20 years ago a cult led by a hodgepodge Japanese guru released sarin gas on the metro in Tokyo killing and maiming commuters. The recruits were drawn to the guru though his philosophy - which was loosely based on yoga, buddhism, hinduism, taoism and stitched together other elements of mystic and sensational traditions. In this cult, named Aum, the long-bearded portly guru clearly laid out the rules and direction towards fulfillment. He was promising to fill the hole in the otherwise grey despair of the modern urban plight faced by so many undirected youth at the time. The history of these attacks, as well as of the cult itself, is widely available online. Perhaps most disheartening is that an ongoing surveillance of the remaining cult spinoffs, who still worship the now death row guru, is turning up reports of continued recruitment and continued growth...(although the cult now goes by the name Aleph instead of Aum...a rose by any other name would smell just as deadly.)
Is it the case that there will always be whackos who aim to harm others? Is violence and extremism really the best form of bonding among fringe groups? is anti-social behavior important for some people? I suggest that this type of behavior is just an expedient to achieve solidarity in place of any real substance. If that is true, then the remedy is finding solidarity in substance. and if THATis true, we have to find substance, and to understand what it means. This is the root of a true religion - which, dishearteningly, is the title Aum gave to itself (lit. Aum True Religion). Lets try to leave off the Aum part.
And while we are at it, lets leave off the Buddhist part as well,or the Christian part, Abrahamic, Hindu...and so on. Keep it shaved down with the razor of simplicity to the real necessities. So, what is the substance void of form? What is a religionless religion? What is truth without words?
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So, paradoxically but refreshingly, it seems we have to all touch this substance without having another hand it to us through concepts (which is, in this shaved down form, impossible by nature). Therefore, the question becomes: what is the way to touch this substance? Now we have some practical way to see for ourselves. Some practical practice (entomologically interesting) This is the ship that sails across the Ocean. But once the ship has taken us there, it is best as firewood.
This format can be understood as Two Truths. One truth is yours, your vessel, your life. It can be dancing, mountain climbing, or sitting on your butt facing a wall. It is your boat - built to your body and mind. The second truth is what you find when you get to the other shore.
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This all reminds me of the last substantial (once again, linguistically interesting considering the topic I am addressing is substance) - the last substantial conversation I had with my brother before leaving for life in a monastery. He asked me, most positively jokingly and mockingly, "So, What is the Meaning of Life?" I think this is sort of like screaming out "Play Freebird!!!" at a concert, but it can lead to some discussion. This particular day we used our logic to unfold this loaded question.
What
Is
the Meaning of
Life
//
first becomes:
What
Is
Life?
Here we divide things into Two Truths; life is all LIFE, which we likened to the mathematical nature of circles and life is Your life, which we likened to a numerical solution.
πr^2=A
2πr=C
Let us liken the Area to the depth of one`s life and the Circumference to the limits of one`s life.
Without any numerical measurements, we only have variables and one irrational constant(π). This is still a formula for What Life Is. But, before we can say with any useful certainty what YOUR LIFE is, we need to take some measurements; we need to measure for the radius. The radius emanates from your center, from the center of your life. It is the measure of who you are in relation to what life is. To answer both inquiries into the nature of LIFE and life, one needs to measure themselves.
This leads to the next relevant step, in the form of a question, "how do you measure your own self?" or, "How do you come to know yourself?" How do you find your own radius?to which I responded, "I am not exactly sure, but I have an idea of someone who might know, so I am going to visit him."
In this response is seeded the very essence of the whole question, the MEANING OF LIFE is to find the meaning of life. It is the formulaic circle becoming a numeric circle. It is the potential becoming the actual. It is the something from nothing. and it is all calculated though examining the relationship of the finite with a totally irrational and infinite radical π.
