Afterword
The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
The implications of energyism run deep: both for science, and for the individual. What energyism means for science is discovering, and respecting, the boundary between the empirically knowable and the ethereally inferable.
“The art of sophistry lies in casting only a superficial glance at the relations of the spheres of concepts.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
Discard theories which axiomatically assume too much, such as: that the brain causes consciousness, or that genes alone explain adaptation. Anyone who believes such matterist tripe knows little science and is relying instead upon unfounded faith.
Energyism makes science harder. With matter ultimately illusory, all scientific theories become proximate to a limited domain, cause and effect suspect. It is as if all phenomena are dipped in doubt, circumscribed by a relativity far beyond what Einstein envisioned.
“It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” ~ English mathematician and philosopher William Clifford
Science can never know how Nature works, never grasp its essentials, as they are beyond empirical view, and beyond ken. The purview of science is merely artifacts and physical mechanics: capable of comprehending Nature’s craftwork, but not its craftiness.
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“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ~ French novelist Marcel Proust
Accepting energyism – that existence is a ruse – utterly changes the way one looks upon the world. Begin with belief. Beliefs are devotion to concepts: nothing more than attachment to symbolic constructs which are, at best, interpretively tangential to reality. This piety is misplaced, as the mind fabricates and deceives. Banish belief.
“Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.” ~ Albert Einstein
The world is a creation of consciousness. You are just a particle of sentience, put into play on a phantasmagorical entertainment platform. Understanding this is humbling, and it puts knowledge into proper perspective: of being merely a utility and a recreation.
“All this is the play of concepts. It is all mental entertainment. Truth is the state beyond concepts.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
Expectation is the bastard of belief, sired by anticipation. You know that expectation regularly deposits disappointment. The only remedy is to live in the moment. The past is a mirage of memory, the future an unrealized figment which may never come to pass.
“To be free in the world you must be free of the world. Otherwise your past decides for you and your future. Between what has happened and what must happen, you are caught.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
All your beliefs are nothing more than foolish faith in concepts, and concepts are not real.
“The belief in this world is built up of unreality.” ~ Indian guru Sankara
To define oneself is to build a cage of attachment. Look instead at life as a process of entertainment, and behavior an application of skill; then the proper perspective is attained.
“Liberation is never of the person, it is always from the person. The person is nothing but a shell imprisoning you. Break the shell.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
As long as you remain a creature of your mind – to emotions and thoughts – you are a captive of ignorance and will suffer for it. Subdue nattermind and gain freedom.
“Let things come and go. Desires and thoughts are also things. Disregard them.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
