The Great Unteaching of Organismic Philosophy and Biotheism

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by

many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your

teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the

good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. —Buddha

Tenet 1. HUMAN NATURE

Humans are animals, in an absolute sense; ultimately nothing more — yet we are nonetheless divine.Organismic Philosophy seeks in great part to explore this *natural divinity* to its core and to declare itsovereign over all things.

It should be understood when it is said that 'humans are animals', that there is more to it than simplythat, though it is ultimately a true statement. We are animals, but those humans who are able to livein purposeful harmony with life and creation, according to ‘organismic principles’, become 'AnimalsEnnobled'.

This is in fact the ultimate purpose of our philosophy: to assist humanity in coming to terms with itsown true nature: to help us see ourselves clearly as an undistorted reflection — and instead of reject-ing that nature, opening the way to embrace and invite that nature into being at one with itself.

Relevant Quotes:

“Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.”—Albert Camus

“We're animals. We're born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguisedanimal thoughts.”—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

“I viewed my fellow man not as a fallen angel, but as a risen ape.”—Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape

Tenet 2. MORAL AUTHORITY

Moral authority is unattributed to a disembodied 'higher force'. Our moral conscience is considered anatural potential within all people. The basis for morality within Biotheism is derived from concepts ofnatural expediency; the value of health being innately understood by all organisms. This applies notonly to the individual organism, but also to the communities with which each is interdependent. Ethi-cal behavior essentially can be seen as an expression of how best to develop and sustain the socalled “good-life”, as responsible homo sapiens upon planet Earth.

We believe that systems of moral guidance, to be valid, by necessity must rest upon a core founda-tion of a reverence for and understanding of life. Healthy life. THRIVING LIFE — each species ac-cording to its own ancient and unique biological heritage.

If there is one central moral imperative for our existence it is ‘to thrive’ (and let thrive).

Relevant Quote:

“Valuable or good is all that which contributes to the greater unfolding of man's specific faculties andfurthers life. Negative or bad is everything that strangles life and paralyzes man's activeness. Allnorms of the great humanist religions like Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, or Islam or the great hu-manist philosophers from the pre-Socratics to contemporary thinkers are the specific elaboration ofthis general principle of values.”—Erich Fromm

Tenet 3. LEGITIMATE SCIENCE

Organismic Philosophy upholds that a moral or reverent sensibility plays a crucial role in the develop-ment of the rational sciences — acting as a metaphorical anchor which defines the values, goals andparameters by which science itself progresses. Without a valid moral foundation (and concurrent aes-thetic sensibility) it has been observed time and again that science can and will be abused or utilizedfor the purposes of subjugation, violence and hegemony.

In all cases, justifiable scientific inquiry and practice must be guided by a moral sentiment which de-fines its intentions as specifically beneficial to Life, biodiversity and the longevity of Earth's biosphereitself. We already are witnessing the threat to our planet, not to mention our own viability as aspecies, that lack of this concept's prevalence exerts.

Is science valid if it is being used to recklessly expedite the consumption of Earth's natural resources?Is it socially and culturally legitimate for science to be used as a means to more effectively harm, killand subjugate our fellow creatures (human and non-human)? We hold that it is not. The science ofdeath, exploitation and efficient consumption has advanced enough to last to the end of our species.

Relevant Quotes:

“Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity.”—Nikola Tesla

“I believe that the horrifying deterioration in the ethical conduct of people today stems from the mech-anization and dehumanization of our lives - the disastrous by-product of the scientific and technicalmentality. Nostra culpa”.—Albert Einstein

Tenet 4. THE SPLIT PSYCHE

Or, The Organismic Self and The Principled Analytic Animal

Humans are both intuitive and rational, temporal and atemporal. A system which ignores one or theother of these perspectives cannot reflect the true nature of the balanced human being.

We designate this integrated duality, or split of the Persona as the split between the semantic, rational'Analytic Mind' and the pre-semantic, original 'Animal Mind’ or ‘Animal Self'. The “Organismic Self“then is the undifferentiated self which integrates both the Animal Self and Analytic Mind into one syn-chronized and harmonious whole, with both components understanding their proper place and naturalrole, functioning as a working unity.

Those in a state of natural internal balance between these two basic psychic components come tomanifest a more healthy and limber 'Persona', which is the inverse corollary of the less healthy andmore rigid ‘ego’.

When the Analytic Mind understands both its great power and its subservient role in relationship tothe Animal Self, then one is at the beginning of becoming a ‘principled’ being, or ‘Principled AnalyticAnimal' according to Organismic Philosophy.

Tenet 5. THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE

The ultimate nature of the universe is not material or spiritual (nor is it, taken in whole, simply energyand physics equations), it is ‘Organismic’.

Galaxies, stars and solar systems do not just appear and disappear. They are born, they develop,and they grow and die like organisms, often reproducing parts of themselves which go on to form newgalaxies, stars and solar systems. Everywhere around us we are in a constant process of change, of*evolution*. For the Biotheist, evolution is not a theory in question, it is the true nature of all things.Where there is no evolution, there can be no movement, no change, *no life* at all.

Relevant Quote:

“Apparently there is a great discovery or insight which our culture is deliberately designed to sup-press, distort and ignore. That is that Nature is some kind of minded entity. That Nature is not simplythe random flight of atoms through electromagnetic fields. Nature is not the empty, despiritualizedlumpen matter that we inherit from modern physics. But it is instead a kind of intelligence, a kind ofmind.”

—Terence McKenna

Tenet 6. MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY

or The Unbroken Chain of Humanity’s Genetic and Memetic Legacy

How old are we? By simply asking the question with a ‘we’, the answer becomes clear — we are theage of our oldest ancestors. We should consider ourselves lucky. Of all those who entered the greatlottery of natural selection, we are the ones who have made it, who survived in an unbroken, never-ending chain since the original conception of life occurred within the primordial soup over 3.7 billionyears ago. *That* is our biological age. When we reproduce, our life, intermingled with another likeus, does not end — it continues to live on.

But we are not only our genes... We are our teachings, our stories, our traditions, our shared experi-ence and passed down ambitions. We are our childhoods and the lessons learned and stored withinour psyche since that time. We receive, and pass along a memetic legacy as well as genetic, andthus, an adopted child becomes our true son or daughter. Family has come to be based more impor-tantly upon our shared beliefs than our shared ethnicity or genetics. And because of this, our voices,personas and our values live on within each living being who ends up being touched by our lives.

Beyond this, Organismic Philosophy recognizes one further aspect of our immortality: Our indelibleconnection to the infinite ‘Ground of Being’ or ‘Ever Present Origin’. We believe that the very core ofour psyche is anchored, and in fact founded upon this central universal awareness. Essentially, we donot arise from darkness into light, then return to darkness again at death. Just the opposite: We comefrom, and return to light, which is at the center of our nature. In this regard it can be said that we areforever alive within the endless and beginningless NOW.

Relevant Quote:

"The psyche is not of today; its ancestry goes back many millions of years. Individual consciousnessis only the flower and the fruit of a season, sprung from the perennial rhizome beneath the earth; andit would find itself in better accord with the truth if it took the existence of the rhizome into its calcula-tions. The root matter is the mother of all things.

Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden inthe rhizome. The part that appears above the ground only lasts a single summer. Then it withersaway – an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civiliza-tions, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of some-thing that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, is fruit...whichpasses....the rhizome remains."—Carl Jung, (Prologue: Memories, Dreams, Reflections).

Tenet 7. THE NATURE OF TRUTH and the Four Sources of Truth

What is the ‘Truth’ of a thing? It seems the answer could vary for as many beings or persons that youask.

Within Organismic Philosophy there is no disagreement that the ultimate truth ‘out there’, the ‘Ding an

sich’ as Kant would describe it, is just that — something out there — beyond (or ‘before') our senses.We can infer that this reality is organismic, yet it is nonetheless essentially unknowable to us in an ab-solute sense.

What we *can know*, and what constitutes for us living beings ‘truth’ is what our senses communicateto us, and what our human experience and intelligence reveal to us. Therefore, all true human under-standing hinges upon an ‘assumption of knowability’, expressly limited by our nature as finite, subjec-tive organic entities.

Fortunately, it’s not that big of a problem that the ‘thing in itself’ (the ultimate truth of a thing) is notfully knowable to us, because we simultaneously and automatically assume — we really have nochoice but to assume — that we have sufficient information on which to act when the critical timecomes for us to make important decisions about things. Yet whether we ‘know’, ‘believe’, ‘trust’, orhave ‘faith’ in our decisions, ultimately we are basing our subjective action on the best assumption oftruth that we have at our disposal at that moment.

So, knowing something, and the truth are not really ‘knowing’ or ‘truth’, per se. Truth more accuratelycould be described as what supplies us with sufficient conviction to respond to a given situation withconfidence. Truth therefore, as humans perceive it, really comes down to a question of A) Personalvs. External Authority and B) Rational vs. Irrational Reasoning or Disposition.

Based on this distinction, we perceive ‘Truth’ in OPBT as arising from these basic categories:

1) BELIEF —Based on Personal Authority (Direct Experience of Truth) Irrational. Synonyms: Intuition, Insight, Gno-sis

2) KNOWLEDGE —Based on Personal Authority (Direct Experience of Truth)Rational. Observation, Calculation and Reflexive Reasoning

3) FAITH —Based on External Authority (Indirect Awareness of Truth)Irrational. Metaphysical, Revealed, Supernatural.

4.) TRUST —Based on External Authority (Indirect Awareness of Truth)Rational: Institutional, Secular, Utilitarian.

Importantly, no one quadrant stands out in our perspective as uniquely superior to another. The un-teaching of OPBT emphasizes as always the dynamic integration between supposed polar ‘oppo-sites’. And though we like to think we favor as much direct personal experience and authority for eachindividual as possible, we also recognize that humanity will always need quality institutions of publictrust and faith; the foundation of the culture and society we aspire to are our responsibility to properlycultivate and are ignored or dismissed at our peril.

Related quotes:

"All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function

of power and not truth.”—Friedrich Nietzsche

"All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothinglives in this world but Truth."—Mahatma Gandhi

TENET 8. THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

Organismic Philosophy not only accepts and endorses the theory of evolution, it states that evolutionis the most accurate word (far more telling than ‘reality’) to simply describe all of existence. ‘God man-ifest’ IS the process of evolution. The ‘Wheel of Samsara’ in Hindu philosophy is very real, but it doesnot exist as an abstract or transcendent system on some other plane. It is on this planet, at this time— it is the history of our biosphere, and it is our gene pool — our cells splitting and converging andtrading combinations in the thrashing waters of our fecund earth.





But biological evolution does not occur only within the scope of our genetics. Certainly our geneticlegacy is the source, vector and mechanism by which the other two dimensions of organic evolutionoperate, but to understand evolution without acknowledging the unique and separate considerationswhich are native to these other two distinct processes does an injustice to all three.

Therefore, to make better sense of, and to speak more clearly regarding our evolutionary legacy, wefeel it is necessary to introduce these new perspectives, which split biological evolution into threeseparate, but interdependent processes.

What are the *three* distinct processes of organic evolution?

ENDO-Evolution — Relating mainly to the Darwinian dialectic of biological development. Main fieldsof study: genetics/phylogenetics/ecology/biology/zoology/anthropology/botany. As stated, this processis the source and mechanism of the other two offshoots.

Endo-evolution is evolution viewed from the objective perspective.

When most people speak of evolution, endo-evolution is what they are referring to.

INTER-Evolution — Relating mainly to Hegel’s dialectic of reason. Mental, cognitive and informa-tional development. Main fields of study: memetics/linguistics/rational sciences/cultural anthropol-ogy/neurology/philosophy/psychology/psychiatry.

Inter-evolution is evolution viewed from the subjective perspective.

From the very beginning of biological evolution on Earth, arguably even before it, mind existed. Thesubject (the ‘I’) of each life-form, however basic or complex, experiences its life from within. This inte-rior process, though intimately related to the objective evolution of life, cannot be understood by ex-ternal observation alone, nor can it be properly guided or controlled externally. If anything,inter-evolution is the evolution of guidance and control by the subject over itself (its objective beingand circumstance). As life evolved, information, in greater and greater levels of organization and so-phistication, was being taken in by organisms, ‘recorded’ (memorized), ‘played back’, then utilized toform new and better reactions and behaviors which aided in their survival. Much of the informationwhich an organism stores and passes on to its offspring is encoded in its genetics, however, a greatdeal of the information an organism encounters, records, mimics and passes on during its life is notgenetically coded information. It is being transmitted through another avenue of information which wenow have a word for: memetics.

Generally speaking, memetics is not understood this way. We think of memes as ‘thought viruses’ or‘today’s in vogue notion’, a function of language and cultural perception*, not as all systematicallypackaged and transmitted (encoded) information experienced and shared between organisms. Butessentially, whether speaking of semantically encoded information (language-based) or non-semanti-cally coded information, the underlying process is the same.

(We‘ve had to coin a term for these pre-semantic information exchanges: protomemes — which referto all non-genetically based, repeated information exchanges made between organisms, whether be-tween ants or bees, in bird song, or through systematically learned and passed along behavior, etc.As can be inferred, a great number of variances exist in the levels of complexity between differentprotomemes, far moreso than we have the space to cover here).





That being said, inter-evolution is not specifically about the study of memes, though the field hasopened up a number of vistas in our ability to understand and more intelligently communicate oursubjective experiences. Memetics is itself yet another attempt at objectively understanding subjectiveexperience, so in this sense, its relation to mind could be compared the field of ethics and how it re-lates to the organic experience of morality — it covers it, but it is not it.

Inter-evolution is the evolution of mind, and all experiences of it.

*NOTES: Memes shouldn't be assumed, as it is often the case, to simply mimic the behavior ofviruses... this implies that all memes are by nature invasive, parasitic, xenogenic and fairly simple interms of behavior and their relative role in our psyches.

Memes are better conceived of as the entire range of mental flora and fauna that inhabit the mind-sphere or noosphere. Like the vast array of genetic beings which inhabit the biosphere...so the rangeof the contents of the mind vary in accordance with one another.

Memes can be both native and invasive, parasitic and symbiotic, beneficial and carcinogenic... andjust as it is necessary to maintain a healthy 'flora' in the gut in order to achieve optimum digestion/di-gestive health — so too must a healthy 'fauna' be maintained within the mind to achieve optimumawareness and understanding.

EXO-Evolution — Relating mainly to Marx’s materialist dialectic. The development of technology.Main fields of study: engineering/ergonomics/economics/business/manufacturing/temetics.

Exo-evolution is the integration or co-opting of objective existence by the subjective being.

Why consider the development of technology a type of ‘evolution’? Is it ‘organic’? Much of our tech-nology is not only inorganic, it’s lethal to organisms. Is the stuff humans make something that has‘evolved’?

Absolutely. Not only has technology co-evolved with us (and not just by us), it is us, it is a part of ourbodies, just as a turtle’s shell — or a hermit crab’s shell — is a part of its body. But, you might say... ahermit crab’s shell is not a part of its body! It’s a cast-away part of another creature’s body, whichproves a double point. Regardless of where it comes from, if it’s being used for the end purposes ofan organism, it is effectively a part of that organism. A knife is not just a tool, its a metal beak or talon,a flashlight is night-vision, a book is an external memory holder. All technology has evolved to help usdo things we as organisms want or need done.

Consider a house. We bring food from outside, in through the house walls. We bring it to the storageand processing center of the home, saving some for later, while converting the rest into easily con-sumable portions. Waste is collected in a special receptacle, and emitted from the premises on a reg-ular basis. A house is very similar to a living cell, with specialized organelles (rooms, appliances, andutensils) all serving organic functions. Our technology is us, and we become our technology the morewe use it. It really is a part of our organic evolution, and if we’re not careful, it could ultimately changeus in unexpected, and potentionally unwanted but irreversible ways.

Again, as in inter-evolution, we can make a distinction between human technology, and technologyused by animals (no plants that we are aware of utilze tools or make nests, form shelters, or constructshells from found objects), and the line drawn between endo and exo-evolution can in many cases bedifficult to draw (as in a turtle shell, or a spider’s web), but those distinctions don’t alter the fact that alltechnology is indelibly a part of what makes up our organism, whether animal or human.

The study of the development of human technology is generally the focus of engineers more than bi-ologists, but as we move forward in our total understanding, we are forced to accept that our inven-tions are reliant upon, and should be limited by our biological tolerances and prerogatives. Butbecause we often lose sight of the deeper connections, we get ourselves into trouble and fall prey tothe technologies which were intended to empower us.

Our intention as a philosophy and worldview is to halt and even reverse this trend.

Meaningful Quotes:

“Evolution is no linear family tree, but change in the single multidimensional being that has grown tocover the entire surface of Earth.”—Lynn Margulis

"Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important reve-lation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?"—E. O. Wilson

"Evolution, of course, is not something that simply applies to life here on earth; it applies to the wholeuniverse."—John Polkinghorne

"Of course in science there are things that are open to doubt and things need to be discussed. Butamong the things that science does know, evolution is about as certain as anything we know."—Richard Dawkins

TENET 9. MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY — THE CELLULAR MODEL

From whence did the sexes arise? According to what characteristics and criteria did nature divide us,and why in such seemingly strange or arbitrary ways? Is there a deeper explanation for the division oforganic duties which leads naturally to gender differentiation? Is the split cosmic and universal (a lathe nature of the gods, Venus vs. Mars etc), or more accurately an aspect of biological expediency?

The questions don’t stop here.

Is nature more complete in a state of androgyny? According to the Greeks, as related by Aristo-phanes in Plato’s Symposium, humans were once both male *and* female, sharing characteristics ofboth sexes fully in one being. These Androgynes became so powerful they ended up challenging thegods, resulting in their being split in two by Zeus himself, who feared their strength.

Certainly the sexes play complimentary roles, but neither Plato or Aristophanes elaborated much onwhat exactly made this union of *differences* — not *opposites* — into one being with so much po-tential power.

Some traditions emphasize the separate but equal power of both the feminine and the masculine,while others emphasize the opposite, stating that one gender deserves higher authority than theother— that one sex is ultimately subordinate to the other in the greater scheme of things. We are fa-miliar with this tradition, because it is at the center of much of the narrative of Western civilization. InWestern cosmology, woman was born of man. Specifically, Eve was born of Adam; she was pro-duced, of all places, from his rib.

Many cultures of the modern world promote a patriarchal centered paradigm. But what if all of thesetraditions had it backwards? What if someone claimed it might be more appropriate to say, strangelyenough, that Adam was produced from the ‘rib’ of Eve?

Well, essentially, we make just such a claim — based not on a whim, but upon the model of nature it-self. To better illustrate this important distinction, we designed the Cellular Model. This model is ofcourse metaphorical, not an accurate representation of a cell, because it is intended to convey boththe micro and macro scale at the same time.

Hi-Rez image:https://dl.dropbox.com/u/71849282/cellular%20model%205lg.jpg

What is the function of a rib-cage?

It is a protective shield, a hard barrier protecting many of the most vital organs of the body. Thinkingbiologically, it’s really no stretch to say this seems like more of a masculine function than feminine;being the strong, hard, protective component of life is a natural fit for our conception of the male ofthe species. And indeed, this is what our model demonstrates, in spite of the fact that nature offersnumerous examples which seem to set the norm on its head (in ants and bees for instance).

In the general scheme of things, a cell wall performs a similar function to a tribal village wall, or a na-tional state line — and the calculus of what is occurring at this intersection with the external, thisperimeter against the potentially threatening, unknown outside world, is essentially at the heart ofwhat defines masculinity. Keep in mind the perimeter is not only a protective shield, it is also an ex-ploratory party, a confrontation of anything existing within the unknown... perhaps the conquest ofspace by the launching of an interplanetary probe, or, the conquest of a neighboring and competitivetribe and their belongings — and even the ‘conquest’ of our own animal natures, for better or worse.

But in general, the protector, gatekeeper, hunter and provider role defines the core of the masculinearchetype.

Then what is the role of the feminine?

Representing the cell nucleus, the hearth, the campfire, the town/tribal center — the essence of thefeminine archetype is about continuity and renewal, as well as senescence and dying, but mainly inthe sense of the former overcoming the latter. While the hunting parties and warriors are out exploringthe perimeter (or as the amoeba’s pseudopod explores its world), the women, children and eldersprocess yesterday’s bounty, turning raw materials into usable goods. These are not only physical ob-

jects, but experiences and stories, which are processed into tribal wisdom through mechanisms suchas theater, daily gossip, peer pressure and politics. These are all aspects of the feminine or and do-mestic sphere.

The masculine is what discovers, identifies and confronts a new thing. Its natural ethic is based uponreticence, and non-negotiated cooperation.

The feminine is what determines the value and use of a new thing. Its ethic is based upon expression,and negotiated cooperation.

* * * * *Like the complexity of life itself, there is so much more to cover here than a short introduction can dojustice to. But we feel that this model conveys a larger truth which can be inferred by its application atmany different levels of magnification, from the atomic, to perhaps the planetary and beyond. Femi-ninity and masculinity are not merely an expression of abstract cosmic or mythological influences, norare they simply a reflection of solar/lunar or solar/terran dichotomies, which better describe objec-tivism and subjectivism, perspectives shared by both genders. Our differences as men and womenare much more based upon our cellular, or organismic foundation.

Importantly, we are not advocating here for an adherence to traditional gender roles, merely a greaterunderstanding of the purpose of gender within nature. Each human being is a complete and uniquecombination of both the masculine and feminine, and no combination is right for all people. It is ourjob as individuals to responsibly discover the balance which suits each one of us most ideally, even ifthis challenges others conception of what is typical or traditional within our society.

Meaningful quotes:

“Sometimes I think that the biggest difference between men and women is that more men need toseek out some terrible lurking thing in existence and hurl themselves upon it. Women know where itlives but they can let it alone.”—Russell Hoban

“For boys, the family was the place from which one sprang and to which one returned for comfort andsupport, but the field of action was the larger world of wilderness, adventure, industry, labor, and poli-tics. For girls, the family was to be the world, their field of action the domestic circle. He was to ex-press himself in his work and, through it and social action, was to help transform his environment; herindividual growth and choices were restricted to lead her to express herself through love, wifehood,and motherhood--through the support and nurture of others, who would act for her.”—Gerda Lerner

Normally, I've found in my life that the louder you speak, probably, the less of a fighter you are. All thefighters I've had a chance and the honor to serve with didn't pat themselves on the back, were prettyhumble men and women.—David Dewhurst

“I feel a terrifically painful disturbance in the natural law of things between men and women that mustbe balanced in the next few thousand years. What has been done in the name of holding up mascu-line energy as God and feminine energy as subservient has really wiped out everything.—Rebecca De Mornay

TENET #10. GOD, OMNIUNUM & THE ORGANISMIC PRINCIPLE

So, do we believe in God or not?

Are Biothests some new type of reverent atheists, or another brand of New-Age philosophy with ageneral, but unspecified belief in ‘forces within and without us’?

Here on Facebook, we often post links and images praising the Goddess, and embrace the invoca-tion of deities from both so called ‘pagan’ as well as ‘monotheist’ religions (Abrahamic or otherwise)...Is the idea ultimately about a universal awaking and raising of awareness on Earth, all giving birth toa great shift in human consciousness and behavior? A new Pantheism? Western Taoism? Or is itsomething else altogether?

The answer is YES... to all of it. But to make everything simpler, we’ll actually answer, No.

A central claim in Biotheism and Organismic Philosophy is that the concept of ‘God’, at least in termsof the general understanding of it, *produces no general understanding*.

‘God’. We hear the word all the time, but what does it really even mean? The answer will be as variedas the number of humans who are asked (and we won’t even be able to ask plants or animals fortheir opinions).

Unfortunately, the fact remains that the concept of ‘God’* no longer serves adequately the function ofenlightening or engaging a great many people, especially those who tend to identify with a modern,scientifically oriented mindset — this is unfortunate, because without an appreciation and sensibilityof that which is sacred (sorely lacking in secular humanism) the modern condition will surely drive ourspecies off a cliff of moral and ecological unsustainability.

On these grounds, we believe it is vital that the world be introduced to new terminology which reinvig-orates and reinforces the idea itself, by eschewing the use of the term ‘God’ altogether (at least whendescribing our system).

Instead, we have chosen the dual terms of both ‘OMNIUNUM’ and ‘The Organismic Principle’, inorder to represent both the passive and active facets of God, respectively.

* * * * *

OMNIUNUM: The All One. Endless, Formless, but All Forms, Timeless but All Times. All beginnings,yet no beginning, all endings, yet no ending... Forever ONE in OM.

Omniunum is every subject, is the Presence Behind All Presences, the Being Within, Above, and Be-yond. Endlessly named, but always the same Being; Omniunum is already recognized in most humantraditions, and is very similarly defined as is "the Brahman" within esoteric Hindu philosophy. “In Hin-duism, Brahman (ब्रह्मन् brahman) is "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world" which"cannot be exactly defined", but is Sat-cit-ānanda (being-consciousness-bliss) and the highest reality.This concept is also closely associated with ‘Tawhid’ in Islam, ‘Nirvana’ in Buddhism, ‘God the Father’in Christianity, ‘Ein Sof’ in Judaism, ‘Gitche Manitou’ and ‘Wakan Tanka’ in American spiritual lore, andendless other names, including the ‘Divine Ground of Being‘, ‘der Dinge an sich, or ‘Ever PresentOrigin’ etc.

Importantly, we view Omniunum as the passive, pure potentiality behind all existence — the sourceaspect of the Higher Being.

As we like to say:

‘One will not find Omniunum declaring commandments from on high — Omniunum is the silencebetween the stars’.

‘You may visit the mansion of the Lord, but you will never meet the Master.’

‘Omniunum is not a being given to moods, or a need for vengeance, and jealousy could hardly befurther from ‘His’ ineffable mind.’

Omniunum is also understood esoterically as the dynamic tension between Allness, Oneness &Noneness — The three principles at the core of reality, the dynamic tension between which allows allother phenomena to occur. This will be discussed in greater depth at a later date.

Omniunum is not *a* being, but all beings are Omniunum.

* * * * *

The Organismic Principle: The Active, specific, living, expressive, dynamic engine of activity.

At the center of every process is organization — otherwise, it’s not a process; the process breaksdown as organization breaks down. We name this active, organizing principle of the universe the‘Organismic Principle’, the centerpiece acting the heart of every process. This principle works at alllevels of reality, from the quantum, to the galactic and beyond. Particularly on the scale of organic life,we can see that the Organismic Principle is not merely a purely random or mechanical process... it issubtle, sensitive, uniquely intelligent, inventive, responsive and often passionately intentional. It isYOU – the workings of the inner you.

Is the inner you a random, or purely mechanical aspect of existence? You might say that you are, butthat philosophically limited view is quickly losing its credibility even among advanced scientists andrational thinkers these days. What most are observing is that systems of intricate synergy andcomplexity are self-emergent in the universe. God is truly within, and is constantly seeking to grow, tounfold outward, to be born into existence, then to give birth to the next incarnation of itself. Innatelyself-replicating, infinitely prolific and inventive, the universe is not simply alive, it is truly miraculousbeyond our full ability to express or appreciate, try as we might.

Biotheists do not worship Omniunum. Instead, if we revere anything ‘highest’ is the OrganismicPrinciple itself, which is the active, building and disassembling, manifest expression of OMNIUNUM’sineffable presence. It is Life Itself, or that from which life emerges and originates. Omniunum does notneed or desire for us to worship ‘him’ as he would simply consider this himself worshipping himself.However, the Organismic Principle *does* require us to cultivate, nourish and protect it, and bring itinto effective balance within our lives. Love, health, knowledge and power can grow in all of our lives,but they each require proper balance, care, maintenance and encouragement along the way.

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in thecupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to reallylook after it and nurture it”. —John Lennon

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people callGod is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the restsaid was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong”. —John Lennon

“At the core of the Perennial Philosophy we find four fundamental doctrines:

First: the phenomenal world of matter and of individualized consciousness — the world of things andanimals and men and even gods — is the manifestation of a Divine Ground within which all partialrealities have their being, and apart from which they would be non-existent.

Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing about the Divine Ground by inference;they can also realize its existence by a direct intuition, superior to discursive reasoning. Thisimmediate knowledge unites the knower with that which is known.

Third: Humanity possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is theinner human being, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul (The Animal Self in OPBT). It ispossible for a human being, if they so desire, to identify with the spirit and therefore with the DivineGround, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit.

Fourth: A human's life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify with one's eternal Self andso to come to unitive knowledge of the Divine Ground.”—Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy(with a few minor alterations to the language)

* * * * *

FURTHER NOTES BELOW

NOTES:

If this system is seeking to replace the term God with Omniunum and/or the Organismic Principle,what about Goddess? Where does the Divine Feminine fit into the equation?

This is where some nuance is required. Above, we used the standard pronoun of ‘he’ and ‘his’ whendescribing Omniunum, but as many may have already inferred, Omniunum is beyond gender defini-tions, as is the Organismic Principle. As universal principles, they contain within them the full poten-tiality of both the masculine and feminine, and metaphorically they should also be understood thatway.

That being said, a more straight-forward answer may be more satisfying: If we consider Omniunum tobe God’s infinite unexpressed potential, the Organismic Principle then is the core mechanism or con-duit by which Goddess becomes expressed as the manifest universe. Conversely, it is through themechanism of the Organismic Principle (again) that the feminine is then able to give actual birth to themasculine here within manifest creation. Goddess then is the tangible universe (the ‘mater’ in matter— or ‘Mother Nature’ of course!), the Organismic Principle is the generating (and degenerating) ful-crum in between, and God is the presence and potential which is the source and seminal awarenessbehind all things.

Is there a relation to the Tao in the midst of this? And if so, should we consider the above notions tobe a reflection or an inherent Unity, Dualism, or Trinity?

Again, the answer is all three, but closer to the second, and closest to the first.

Omniunum is all there is, manifest and unmanifest — but when it is expressed as manifestation, ittakes on another external nature entirely. This physical nature is required for Omniunum to emergeinto completion, and without which, denies Omniunum any real tangible reality altogether. However,the original Being and presence of Omniunum must remain passively present within, for manifestationto be able to contain any awareness whatsoever. That all emerges from, and returns to Omniunum inthe end is what lends an inherent self-knowledge (Einsteins ‘action at a distance’) to all phenomenawithin the physical universe.

In summary, Omniunum is the eternal and omnipresent Unity of All — The wholeness of Being in itsentirety. Just as the Tao is comprised of both the Yin and the Yang, and yet it itself is a Unity, so tooOmniunum expresses itself as it’s opposite component, Goddess, through the mechanism of the Or-ganismic Principle, but its original nature is eternally unchanged and unchanging. Therefore, it wouldnot be incorrect to associate Omniunum with Yang energy, The Goddess with Yin, and the Organis-mic Principle as the spinning and Unity of the Tao as a whole. Omniunum is really the actor playing allroles, but these roles are so significantly different that we feel it is necessary to draw the distinction(in contrast with some vehement monotheists).

OMNIUNUM is important not so much for its omnipotence (which is necessarily a passive and intrin-sic characteristic of it, but not expressed through some localized "I AM HE” manifestation) Thoughomnipotent Omniunum’s omnipotence is never manifest, in other words...what is important is that wedo not respond out of fear of an infinite being, but out of LOVE for a state of being which connects usto infinity and confirms our own Infinite Nature.

Notes: There are other names which we are all of course familiar with, Jehovah, (YHWH) Yahweh,Allah, Siva, Vishnu,etc which certainly serve their follower producing great understanding, but be-cause they are so culturally specific they exist within an exclusionist milieu... They cannot be 100%correct without eliminating all their competitors... therefore, they intrinsically cannot be universal to allhumanity.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTSOF

BIOTHEISM AND

ORGANISMIC PHILOSOPHY

Organismic Philosophy upholds that for a belief system to claim any authority or value to society, it must take a stand somewhere to identify what it does or does not support.

First and foremost, *we support personal choice*, and the ability of individuals to know best what suits their own organisms — if they are allowed the liberty to do so, and the insight to understand themselves. We are each only as free as our circumstance and our selves allow.

We do not embrace dogma, but we do have a creed, and expectations we place upon ourselves and others, to a degree. Yes, we actually hope for, strive for and expect our species to ennoble itself.

With that being said, here are

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BIOTHEISM -and- ORGANISMIC PHILOSOPHY

One might ask: Why are there two different versions of the same commandments? The entire system is dualistic (yet unified). One perspective is poetic, the other, literal. One is religious in tone, the other secular.

The Ten Commandments of Biotheism, A PREAMBLE:

What follows is neither a revelation, or an invention of its author, rather it is both and something more, for it is no less than a proclamation of the individual as the true source of revelation.

Moreover, it should be understood that this is not a ‘revision’ of the original Ten Commandments, as the point ofreference for each (the fi rst, a unilateral and patriarchal code handed down to a chosen people, while here, choice and potential are placed into the hands of the people) is entirely different. It is the original’s universality, directness and urgency which ours mainly borrows.

Is the name, ‘Commandments’ then really appropriate? Why not ‘The Ten Suggestions’ instead? Is some sort of pun-ishment implicit in the word ‘commandment’? Indeed, this is so — and appropriate. For herein is a warning:

It will be ourselves, born into the lives of our children and their children, that will bear the burden of our misuse of ourselves, each other and this planet. In a time when our activities have a profound, tangible effect on our reality, heaven or hell will be no less than the state of the world of tomorrow.

The Cellular Cross of OPBT

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BIOTHEISM(original version: August 1st, 1996)

1. You shall not contaminate the Earth which nourishes the Bodies of your Brothers and Sisters.

2. You shall not taint the Water which flows through the Blood of your Brothers and Sisters.

3. You shall not pollute the Air which clarifies the Mind of your Brothers and Sisters.

4. You shall not smother the Flame which empowers the Will of your Brothers and Sisters.

5. You shall recognize All Men and Women as your Brothers and Sisters.

6. You shall recognize also the Animals and Plants as your Brothers and Sisters.

7. You shall attend to all the necessities of the Healthy Growth of your Daughters and Sons, and all those entrusted to your Care.

8. You shall respect the boundaries and codes established, openly and mutually in public forum, which apply to the public realm.

9. You shall otherwise recognize Yourself Alone to be the Sole Authority and Judge of your activity in the realm of your Personal Life and Space, as you shall respect the Personal Life

and Space of your Brothers and Sisters.

10. You shall constantly strive for Greater Understanding, Patience, and your Personal Defini-tion of Harmony within Yourself and All Life.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ORGANISMIC PHILOSOPHY(This revision: August 22,1997)

1. THRIVELove the Earth and the Life that inhabits it. Attend to the needs of Life, the Body, and the Earth.

2. BE KINDSeek not to impose strife, or mental anguish, but instead at all times attempt to ameliorate it.

3. DO NOT DECEIVEDo not bear false witness in order to evade personal responsibility or intentionally confound another’s valid search for the truth.

4. UPHOLD HUMAN DIGNITYDo not subvert the will (of your brothers or sisters). Let no man or no woman hold dominion over any other, nor reduce another in order that they may exert control more easily upon them.

5. UPHOLD HUMAN UNIVERSALITYRecognize All Men and All Women as your brothers and sisters.

6. REVERE ALL HEALTHY LIFERecognize also All Animals and Plants as your brothers and sisters.

7. MIND YOUR WARDAttend carefully to the complete and healthy growth/development of your daughters and sons, as well as all those entrusted to your care.

8. HEED THE LAW (Respect and participate in the laws established by humanity)Respect the boundaries and codes established, if done so openly and mutually, which apply to the public space. If established in secrecy, or contrary to true public and democratic preference, honorably oppose it.

9. GUIDE THYSELFRecognize yourself to be the sole authority and judge of your actions within the realm of your Personal life and private space. As well, respect the Personal life and private space of your brothers and sisters, and their authority to determine what is right for them to engage in within that space.

10. SEEK GREATER HARMONYConstantly strive for greater understanding, higher perspective, patience and your personal definition of harmony with yourself and ALL LIFE.

The Ten Commandments of Organismic Philosophy additional notes

1. Love yourself. Know yourself. Love your body, love existence. Nurture the body and the earth.

2. Don’t spread negativity through acts of vengeance or cruelty. Cultivate happiness and joy.

3. Seek and promote clarity, minimize confusion, encourage knowledge, education and discovery. Do not interfere in a valid investigation of the truth, or with others’ ability to make educated decisions.

4. Empower the will of yourself and others. Encourage the native animal self. Do not oppress. Do not enslave you fellow beings.

5. Acknowledge the collective human heritage. Promote cultural diversity and indigenous rights. Oppose cultural he-gemony.

6. Revere Healthy Life, as it naturally evolved in Earth’s Biosphere. Observe the universal within the biosphere, hu-mans, plants, animals and the self. Raise one’s consciousness about the interconnectedness between all living things.

7. Provide for the healthy development of those dependent on you, neither taking on more responsibility than you can handle, nor avoiding the assistance of others when needed. Know the difference between providing and over-in-dulging.

8. Contribute to the establishment of open, responsible and democratic public institutions and government. Heed does not mean blindly obey, it means become knowledgeable and involved in its creation, and application.

9. Understand that the highest law is your own internal creed. Uphold the individual and the universal right to priva-cy and personal sovereignty.

10. Seek to improve yourself as well as your relationship with the world and the others within it.

BIOTHEISTIC QUOTES

AND

WEB MEMES

AN ORGANISMIC PHILOSOPHY

GLOSSARY

Important terms and theIr defInItIons

We were given no instructions or explanations before we came into this life, and there will be no de-briefings or explanations when we leave it... but, in between, we might as well do our best to get theexplanations and definitions right.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------OP/BT 'codifies' reasonable and sustainable thinking and behaviorand this is one of the reasons we feel it is needed. Everything has todo with codifying/getting the correct code/weeding out the false codes/understanding code and using it consciously and effectively.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

animals ennobled — Humans are, in the final sense ‘merely’ animals, but those humans who inten-tionally live in harmony with organismic principles and tenets, become 'Animals Ennobled'. It is ex-actly when we acknowledge and embrace our inherent animal nature that we attain the potential notto transcend this nature, but to ennoble it — to prepare ourselves to receive the crown of our greaterhumanity.

animal self — The primary component of human consciousness which is pre-liminal/pre-semanticand shared, to a greater or lesser degree, with all the other species on the planet — meaning is onlythat which is consistent with organismic necessity. Synonymous or closely associeted with the un-conscious mind/pre-semantic mind/the nagualil/Limbic system of the brain/Subjective Perspective.

analytic acetates — Acetates are transparent pages made of cellulose acetate film, which can oftenbe found in reference books. These pages can have on them any number of interrelated maps, dia-grams, illustrations, models or templates. Because of the versatility and usefulness of these pages,the general term ‘acetate’ within organismic philiosphy has come to represent any mental modelwhich a subject projects upon a particular experience. Depending upon their point of reference (acomponent of consciousness and perspective), a person may perceive a single experience while flip-ping among several acetates, each one relevent or valid in and of itself, but uniquely interrelated tothe other acetates layered above and below it, in an order or number particular to the perceiver.

analytic mind — The auxiliary component of human consciousness that developed through the inter-evolutionary process of semantic differentiation, and resulted in a capacity within humanity for empiri-cal reasoning and language use. ‘Conscious Mind’/’Tonal’/’Linguistic Mind’/’Semantic Mind’/ NeoCortex/Objective are terms often associated with the Analytic Mind. In general, and perhaps espe-cially in Western culture-based societies, the "I" has come to be interpreted primarily, if not com-pletely, as the "the Analytic Mind", or...the semantic, language and rationally based mind.

Biophobia — Biophobia can refer to a wide variety of mild to severe aversions to processes and nat-ural phenomena which cause a subject to experience life in what is apparently too much detail. Aswith the human body, the world presents itself to our senses on many different layers and scales... thesurface, human-scale layers are the most apparent and familiar on a normal basis. It is when we peelaway these exterior layers that we are sometimes led to see life in unexpected and often startlingways. This is natural, but a studied and reinforced aversion to these usually hidden aspects of life caneasily become a disabling condition like any other phobia.

Having a instinctual aversion to unpleasant smells and immediate sensations are not necessarily bio-phobic (as this serves an important survival need), however the many of the ways our society dealswith death and dying is.

Biotheism (Exoteric vs. Esoteric) - The Biotheist relates to meaning through a more metaphorical,mystical and poetic interpretation of reality. Relationship to Organismic Philosophy: Biotheism refersto the acknowledgement of truth through holistic/non-reflective avenues, where the onus of proof isbased on direct observation only, not upon reflective reasoning.

Biosphere — Though the universe as a whole could be considered one all-encompassing Biosphere,generally the use of the word refers to all known life, which to us currently is specifically that life whichhas originated from, and exists upon Earth. Within Organismic Philosphy, the biosphere is held to beundeniably sacred — it is in fact our reverence for the biosphere, its health, its diversity, its perma-nence, that defines us as Organismic Philosophers and Biotheists. The biosphere is what bore us,and is where we shall all return... But the biosphere is not a goddess, no moreso than a tiger or aeagle is a god. That said, perhaps the biosphere is both God and Goddess at once.

Broadcast — To broadcast one’s thoughts is to project or transmit them non-locally. Broadcastingrepresents the externalizing component of our subjective thoughts, hopes, aspirations.

Within Organismic Philosophy & Biotheism, broadcasting is an analog to prayer, with the intent of im-plying a more scientifically justifiable means of conveyance. Instead of a stating, “I will send you mythoughts and prayers”, a Biotheist may state that he or she will “broadcast healing or supportivethoughts and feelings” towards another, or a situation.

Broadcasting, in more scientifically justifiable context, can be understood as A) speaking to the innerself, and may be seen as simply a means to bridge the semantic/pre-semantic divide in conscious-ness. B) Literally broadcasting information between individuals. Based on a transceiver (transmitterand receiver) model, where each individual’s electromagnetic field of being can act in this capacity —and as well based on certain observations of action at a distince in quantum theory — the notion thatnon-localized communication between individuals is possible has been gaining acceptance in manyareas of scientific inquiry.

Catma — The Biotheistic obverse or antithesis of dogma. Whereas dogma represents principles ofbehavior and action which cannot be questioned or denied, catma represents ideas and actionswhich may be highly recommended and encouraged, but ones which are not beyond dispute or whichare understood as compulsory.

The online reference “Urbandictionary.com” states that Catma “is a belief espoused by a relgionwhich must be understood by all members of that religion. Although it must be understood, it does nothave to be accepted as truth because proof of the catma may not yet exist or be accepted, or thatproof requires postulates that the adherant to the religion may not presently accept.”

Biotheism endorses ‘catmatic’ positions as a general rule, and does not endorse dogmatic declara-tions or decrees.

Cellular Cross — The Cellular Cross, the official symbol of Biotheism and Organismic Philosophy,represents both a double infinity, and a zygote in the first stages of cell division. The four separaterings of the double infinity represent (as a set of pairs) Biotheism/Organismic Philosophy and theOganismic Principle/Omniunum.

The Cellular Cross also can be interpreted in a number of other manners. If seen as a two-dimen-sional representation of a three and four dimensional object, it can be representative of two intersect-

ing and revolving toruses, a universal symbol of the cyclical nature of all living systems.

Cellular model — The Cellular Model is intended to illustrate an essential pattern and relationshipfound within nature — specifically that which exists between a ‘cell’s nucleus’ and its ‘cell wall’, orperimeter. The model is not intended to represent an actual cell, but instead acts ymbolic structurewhich can be superimposed upon many correlated

endo-evolution— Biological evolution relating to the physical/cellular devolpment of all life forms,expressed through the basic imperatives of natural growth and reproduction. The vector of endo-evo-lution is genetics. Endo-evolution represents the Darwinian dialectic of the evolution of our physicalembodiment.

exo-evolution — That aspect of evolution which is augmentative to the organism through the inte-gration of external tools and technology into an organism’s life habits. While spiderwebs, carapaces,shells, horns and other grown/extruded non-living materials represent forms of pre-exo-evolutionaryprocesses, it is only when an organism utizes materials and methods that have not arisen from itsown organism that the term ‘exo-evolution’ can be properly applied. In this sense, a hermit crabadopting a mullusk’s shell is a form of proto-exo-evolution, as is caddisfly larva’s case (being a mix ofit’s own secretions and small stones), whereas most birds nests, and other intentionally crafted toolsare examples of fully formed exo-evolutionary devices. See ‘Tool use by animals’ on Wikipedia.

the ‘floatilla’ of survival — Anti-Dominionism. The Unteaching of OP/BT seeks most importantly tokeep the raft or "floatilla" of sustainable life, sustainable civilization safely afloat, (out of reach of)c.l.m.upon the dangerous seas of random probability and unfortunate outcomes. Our purpose is to providea viable alternative to unscrupulous, unscientific, ill-starred memes, which will only land us on rockyshores or over the edge of the known world. That is only OP/BT's purpose- to keep the raft afloat, Asfor the rest of it- what happens up on top of the raft, that...OP/BT states, is for each of us to decide aswe live this life.

God’s territory — God's Territory is all that is not human territory... Specifically all unspoiled pristinewilderness without signs of human occupation or contamination. When we lose all wilderness, all ofGod's Territory, we lose our most precious asset. A large part of OP/BT’s mission is to return much ofwhat has become ‘humanity’s territory’ back to what should rightfully be ‘God’s Territory’.

The concept of holiness within OPBT is [generally considered] that which contains no impurities, and[specifically] that which promotes most ideally the healthy growth of life in general. Holiness can existwithin as an attribute of clear and undistorted, lucid awareness, but even more intrinsic is the idea ofholy places where nature has retained its pristine state, and where the lifeforms belonging to it areable to thrive in their most ideal setting; Where evolution and life can proceed unhindered by the intro-duction of chemicals or interference foreign and destructive to life.

(the) Great Unteaching — The Great Unteaching is the combined philosophical and theological syn-thesis of both Organismic Philosophy *and* Biotheism, representing a dual approach to a unified andbalanced philosophy of life and our role as human animals within it. The Great Unteaching does notseek to replace or simply append itself to one's current belief system... Rather the intention is to giveeach person the necessary tools and empowerment necessary to adjust, restructure, and modify theirunique ideological programming as required by each individual's specific requirements.

(the) holographic model of self — Atman=Brahman...The Organismic self is Omniunum. Aware-ness of self is the self-same reality that unifies all existence into the oneness of OMNIUNUM. Like

true holograms which retain a full image on small fragments, we are each an infinite singularity repre-senting the higher truth.

honorary patrons/matrons – OPBT equivalent of saints (often in a secular capacity) or paragons oforganismic vitue and awareness. Matrons and patrons are noted not only for being great contributorsto the human endeavor, but are in part

hyper Categorical faculty – Builder of the Analytic Mind, the namer, the generalizer Adam, a toddlerlearning new words (defintion incomplete)

Inter-evolution — The evolution of the mind/semantics/cognition/reason. The vector of inter-evolu-tion is memetics. Representing the Hegelian dialectic of reason. (definition incomplete)

See ‘Animal Culture’ on Wikipedia for more on this topic.

Intercendence — Biotheism unteaches that true transcendence is not an escape from the 'illusion' ofmaterial manifestation. Intercendence in Biotheism is a transcendence of 'one's own illusions' and adiscovery of the ultimate truth of awaking within and through necessary instrument of our bodily incar-nations, and the value of appreciating the impetus to live our organic lives impeccably for the sake ofall life — including, of course, our very own.

macro-memes, or meme-sets — vmemes mainframes — Memes as they are currently understoodrepresent isolated ideas and concepts which self-replicate and pass from individual to individual in afashion similar to viruses... and in general the assumption is that the effect of memes is quite limitedto the overall ontology or set or conceptions of each individual. However, many concepts are merelysubsets of a much larger set of assuptions or socially ingrained ontology.

the magic set — The 'Hand of God' behind seemingly improbable realities everywhere surroundingus: we are the product not of a divine mind*, but of the intrinsic fact that if all possible variable setsare presented (as would occur in primordial proto biological chemical soup found on Earth so manyeons ago), one of these sets must provide the "key" needed to progress to the next stage of produc-tive evolutionary development. Some of these "key sets", like the chemical composition of carbonbased polynucleotides, have truly "magical" properties and lead to great and potentially rapid ad-vancements in evolution once formed and propagated.

metareligion — A meta-religion is concerned with all of the life/death mysteries and metaphysicalquandaries of traditional religion, but instead of cloaking its teachings (in OPBT, known as ‘unteach-ings) in mystery, sanctimony or dogma, it deals with these issues conscientiously, humanistically andscientifically. A meta religion is designed to allow one to experience science morally and intuitively,and to approach belief with all their faculties including reason. Meta-religion sees the sacred in all(definition incomplete)

mindsphere —Essentially synonymous term within OPBT for the ‘Collective Unconscious’... whileample discussion has been offered on what’s final definition of the Collective Unconscious mean(definition incomplete)

omniunum — "All One", The Unified Whole, The Eternal. All beginning yet no beginning All endingsyet no endings in OM. Also understood as the dynamic tension between allness, oneness & none-ness — The three principles at the core of reality. The dynamic tension between that which allows allother phenomena.

organismic Burden — Biotheistic version of "sin" (definition incomplete)

organismic Logic — Most of the Animal-self's logic is absolutely valid if we consider its strategizingbased along the lines of survival, in terms of how to pursue a mate, pursue quarry, migrate, attain so-cial status, find the best food and shelter, how to raise young, how to fulfill life's developmental pre-rogatives- This is organismic logic. It may not be rational, but it is logical. Ideally as reasoninghumans we use rational methods, to achieve irrational ends.

To speak of ‘seeking happiness’ as an end for humanity, or even as a basic condiseration of our life...(as is predicated in the phrase, for life, Liberty and Happiness) is to actually do a disservice to whatthat happiness ulitmately entails. For happiness is not an end in of itself, but a reaction to having anyof our true basic needs met, which can be a fairly complex organic reality far beyond simply one‘making themselves happy’.

organismic philosophy — The rational, philosophical, positivist and scientific facet of the Great Un-teaching (definition incomplete)

organismic potential — What the billions of years of evolution have brought to the present individ-ual...”Being the best we can be" is an organismic obligation or duty when one considers all that theirancestors had to go through to have arrived in the present and brought you into being.

organismic principle- Best understood as the life-force manifested ...It is LIFE-ITSELF, but also rep-resents the template or basis for what is the true purpose of life. Omniunum fulfilled. The OrganismicPriniple, in spite of its technical name, is the highest representation of ‘God’ manifest

organismic self — The natural true and divine self, OMNIUNUM aware of itself in a healthy body,the core self behind all Persona. The true-self, or the 'organismic-self' or 'integrated-self'- is under-stood consciously by one's Persona as something very real, very present — truly, who we are in thefullest sense of the word — yet this is understood silently. It cannot be fully 'known' or encapsulated ineither rational analysis or as an ephemeral ecstatic experience. It IS OMNIUNUM, the infinite groundof being, yet also just another human animal.

pandora’s Box — Within the rational framework of Organismic Philosophy, the concept of ‘Pandora’sBox’ was intended to be an afterthought, a potential subject for derisive conjecture about the non-causal nature of certain phenomena such as omens, synchronicities and fate.

pernicious antithesis/organismic anathama — OP/BT term and definition for 'evil'. What is evil?Water is good — it is one of the most basic necessities of all life as we know it. But too much water isa flood, and too little is a drought. Frozen water can can be deadly, so can boiling water. Water is stilla good thing, but its reality presents some inherent evils. Human norms of health, safety, and ac-climatization

people Whispering — (definition incomplete)

persona — Within Organismic Philosophy and Biotheism, the ‘Persona’ is defined as the healthycorollary or couterpart of the less healthy 'ego'.

Whereas the ego is centered on the question of ‘what I am’ (a singular conception), the persona iscentered upon the question of ‘what I might be’ (any number of things).

Persona is non-stratified and consciously kept flexible, allowing the individual to switch easily be-tween various roles and perspectives.

The persona can be more or less integrated or more or less authentic. Like the ego, it is a fusion ofthe two main components of the self, the "Analytic Mind" (the semantic, rational mind) and the "Ani-mal Self" (the pre-semantic/ original mind). When these two components are integrated and coexist-ing in harmonious balance, we observe this as a tendency in the direction of positive persona, but atthese two components compete or remain separated, we observe this as a tendency toward negativeego. Just as the unintegrated Jungian Shadow leads to any number of neurosis, those who refuse toaccept and embrace their animal nature/base, will be precisely those who tend to succumb to themore precarious aspects of that nature.

Like ego, persona is essential as it determines makes tangible our sense of self, and may be alter-nately compared to the ego, the soul, the atman or the tonal (when referring to the individual Personaas opposed to the social persona, which is a function of ego).

point of assembly — The point of assembly is what structures all of our senses into a coherentworldview, a coherent perspective. It takes all of our external sensory imput and weaves it into whatwe call "reality". The theatre, or holodeck, or the mechanism which allows this within the mind. Weare not living inside the locus where initial input occurs, what we experience is inside the point of as-sembly.

principled analytic animal — A description of the realized and actuated human being. Principlesact as a fulcrum or axis uniting the (definition incomplete)

proto-memes — When we speak of memes, we tend to assume that these memes represent‘thought packets’, or “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.Meme[s] act...as...unit[s] for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted fromone mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with amimicked theme” (from the Wiki on memes). However, packets of replicable information are manifestwithin many organisms, beyond the human. We should consider that throughout all phases evolution,replicable information — semantic or not — in essence ‘rides’ upon its genetic bearer from organismto organism and is be passed along from one generation to the next (or even sometimes from onespecies to another) through a wholly different mechanism than the genetic which acts as a vector forthis information.

Proto-memes represent the memetic information which is transmitted by any species on a pre-cogni-tive, and pre-thought (i.e. non semantic) level. Many bird songs are passed along only through theparent teaching its young by example. As organisms evolve, the capacity and range of this taught in-formation increases, until we reach the human level in which much of our internal content is by neces-sity passed along outside of a genetic line.

Proto-memes are currently being studied within the field of ‘Animal Culture’, and are understood asany behavior which must be taught/learned/imitated to be inhereted.

rational Irrationality — Through ones own rational, empirical and positivist observation, the Organ-ismic Philosopher arrives at the conclusion that human beings cannot avoid being believers of onesort or another. It is staking a moral claim when one decides that any one thing is more right in allcases then another. Similarly, many other apparently "irrational" claims arise by the use of nothing

other than pure rationality.

Ultimately, if the rationalist is honest enough with him/herself, it becomes apparent that we are essen-tially irrational beings with a very powerful tool at our disposal (reason/rationalism itself), one whichhumanity has been largely without up until the last few centuries.

radical reasonableness — Simply another way of stating: ‘Everything in Moderation, includingModeration’. (definition incomplete)

re-evolution — Within OPBT the notion that revolution inevitably must be sudden or violent, accom-panied by social unrest and cultural upheaval is rejected. Constructive revolution, with positive andlasting consequences for humanity generally does *not* come with violent upheaval, which insteadhas a tendency to perpetuate numerous cultural backlashes and evolutionary backsliding. Wide-spread, lasting change generally appears through what seem to be subtle cultural shifts arising fromthe irrepressible historical exigency of an era. When large numbers of people make small, almost un-noticable changes to their daily behavior, systemic and permanant change can take place.

resolved dichotomy — What history requires is that union of so-called 'opposites', which will re-store a fundamental harmony that the prevailing macro-memes have been denying the world for solong. A large part of the failure here is in the idea of Manichean opposites. We take it for granted thata whole, natural life incorporates the balance of masculine and feminine, but somehow though wehave learned the distinction between these polarities, we have forgotten the essential complementarynature these two halves represent... Similarly, the majority of dichotomies are mutually arising polari-ties of a naturally unified whole, the oppositional component of their relationship having been overem-phasized over the more fundamental unity that lies underneath, inextricably tying the two together.

the rhizome — Or, ‘The Perennial Rhizome’. The chain or series of branches of the gene-pool towhich our lives are connected. We are in essence only, "this season's flourish" — the ‘root’, ‘branch’or ‘trunk’ is the true life-form (also can be substituted with the term mycelium).

As quoted by Carl Jung, 'The psyche is not of today; its ancestry goes back many millions of years.Individual consciousness is only the flower and the fruit of a season, sprung from the perennial rhi-zome beneath the earth; and it would find itself in better accord with the truth if it took the existence ofthe rhizome into its calculations. The root matter is the mother of all things.

Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden inthe rhizome. The part that appears above the ground only lasts a single summer. Then it withersaway – an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civiliza-tions, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of some-thing that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, is fruit...whichpasses....the rhizome remains (Prologue: Memories, Dreams, Reflections).

scion — Or officially, ‘Scion of the Organismic Principle’. All of those who have ‘transplanted’ or‘grafted’ themselves onto the life-imbuing "rootstock" of OP/BT. Adherents.

Those born by parents who are both scions are not scions. No-one may consider themselves a scionof the organismic principle (what a believer, follower, devotee, of OP/BT is called) until they take itupon themselves to learn the fundamentals and then initiate themselves through their own ritual. Anact of personally inspired dedication must proceed induction.

sCosh — An acronym for: Sustainable, Compassionate, Organic, Socially Responsible and Healthy.Scosh is the Biotheistic equivalent to a Kosher or Halal standard for diet and dietary guidelines whichare espoused and endorsed within our community. While Scosh standards do not necessarily con-form to certain ritual activities, or dogmatic restrictions and rules for dietary choices, they do adhere toa basic set of considerations which the scion should adhere to out of their personal respect for them-selves, the greater biosphere, and all the organisms which contribute to their nutrition and health.

The Scosh stardard is implemented though a scale of higher and lower Scosh color-coded grading,from Green to Red, with Green being 100% Scosh, and Red being !00% non-Scosh (the completescale being Green/Blue/Yellow/Orange/Red). Scosh standards do encourage certain life-stylechoices over others, but leave the final implementation up to each person to suit their particular pref-erences and circumstances. Vegetarianism is encouraged, but not obligatory, as responsible andcompassionate rearing and harvesting of animal food sources is not only possible, it is in certaincases ideal for many people, and — perhaps counter-intuitively — for the animals themselves. Be-cause of the very complex nature of this issue, a full explanation of all considerations of the Scoshstandard cannot be detailed in this glossary.

super-subjectivism — Within Organismic Philosophy, subjectivism is accepted as the inescababledefault of human awareness, whereas objectivism is understood as an abstract projection of the sub-jective, which seeks to (falsely) place the subject one step above or outside their own awareness. Ofcourse this feat is not possible (Super-Subjectivist: One who believes in objectivism but realizesthere can be no such thing)

superliminal — Subliminal refers to stimuli below the consciousness, while supraliminal representsstimuli above the threshhold of consciousness/things too big to see, too obvious to point out, the ele-phants in the roomsuper: meaning right in the middle of consciousness, propaganda, force-fed, repetition (definition in-complete)

(the) Unteaching — See (The) Great Unteaching

Word/thought pollution — Just as the bioshere is able to be effected and contaminated by toxicchemicals and byproducts, the mindsphere

(the) Worm mind — The core organic mind inherited from our most ancient living ancestors.

To Know ourselves truly as 'humans', we should keep in mind that our 'humanity' is but a sliver of ourevolutionary heritage, if taken in full since the beginnings of our biological development. Therefore,before we can fully understand the human mind, we must come to better understand the PrimateMind, (and before that,) the Mammalian Mind (and before that,) the Reptilian Mind ... the AmphibianMind ... the Fish Mind ... the Worm Mind ... the Cellular Mind ... the Molecular Mind... theAtomic Mind ... the Quantum Mind ... The Universal Mind

UnIversaL prInCIpLes

FURTHERMEANINGFULQUOTATIONS

Albert Einstein

“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his conscious-ness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty”.

“What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility.”

“The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine re-ligiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge”.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed”.

“Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind”.

“There are two ways to live your life – one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle”.

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education”.

“The aim (of education) must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, can see in the service to the community their highest life achievement”.

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

“It is better for people to be like the beasts...they should be more intuitive; they should not be too conscious of what they are doing while they are doing it”.

“The life of the individual has meaning only insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate”.

“I believe that the horrifying deterioration in the ethical conduct of people today stems from the mechanization and dehumanization of our lives - the disastrous by-product of the scientific and technical mentality. Nostra culpa”.

“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.”

VOLTAIRE

To worship God and to leave every other man free to worship Him in his own way; to love one’s neighbor, enlight-ening them if one can and pitying those who remain in error; to dimiss as immaterial all questions that would have given us no trouble if no importance had been attached to them- this is my religion, it is worth all your systems and symbols.

HERBERT SPENCER

“The supposed supernatural sanction of right conduct do not, if rejected, leave a blank.” “There exist Natural Sanctions no less pre-emptory, and covering a much wider field-” “Acceptance of the doctrine of organic evolution determines certain ethical conceptions.” “The highest conduct is that which conduces to the greatest length, breadth and completeness of life.” Herbert Spencer

*As quoted by Will Durant in The Story of Philosophy p.385- The entire paragraph, starting with “The new morality must be built upon biology”

WILLIAM JAMES

“If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.”

“The total possible consciousness may be split into parts which co-exist but mutually ignore each other.”

“Religion. . . makes easy and felicitous what in any case is necessary; and if it be the only agency that can accom-plish this result, its vital importance as a human faculty stands vindicated beyond dispute. It becomes an essential organ of our life, performing a function which no other portion of our nature can so successfully fulfill.”

“Both thought and feeling are determinants of conduct, and the same conduct may be determined either by feeling or by thought. When we survey the whole field of religion, we find a great variety in the thoughts that have prevailed there; but the feelings on the one hand and the conduct on the other are almost always the same, for Stoic, Chris-tian, and Buddhist saints are practically indistinguishable in their lives. The theories which Religion generates, being thus variable, are secondary; and if you wish to grasp her essence, you must look to the feelings and the conduct as being the more constant elements. It is between these two elements that the short circuit exists on which she carries on her principal business, while the ideas and symbols and other institutions form loop-lines which may be perfec-tions and improvements, and may even some day all be united into one harmonious system, but which are not to be regarded as organs with an indispensable function, necessary at all times for religious life to go on. This seems to me the first conclusion which we are entitled to draw from the phenomena we have passed in review.”

“The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal.”

“The deadliest enemies of nations are not their foreign foes; they always dwell within their borders. And from these internal enemies civilization is always in need of being saved. The nation blest above all nations is she in whom the civic genius of the people does the saving day by day, by acts without external picturesqueness; by speaking, writ-ing, voting reasonably; by smiting corruption swiftly; by good temper between parties; by the people knowing true men when they see them, and preferring them as leaders to rabid partisans or empty quacks.”

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.”

ROBERT ANTON WILSON

“Every model we make tells us how our mind works as much as it tells us about the universe. These are just human symbolic games: the universe itself is bigger than any of our models; ergo, any model we make doesn’t describe the universe, it describes what our brains are capable of saying at this time”.

“Most of our ancestors were not perfect ladies and gentlemen. The majority of them weren’t even mammals”.

“Nobody sees the obvious, nobody observes the ordinary. There are more miracles in a square yard of earth than in all the fables of the Church”.

“The longer one is alone, the easier it is to hear the song of the earth”.

“The path up is the path down. The way forward is the way back. The universe inside is outside but the universe outside is inside.

“The Grail is the womb of the beloved”.

“I coined the term irrational rationalism because those people claim to be rationalists, but they’re governed by such a heavy body of taboos. They’re so fearful, and so hostile, and so narrow, and frightened, and uptight and dogmat-ic...I got tired satirizing fundamentalist Christianity... I decided to satirize fundamentalist materialism for a change, because the two are equally comical... The materialist fundamentalists are funnier than the Christian fundamentalists, because they think they’re rational! ...They’re never skeptical about anything except the things they have a prejudice against. None of them ever says anything skeptical about the AMA, or about anything in establishment science or any entrenched dogma. They’re only skeptical about new ideas that frighten them.

BOB MARLEY

Got to put aside them segregation, yeah! Got to put aside them organization; Got to put aside them denomination. Or there will, there will never be no love at all; I mean there will never be no love at all.

(Got to build our love) So build our love (on one foundation) On one foundation; (Got to build our love) Come, let us build our love (on one foundation) On one solid foundation. [repeat]

Got to come together – We are birds of a feather; We got to come together, ‘Cause we are birds of a feather; Got to come together ‘Cause we are birds of a feather; Or there will never be no love at all - There will never be - yeah, yeah! - no love at all.

We also got to realize we are one people, yeah! Got to realize that we are one people, yeah! We got to realize we are one people, Or there will never be no love at all - There will never, never, never be no love at all.

Got to build our love on one foundation [repeat]–From the song, ‘One Foundation’

If you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth:

We’re sick and tired of your ism-schism game, die and go to heaven in Jesus’ name, Lord – We know when we un-derstand, Almighty God is a living man! You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. So now that we see the light, we gonna stand up for our rights, Yeah!–From the song, ‘Get Up, Stand Up’

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our mind.–From the song, ‘Redemption Song’

JOHN LENNON

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality”.

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it”.

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is some-thing in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong”.

“You’re just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You’ve got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It’s all down to you, mate”.

Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky.Imagine all the people, living for today...

Imagine there’s no countries, It isnt hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too.Imagine all the people living life in peace...

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one, I hope some day you’ll join us,And the world will be as one.–From the song, ‘Imagine’

JIM MORRISON

“The body tries to tell the truth. But, it’s usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We cripple ourselves with lies.”

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask.”

“We’re getting tired of waiting around, Waiting around with our heads to the ground. I hear a verygentle sound. What have they done to the earth? What have they done to our fair sister? Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her; Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn, and tied her with fences and dragged her down. I hear a very gentle sound; With your ear down to the ground – “–From the song, ‘When the Music’s Over’

JOHN MUIR

“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news”

“So also there are tides and floods in the affairs of men, which in some are slight and may be kept within bounds, but in others they overmaster everything.”

“These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar.”

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. Even so, God cannot save them from fools.”

“At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed.”

“Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings.”

“How narrow we selfish conceited creatures are in our sympathies! How blind to the rights of all the rest of cre-ation!”

“There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties”

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

“In God’s wildness lies the hope of the world.”

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

“So here I stand before you preaching organic architecture: declaring organic architecture to be the modern ideal and the teaching so much needed if we are to see the whole of life, and to now serve the whole of life, holding no traditions essential to the great TRADITION. Nor cherishing any preconceived form fixing upon us either past, present or future, but instead exalting the simple laws of common sense or of super-sense if you prefer determining form by way of the nature of materials...”—Frank Lloyd Wright, from ‘An Organic Architecture’, 1939

“Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain.”

“Organic architecture seeks superior sense of use and a finer sense of comfort, expressed in organic simplicity.”

“Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to everyone and married to the ground.”

“The architect must be a prophet... a prophet in the true sense of the term... if he can’t see at least ten years ahead, don’t call him an architect.”

“The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind.”

“Noble life demands a noble architecture for noble uses of noble men. Lack of culture means what it has always meant: ignoble civilization and therefore imminent downfall.”

“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

ANTONI GAUDí

“The architect of the future will build imitating Nature, for it is the most rational, long-lasting and economical of all methods.”

“Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator. Copiers do not collaborate. Because of this, originality consists in returning to the origin.”

“The great book, always open and which we should make an effort to read, is that of Nature; the other books are taken from it, and in them there are the mistakes and misinterpretations of men.”

NIKOLA TESLA

“Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity.”

“Fights between individuals, as well as governments and nations, invariably result from misunderstandings in the broadest interpretation of this term. Misunderstandings are always caused by the inability of appreciating one anoth-er’s point of view... The peril of a clash is aggravated by a more or less predominant sense of combativeness, posed by every human being. To resist this inherent fighting tendency the best way is to dispel ignorance of the doings of others by a systematic spread of general knowledge. With this object in view, it is most important to aid exchange of thought and intercourse”.

“Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them. I cut myself in the finger, and it pains me: this finger is a part of me. I see a friend hurt, and it hurts me, too: my friend and I are one. And now I see stricken down an enemy, a lump of matter which, of all the lumps of matter in the universe, I care least for, and it still grieves me. Does this not prove that each of us is only part of a whole?For ages this idea has been proclaimed in the consummately wise teachings of religion, probably not alone as a means of insuring peace and harmony among men, but as a deeply founded truth. The Buddhist expresses it in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same: We are all one. Metaphysical proofs are, however, not the only ones which we are able to bring forth in support of this idea. Science, too, recognizes this connectedness of separate individuals, though not quite in the same sense as it admits that the suns, planets, and moons of a constel-lation are one body, and there can be no doubt that it will be experimentally confirmed in times to come, when our means and methods for investigating psychical and other states and phenomena shall have been brought to great perfection. Still more: this one human being lives on and on. The individual is ephemeral, races and nations come and pass away, but man remains. Therein lies the profound difference between the individual and the whole.

TERENCE McKENNA

“We have numerous, extremely naïve assumptions built into our thinking, and our most venerable explanatory en-gines, such as science, happen also to be our oldest explanatory engines, and therefore they have built into them the most naïve and unexamined assumptions.”

“...[W]hat is lacking is the clear vision of what should be done... What needs to be done is that fundamental, onto-logical conceptions of reality need to be redone. We need a new language, and to have a new language we must have a new reality... A new reality will generate a new language, a new language will fix a new reality, and make it part of this reality.”

“We can will the perfect future into being by becoming microcosms of the perfect future, and no longer casting blame outward on institutions or hierarchies of responsibility and control, but by realizing the opportunities here, the responsibilities here, and the two may never be congruent again, and the salvation of your immortal soul may de-pend on what you do with the opportunity.”

“Apparently there is a great discovery or insight which our culture is deliberately designed to supress, distort and ig-nore. That is that Nature is some kind of minded entity. That Nature is not simply the random flight of atoms through electromagnetic fields. Nature is not the empty, despiritualized lumpen matter that we inherit from modern physics. But it is instead a kind of intelligence, a kind of mind.”

“We are so much the victims of abstraction that with the Earth in flames we can barely rouse ourselves to wander across the room and look at the thermostat.”

“I think what has happened-because of psychedelics on one level and quantum physics on another - is that the pro-gram of rationally understanding nature has at last been pushed so far that we have reached the irrational core of nature herself.”

“I think People are in love with the journey. People love seeking answers. But if you were to suggest to them that the time of seeking is over and that the chore is now to face the answer, now that’s more of a challenge!”

DESMOND MORRIS

“There are 193 species of monkeys and apes, 192 of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens.”

“This unusual and highly successful species spends a great deal of time examining his higher motives and an equal amount of time ignoring his fundamental ones.”

“The pleasant irony is that the more fully a man gives himself up to totally irrational thought processes during parts of his working life, the more brutally objective and lucid he can be at other times. It is as if one half of the brain writes poetry and the other half dictates business letters, and if one half is ignored it becomes restless and fouls up the other. If they are both allowed to function fully, they both benefit...”

“...Perhaps the time will come when we will give up the folly of separating sub-adults into the imaginitive and the analytical -- artists or scientists -- and encourage them to be both at once.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

“Mankind naturally and generally love to be flatter’d: Whatever sooths our Pride, and tends to exalt our Species above the rest of the Creation, we are pleas’d with and easily believe, when ungrateful Truths shall be with the ut-most Indignation rejected. “What! bring ourselves down to an Equality with the Beasts of the Field! with the meanest part of the Creation! ‘Tis insufferable!” But, (to use a Piece of common Sense) our Geese are but Geese tho’ we may think ‘em Swans; and Truth will be Truth tho’ it sometimes prove mortifying and distasteful.”

“We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”

“The art of concluding from experience and observation consists in evaluating probabilities, in estimating if they are high or numerous enough to constitute proof. This type of calculation is more complicated and more difficult than one might think. It demands a great sagacity generally above the power of common people. The success of charlatans, sorcerors, and alchemists—and all those who abuse public credulity—is founded on errors in this type of calcula-tion.”

ALDOUS HUXLEY

“Unless we choose to decentralize and to use applied science, not as the end to which human beings are to be made the means, but as the means to producing a race of free individuals, we have only two alternatives to choose from: either a number of national, militarized totalitarianisms, having as their root the terror of the atomic bomb and as their consequence the destruction of civilization (or, if the warfare is limited, the perpetuation of militarism); or else one supra-national totalitarianism, called into existence by the social chaos resulting from rapid technological prog-ress in general and the atomic revolution in particular, and developing, under the need for efficiency and stability...”

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”

“Never give children a chance of imagining that anything exists in isolation. Make it plain from the very beginning that all living is relationship. Show them relationships in the woods, in the fields, in the ponds and streams, in the village and in the country around it.”

“It is only in the act of contemplation when words and even personality are transcended, that the pure state of the Perennial Philosophy can actually be known. The records left by those who have known it in this way make it abun-dantly clear that all of them, whether Hindu, Buddhist, Hebrew, Taoist, Christian, or Mohammedan, were attempting to describe the same essentially indescribable Fact.”

“At the core of the Perennial Philosophy we find four fundamental doctrines:

First: the phenomenal world of matter and of individualized consciousness — the world of things and animals and men and even gods — is the manifestation of a Divine Ground within which all partial realities have their being, and apart from which they would be non-existent.

Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing about the Divine Ground by inference; they can also re-alize its existence by a direct intuition, superior to discursive reasoning. This immediate knowledge unites the knower with that which is known.

Third: man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. It is possible for a man, if he so desires, to identify himself with the spirit and there-fore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit.

Fourth: man’s life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify himself with his eternal Self and so to come to unitive knowledge of the Divine Ground.”

* * *“The second doctrine of the Perennial Philosophy — that it is possible to know the Divine Ground by a direct intu-ition higher than discursive reasoning — is to be found in all the great religions of the world. A philosopher who is

content merely to know about the ultimate Reality — theoretically and by hearsay — is compared by Buddha to a herdsman of other men’s cows. Mohammed uses an even homelier barnyard metaphor. For him the philosopher who has not realized his metaphysics is just an ass bearing a load of books. Christian, Hindu, Taoist teachers wrote no less emphatically about the absurd pretensions of mere learning and analytic reasoning.”

“I have tried to show that the Perennial Philosophy and its ethical corollaries constitute a Highest Common Factor, present in all the major religions of the world. To affirm this truth has never been more imperatively necessary than at the present time. There will never be enduring peace unless and until human beings come to accept a philosophy of life more adequate to the cosmic and psychological facts than the insane idolatries of nationalism and the advertising man’s apocalyptic faith in Progress towards a mechanized New Jerusalem... But happily there is the Highest Common Factor of all religions, the Perennial Philosophy which has always and everywhere been the metaphysical system of prophets, saints and sages. It is perfectly possible for people to remain good Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, or Mos-lems and yet to be united in full agreement on the basic doctrines of the Perennial Philosophy.”

OPBT Notes:

Though we are in almost full accord with the above set of senitments, Biotheism and Organismic Philosophy has a few nuanced adjustments to the language with which it is expressed in order for it to be truly accurate to our vision.

First Doctrine: The inclusion of ‘gods’ here seems unusual, since we are referring to physical things and beings. How-ever, ‘gods’ in this case seems to represent either our own beliefs (part of our mental function), or forces of nature which we hold in reverence, which we express through the metaphor of ‘gods’. I do not think he is arguing for the objective existence of ‘gods’.

Second Doctrine: No changes needed. This doctrine is reflected perfectly in our ‘Four Sources of Truth’ model, (Or-ganismic Philosophy Tenet 8).

Third Doctrine: Re: “Man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self”Here we agree, but with a minor change of language. The phenomenal ego in OPBT would be the Analytic Mind, or the semantic, cognitive mind. The ‘eternal Self’, is the ‘Animal Mind’ in OPBT, and though no animal is itself ‘eternal’, the Animal Self, being identical with the eternal ground, IS eternal. The Animal Self is a holographic micro expression of the whole universe on the macro scale. When Huxley states that this ‘eternal self is the ‘inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul’ this is exactly as we see it. ‘Spirit’ or the ineffible, magical (i.e. completely non-rational) experience of ‘hyper-reality’, is indeed none other than the direct (unreflected) experience of the Animal Self.

Re: “ It is possible for a man, if he so desires, to identify himself with the spirit and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit.”

We would rephrase this as, ‘It is possible for a human, if he or she so desires, to identify him or herself with the Ani-mal Self and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like spirit with Nature.

ALEX GREY

‘I acknowledge the privilege of being alive in a human body at this moment, endowed with senses, memories, emo-tions, thoughts, and the space of mind in its wisdom aspect. It is the prayer of my innermost being to realize my supreme identity in the liberated play of consciousness, the Vast Expanse. Now is the moment, Here is the place of Liberation.”

“In a society that tries to standardize thinking, individuality is not highly prized”

“The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness.”

“Create perfection wherever you go with your awareness. That is why this teaching is admired by artists – they sense the correctness of the response to life as creative. Life is infinite creative play. Enjoyment and participation in this creative play is the artists profound joy. We co-author every moment with universal creativity.”

“To bare our souls is all we ask, to give all we have to life and the beings surrounding us. Here the nature spirits are intense and we appreciate them, make offerings to them--these nature spirits who call us here--sealing our fate with each other, celebrating our love.”

“Love is what makes us alive, that is why we feel so alive when we love. Service is being available to love. Life is the combustion of love. That we love ourselves here, that is the true magnificence in the mountains of being. We are constantly drawing the line between love and not love – enter into the Non-duality Zone, and all judgements dis-solve in the Vast Expanse.”

“Experience yourself as the Source and appreciate every moment as perfection. Sunrise--Sunset. Thank you, Thank you, Creator, profound unstoppable connectedness of all beings, pattern to everything, most radical no-thing, the Vast Expanse.”

ALAN WATTS

“There is obviously a place in life for a religious attitude for awe and astonishment at existence. That is also a basis for respect for existence. We don’t have much of it in this culture, even though we call it materialistic... Today we are of course bent on the total destruction of material and its conversion into junk and poisonous gasses. This is of course not a materialistic culture because it has no respect for material. And respect is in turn based on wonder.”

“Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself. Just as the word “wa-ter” is a noise that symbolizes a certain liquid without being it, so too the idea of ego symbolizes the role you play, who you are, but it is not the same as your living organism.”

“A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusion.”

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”

“How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god?”

“I find that the sensation of myself as an ego inside a bag of skin is really a hallucination. What we really are is, first of all, the whole of our body. And although our bodies are bounded with skin, and we can differentiate between outside and inside, they cannot exist except in a certain kind of natural environment. Obviously a body requires air, and the air must be within a certain temperature range. The body also requires certain kinds of nutrition. So in order to occur the body must be on a mild and nutritive planet with just enough oxygen in the atmosphere spinning reg-ularly around in a harmonious and rhythmical way near a certain kind of warm star... That arrangement is just as essential to the existence of my body as my heart, my lungs, and my brain. So to describe myself in a scientific way,

I must also describe my surroundings, which is a clumsy way getting around to the realization that you are the entire universe. However we do not normally feel that way because we have constructed in thought an abstract idea of our self.”

“Many people never grow up. They stay all their lives with a passionate need for external authority and guidance, pretending not to trust their own judgment.”

“The difficulty for most of us in the modern world is that the old-fashioned idea of God has become incredible or implausible. When we look through our telescopes and microscopes, or when we just look at nature, we have a problem. Somehow the idea of God we get from the holy scriptures doesn’t seem to fit the world around us, just as you wouldn’t ascribe a composition by Stravinsky to Bach. The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from the style of the natural universe. It’s hard to conceive of the author of one as the author of the other.”

“Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unknown self — if you become aware of it — the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is. You are a function of this total galaxy, bounded by the Milky Way, and this galaxy is a function of all other galaxies. You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes. You look and look, and one day you are going to wake up and say, “Why, that’s me!” And in know-ing that, you know that you never die. You are the eternal thing that comes and goes that appears — now as John Jones, now as Mary Smith, now as Betty Brown — and so it goes, forever and ever and ever.”

“We are at war between consciousness and nature... It is ourself against ourselves.”

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

“My profession is always to be alert, to find God in nature, to know God’s lurking places, to attend to all the ora-torios and the operas in nature.’

ALBERT CAMUS

“When the meaning of life has been suppressed, there still remains life”

“You will never be happy if you keep searching for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you keep look-ing for the meaning of life without living it.”

“One of the temptations of an artist is to believe himself solitary ...But this is not true. He stands in the midst of all, in the same rank”

“One can reject all history and yet accept the world of the sea and the stars.”

“Man’s greatness... lies in his decision to be stronger than his condition. And if his condition is unjust, he has only one way of overcoming it, which is to be just himself.”

““The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.”

“If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.”

FRANCIS BACON

“Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature. Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.”

“Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.”

“The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of argument.”

“To say that a blind custom of obedience should be a surer obligation than duty taught and understood... is to affirm that a blind man may tread surer by a guide than a seeing man by a light.” -“It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s mind about to religion.”

ERNST HAECKEL

“There is surely no subject of scientific investigation touching man more closely, or in the knowledge of which he is more deeply concerned, than the human organism itself; and of all the various branches of the science of man, or an-thropology, the history of his natural evolution should excite his highest interest. For it affords a key for the solution of the greatest of those problems at which human science is striving. The greatest problems with which human science is occupied – the inquiry into the true nature of man, or, as it is called, the question of “Man’s Place in Nature,” which deals with the past and primitive history, the present condition, and the future of Man – are all most directly and intimately linked to this branch of scientific research, which is called The History of the Evolution of Man.”

“This “divine spark” is usually understood to be “reason,” and is ascribed to man as a mental function distinguishing him from all “irrational animals.” Comparative psychology, however, teaches that this frontier-post between man and beast is altogether untenable. We must either take the idea of reason in its broader sense, in which case it belongs to the higher Mammals (the Ape, Dog, Elephant, Horse), as much as to the majority of men; or we must conceive it in its narrower sense, and then it is lacking in the majority of men, as well as in most animals.”

“The Monistic religion of Nature, which, accordingly, we must consider as the true “religion of the Future,” will not, like all Church religions, stand opposed to the rational knowledge of nature, but in perfect harmony with it. And whereas Church religions are founded on deception and superstition, the religion of Nature will be based upon truth and knowledge.”

“Politics is applied biology. “

TIMOTHY LEARY

““Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities — thepolitical, the religious, the educational authorities — who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regula-tions, informing — forming in our minds — their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.“

“That intermediate manifestation of the divine process which we call the DNA code has spent the last 2 billion years making this planet a Garden of Eden. An intricate web has been woven, a delicate fabric of chemical-electri-cal-seed-tissue=organism=species. A dancing, joyous harmony of energy transactions is rooted in the 12 inches of topsoil which covers the rock / metal / fire / core of this planet.

“The language of God is not English or Latin; the language of God is cellular and molecular.”

“At one point consciousness-altering devices like the microscope and telescope were criminalized for exactly the same reasons that psychedelic plants were banned in later years. They allow us to peer into bits and zones of chaos.”

ERICH FROMM

“Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.”

“If faith cannot be reconciled with rational thinking, it has to be eliminated as an anachronistic remnant of earlier stages of culture and replaced by science dealing with facts and theories which are intelligible and can be validat-ed.” —Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics

“La raison découle du mélange de la pensée rationnelle et des sentiments. Si les deux fonctions se dissocient, la pensée se détériore en activité intellectuelle schizoïde et les sentiments en passions névrotiques autodestructrices. ”

“The reason rises from the mixture of the rational thought and the feelings. If the two functions dissociate, the thought worsens in schizoid mental activity and the feelings in neurotic passions”

There is only one meaning of life: the act of living itself.

“To be alive” is a dynamic, not a static, concept. Existence and the unfolding of the specific powers of an organism are one and the same. All organisms have an inherent tendency to actualize their specific potentialities. The aim of man’s life, therefore, is to be understood as the unfolding of his powers according to the laws of nature.

Valuable or good is all that which contributes to the greater unfolding of man’s specific faculties and furthers life. Negative or bad is everything that strangles life and paralyzes man’s activeness. All norms of the great humanist religions like Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, or Islam or the great humanist philosophers from the pre-Socratics to contemporary thinkers are the specific elaboration of this general principle of values.

There is only one way--taught by the Buddha, by Jesus, by the Stoics, by Master Eckhart--to truly overcome the fear of dying, and that way is by not hanging onto life, not experiencing life as a possession.

The prophetic concept of peace transcends the realm of human relations; the new harmony is also one between man and nature. Peace between man and nature is harmony between man and nature. Man is not threatened by nature and stops striving to dominate it; he becomes natural, and nature becomes human. He and nature cease to be op-ponents and become one. Man is at home in the natural world, and nature becomes a part of the human world; this is peace in the prophetic sense. (The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, which could best be translated as “complete-ness,” points in the same direction.)

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

“Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life”.

“Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assist-ing and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil.”

“Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to live thoughtlessly and begins to devote himself to his life with reverence in order to give it true value. To affirm life is to deepen, to make more inward, and to exalt the will to live.

At the same time the man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give to every will to live the same reverence for life that he gives to his own.[....] This is the absolute, fundamental principle of ethics, and is a funda-mental postulate of thought.”

James Brabazon (Author of the Biography of Albert Schweitzer) defined Reverence for Life with the following state-ment:“Reverence for Life says that the only thing we are really sure of is that we live and want to go on living. This is something that we share with everything else that lives, from elephants to blades of grass – and, of course, every human being. So we are brothers and sisters to all living things, and owe to all of them the same care and respect, that we wish for ourselves.” — James Brabazon

FRANCIS OF ASISSI

O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God, to you belong praise, glory, honour and all blessing.

Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation and especially for our Brother Sun, who brings us the day and the light; he is strong and shines magnificently. O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon, and for the stars which you have set shining and lovely in the heavens.

Be praised, my Lord, for our Brothers Wind and Air and every kind of weather by which you, Lord, uphold life in all your creatures.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful to us, and humble and precious and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire, through whom you give us light in the darkness: he is bright and lively and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Earth, our Mother, who nourishes us and sustains us, bringing forthfruits and vegetables of many kinds and flowers of many colours.

Be praised, my Lord, for those who forgive for love of you; and for those who bear sickness and weakness in peace and patience – you will grant them a crown.

Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Death, whom we must all face.

I praise and bless you, Lord, and I give thanks to you, and I will serve you in all humility.

QUOTES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” —Henry Beston, The Outermost House

“He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”—Thomas Jefferson

Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. —C. S. Lewis

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. —Friedrich Nietzsche

All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it. —Samuel Butler

God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and thinks in man. —Arthur Young

As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. —Pythagoras

People are not going to care about animal conservation unless they think that animals are worthwhile.—David Attenborough

Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and therefore the whole world appears to be a living organism. —Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“The brain may be regarded as a kind of parasite of the organism, a pensioner, as it were, who dwells with the body.”—Arthur Schopenhauer

Humans have certain properties and characteristics which are intrinsic to them, just as every other organism does. That’s human nature. —Noam Chomsky

I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Being at one with nature. — Mikhail Gorbachev

Nature is a temple in which living columns sometimes emit confused words. Man approaches it through forests of symbols, which observe him with familiar glances. —Charles Baudelaire

“God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things.” —Baruch Spinoza

“A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a reli-gion will emerge.” - Carl Sagan

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the Eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my proportions; and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the Eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.—William Blake

The greatest cathedral of all is nature itself. It simultaneously humbles and pulls up giant emotions that cannot be fully expressed in mere words. — Rodney Cobb

The noblest ministry of nature is to stand as the apparition of God. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks.— Richard Feynman

The world can be breathtakingly beautiful and demand awe and inspiration. But what of the uncharted inner territo-ries where Nature also reigns? — Cecilia Henle

Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind. — Hans Hofmann

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. — Martin Luther

Many of the earth’s habitats, animals, plants, insects and even micro-organisms that we know to be rare may not be known at all by future generations. We have the capability and the responsibility to act; we must do so before it is too late. — Dalai Lama

If a work of art is a projection of feeling, its kinship with organic nature will emerge, no matter through how many transformations, logically and inevitably. —Suzanne Langer An artist struggles to capture what nature effortlessly creates. —Brian M. LaSaga

Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. —Milan Kundera

“The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles.”–John Adams, Deist

“The heart of Pantheist philosophy is a belief in the sanctity of Nature. This means that we hold reverence for the inconceivable evolutionary processes that created us; for the unfolding of the stars in the Universe and the life on our home planet Earth. In short--we put our faith in our Creator--meaning not only all past events and shapes and pat-terns, but also the now, for Creation is a continuing process and exists within us and around us this very instant.”--Harold W. Wood

The belief that the animals exist because God created them - and that he created them so we can better meet our needs - is contrary to our scientific understanding of evolution and, of course, to the fossil record, which shows the existence of non-human primates and other animals millions of years before there were any human beings at all.—Peter Singer

There are very few men and women in whom a Universalist feeling is altogether lacking; its prevalence suggests that it must be part of our inborn nature and have a place in Nature’s scheme of evolution.—Arthur Keith

“Sometimes I think that the biggest difference between men and women is that more men need to seek out some terri-ble lurking thing in existence and hurl themselves upon it. Women know where it lives but they can let it alone.”—Russell Hoban

Normally, I’ve found in my life that the louder you speak, probably, the less of a fighter you are. All the fighters I’ve had a chance and the honor to serve with didn’t pat themselves on the back, were pretty humble men and women.—David Dewhurst

“I think the fallacy is to think that Women’s Liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most men and women would not want it to happen.”—Christina Hoff Sommers

“I feel a terrifically painful disturbance in the natural law of things between men and women that must be balanced in the next few thousand years. What has been done in the name of holding up masculine energy as God and femi-nine energy as subservient has really wiped out everything.—Rebecca De Mornay

“For boys, the family was the place from which one sprang and to which one returned for comfort and support, but the field of action was the larger world of wilderness, adventure, industry, labor, and politics. For girls, the family was to be the world, their field of action the domestic circle. He was to express himself in his work and, through it and social action, was to help transform his environment; her individual growth and choices were restricted to lead her to express herself through love, wifehood, and motherhood--through the support and nurture of others, who would act for her.” —Gerda Lerner

Probability but no truth, facility but no freedom--it is owing to these two fruits that the tree of knowledge cannot be confused w ith the tree of life. —Friedrich Nietzsche

The Great Unteaching of Organismic Philosophy and Biotheism

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