicit in the organic conceptions of the universe that have been manifest since the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations through medieval Europe and into the Romantic era. In contemporary times, the phrase has been used in a variety of areas including a bibliography of libertarian publications and an interdisciplinary academic symposium, in which the following articulations of the concept appeared:
Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human race. This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for choice, in an atmosphere of social trust. (Michael Novak, epigraph opening Unity in Diversity: An Index to the Publications of Conservative and Libertarian Institutions [1983])
. . . the disparate experiences of practitioners of various disciplines studying man as a social being, even when they do not have a common measure or a commonly stated objective, nevertheless share a unity of intent in understanding man in his social context--a unity that over time will lead to greater integrative approaches. Indeed, the technological imperatives of the end of the twentieth century demand an integrative approach to man's myriad undertakings, demand a Renaissance approach, one whereby the human mind can transcend the fragmented understanding of the parts that the explosion of knowledge and its collection has fostered. Whether this will be a systems approach, such as General System Theory, or an integration of different modes of consciousness, or something else, or a convergence and integration of some or all of these, we do not know. What we do know is that the search must go on. (Introduction to Unity in Diversity: The Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar at Wilfrid Laurier University [1980])
http://bahai-library.com/theses/unity.diversity.html
"The spiritual creed behind this extraordinary creation struck me as so reasonable and beautiful that, after a few months of studying its history and principles and finding it stood for world unity and love and progress, and that it did not conflict with Christianity (but rather fulfilled it) nor modern science, nor anything else I believed in, I embraced it in its entirety. Altho I was brought up as an Episcopalian and my grandfather had been successor of the famous Phillips Brooks as rector of Trinity church in Boston, I did not think that one's religion should be decided solely by the "accident" of birth.
I had long since read the Koran and the Torah and had studied Buddhism in China, coming to the general conclusion that an oriental really has just as much ground for accepting Buddha as an occidental has for feeling partial to Christ-that the true meaning of the "many mansions of the Lord" is that spiritual truth comes to this world in many forms, while divine revelation (if you consent to calling it that) is not a once-and-for-all phenomenon but rather a progressive development that will continue indefinitely.
In other words, it seemed apparent that just as scientific truth has been revealed by a succession of teachers from Pythagoras to Copernicus to Galileo to Kepler to Newton to Einstein, so has spiritual revelation come in turn from such prophets as Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, and now the Bahá'í prophets, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.
And will not both successions continue in future as has been clearly explained not only by Einstein for the scientists but by all the great religious teachers?
Christ Himself said at His Last Supper (John 16:12) : "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you unto all truth." http://bahai-library.com/murchie_pamphlet_reprint_article
The Twelve Principles Baha'i philosophy can be summed up in this statement: "The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens." Behind this maxim are the twelve principles of Baha'i thought:
1. The Oneness of Humanity
2. The Foundation of All Religion is One
3. Religion Must Be the Cause of Unity
4. Religion Must Be in Accord with Science and Reason
5. Independent Investigation of Truth
6. Equality Between Men and Women
7. The Abolition of All Forms of Prejudice
8. Universal Peace
9. Universal Education
10. A Universal Auxiliary Language
11. Spiritual Solutions to Economic Problems
12. An International Tribunal
A SUMMARY OF VIRTUEBe generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbour, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility. (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, no. 130, p. 285; emphasis added)
v. Actions not words
The Bahá'í writings emphasize that the result of our efforts on the spiritual path must be seen in our character and our actions. Bahá'u'lláh calls upon his followers to match their actions to their words:
"Let deeds, not words, be your adorning."
It is easy for anyone to speak pious words and to utter sanctimonious platitudes. But Bahá'u'lláh says that
"the essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds."
What distinguishes the person who is truly advancing on the spiritual path is their character and their actions. Guidance hath ever been given by words, and now it is given by deeds. Every one must show forth deeds that are pure and holy, for words are the property of all alike, whereas such deeds as these belong only to Our loved ones. Strive then with heart and soul to distinguish yourselves by your deeds."[306]
"Surprisingly, the modern study of religion and economics begins with Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), an examination of conditions leading to the Industrial Revolution. In his book, Smith applies his innovative laissez-faire philosophy to several aspects of religion. However, Smith’s fundamental contribution to the modern study of religion was that religious beliefs and activities are rational choices. As in commercial activity, people respond to religious costs and benefits in a predictable, observable manner. People choose a religion and the degree to which they participate and believe (if at all)."
Religion and Economic Development: The advantage of moderation http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/5729
"While the Bahá'í Faith is only about 150 years old, it is now the second most geographically-widespread religion after Christianity. The Bahá'í International Community has long been active in environmental matters, going back to its participation in the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, and including its significant role in the Rio Earth Summit and the associated Global Forum in Rio in 1992. It maintains an Office of the Environment as part of its United Nations representation in New York.
The essence of the Bahá'í approach to the relationship between ecology, ethics and spirituality is founded in the fundamental principle of the harmony of science and religion. Just as two wings of a bird must be equally strong for it to fly, so must science and religion be in balance. Science without religion tends to materialism, while religion without science can fall into superstition. Science can give us tools to help us live in the physical world, but only religion can tell us how to use those tools for good rather than for evil. For Bahá'ís there is only one truth, and ecology and spirituality are but complementary facets of this truth. There can be no fundamental contradiction between them.
The following selections from the Bahá'í sacred writings will give a general impression of the Bahá'í approach to nature and ecology. Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith, wrote, "Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise.""
The Bahá'í approach: moderation in civilization: http://bahai-library.com/conferences/civilization.html
"The Bahá'í Faith teaches that the world should adopt an international auxiliary language, which people would use in addition to their mother tongue. The aim of this teaching is to improve communication and foster unity among peoples and nations. The Bahá'í teachings state, however, that the international auxiliary language should not suppress existing natural languages, and that the concept of unity in diversity must be applied to preserve cultural distinctions."[307]
"The Bahá'í teachings stress the fundamental harmony of science and religion. This view derives from the belief that truth (or reality) is one. For if truth is indeed one, it is not possible for something to be scientifically false and religiously true. 'Abdu'l-Baha expressed forcefully this idea in the following passage:
If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science, they are mere superstitions and imaginations; for the antithesis of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition. Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and science. If a question be found contrary to reason, faith and belief in it are impossible, and there is no outcome but wavering and vacillation." http://info.bahai.org/article-1-3-2-18.html
http://ctmucommunity.org/wiki/User:Koinotely
"Why am I not a Baha’i? Why? The question “why am I not a Baha’i” is a very intriguing proposition.
For example, one could ask the question another way: “Why am I a Christian?” or “Why am I a Shi’ite (Muslim)?”. In such a case, what I would have to do is much simpler. All I would need to do would be to string together a series of “reasons”. For instance, “Jehovah is a Most Mighty God”, or “Almighty God made Himself into flesh, as Jesus, and came down to Earth, to endure great hardship, pain and suffering, so that we may be saved from our sins”, or I could speak of the connection between religion, faith and life, or speak of the beauty of Islam and Mohammad, etc., etc.
Yet “Why am I not a Baha’i” is a much more difficult question. Why, after working so hard for so many years, enduring untold suffering and hardship in order to know the truth ̶ after so much effort, why…?"http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6897
"The Manifestation of God has always appeared amongst the most depraved, the most demoralized people of His age, in the most benighted, downtrodden land. Moses came to a people who had become enslaved, had lost their self-respect and fallen a prey to their idle fancies. He challenged both the might of the tyrant and the waywardness of His own people, and both did He vanquish. Jesus stepped... out of the lowest ranks of the same people, the children of Israel, who had once again forfeited their birthright, fallen into serfdom, and forgotten the warnings and counsels of their Prophets. He suffered grievously both at their hands and at the hands of their brutal oppressors. But triumph was His in the final count. Muhammad, the Arabian Prophet, rose up amongst idolaters, uncouth and unbridled, who buried their daughters alive, who were lawless and predatory. He made of a people, disparate and forlorn, a single and single-minded nation, gave it law, vision and understanding, and taught it to worship the One True God. And in the nineteenth century, in the ancient land of Iran, amongst a people wallowing in the depths of ignominy, there arose two Manifestations of God: One of pure lineage, a descendant of the Arabian Prophet, the Other a scion of the royal house of Iran that ruled the Empire before the advent of Islam. They had the power to recreate lives, to confer on men the gift of second birth. In the almost impenetrable gloom, the darkness of fanaticism, ignorance and rapacity that had enshrouded the people of Iran, the star of Their Faith shone as brightly as a million suns, illuminating the paths of countless men and women to heroic action. Their call was directed not only to the inhabitants of Iran, but to the entire concourse of mankind." (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah - The King of Glory, p. 4)"
