We Have Heaven
Any individual can attain liberation, or elimination of error, at any time, and so can society as a whole.
The conventional explanations of sin and hell are potentially ineffective and misleading, inasmuch as the extent to which they depict the present, rather than an hypothetical afterlife, isn't clear. By reinterpreting those orthodox ways of approaching the matter, one can use them to improve themselves, here and now.
The original vocabulary for sin, that is, hamartia, or missing the mark, and repentance, or metanoia, meaning transformation of mind, suggest that error can be identified empirically.
This vocabulary hints at the redirection mechanism, which is basically the principle that hamartia triggers metanoia. That is to say, missing the mark creates the circumstances that will prompt the wrongdoer to repent, to understand that the mark was missed, and possibly how exactly it was missed. This automatism enables one to change their mind, and thus to avoid repeating mistakes.
Sin isn't disobedience to a dogmatic code of conduct established by reputed infallible authorities, but instead encompasses actions that divert one from their intended objectives. This applies to tangible deeds as well as to thought processes.
Disagreeable experiences are the responses of a benevolent cosmos attempting to help one recognize they have missed the mark in some manner or another earlier on. They provide information allowing one to eventually rid themselves of error, and serve as course-correcting indications reorienting one towards their desired outcomes. Rebirth in inferno as the result of transgression therefore translates into being offered the instruments needed in order to shed light on wrongdoing, and the opportunity to gather incentives against committing the same faults in the future.
Hell is not a permanent destination, but merely a transitory, albeit unpleasant passage thanks to which one can learn their lessons, and as such constitutes the road to recovery.
In the absence of sin, there is no repentance, but only steady advancement. There is no metanoia as long as there is no hamartia. If the mark isn't missed, there is no reminder that there is a target to aim for. One who doesn't stray from the path isn't redirected.
Heaven is the enjoyment of tranquil progress towards one's goals.
Liberation can thus be outlined as a series of downfalls from heaven into hell, followed by as many ascents back up to the higher domain, culminating in elimination of error.
Mind Drive
Mind is the creation tool using which individuals shape their existences.
Sin conjures up situations that are likely to kill mind. The positive upshot of this is that the ensuing metanoia will possibly remove, or at the very least weaken, the corrupt parts of the mind, that is, the underlying structures that are responsible for error. On the downside, this potentially equates to instances of loss, setback, deterrence, or discouragement, which can provoke abandonment.
While I hit the mark, the cosmos supports my visions. When I miss the mark, it feeds my doubts.
Love Will Find A Way
At the heart of error lies a misunderstanding of our true nature. This misapprehension in turn engenders incorrect representations of our relationships to others. It is those faulty constructs which incite us to make mistakes.
There is no such thing as a self that is apart from everything else.
Therefore, brotherly love, kindness, and compassion are not simply noble values, but they point to behaviours that are conducive to sorrowless, repentance-free experiences. They are the way to happiness and success.
Grand Designs
Avoiding error corresponds to cultivating a gradually less corrupt mind that gives rise to increasingly satisfying hereafters, in an ever refining continuum.
We architect our lives by focusing on specific outcomes, and proceeding to accomplish whatever this inspires us to do. In this perspective, the redirection mechanism can be seen as an automatism benevolently assisting and fostering the achievement of our objectives. We also have access to a form of swarm intelligence that is at the basis of our sense of what is right, and that provides us with an inner compass.
This suggests the existence of a self-aware intelligent structure of information that is guiding our individual progress, and course-correcting us, while we create it together. This adaptative reference that we are building collectively would be the superorganism of which we, and our realizations, are the cells.
Similarly, this superorganism could be a living system of a larger intelligence, such as our galaxy. The entire universe would thus constitute the ultimate intelligence, conducting everything, and comprising everything.
Therefore, in hitting the mark, one would nurture their mind so that it can contribute to the coming of an enhanced common future, as defined by this collaborative, adaptative, intelligent, self-aware master plan, that we can intuit, and of which our creations and us are components.
And Justice For All
There is justice to the extent that we are all subjected to the laws of redirection to an equal degree, and that this mechanism is foolproof and uncircumventable. Assuming this is so, then no amount of money, nor any inherited condition, nor any attainment, can absolve anyone from having to play by its rules, at any time.
Run Through The Light
By supplying a metaphor facilitating the elimination of error, the cosmos is possibly an elaborate instrument using which we can eventually reach perfection.
We Have Heaven (Reprise)
In my view, notwithstanding the opinion of a certain famous physicist, Heaven with a capital H truly exists. Inevitably, in the infinity of available futures, there is something of an ideal collective hereafter wherein our dreams are fulfilled, and its distinctive feature is that it is constantly beckoning us towards it.
If it cannot conceive of Heaven, then the reason-based approach, as laudable as some might claim it to be, just isn't equipped to properly address the most fundamental problems of existence. In contrast, this is where the prevalence of the imagination-based approach is starkly revealed.
Whenever we are rematerialized, whether magically or technologically, elsewhere and elsewhen, there is reassurance in the notion that all we have to do is keep on advancing, and as long as we do our best, we will receive what we need to get where we are going. And if the course-corrections might sometimes appear cruel, there is nevertheless great beauty in how we are being cared for.
« It is better to follow your own life purpose poorly, than to do another's perfectly. You are safe from harm when you follow your own unique path. »
[source : Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, verse 35]
« Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. »
[source : A Visit From Wisdom by Kahlil Gibran]
This concludes the formal part of this essay. In the remaining pages you will find verses inspired by the mechanics of sin, links, credits, a disclaimer, and the license under which this document is released.
