BEYOND CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
(Questions and Answers)
Albert Amao Soria
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I came across this article in some old files saved on a flash drive, which I wrote as an explanation for my book “Beyond Conventional Wisdom.” I find it very relevant and actual, even though it was written Dec. 27, 2006, 18 years ago. The article contains the foundational ideas I expanded upon in my later books. Although it was never published, I believe it deserves to be shared to explain how my main ideas have evolved over time and come to fruition in my subsequent works. I think that those who follow my work will benefit from reading it.
1. In a nutshell, what is the book about?
The
core concept that underpins these essays is the challenge to the so-called “conventional
wisdom” that governs most aspects of our lives. Many of the ideas embedded in
this 'conventional wisdom' are in conflict with reality. As we grew up, we were
not given a choice to select our religion, moral values, or beliefs; we were
ignorant and incapable of discerning what to believe or not; hence, we accepted
as accurate what our parents, teachers, mentors, religious leaders, and the
dominant culture class imposed on us. As children, we believed everything
adults told us, and this formed our personal creed, our faith, and our outlook
on life. This outlook on life (creed) is so deeply ingrained in our minds that
it shapes our destiny.
The
text explains that human beings often exist in two simultaneous worlds. One is
the external universe (EU), which is the shared reality we experience on Earth
and in space. The other is the personal universe, referred to as "Your Own
Universe" (YOU), which is the world created in our minds based on the
beliefs and teachings passed down by our parents and teachers. These two worlds
often conflict with each other and cause problems in our lives.
The book
"Beyond Conventional Wisdom" critically examines the role of mass
media in shaping our beliefs and behaviors. It suggests that people have a
natural tendency to uncritically accept and pursue what is dictated by
"conventional wisdom" from their mentors, teachers, parents, societal
culture, and the mass media. The book delves into how big companies spend a
significant amount of money on advertising and promotion to create needs and
make us believe that their products are necessary for our happiness. They also
create commercial holidays like Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Mother's Day,
Grandparent’s Day, Halloween, and so on, in order to make their products
essential to every holiday celebration, contributing to the modern
"consumerist society." Mass media advertisements are based on
specific psychological principles and appeal to people’s unconscious feelings
and emotions to persuade them to buy things they don't need, neglecting their
spiritual needs.
Consequently, it is imperative to break herd mentality and base our outlook on life on coherent principles according to the laws of nature and reality. These essays will give the readers key ideas for reflection to enhance their awareness in life and facilitate their personal self-exploration for self-fulfilling inner discovery.
2. What is the Paradox of Life?
The
fundamental paradox of life is that humans seem to live in two different
worlds, which pull them in two directions: the imaginary life, called Maya, and
the real Inner/Spiritual world. Mystics, sages, and masters of life tell us
that our world is in perfect harmony. We may ask, if the universe is in perfect
harmony, why is there so much misery, sickness, injustice, and suffering in the
world? Why do few people have too much wealth, and the majority have too
little?
The paradox of life is that an ordinary person may not understand the apparent inequalities and contradictions in the world until they experience a higher level of understanding. These contradictions and inequalities are necessary for human awareness development. A materialistic person trying to understand this paradox is like a mouse trying to know how Albert Einstein's mind works. The wise ones, the real initiates, understand that things in the world are precisely as they should be. The Law of Polarity will always be present in life for the sake of physical manifestation in the three-dimensional world, and these contradictions, limitations, and sufferings are necessary for testing and developing human consciousness. Refer to the essay "The Adversary and the Redeemer," which is part of a book.
3. What is the Greatest Philosophical Paradox?
Ever
since humans gained the ability to think, they have pondered questions about
the origin of life. This has led to the development of two main branches of
philosophy: Materialism and Idealism. Materialism asserts that the world
consists solely of physical matter and energy, and our understanding depends
entirely on sensory evidence. Idealism, on the other hand, posits that a
Supreme Being created everything, which forms the basis of many religions. A
metaphysical approach seeks to reconcile this paradox by suggesting that
everything in the world, including matter, is an expression of an unseen
"Something" that permeates the entire universe. This substance has
been referred to under various names, such as Spirit, One Force, and Universal
Life-force.
The book aims to address enduring questions using modern scientific and philosophical speculations. These questions include: What is the purpose of our life? What is reality? What is the difference between Spirit and matter? What is the role of man in the arena of life? What is faith, and do we need it to live in this life? What is fear, and how does it differ from faith? Is there any point of connection between science and religion? The book also examines the fallacies and deceptions on which many esoteric and occult doctrines are based.
4. Is there a Meaning of Life?
Many
secular and religious books have been written explaining man’s purpose in life,
while others deny the existence of a purpose in life. In this book, we try to
explain this dilemma through personal experience, seeking a meaning of life in
many philosophical, metaphysical, and esoteric schools.
The above questions have been crucial to the
author’s intellectual and personal development. The author's university
education was essentially materialistic, which contradicted his Catholic
background. During this search, he became familiar with Marxist/Leninist
theories, learned about the basic ideology of Marxism/Engels/Leninism, and
delved into the works of G. Hegel, K. Marx, F. Engels, V.I. Lenin, and L.
Trotsky. The author's initial, naive idea was to strive for global equality and
justice, aiming to mitigate injustice and poverty in the world.
However,
materialistic theories were found to be insufficient in solving the world's
economic and social problems. Moreover, materialistic knowledge did not fulfill
the author's search for spiritual meaning. This led the author to explore
various occult and mystical schools, including Freemasonry, Qabalah, and
Rosicrucianism, as part of his ongoing spiritual evolution.
The author's exploration of the meaning of life and search for answers provides readers with insight into the author's evolving ideologies. It is important to note that these ideologies are not dogmatic or narrow-minded but open to rational and scientific knowledge. The author's intellectual development involved a dialectical process, leading to convictions based on reliable and verifiable knowledge in metaphysical and scientific realms. The author followed René Descartes' Methodic Doubt throughout this journey, as outlined in his book "Discourse on Method." It is essential to consider that modern philosophy and science share the foundation of this approach. According to this notion, all theories and customary beliefs must be rigorously tested using reason and scientific demonstration. The author hopes his discoveries and clarifications will aid readers in their personal and spiritual development. As the Bible advises, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2).
5. Are Science and Religion
opposites to each other?
Throughout our civilization's
history, there has been a conflict between science and religion. We used to
believe that religion was divine inspiration holding infallible wisdom.
However, in the early twentieth century, the new understanding of the natural
world brought about by the discoveries of quantum mechanics overturned rigid
forms of rationalism that claimed observation through the physical senses was
the only way to know reality honestly. This modern view of our world is more
open to ideas of truth and reality than the strict rationalism of the past.
These essays aim to break free from ancient superstitions, such as
fortune-telling and "secret knowledge" purportedly held by esoteric
organizations, rather than revive them.
In
the early 20th century, two prominent physicists, Albert Einstein and Max
Planck, both received the Nobel Prize in physics. They significantly altered
the scientific principles on which the prevailing science was based at that
time. Albert Einstein introduced the theory of relativity and his renowned
equation E=mc2, demonstrating the equivalence of matter and energy.
Shortly afterward, Max Planck delved into the nature of reality and pointed out
that the basis of reality is consciousness. In his Nobel Prize acceptance
speech, he stated: "There is no matter as such. All matter originates and
exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to
vibration and holds this minute solar system of an atom together." He
further posited, "We must assume behind this force the existence of a
conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of matter."(The
highlight is ours).
Likewise, at the very beginning of the twentieth century, new scientific discoveries in the field of Biology, such as the decoding of the human genome, have demonstrated that all creatures in the world, from simple ameba to the most complex human beings, have a common ancestor. In other words, all animals, such as mice, insects, rats, or human beings, originated from one common source. The Esoteric and occult sciences go further as they maintain that everything in the universe, including mountains, rocks, plants, stars, galaxies, animals, and man, has an origin and lives in the mind of One Supreme Being.
7. Is the Dialectic Method a new scientific tool?
King Solomon once said, “There is nothing new under the sun,” a sentiment
demonstrated in the thought-provoking essay "The Dialectic and the
Hermetic Philosophy." The proponents of dialectical materialism, Karl
Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir I. Lenin, claimed that their ideas were
not new but had roots in ancient Greek philosophy that dates back more than two
thousand years. Dialectic, they argued, is the science of universal
connections. However, the notion of the dialectic principles was expressed in
the small book "Kybalion." The authors of this tractate who
identified as Hermetic Initiates, asserted that their teachings were passed
down in secret temples and institutions thousands of years ago. In this book,
they extensively expound upon the seven Hermetic principles. These principles
align with the laws outlined in dialectical materialism, as discussed in the abovementioned
essay.
The Dialectic, as well as the Hermetic Principles, considers everything in the universe in their mutual conditioning and interdependency, whether in the material, emotional, or spiritual realms; it deals with general laws of the development of nature, society, and the process of thinking. It holds the view that the world does not consist of permanent and fixed objects but rather is in a permanent change and eternal movement. To know this conception is fundamental to understanding the true nature of things in the physical and spiritual realms.
7.
What are the Fundamental Laws of the Dialectic?
According
to materialism, the fundamental laws of the Dialectic
are as follows:
a)
The law of Universal Interaction stresses that everything is
interconnected and mutually dependent. Nothing exists in isolation.
b) The law of Universal Movement
expresses that everything in nature, society, and human thinking is always in
movement and change, a process of growing and dying. The Dialectic does not
consider nature quiet and still but subject to permanent movement and constant
modification as something renewing itself and in continual renovation.
c)
The law of Co-existence of Opposites (also known as the
unity of the contraries) is the source and cause of motion and
development. This is the essence of the Dialectic method. The Dialectic
criterion is that the objects and phenomena of nature carry implicit
contradictions, which in turn are complementary to each other.
d) The law of Double Negation postulates the
criterion that the objects and phenomena of nature carry inside them their own
contradictions, and the struggle between them constitutes the inner making of
their transformations. Therefore, the process of development is the result of
the contradictions inherent in the object. It is the conflict between opposite
tendencies that makes things grow, develop, and decay.
e) The law From the Quantitative to the Qualitative Changes is the principle that postulates that the sum of an innumerable number of small quantitative changes during a period of time can produce qualitative changes. It shows that the development of any phenomenon is the result of continuous small, unnoticed, and progressive alterations.
8. What is
the contribution of this book?
To clarify and dispel fundamental
beliefs incorporated in the so-called "Conventional wisdom." One of
the fundamental contributions of this book is the proposition of the Qabalistic
Dialectic Method to resolve most of the paradoxes of life. In Qabalah and
Hermetic and Occult science, the thinking process is essentially dialectical.
It considers that all things are interconnected and interdependent. It
acknowledges the oneness of life as it is expressed in the apparent duality of
the external world. All these apparent paradoxes have a point of conciliation
and reveal a transcendental truth on a higher order of knowledge.
The dialect method can also
be applied to metaphysical matters. For instance, in the Old Testament, the
Hebrew word Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh (the Tetragrammaton), a four-letter noun יהוה,
stands for the generic name GOD. It is formed by four consonants, has no
pronunciation, and is not rendered into any language.
According to the American Qabalsit Paul F. Case, the Tetragrammaton יהוה is a Hebrew verb meaning “to be.” Its true significance is "That which was, that which is, that which will be." This demonstrates the eternal immanent substance that permeates and sustains everything in the universe. The Sacred Word encompasses the past, present, and future, transcending time, space, and movement. Additionally, God gave another name to Moses: אהיה, EHYEH, which is translated as “I AM.” Modern explanation of the name אהיה, EHYEH reveals that the correct rendering is “I Shall Be,” representing "I am becoming." This insight is crucial for our exposition, as these two terms express an indwelling presence in the progression of change and becoming. This essence of the Qabalistic Dialectic Method considers the universe and everything in it as being in an eternal process of transformation and becoming.
9. How this book is related to the so-called Aquarian Age
As we begin the Aquarian Age, modern
science, notably quantum physics, has concluded that the universe and
everything in it are made up of energy. Some physicists have suggested that
this energy is ultimately composed of waves of light. Ancient wisdom further
asserts that this Universal Energy or Force is conscious, omnipresent, and
omniscient. This idea aligns entirely with the Hermetic Principle of Mentalism,
which states that the entire universe is alive in God's mind.
The upcoming Golden Age is expected to be marked by knowledge, light, and human solidarity. During this time, a gradual shift in human consciousness will occur, altering our perception of reality beyond the limitations of the three-dimensional level. Delving into the implications of the Aquarian Age is beyond the scope of this book, but for a detailed and comprehensive study, one can refer to my book titled The Dawning of the Aquarian Age.
10. How would the reader benefit from reading this book?
The essays aim to
inspire readers to reconsider their misconceptions and false beliefs about
life. Even individuals who identify as agnostic, atheist, or undecided in their
beliefs will find intriguing ideas to reassess their views on life and the
universe. For example, an atheist or agnostic must believe in something that
commands their respect and loyalty, something beyond the present moment; in
denying the existence of a higher power or absolute, they implicitly
acknowledge its existence because one cannot deny something that does not
exist. Some scientists are now suggesting the existence of a superior mind that
governs the universe. In this way, these essays offer a platform for readers to
engage in discussions and contemplate age-old questions about their existence
on Earth and the meaning of their lives.
Modern
science has rejected old-fashioned ideas and beliefs that were once considered accurate.
We often trust what we see and rely on our logical thinking, but this can lead
to deception and problems in our lives. Since the Enlightenment, our
understanding of the world has drastically changed. Advancements in science and
technology have allowed us to gain deeper insights into our world and the
universe beyond. New scientific discoveries have disproven many old beliefs
that were once unquestionably true.
In this collection of essays, the reader will find a coherent and logical way to reconsider untested beliefs and assumptions about life and the universe. They are the result of profound reflections on shared beliefs, erroneous religious assumptions, and negative patterns that hinder individuals from living a fulfilling and successful life. Additionally, some essays address psychological, religious, and spiritual uncertainties that many people seek to resolve. In this sense, the book can be seen as a tool to aid readers in their personal journey of self-discovery, helping them unlock their full potential.
11. What is the concept of the Oneness of Life?
This
collection of essays draws from various philosophical, metaphysical,
materialistic, and religious beliefs to offer a unique perspective on life. Our
exploration and pursuit ultimately affirm the interconnectedness of all life
and the unity of humanity. According to Jesus Christ, "Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me" (Matthew 25:40) and “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30),
beautifully conveying the concept. Science is beginning to acknowledge the
possibility that the world is a mental creation, and Quantum Physics is now
proposing the interconnectedness of everything.: John Richardson states “No matter what we do, we can never be
separated from Being. No matter what we think, we are never alone. And no
matter how we feel, our projection of having a separate and personal free will
is always a by-product of the secondary collapse.”
Philosopher Herbert Spencer postulated
the existence of an “infinite and eternal energy from which all things
proceed”; this statement concurs with the Hermetic principle of Mentalism
as well as modern Physics, such as Quantum Physics. That is to say, the
universe is mental or “mind stuff.”
The
practical and concrete application to our daily life of the conception of the oneness of life and brotherhood of human
beings boils down to the
injunction: Love your neighbor as yourelf.
For more
information, visit the following websites: www.amazon.com/author/amao
