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March 19th, 2017

3/19/2017

Panentheism and the conceptual framework of philosophy

What does the conceptual framework of philosophy have to offer us?

Philosophy: Philosophy has two important aims. First it tries to give people a unified view of the universe in which they live. Second it seeks to make people more critical thinkers by sharpening their ability to think clearly and precisely.
–World Book Encyclopedia, p. 345

Let’s begin by discussing the first aim of philosophy. First, it tries to give people a unified view of the universe in which they live.

Philosophy has shrunk from this aspect of its responsibility.

Philosophy has become so entrenched in the concept that we cannot know ‘truth’ that it has refused to tackle the problem of finding ‘truths.’

We may not be able to know truths, but we certainly can develop what we perceive truths to be based upon our intuitions and faiths – religion, our observations and experiences – science, and our logic and reason – philosophy.

If we attempt to establish truths based upon only one of these three means of developing perceptions, then we develop a truth favoring one of the three: religion, science or philosophy.

This type of truth is immediately rejected by the other two on the basis of bias.

Since our perceptions are based upon how we incorporate all three fields, any truths must be able to be incorporated within the scope of all three.

As for the second aim: ... it seeks to make people more critical thinkers by sharpening their ability to think clearly and precisely.

This also is the responsibility of philosophy.

Philosophy has the responsibility to develop a unified view, a universal philosophy, so airtight that no reasonable person could refute the concept based upon any reasonable argument, be it from religion, science or philosophy.

A unified view, a universal philosophy, has to be so basic, so fundamental to the general layman, that it cannot be refuted through any use of common reason.

To develop a unified view and to make people better critical thinkers is the responsibility of philosophy, for philosophy incorporates reason.

Without reason, all three – philosophy, science, and religion – fall apart.

Therefore, the concept of a unified view must begin with reason and fuse itself with universal religious concepts and universal scientific concepts.

Panentheism is the foundation, the axiom if you wish, which is capable of acting as the fundamental first statement for not only religion but also science and philosophy itself.

The material in the 'free books' of this site, provide more details regarding this topic and the sister site, panentheism.com, provides a searchable tool for the reader to examine this topic in detail.

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Philosophy and the universe within which we live

3/17/2017

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Philosophy and the universe within which we live
What does the conceptual framework of philosophy imply about the universe within which we live?

Philosophy becomes a means by which we gain the broadest possible picture of ourselves and our environment, both on a microscopic and macroscopic basis.

Philosophy, by its very purpose, implies an outside as well as an inside to our universe.

Philosophy is the attempt to understand the function of the universe in terms of what lies within it and what lies outside it.

By doing so, it leads us to an understanding of what we may be, what our function is, within the universe as well as to what lies outside the universe.

This process of understanding our function within reality as well as understanding what lies outside our universe is accomplished through an attempt to establish a unified view of the universe.

Many great thinkers have left their mark upon the field of philosophy over the last 3,000 years.

But just as surely as they have left their mark, they have left their doubts about the ability of philosophy to accomplish its task of developing a unified view of the universe.

This is not a negative statement; rather, it is a statement of growth, for just as a humans grow through self examination, so do specialty fields of knowledge.

Knowledge we gain as a species is nothing more than perceptions we gain based upon our efforts as individuals to understand what it is we perceive through faith, observations, and reason.

It is no wonder our basic fields of study go through similar stages of development as their architects.

There is little doubt that humans are the most soul searching life form on this planet.

Since humans are the engineers of their own fields of study, it only follows that philosophy would go through much soul searching in terms of its ability to accomplish its own function.

Eventually, one has to stop searching and get on with life, and so it is with philosophy.

Self doubt, soul searching, hesitation, fear of failure, whatever excuse one wishes to place upon the lack of success of philosophy to accomplish its goal, the fact still remains that philosophy has not developed a unified view of the universe.

It is time for philosophy to stop worrying about being condemned to ‘hell’ by religions and being ridiculed by science.

It is time for philosophy to have faith in itself and use what it has observed as being successful for science.

It is time to build a model of a unified view of the universe.

The mere fact that we perceive the universe exists should be enough for philosophy to understand the universe can be modeled.

This site provides the scientifically, religiously and philosophically the model of our physical universe in great detail verbally, pictorially as well as through the use of Venn Diagrams.

The name of the model is panentheism.

The material in the 'free books' of this site, provide more details regarding this topic and the sister site, panentheism.com, provides a searchable tool for the reader to examine this topic in detail.

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March 15th, 2017

3/15/2017

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Panentheism and Entropy

Because the universe is in a constant state of action, entropy would imply the universe is alive in the sense that it is constantly changing.

The universe is a heat exchange system. Action, change, occurs within our universe when heat is passed from place to place. The measure of the amount changed is entropy.

The whole orientation of this concept is simple. If things never change, they remain ‘permanent.’ The final state of the universe would be at the point heat is distributed evenly, ‘equally,’ throughout the universe. Combine these two ideas and you have ‘permanent equilibrium.’ As a simple example, if everything in our universe suddenly became the same temperature, then everything would be ‘frozen’ in place. There would be no heat exchange, therefore no change. Nothing would move. In this situation, nothing would decay, nothing would grow, everything would be the same. Everything would be in ‘permanent equilibrium’ today, tomorrow, forever.

We have never seen a permanent state of equilibrium in our universe. Our universe, and everything in it, appears to be undergoing constant change through growth or decay. Our universe is alive and vibrant.

Growth and decay will eventually stop as energy levels become the same throughout the universe. Change will eventually stop. If our universe is all there is, as atheists and pantheists believe, then our universe can die and with it, dies existence as we know it. This implies all the change, all the ‘work’ that occurred within it over the thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, billions upon billions of years, will have had no meaning.

This does not seem logical. On the other hand, if something exists beyond our universe, the ‘thing’ outside itself would still exist. The significance the universe generated could possibly exist as long as the ‘thing’ outside existed. We refer to this ‘thing’ as the creator of this universe. We refer to this ‘thing’ as the Causative Force. Entropy implies three possible states of existence: growth, permanent equilibrium, decay. We have never observed the state of permanent equilibrium within our universe. Once our universe reaches the state of permanent equilibrium, entropy implies the universe would be ‘dead.’

Only panentheism is capable of resolving the issue of life after death be it death of the individual or death of our physical universe for panentheism provides the rationale as to what we lie within even after the universe itself dies.

The universe lies within its Creator and as such once the universe winks out of existence, our true essence, the spark of the divine found within each and everyone of us simply finds itself once again reunited with it source, the Creator of the physical realm within which we presently find ourselves.

The material in the 'free books' of this site, provide more details regarding this topic and the sister site, panentheism.com, provides a searchable tool for the reader to examine this to

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March 10th, 2017

3/10/2017

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How does the concept of the Big Bang Theory reinforce the concept of panentheism?

The Big Bang Theory would imply the boundary of our universe is expanding into something.

If our universe is expanding into something, this would imply our universe
is, in a sense, embraced by something. Perhaps it is embraced by its Creator.

If it is not lying within its Creator, what would it be lying within?

If it is lying within its Creator, the Creator is what we would call omnipresent in relationship to the universe. The universe would be finite, a part of, a piece of the Causative Force.

This is panentheism.

If the universe begins shrinking, the same argument applies. Ex- panding/contraction, exploding/imploding – the argument is still the same.

If the universe is not lying within the Creator, as present day religions profess, then it would have to be expanding into something that is not a part of the Causative Force because the Causative Force, as religions say, would ‘transcend’ the universe. But this argument undermines the very foundation of religion. This argument implies the Causative Force is not all present because the universe lies elsewhere. The destruction of the concept of omnipresence creates a domino effect. With the destruction of the idea that the Causative Force is omnipresence, all present, comes the destruction of the Causative Force being omniscient, all knowledgeable, followed by the destruction of the Causative Force being omnipotent, all powerful.

Some theists would object to the above for they would say, 'The Creator of the physical universe is not made of parts.'

Panentheism does not imply the Creator is made of parts any more than geometry suggests a line is made of parts, is composed of points. Points are contained within a line but the line is not made up of points.

So it is with the Creator of the physical universe.

Panentheism states the physical universe is located within the Creator but the Creator of the physical universe is not 'composed/made up of' the physical.

More specifics can be found within the 'free books' of this site. A search engine for this material can be found on the companion site at panentheism.com

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February 09th, 2017

2/9/2017

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1. Hinduism:
a. Implicitly monotheistic, it is the message of the Upanishads that the indwelling, all–pervading Supreme Being, or Brahman, is identical with the individual self, or Atman.
b. Hindu six systems of philosophy:

1–2: nine substances (the four atoms, and space, time, ether, mind, and soul) created the world by fashioning the nine substances into an or- dered universe;

3–4: two basic categories. . .eternal spirits and natural order. . .periodically dissolving the cosmos and reinitiating the process;

5–6: held the entire world to be an illusion and Brahman to be the sole reality; held the world to be the appearance whose reality is Brahman.

Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, William L. Reese, p. 302

Hinduism not only professes that we exist in eternity but implies that we impact eternity.

•
Hinduism holds to the idea that the spirit, the soul, is eternal. Eternal existence would suggest never dying, never falling into a state of nonexistence. The idea of a soul losing its identity or a soul losing its awareness are concepts that imply the death of the soul. These ideas, therefore, are not Hinduistic. Hinduism offers us eternal existence immersed in awareness. Hinduism opens us up as a species and as individuals to the concept of maintaining our essence, our spirit, our awareness, and our individuality for eternity.

Eternity is a long time and if we maintain our awareness of what we have accomplished, the actions we have taken, we had better think long and hard about what it is that we do, for it will never go away.

Hinduism adds to the validation of panentheism through the Hindu concept of eternal non-physical existence and we being a 'part' of the eternal non-physical existence.

As mentioned above:

5–6: held the entire world to be an illusion and Brahman to be the sole reality; held the world to be the appearance whose reality is Brahman.

Brahman being the whole of reality and we being a part of said whole are thus within the whole thus the validation of panentheism (all - in - God/Brahma).

As to the physical being simply an illusion, the explanation of this concept is fully addressed within the 'free books' section found within this site.

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God's placement of the universe validating 'panentheism'

10/21/2016

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Before the physical universe existed, there was God.

God being omnipresent would imply the only place for creation to take place would be ‘within’ God, which directly leads to the concept of ‘pan – en – theism’ or all in God.

Genesis (KJV) 1:1

‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

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Why does the Universe go to all the bother to exist? Addressed by panentheism

5/10/2016

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160423: Personal thoughts: Why does the universe go to the bother of existing?

“Stephen Hawking adds, “Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?” - The Skeptics’ Guide to Eternal Bliss (2nd ed), Steve J. Williams, Lulu Press, 2009

Within the model of panentheism, it is not the universe which goes to ‘the bother of existing’ for the universe mathematically and scientifically is demonstrated to have a beginning and thus a first cause.

If the universe at one point was non-existent (we will explore in future Saturday blogs) then the universe did not go to the ‘bother’ to exist but rather some first cause went to the bother to ‘create’ the physical universe.

Panentheism is the only model of reality which clearly and simply explains why this non-existent existence would go to the bother to create a physical universe and produce a cosmological model demonstrating not only the reason why but specifically the mechanism of creation ex nihilio. (See book Panentheism Addressing the Whole of Reality found within the free books icon located on this site – all books free for down load in PDF format)

Simplistically put: The Creator of the physical universe created the physical universe in order to provide the mechanism to avoid ‘eternal recurrence’ and did so using via ex nihilio and symmetry.

It is panentheism and only panentheism which provides the answer to Stephen Hawking’s question as well as a myriad other questions science, religion and philosophy have been unable to resolve. (Again see books found within the ‘free books’ section of this website.

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Judaism, the eternal soul and panentheism

4/28/2016

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160428 Judaism, the eternal soul and panentheism

Judaism, our significance in eternity and panentheism

What do the Judaic concepts of monotheism and the soul imply about our significance in eternity?

Eternity existing outside our universe (panentheism – our universe lies within eternity) implies the possibility of significance beyond the universe.

The concept of the soul being tied directly to this eternity implies we may have a significance tied directly to eternity itself.

Humans, as far back as 1500 BC (see within free books this site: Panentheism Addressing Validation by Science, Religion, Philosophy and Prophecy - Hinduism), expanded the possibility of their significance into eternity itself.

Judaism played a key part in providing the bridge for the concept of monotheism to spread to the other half of the world, to the West.

The concept of significance being directly tied to eternity elevated our perception of our importance, expanded immensely our view of existence, for now existence was no longer confined by the boundaries of our universe.

Now humankind was able to begin thinking in terms of belonging to the whole universe rather than just our planet or our solar system.

Through an understanding of the source of the soul and the place to which a soul travels after death, we provided a view of ourselves capable of withstanding any discoveries we might make through the field of science which was to evolve later in history.

Science was not to become a significant influence in our society for over 2,500 years after the birth of Judaism. Why the need to prepare now for the concept of monotheism, the soul existing in eternal existence and panentheism?

The concept of monotheism, the soul, and eternal life were ideas that would need time to expand throughout the western world.

These concepts would need time to marinate in a kettle of tradition and culture.

Tradition and culture themselves needed time to evolve and age.

The concepts, traditions, and culture needed time to become an integrated part of our society worldwide.

The direction we took as a species in terms of the perception we had of ourselves, our universe, and a Causative Force was just one of many that could have taken place.

Panentheism, monotheism and an eternal soul provided a continually expanding perception of the size of the Causative Force as well as a continually expanding perception of our potential both individually and as a species regarding life in our universe as well as beyond the boundaries of our universe.

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Finding your soul, the silence and panentheism

4/24/2016

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160424: Finding your soul, the silence and panentheism

Looking to find your soul?

It most probably isn’t going to happen.

The soul can be found within the silence but entering the silence to the degree required to have one’s soul emerge is no small task. (See Panentheism Addressing the Journey of a Soul found within the free book section within this website – PDF format)

The journey requires constant daily exercises of mediation, sacrifice including celibacy, deep introspection recognizing the physical egos hiding the soul, etc.

But why celibacy?

It is not celibacy itself which is the issue rather it is the fact that sexual experiences lead to pleasure which causes one to constantly want more and thus constantly occupy one’s mind with overpowering desires/needs.

The same applies to social interactions.

Social interactions lead to the preoccupation of one’s mind regarding the desire for future social participation and worry about rejection, ostracism, dominance, control, …

The multitude of physical needs and desires, emotional needs and desires and obsessions, the mental running of the mind which cannot be shut down – all lead to the interruption of the silence.

Do the above mean one loses one’s soul?

Does the fact that most individuals never come face to face with their soul mean such individuals are condemned to eternal purgatory or even more disturbing condemned to eternal hell?

The answer to the above is: In terms of the panentheism model of Whole of Reality, absolutely not!

The panentheistic model of the Whole of Reality demonstrates one’s purpose for existence is to aid the Creator of the physical universe avoids eternal recurrence and one means of doing so is through the process of traveling within a physical machine, the human body.

The process of each individual is unique unto themselves and as such adds unique new knowledge of personal experiences never before found within the summation of all knowledge found within the All Knowing.

Panentheism establishes the rational dialectic capable of establishing the significance of every individual and the very reason all individuals needed to be treated as we would treat the Creator of the physical universe itself.

Panentheism – a truly revolutionary concept capable of acting as a common foundation for all religious, scientific and philosophical organizations, fundamentals, …

Panentheism – a concept capable of elevating our species and we as individuals to a new and higher evolutionary behavioral plane.

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Why does the universe go to the bother of existing and panentheism

4/23/2016

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