Copyright © 2023 by Duško Bojanc



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Duško Bojanc





THE MEANING OF LIFE





BETWEEN EGO AND SKY





INTRODUCTION

This book is written out of man’s eternal spiritual need to answer the questions: What am I? Why do I exist? What is my role, my purpose, the meaning of my existence? In short, it is written out of the desire to understand oneself in the world and the world within oneself. The answer to the question about the meaning of life is of existential importance to a rational being.

If we manage to answer this question, we will confirm that our lives have meaning, we will gain the moral strength to bear the burdens of life, and we will be deeply aware of the complexity and perhaps even the beauty and majesty of the world.

Frequently, statements such as 'life has no meaning' and 'to be in search of the meaning of life' can be found in conversations, films and books.

Throughout human history, the answer has been sought by writers, poets, philosophers, as well as ordinary people in important life circumstances, but the question has remained unanswered. Most are aware that they do not know the answer, and they admit it (frivolous answers such as being successful at work or getting rich I understand as missed attempts to answer at all costs and which completely miss the point).



When I realized in my 'mature' years that there was more life behind me than before me, I became more and more interested in answering this question. I researched passionately and found that a lot has already been written on this topic, but I still did not find nor get an answer. To this certainly essential question philosophy has failed to give a single, explicit answer.

However, the answer to the question, 'What is the meaning of life?' came to me in nature, completely unexpectedly, in an instant.

I wasn't sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper and thinking what I was going to write about. The theme, the idea, came to 5





me on its own, while I was walking along the sunny path of a meadow surrounded by forest, in peaceful rural landscape. In the moment that reflected more than half a century of my personal experience and contemplations, the meaning of my own life and the meaning of human life in general crystallized!

In one meager moment I realized that a thinking being, in our case a human being, is the only being who is aware not only of himself but of the existence of the entire universe. But at this stage, this should only be the starting point for a more in-depth reflection, which I present in the following chapters and which will ultimately lead to an unequivocal answer.

The meaning of human life is magnificent! To hold the opinion that life has no meaning is to be mistaken!

What enlightenment in the form of an idea I received from the Universe - me, an 'ordinary man,' who had never even thought of writing a book before! I have been given a mission that I find impossible to fulfill —to give, to spread the seeds of this enlightenment into a consumerist and profit-driven society, into this world divided by countless irreconcilable contradictions and torn apart by hatred. In the world of the ego, in a society based entirely on the solid foundations of material and spiritual egoism, I was to plant the seeds of a different world view—ideas about the real meaning of every man's life, regardless of their religious views, political affiliation, education, wealth, social status, etc.: a man described by a single attribute: a thinking being!



So, in the beginning I have laid out the gist of the idea, or rather, its starting point, and in the following chapters I describe and explain it in more detail—just as the thought process actually took place in me. As a painter, I will say this—it starts as an imaginary motif, it is followed by a sketch, an outline, and a painting, to which I gradually add colors, shadows, light, and so on.

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As a person, I experience this book as a house where I want to live with my family. I will dig out the foundations, lay brick by brick, and finally cover everything with a roof. It will take a lot of work, effort, knowledge, minor injuries and muscle aches, but I will build it!





Emotional flash


I'm waking up, it's night. The thought awakened by the sun wakes me up in a starry night. But this is not the first time! It happens many times. It is a powerful force; unstoppable. It does not put me in a bad mood. As a matter of fact, I am happy, and what is more, I am convinced of being driven by the glorious truth heretofore hidden. I get up, head out into the yard, and look at the stars that glow beautifully in the dark.

How wonderful the world is! In daylight we can observe nature in its innumerable forms, and at night we can admire the starry sky and the infinity within which we exist. Perhaps somewhere in the infinite depths of the darkness of the universe, between countless stars and planets, in some other world, some conscious being observes the universe and feels or thinks similarly to me. Awareness connects us!

If you really want to experience, to feel the infinity in which we exist, you can achieve this if you get out of a comfortable bed on a dark but clear starry night and step out of your home barefoot and look carefully at the sky and the stars. This is the true picture of the universe. One which we mostly sleep through, which we intentionally or unintentionally overlook and disregard throughout our lives.

In these moments, man can become aware of the unity of the universe, of his connection to the stars, and of his position among them. Let's try to imagine a starless night sky for a moment: a simple, infinite darkness…

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The view of the stars awakened spirituality within the animal, it allowed us to see beauty and majesty through spirit.

I am aware of being an organic part of this magic of infinite space and time. It goes beyond me—I am much more—the knowledge and consciousness of all that exists! At birth, several gifts are placed in our cradle, but we must develop them ourselves. If we are not able to understand and accept this, we are lost—separated from our own essence.



What a privilege it is to live at all and, on top of that, to be a conscious being! We should appreciate our sight and the ability to see stars, having ears to listen to the symphonies we create, having feet to move where we want, hands to touch and feel substance, and, of course, reason to be aware of all this. We can be happy that, even if only temporarily, for as long as human life lasts, we get to learn about and be aware of the majesty of the universe. As much as 99.9999999 percent of the universe is inanimate matter—dust, stone, water, ice. You and I, we represent an incomprehensibly small physical and animate part of this majesty. One with the ability to think on top of that!

I am a descendant of two drops of water mixed with stardust and illuminated by sunlight. Countless times have I lived, died, and been born again, merging with other genes, becoming more and more refined and humanized. Oh, how quickly billions of years had passed before I acquired my present form! I am always something new. Something, however, which carries at its core traces of all my past forms.

I feel called upon to continue on the path that nature has laid out for me.





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A book1 is a means by which a writer sends a message to the world because he feels and believes it to be his task. It is a task that no one specific has given him, rather, the inspiration comes from an often undefined internal or external source which ignites the spark of creation and makes the author the intermediary between this source and the reader. The writer transforms from a layperson into a man with a mission in this world.

The spiritual need to read and write is so strong in people, that from the beginning of literacy to the present day, the written word has been hand-copied, machine-printed, and finally digitized. Books are printed and read in both the good times and in the very difficult times. During periods of peace and unhindered creation, they have elevated thinking to unimaginable heights and, sadly, depths. The power of books and the ideas they spread among people is enormous and also crucial to the existence and development of a civilized human society.

The sense of inspiration is so strong that I perceive writing and sharing nature's gift as the original purpose of my own birth.

In addition, I have realized that exploring my own thoughts, which are a subjective reflection of the world, is enjoyable and fun. Clearly defining and expressing thoughts is a form of cooperation with the universe and an attempt to harmonize with it—to allow the universe to express itself through me, to join me in learning about itself and to self-discover.

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to write and philosophize at all. I am lucky to find myself, at least for the time being, in some kind of a spiritual oasis in the middle of a desert of hope. I can feel the book growing inside me like the seed of a tree which grows branches, leaves, fruits, and further seeds. So many unhappy people cannot afford to think about anything 1 I use the term ‘book’ as a synonym for various media which enable the transmission of information, thoughts, and ideas among people.

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other than maybe a piece of food, a glass of clean water, or whether they will make it to the next day. Unfortunately, there are also many who want for nothing, who have too much in fact, but take drugs, get drunk, behave obscenely and squander the countless opportunities they're presented with.

Our lives are not only influenced by the books we read ourselves, but perhaps even more so by the books read by others.

Ideas aim for upgrades, they can’t be still. They change because of constant changes in human achievements, life circumstances, knowledge and level of awareness. They are influenced by constant dynamics, being tested, altered, rejected or reaffirmed, suppplemented, and invented anew, sometimes as radical. For this reason, it is wise to study ideas from the past and to learn from past experiences rather than to blindly follow ideas and accept them as something definitive and unchanging.

Gradually, as if dawning after a long, dark night, different ideas, despite all opposition and obstacles, have always found their way and place. Many times they were born literally in pain, blood, and suffering. Books that brought new ideas were destroyed, burned, and banned most often when they spoke the truth or radically challenged the existing spiritual state. Authors were imprisoned, tortured, and often murdered, frequently in public. Books can be very dangerous for certain individuals or groups because they spread love as well as hatred, knowledge, rebellion and much more throughout society. They are often a harbinger and the cause of great social change.

All this is to be taken as a lesson that every idea should be given a chance and should not be suppressed or rejected without serious consideration, and a fair, unbiased, in-depth treatment.

Understanding the messages of books and the author's message is, of course, ambiguous. Different readers may understand the meaning of the text and the essence of what the author wanted to convey differently. The reader understands the text on the basis of his intellectual starting points, which are 10





necessarily more or less different from all others, including, of course, the author's. If at the beginning of the reading some statements or facts contradict the reader's starting points, the reader will stop reading or will continue to understand it for 'the nonsense that it is', and probably sooner or later stop reading anyway. The purpose of a book is achieved when the writer and the reader are spiritually aligned.

A book written with the sincere intention of sharing a thought, an idea, a message has this advantage from the very beginning, because it thinks and speaks one thing, as opposed to books written with the goal of making money and gaining publicity. When writing for the purpose of making money, you may sometimes inadvertently come up with unexpected findings that contribute to some higher idea. In this case, even such

'works for profit' achieve more than originally set.

There are currently more than seven billion people in the world. Billions and billions of them have lived before us. At one point, when the idea came to me, I thought: Does anyone else think similarly to me? Is it even possible that I am completely alone in this idea? Only a few times, despite intensive research, have I come across a similar mindset.2





2 In certain books by Nietzsche, Kant, Spinoza, Giordano Bruno, and especially by Denis Diderot, I have stumbled upon similar points of view, but they were never expressed clearly. I kept on searching for that perfect definitive something, but it was nowhere to be found. Therefore, let me point out two ideas that are very precious to me and that have consolidated me in my own beliefs, the first is by Albert Einstein and the second by Eric Chaisson from Cosmic Dawn:

‘A human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.’ (Goodreads, 2021a) 11





This book in front of you is not a scientific work and is not based on research, the use of scientific methods and the like. It is above all an emotional experience weaved from basic logic and the knowledge I have gratefully and enthusiastically acquired from ancestors, teachers, and contemporaries. I am aware that it is not representative of brilliant writing style and form; however, its specialty is found within the content, the original take on spirituality. I consider this to be my life’s work, the fulfilment of the purpose of my own life.

The lessons I have learned and which I have perceived as the highest gift of nature have strongly influenced my need to share them with other people.

Genuinely, this is a completely original view of the meaning of life, different from anything else I’ve found in many books dealing with similar topics. But it certainly also contains thoughts similar to the thoughts of many thinkers whose books I have read. And that is exactly the essence of the originality of this book. Many have already come very close to its point; during my readings I have often thought that the next sentence will reveal and explain the meaning of life. But it did not happen!

There came a point in my life when, as an amateur painter, I felt the need to write and discover and comprehend what certain forms represent and what their content is. The process of painting is an unconscious search of not only beauty but also of the content in the forms that depict it. The whole form of a human being, of its body, represents exclusively the functional capacities he needs in order to realize his own placement within





‘As I see it currently, the role of life in the universe is to reflect on the universe, to grant the universe itself a consciousness of sorts. Without life, galaxies would twirl and stars would shine but no one would appreciate the grandeur of it all. Thus, the Universe strives to create life, and to develop intelligence, so that the Universe itself can be known, appreciated, and perhaps loved.’ ( The Meaning Of Life, 1988: 36) 12





the universe. The eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hands, feet, the brain, etc. represent coordinated functionalities that connect us with the environment and nature and allow us to exist as an autonomous part of nature. Their form and purpose are conditioned and adapted to coexist and interact with everything that surrounds us.

From a single idea, one sentence of inspiration and awareness, a majestic tree branches out, which, much like its leaves, constantly gives birth to new thoughts that grow all the way to the stars. This surprises me and I become increasingly aware of how many unrelated and profound thoughts there are within us that require but some initial impulse to connect them into previously invisible conclusions and findings.

With zeal I read books by writers, poets, philosophers and look for wisdom in them, thoughts of good and of truth. I admire the activity of the human spirit. I admire the thoughts of people who departed from this world hundreds or thousands of years ago. There is an unbroken bond between them and us, maintained by the written word, books, pictures, music.

I thank Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Descartes, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Nietzsche, Kant and all the other thinkers left unmentioned. Thank you to the translators and publishers who have kept their ideas in our libraries to this day. They have been gone from this world for many years, but their mindset lives on and nourishes human spirituality. We are the ones who have to maintain and pass on the continuity of noble thoughts, always thinking, evaluating, supplementing and, if necessary, changing. Thank you Michelangelo Buonarotti, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Bach, van Gogh and all the unnamed artists who have made our lives more beautiful, and who have brought the majesty of the universe closer to man!

I cannot imagine a world without your ideas and creations.

They represent the spiritual space inside the physical man where 13





the most sublime spiritual values of the entire universe have gathered.

The real wealth, the treasures of humanity, are not to be found in the vaults of banks, stock exchanges and markets, but in the libraries, galleries and concert halls, on the Internet, etc.

The Man, in the true sense of the word, is found only in spirituality, for everything outside of spirituality belongs to the animal! Spirituality is the only thing that distinguishes man from animal. Biologically, man and animal are similar in concept –

they each have one head, body, limbs, organs, blood, etc. The difference between them is not really clear if we observe an individual animal and an individual human being. Only when we observe the achievements of an individual animal species and the achievements of humanity does the difference become apparent. Animal life changes little and gradually from generation to generation. For humanity, the differences between generations, in certain periods, are enormous.

Spirituality is beautiful. It is the only thing that provides us with spiritual peace. There is no struggle, no envy, no greed, and no boasting in spirituality. It is a search for beauty, truth and harmony. The world has not yet emerged from chaos; it is still emerging, evolving, and striving for adjustment and harmony of all its parts. Spirituality itself arises from the chaos of animal instincts, ignorance and egoism, as the enrichment of man in his gradual harmonization with nature. Our task for the future is to creatively participate in the process of transition from chaos to harmony. It is imperative that people reconcile their relationships with each other as well as their relationship with nature. The word harmony means the harmony of diversity. In human society, a harmonization between unwritten rules and written laws takes place. And as everything changes, the changing, supplementation and harmonization of rules and laws is inevitable. There are also international laws and rules, but they are mostly enforced following the principle of 'who has the 14





bigger ax.' It is a long-term process that, due to its vagueness and incompleteness, causes us much sorrow and suffering.

When/if we reconcile our interpersonal relationships, a period of harmony will/might follow. People will be able to live in accordance with their actual needs, and no one will harm others or nature more than is absolutely necessary. Everyone will contribute as much as they can. And it is precisely because of mutual coordination that we urgently need to be aware of the meaning of our own lives, and the meaning of life in general. If one person's perception of personal meaning is at odds with the perceptions of personal meaning of others, it is impossible to reconcile our relationships and to create harmony out of chaos.

All we can do is hope that our spirituality, the spirituality of all, will take the right path. It’s hard to conceptualise, though it doesn’t seem impossible, that spirituality has been evolving for thousands, millions of years, just to eventually destroy itself; commit suicide perhaps? Is self-destruction the ultimate goal of spirituality?



While getting ready to write, through personal conversations with acquaintances and friends about the topic of this book, I was surprised to discover that some people find it very difficult to understand, let alone accept it! Frankly, most people are not interested in topics such as this at all. But what is written here does have its audience—people who are not satisfied with only eating, drinking and pleasing the physical senses.

I got the feeling that a seemingly unusual new idea automatically triggers an explicit negative attitude in people, much like how the body's immune system responds to an unknown bacterium. An insightful, critical response is perfectly understandable, while an aggressive, uncritical reaction expressing the desire to nip the idea in the bud is unfortunately more commonplace than one would like to think. If you are not 15





an already established author, even your acquaintances and friends cannot comprehend and accept that you can create something worthwhile. That's just the way it is!

But an inner voice tells me that this idea is worth fighting for and sacrificing my own peace and relaxation. In a way, I have experienced being misunderstood just like many carriers of new ideas that have gone before me, and some of them didn't manage to survive.

I am aware that most likely errors and flaws in my thinking will be expressed in this book, but let these be a small, discreet paper testament to my personal shortcomings and, of course, imperfections. I consciously accept this risk in my zeal to pass on this message which haunts me and pushes me forward. I have come across many misconceptions, untruths, errors, and even nonsense in the writings of well-known thinkers, mostly due to ignorance of some unknown facts during their lifetime. In spite of that, I admire these people for thinking about our world and the universe at all, and for passing on to us the spirit and ideas from times past.

Even more than the thinking of individuals, and keeping in mind some of society's weak spots, I admire the societal conditions out of which philosophy was born and developed unhindered.

In order for a person to think deeply, he needs conditions that do not exist in the modern egoistic and competitive world.

An individual can only create them for himself. I miss this atmosphere which has been pushed to the margins of the consumer society of today. It is exotic rather than a value seriously considered.

The image of a horse playfully and freely running across the pasture reminds me the most of the essence of philosophy. To think without limits because I have a mind is like running because I have legs. To not only graze in the pasture—that is a 16





necessity—but to run: this is where beauty and the meaning of beauty reside.

I am also aware that individuals have created in great spiritual darkness, by candlelight, and have nevertheless created invaluable spiritual achievements.

By the year I was born, 1959, no man had ever seen the entire planet Earth. Everyone had already seen the sun and the moon and the stars, but no one the planet that we live on. It is similar to the destiny of man himself: we can see all other people, but never ourselves in person...

There were no photos, no shots of Earth. Shortly afterwards, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first man who saw Earth with his own eyes. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the surface of the moon. Afterwards, many more people flew into orbit, a large number of satellites have been launched, space probes sent us a huge number of photos of Earth and other planets in the solar system. Since 2018, we can monitor live video transmission of Earth from space via the Internet through cameras installed on the International Space Station, which has been orbiting Earth for years.

Genghis Khan, Attila, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler and other conquerors never had a chance to see the actual dimensions, the wholeness and beauty of our planet.

They had more or less accurate maps drawn on leather or paper, and those did not show the needs and emotions of the people.

Their limited perception led to wars, battlefields covered with countless corpses and injured people, soil soaked in blood, and then to gold in treasures, and fame? Fame admired by stupidity!

No firm contact with reality, vegetation, the animal world, the meaning of man's life. All they had was a foggy vision from the deepest levels of the subconscious and they wanted to subjugate and destroy other peoples.

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Today, we can see much more and maintain a higher level of awareness than our ancestors, we can go a step further and get even closer to the ideal of man, but only if we make a real effort.

For less than seventy years in the multi-millennial history of mankind, there has existed a real possibility that a small number of people could command and carry out a complete nuclear (or biological) destruction of humanity and nature. This catastrophic possibility requires a different perception of the world. It is a necessity.

Like everyone else, I am aware of my own transience, but now I accept it more easily. It is a seemingly cruel but necessary and meaningful flash and its consequent disappearance within cosmic infinity. If the idea I share with you finds its place in the consciousness of at least some readers, the meaningfulness of my and your existence will confirm itself.





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UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCING THE





WORLD


DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS OF THE WORLD AND THE

NECESSITY OF UPGRADED PERCEPTION

The question of whether there is a meaning to life can be answered in the affirmative or in the negative. 'I don't know,'

however, is a really common answer. To answer this question is no easy task; it requires deliberation, delving deeper into the problem. What do you think, dear reader? Yes, no, or I don't know? 'I am not interested' is a statement that falls outside of the realm of this book.

I pay more attention to this issue in a special chapter dedicated to the meaning of life. But for now I want to offer a reflection on why different people give different answers to the same question. The subjectivity of each individual is certainly one of the main reasons. 'Subjectivity' is just another term for the imperfect and limited amount of information that the respondent has at his disposal and is able to deal with in a meaningful way.

Every human being understands and experiences himself and the world around him differently by default. Individuals are exposed to different sources of information in very different environments, and each of us sees only a partial, small, limited picture (of a part) of the world that shapes our personality, our relationship to the world, and consequently the actions we take.

Our senses of sight, hearing and touch result from our interaction with nature. And although many philosophers question the reality of our perception, this doubt relates primarily to the intellectual ability to understand what is really perceived. Let me illustrate this with an example. We see the moon, but with our senses we cannot judge how far it is, how big it is, what matter it is made of. We see its phases, but with our senses we cannot comprehend what their essence is. Or, take 19





the sun, for example. Based on our senses, we could assume that it is closer than the moon, because the sunshine and heat are much stronger compared to the moon. So our perception is fine, but we do not understand—this is already a mental treatment of phenomena. The biggest reason for the misperception, in addition to the limitations of space and the number of phenomena available to us, is the mental consideration of perceived phenomena. In the real world, this causes and allows for unsuspected errors and manipulations. There is one truth, but errors can be innumerable.

The world is increasingly more complex, interdependent, connected and global. And because everything is in a state of flux, new rules, written and unwritten, are needed to regulate relationships and to harmonize the lives of all people. However, rules do not improve people's lives if the perception of those who determine them is incorrect or inconsistent with the truth.

Thinking beings and a society of thinking beings cannot function without ideas. We are forced to create ideas, our own view of the world. And ideas that are more or less an image of the ideal world we want, we have created out of necessity. But our ideas are imperfect because we do not understand everything, and at the same time we long for the realization we call truth. Truth is understanding the phenomena as they actually are. And the truth is often not what we want it to be. Ideas therefore need to be refined so that a new, all-encompassing idea, a new view of the world, is developed. We are slaves to ideas that are subordinated to emotions and desires, sometimes glorious, sometimes unacceptable to others.

People, or any other thinking beings, measure the ratio between beautiful and ugly, good or bad, like a scale. If the scales are unbalanced, intentionally or unintentionally, the measurement will be untrue. The experience of a man born somewhere in the north, in cold and cloudy landscapes, is of course different from the experience of a man living by the sea, 20





in a mild climate, and then also from one who grows up in a desert where the sun shines relentlessly and the water and plants are a real rarity and treasure.

The condition for correct interpretation is correct perception, understanding of the essence of phenomena. There is a strong connection between perception (perceiving and understanding) and interpretation (analysis, re-creation).

Perhaps the easiest way to test our own ability of interpretation (graphically) is to try to draw a portrait or a landscape or a more complex object, and then, with full dedication, find the differences between the model and the drawing. It is even better to ask the opinion of another competent person. They should make an effort and also give a most precisely defined opinion (which is not expressed using words such as 'excellent' or 'they don't look similar at all...').



Let’s take a look at the drawings made by children. What we find is that their drawings are more or less awkward, and they improve as the children grow older. Those who are interested in drawing will pay even more attention to it and delve deeper into it, to the point where the model and the drawing become very similar. It is this dedication and interest that are essential to reconciling the thought (drawing) with the truth (model). This example should help us to critically assess our own capacity for understanding and interpretation.

Imagine the following situation: a mouse, a cat preying on the mouse, and a human watching this happen. The mouse has its back turned to the cat and does not see the cat, the cat sees the mouse but does not see the human, and the human sees both the mouse and the cat, but does not see himself. Might someone else be observing the human?

Now let's apply this situation to society. Some see only what is directly relevant to them, some see a bigger picture and want to get something out of it for themselves, and yet others want to 21





understand not only the first kind of person and the second, but also themselves and others and the meaning of the entire happening.

We experience the world on the subconscious level—with the senses (sight, hearing, touch, etc.)—as well as on the level of consciousness (learning, thinking, etc.). The combination of the subconscious and the conscious leads to the formation of intuition and emotions, which are still the starting point for an individual's behavior.

To some, the world seems cruel, to some it seems beautiful, to others magnificent and so on in countless variations. The notions cruel, beautiful and magnificent are more intuitive and emotional rather than rational attributes, but at the same time inseparable from reason because they can only be defined by thinking beings.

True experience and understanding of the world, and consequently our attitude and actions, can lead us to glorious achievements or plunge us into (self) destruction. We are creative beings who can create a world that is friendly to people and to nature; one is dependent on the other.

In all parts of the world, among all peoples, the need to be aware of the whole is one of the most important starting points in life. Magnificent temples, churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious buildings have been built everywhere for thousands of years as an expression of the feeling for, and the awareness and admiration of the Whole, which is experienced, named and worshiped differently in different areas. The size and dedication, the artistic inspiration and the concentration of material goods and valuables silently testify to the scale and complexity of the relationship between man and the universe, whatever it may be called. Unfortunately, the opposite, the untrue experience and interpretation of the Whole is still an inexhaustible source of hatred, bloody conflicts and wars.

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Because of their intelligence, humans have a lot of impact on the earth, but they are also very bothersome due to their misperceptions of the world. And these misperceptions and the actions resulting from them must be changed and reconciled with nature. The biggest cause of people's misfortune is improper, inconsistent thinking and consequent action that isn't aligned with the truth.

In the past, there have been two great representative civilizations, the cradles of two completely different, opposing social values, and best illustrated by two historical monuments: the Colosseum in Rome and the Greek Amphitheater in Epidaurus.

The Romans built the (colossal!) Colosseum. In addition to traditional gladiatorial games, many other performances took place there, such as sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and plays based on classical mythology. The executions of people and animals were fun for the masses and a source of income for the state and the death traders. Man as the negation of man!

During the time of ancient Greek civilization, the Amphitheater in Epidaurus grew. It was a large theater in which actors performed tragedies, comedies and satires—the basis of the whole of Western culture. In the Amphitheater of Epidaurus, the human realized his humanity.

Roman civilization developed the legal system known as Roman law, which governed relations in society and from which the current legal systems originate. However, it is the Greek civilization that is the cradle of philosophy, universal and worldly thought, and a source of ethics. Given a choice, it depends on our awareness and decision what we build in the future: Roman Colosseums or Greek Amphitheaters.

Even before the Roman and Greek civilizations, there was a great and powerful civilization in Egypt. It left behind the magnificent pyramids, which, in addition to the question of how 23





they were built, lead to another important question: Why were they built? We know that the tombs were intended for the salvation of rulers and the consolidation of power. But on further consideration, we can doubt the usefulness of such constructions. Perhaps we can understand them as some of the greatest nonsense and monuments to nonsense, ego, and misperception of the world? Now, when we are constantly threatened by ecological catastrophe and nuclear self-destruction, an awareness suitable for this day and age is of the utmost importance.

The incompleteness of information, the absence of a desire for truth, selfishness and manipulation, or simply the inability to think deeply make it impossible to truly perceive the world as it really is. It is necessary to dive under the visible surface of the perceptible and to try to understand reality from the point of view that merges science and ethics. The world is becoming increasingly more complex. For the smooth flow of life of all people, and not just individuals, we must create whether we want to or not ever more rules for interpersonal relationships and behavior, and also regarding man’s relationship to nature. The purpose of defining the rules is to harmonize interpersonal relationships, and people's attitudes towards nature. This is a long-term goal and until we achieve it, we will continue to be victims of suffering and misery. We need to harmonize human behavior with nature and not the other way around.

Civilization could fail if there are too few Humans, but also if there is not enough animals or vegetation! We can 'sharpen'

our picture of the world, i.e. see it more clearly, and truly understand it through the process of cognition, which we upgrade by learning, studying, thinking and sharing knowledge.

The prerequisite is that we really want it, otherwise it is impossible! The possibilities of obtaining information are incomparably greater than in any earlier period due to the global communication and computer connectivity. The broader picture 24





can ennoble our Self and bring it closer to the truth. It allows us to know and recognize the true meaning of objects, phenomena, relationships and events in the world.

The basic physical qualities of all people are essentially the same; but the landscape in which man and his ancestors reside shapes shades of skin color, body structure, hairiness, and of course spirituality. These hereditary traits are very persistent; if a black man or a lighter-skinned man move to a places where the indigenous population has 'different colour skin', the generations that follow will retain the 'different skin that was brought in' as well as some other, including spiritual, characteristics. This shows that we inherit a lot of defining characteristics from our ancestors at birth.

Experience of the world has developed gradually, through generations. The first forms of life felt only comfort or discomfort (hot or cold, wet or dry,...). The heat was something pleasant and the cold uncomfortable. Pleasure was something that accelerated life, and discomfort was what hindered it. Over time, eyes developed for light, ears for sounds, nose for breathing and smelling, legs for moving, etc. Sensory perception gradually developed in response to the environment, for better adaptation to nature. This better adaptation, or rather, harmonization with nature was pleasing. In other words, it benefited the living organism itself. And from this harmony with nature, the notion of good gradually developed within the thinking man over millennia.

The intensity and scope of the experience of the world can be divided into three levels:

- the passive (sleep-like, vegetative, mechanical, unconscious): plants, animals, humans;

- the instinctive (necessity—active, sensitive): animals, humans;

- the conscious (spiritually, rationally): human.

Now I will try to answer the question: Which came first: the egg or the chicken? I am of the opinion that the egg was first, of 25





course in a different, smaller form, but it is likely that from this small shell, which contains the germ of life, not only the hen but also all other animal forms gradually developed.

At the passive level, the organism's response to the environment is very limited, tied to one space; it receives (draws) everything it needs from the environment. It responds to beneficial effects with growth, but does not have active self-defense mechanisms. It protects itself with camouflage, stench, etc. This includes plants; e.g. the flowers open and physically turn towards the sun and close when it gets dark. The process is seemingly mechanical. Animals and humans 'return' to a similar

'original' passive state every night. When we sleep, all the senses

'shut down'; we only feel comfort or discomfort. We sleep through about a third of our lives. It is the time we spend in a passive state. Bears spend several winter months sleeping, in a

'vegetative' state.

Mobile organisms instinctively move through space and actively take from nature. They do not get all the ingredients necessary for existence passively, but are forced to actively search for and hunt them because they need more sustenance than the state of passivity can provide. They have active self-defense mechanisms; in case of threat, they hide, run away or attack. Animals such as fish, birds, insects, terrestrial herbivores and predators live instinctively.

Man gradually began to 'awaken' from the passive and then the instinctive state (but he can never fully be rid of them) and progress to a qualitatively much higher level—he no longer only felt the world, but began to rationally be aware of it. Previously, man adapted to the world, but then he began to consciously adapt the world for himself. And this awareness will determine the fate of humanity. Our ability and potential to understand the whole process of what is and what isn't in accordance with the universe will be our destiny. The world is not our property. We cannot just 26





take from it as much as we want and adapt it to our own desires; we can only take as much as we really need.

Awareness develops gradually—from the simplest logical conclusions, trials and errors, it becomes more and more extensive and complex. Consciousness and knowledge have emerged and are emerging in all parts of the world inhabited by humans. Some people began to work metals, others domesticated animals, still others did something else, crafts emerged and various fields of knowledge. No one knows everything, and different worldviews have emerged from different insights. Before we evolved into thinking beings, we felt and instinctively 'knew' everything we needed in a fight for survival. However, when our process of awareness began, we entered a completely unknown territory, we began to be aware of the surroundings, of the bigger picture. And we knew nothing.

The beginnings of thought have been preserved in myths, we tried to interpret the world around us, but with little success. Fire was a miracle, and the lightning and thunder in the atmosphere the wrath of a supernatural being. It wasn't a being however, but rather natural phenomena, physical laws and the interaction of natural substances.

The scope of awareness is constantly expanding from the immediate environment to wider areas, the entire globe and further into space. Animals instinctively perceive only what is absolutely necessary for their existence—cats perceive mice, birds, water, shelter. For them, the concept of the universe does not exist. Man's thought, however, keeps expanding into depths and into heights, towards the essence.

Due to the many different influences on the individual, a unified understanding of all people seems impossible. In the past, people perceived Earth as a flat plane based on sensory perception, and this opinion was also accepted as the official position of societal authorities. Today we know that Earth is round because science has discovered what sensory perception 27





prevents us from discovering. It is impossible to capture and understand the essence of the world with the senses alone. We see and feel a very small part, just a small piece of the huge mosaic of the world that is in our immediate vicinity. The senses alone cannot physically capture the whole world, different landscapes, nature and people, and perceive that Earth is round, and so on. We do not detect all the stars and galaxies in the night sky with our innate vision. It wasn’t until we invented the telescope that we began to realize that there are many more celestial bodies than we can see with the naked eye. In addition, we spend our whole lives bowing our heads because we cannot look directly at the Sun.

The picture of the world is much more complex and larger than the small, limited part we personally perceive. We can only see the whole spiritually, and get to know it by acquiring knowledge from other people and sharing it with them. More than seven billion people have more than fourteen billion eyes and more than seven billion different worldviews. If we are aware and at the same time do not understand the reality (the whole) of the world, it means that we do not understand ourselves, other people and nature. As a result, our actions toward ourselves, other people, and nature are inconsistent with the Universal Order or the 'highest good,' as it was called in antiquity.

Most people are not happy with the current state of the world. Most people are not happy with their own body either—

they want to be taller, shorter, leaner, thicker, prettier, they want to have longer legs, a smaller or bigger nose, etc. We can't change much, but we can do a little bit of something for our body, and a little for the world as well. If we think about our own spiritual picture of the world, we can see (but only if we are honest with ourselves) that in this picture there are many things that are unclear, wrong, and also that many things are lacking. It would be most effective to clarify, sharpen and supplement this 28





spiritual image, which would certainly have a positive effect on all of the above—on a sober perception of the world, of the self and spirituality. And we would find it easier to accept everything, without passion, as it really is—there is no room for discouragement and disappointment, but only for understanding and, despite everything ugly, also for admiration.

If we contrast the real situation on the one hand and differing views of different people on the other, we will find that partly incomplete knowledge or one-sidedness is the root cause of inadequate (different) understanding of the world and consequent intellectual and physical conflicts. We should always be aware of this when deciding on important actions.

As a result of the limited experience of the world, equally limited but different ideas have emerged, and by combining several such ideas ideologies that are of course limited, therefore an unreal reflection of the world in the minds of various people and groups. Ideologies, despite their imperfections, are temporarily necessary for the formation and actualisation of relations in society. And because there are several different ideologies, there are always disagreements and, as a rule, physical battles in order to enforce a single ideology in daily life.

Even in the 'best of all societies,' only one basic ideology exists that should not be challenged, even though every society has serious weaknesses and does not take into account any other opinions and arguments. Opinions can be ignored, facts, however, cannot. In this context, all existing countries are authoritarian. But even the 'best of all societies' will necessarily have to change (correct, transform, harmonise with the world) if it wants to keep existing, or rather, to develop into a truly good society.

And just about every ideology is in dire need of constant critical judgement, especially the one in which You fervently believe. It probably isn't perfect; be aware that it is temporary; think about it and expand and deepen it. Let us hope that over 29





time, mostly due to very bad personal experiences, which are mainly a consequence of imperfections and limitations of ideologies, there will be a spread of consensus on truly common ideas of humanity.

Truth is the whole picture, the whole mosaic and not just its individual parts. The truth is complete.

GREAT MISCONCEPTIONS

Errors in the form of a distorted worldview arise as a consequence of an incomplete, false understanding of the world.

Problems arise when people act in accordance with untrue starting points, i.e. they act wrong. Due to misperception, people set wrong goals that cause personal or social harm and are a source of spiritual dissatisfaction, even if the needs of the body are fully met.

In the past, man lived in the delusion that the sun and moon are reborn every day and every night or something to that effect.

Lightning and thunder were experienced as elemental fear or perhaps as the anger of a supernatural being.

But even today, human perception is based on major misconceptions that obscure true understanding of the world.

Let’s consider some of the major misconceptions that significantly affect people’s perceptions, feelings, and behavior.

"Man is separate from the universe"

I would once again like to emphasize the thought of Albert Einstein I have already mentioned in the introduction, namely that man is a part of the whole, the universe or the universe, limited in time and space. He experiences himself as separate from the rest and this is a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. Therefore, he must urgently strive to get rid of this error, to overcome it, so that he can achieve inner peace.

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Most people act on the principle, 'it is important for me to be well, I have to have what I want at all costs.' Man doesn’t burden himself too much with the rest of the world, and with his influence on the rest of the world, which is truly incomparably larger and more important than any individual.

In the world of miracles—miracles being anything we cannot explain—we humans are the greatest miracle. The complexity and sophistication of each individual makes us a hierarchically higher creation than the countless stars and galaxies whose beauty and dimension we admire. But we treat others and nature with extreme selfishness, disrespect, and indifference, unaware of the complexity and time it took for us and everything around us to be created.

We need to be aware that we are not born and we do not die of our own accord. We also live more or less under the influence of others, but we behave as if we were the most important and as if 'everything else exists because of Me,' 'everything is subordinate to Me.' This view is untrue, but at the same time very strong, and is therefore the deepest source of spiritual unrest and dissatisfaction. This kind of perception of the world is called egocentrism and means experiencing one's own Self as the most important thing in the world.

Similarly, only a few centuries ago, Earth was considered the center of the universe; this view is called geocentrism.

Astronomers, philosophers, and scientists have gradually, despite great resistance from authorities and the consequent danger this presented, proved that Earth is not the centre of the universe, but that it orbits the Sun; they developed the heliocentric theory (Helios—the Sun). Heliocentrism is the basis that has enabled understanding in accordance with the truth, and eventually man's flight into space and landing on the moon. So it was that a complete devaluation, in other words, the destruction of the wrong position called geocentrism, was necessary for the progress of mankind.

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Over time, it will be necessary to abolish the mentality of egocentrism (as well as derivatives of egoism, nationalism, racism) and replace them with the cosmopolitan mentality that man is not here for himself alone, that he belongs not only to an individual nation, state, but the world as a whole—to the universe. As long as we look at the world from an egocentric point of view, that is, the world from within ourselves and not ourselves in the world, we will not properly understand neither the world nor ourselves.





Experiencing the universe


The universe is dark and cold, but we can only see and experience this at night. During the day, sunlight seemingly banishes darkness and the depths of the universe, and creates a different, misleading, beautiful image of the blue sky, and shows us the nature that surrounds us distinctly, it creates illusion and hides darkness, its existence and infinity. To us it seems that darkness and night are something temporary, an exception; merely a time to rest. But the truth is different: darkness is eternal and always present. It is only the sun's rays, only on Earth, only for that part of the time we call day, that create a reflection of the sea, meadows and forests in a very narrow layer of the atmosphere we call the blue sky, much like a rainbow. We experience a tiny but glorious illusion of the universe that exists only in our little world.

Overestimation of an individual's mind

When we observe and reflect on the achievements of humanity, we see grandiose buildings erected by humans, giant ships and planes, machines, incomprehensible works of art, and we listen to glorious harmonies, we think how man is able to create something beyond his natural capabilities. And we 32





subconsciously 'project' this onto ourselves, attributing the achievements of others to the capabilities of our own minds. But the condition for and foundation of the production of all these magnificent creations is the synergy of communication, which enables the participation of a huge number of individuals, the coordination and unification of their narrow and incomplete knowledge. These stem from the experiences of many generations of ancestors. An individual outside of society would not be able to speak nor understand a language, would not be able to read books nor use mathematics, in general he would be very limited. He would have at his disposal only what he had brought into the world from his ancestry, in his genes. The only thing he could do on his own is find a stick in the woods and use it as a tool or weapon and make 'ooh ooh ooh'-like sounds.

But language, speech and writing, the basis of effective communication, have not been invented by a group of experts.

Language

development

has

taken

place

gradually,

spontaneously, over countless generations (without the decision of an individual or a group to develop a means of communication called language). However, individuals or groups who established and adopted the rules of writing already played a major role in the development of writing.

The fallacy that sexuality is an individual's need Sexuality is not a necessary personal need of an individual being, but a necessary need of a species; an instinct. An individual can live his whole life without sexual activity. But to continue the species, the continuity of life requires at least two people, a man and a woman. The fallacy that sexuality is an individual’s need causes countless distortions of the original meaning of the sexual urge, namely the continuation and development of the species.

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Sexuality is the most potent source of bodily pleasure, and in this way, through immense pleasure—and not through suffering, as is often the case at work—nature encourages us to unite physically. Because man behaves on the basis of a mixture of needs, emotions, and reason, his actions are often inappropriate, especially when in the pursuit of pleasure. When the mind senses the possibility of achieving pleasure, it immediately loses its rational regulatory function that it has in everyday life. And the danger of man destroying his meaning, in other words, his spirituality, for the sake of pleasure, is very great. Therefore, the fallacy of sexuality as the greatest pleasure is exposed at this point.





Misplaced values


The greatest danger to humanity may lie in misplaced values.

The difference between the concepts of value and wealth is becoming increasingly blurred, they are often used as synonyms.

Similarly, the terms satisfaction, joy, happiness are misunderstood and used as synonyms, but the distinction between them is still important and necessary. As a result of general egotism and the committing of all 'mortal sins' according to Christian (and also general) ethics (pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and laziness), pleasure has 'devoured' and appropriated the concept of happiness. Pride, greed, and gluttony, whose common denominator is egotism, are the foundation of a market economy, and lust, anger, envy, and laziness are its consequences.

By the way, laying claim to any of the ethical principles of different ideologies is unethical. True ethics cannot be the property of any ideology; ethics is common and only as such is real!

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Most people misunderstand the concept of happiness and use it to express satisfaction when their wishes come true—in line with the 'sequence of sins:' prestige (conceit), wealth (greed), unbridled sexuality (lust), and the collection of unnecessary wealth (gluttony).

Wealth (financial, or expressed as yellow or other precious beautiful stones) is accepted as the highest value, but this is complete nonsense (think about the meaning).

With rising living standards and the spread of consumerism, what most people are aiming for is money, wealth, things we don’t need, indifference, and bodily pleasures. The purpose of production is no longer to meet the real needs of man, but money and power. Entrepreneurship sees product quality only as a means, while the real goal is only money and power. Values, however, are what man and society really need: the things we really need for existence and development, and for the social relationships that enable human existence and development.

True spiritual wealth is all around us and is easily accessible today thanks to the Internet: books, music, art, science, etc. but few are aware of how rich they can actually be without excess money.

Thoughts are like an airplane—they allow a person to fly into the sky and at the same time offer it the opportunity to fall from unimaginable heights.

To truly understand the world correctly, it is necessary to look beyond the Ego.

THE IDEA OF TRANSCENDENTAL ETHICS

For those who read philosophical texts less frequently, it should be pointed out at the beginning of this chapter that transcendental ethics is not a kind of intellectually conceited concept, but a concept formed from the need to understand the entirety of the content presented below.

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Gradually, a set of findings and views was formed, which I refer to as transcendental ethics and which is a synthesis of transcendental3 thought about the human within the cosmic context and the ethics it is inextricably linked to—the doctrine of good and bad (human, social, subjective) as a basic prerequisite for a dignified life. Together, as a whole, they pave the way that will in the future lead us to a true understanding of both our own essence as well as to the understanding of the essence of Everything.

To truly understand the meaning of life, one must understand the way we perceive the world, the principles of nature, the connection of everything in the universe and, most importantly, that the foundations of social ethics and morals are based, whether we like it or not, on the actuality of the entire the universe.

Without understanding and taking into account the above, the realization of ethics is not possible. Temporary ethics is not ethics, it is ideology. Social ethics is not ethics, it is ideology.

Actual ethics is neither spatially, nor temporally nor subjectively limited, it is valid in every period and everywhere. The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote beautifully: 'The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.'

Through the development of ethics, which, like everything in the universe, is changing and evolving, many things in human history have been realized as 'practical' ethics: the 'ethics' of the stronger one, the ethics of pleasure, religious ethics, ideological ethics, state ethics etc. As a consequence of all these ethics and also the reason for their existence, a divided, technologically unbalanced world of states based on egoism developed, with its countless imbalances and contradictions between people, nations, and states on the one hand and nature on the other. It is 3 Transcendental—that which transcends physical sensations and experiences.

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a world with which no one can be satisfied and is not satisfied and in which people do not feel reassured, safe, or fulfilled.

In certain periods, ethics was a necessity; in the jungle, the only possible 'ethics' was the ethics of the stronger one, and so on. With the development of society and social thought, however, we are forced to ascend to higher levels. Developing ethics and coordination is a necessity that still requires many sacrifices. And the time seems to have come when we urgently need this shift in mentality, not only for further, actual development, but also as a condition for the mere existence of humanity.

The deep roots of ethics are in the universe, but the shoots in human spirituality are not yet sufficiently developed. They are small and weak, and so far one can only see 'that part which is above the surface.' Ethics is not just a social, interpersonal matter, it is all-encompassing, it is an attitude towards nature, towards the very essence of the universe.

While reading many philosophical works, I did not come across a unified treatment of man (people) that would connect and unite the ontological, transcendental, ethical, spiritual and biological aspects. There is a gap in philosophy that would deal in depth with the relationship between man (Ego) and the universe (Everything) and unify these two areas.

Much has been written about man and the universe, but typically it is about separate, mutually independent entities, which, as a matter of fact, are a true organic whole. There is no man without water. There is no need to mention this, but we should always be aware of this when we are looking for the truth about man. It's that simple.

The basic reason why world philosophy has failed to define the meaning of human life (which is spirituality) is the partiality, the one-sidedness of each attempt to reflect on this topic.

Philosophy is divided and as such is unable to give an unambiguous answer to a question that needs a holistic 37





approach. It treats man mostly as a being isolated from nature, something in itself and that exists only for himself, breaks him down into spirit and body, then breaks the spirit down into its component parts, and so on. Philosophy has tried to define the purpose of man as 'some (undefined) higher or absolute good,'

or 'virtue.' This incomplete definition encompasses only the ethical-moral, social and partly spiritual dimension, without any consideration for the dimension of man's place in nature and the universe. Philosophy has failed to define the human or his purpose as an outgrowth of nature, as its integral part. But the man is not defined solely as Ego and a social being, but is also an integral part of the universe. This applies to humanity at large.

Ontology, one field of philosophy, deals with the concept of being and existence, the basis of all that is. Secondly, it deals with substance, space, time, and motion. Thirdly, it deals with ethics and morality, with the idea of the good. It often branches out into science, it studies and systematizes the field of science, astronomy, political models, etc.

I use the term man as a synonym for spirituality, but in this discussion it is necessary to take into account the biological characteristics of man as a concrete 'animal' species. If we disregard the biological characteristics, we get substance on one side and spirituality on the other. The biological side of substance is only a necessary interface between the original substance and spirituality.

This book does not provide a systematic treatment of the individual findings of transcendental ethics, but only presents the principles on which it is based. The findings are left to the reader because they require not only an intellectual but also, and even more importantly, an emotional response (experiencing the vastness of the universe and our placement in it). A very demanding emotional journey is needed. Merely reading and mentally consuming the text is not enough, just as it is not enough if someone recommends a nice melody to you. The 38





melody needs to be listened to, indulged in, experienced emotionally.

The thinking being (the human in this case) is the only being who has the ability to act in a way which is not in accordance with universal ethics (which we here refer to as transcendental ethics). Microorganisms, plants, and animals are perfectly aligned with universal ethics. The ability to act contrary to ethics gives the human unimaginable possibilities, but at the same time it requires enormous responsibility—both for oneself and for nature. We have become alienated from ethics, and when we reach a certain degree of autonomous freedom, when we are the consequences of our misconduct as a human species catch up with us, we will be forced to return to its original principles.

Over time, we will truly evolve into real people, in the idealized sense of the word.

Transcendental ethics allows us to imagine a spiritual being different from us, on some incredibly distant planet, sitting, drinking a hot beverage, perhaps smoking, and looking at distant stars and wondering if there is intelligent life anywhere else in the universe.

In substance itself there is already potential for life and in life some potential for spirituality.

The human spirit is not at rest, it is unable to rest. Even if he had everything he needed at his disposal for a peaceful and orderly life, man could not rest. He has to create, if nothing else, he will play sports, paint, design statues, compose songs, write, think about himself and the universe, or do stupid things. It is something that drives him, and it does not come from his personal needs, but from nature, the universe. To understand what it is that drives him, we have to think holistically, to study or feel several dimensions of human existence, to look from all possible angles.

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Five basic dimensions

An important finding of transcendent ethics is that all that exists can be defined within the five basic and general dimensions of being.

There are three spatial dimensions, such as measures of the distance between two points in one direction: width, length, and depth. These are spatial—material dimensions. For example: a line has one dimension (length), a square has two (width and length), and a cube has three (width, length, and depth). The fourth dimension of time defines the state of being in chronological order. Movement and energy are defined within these four dimensions.

The fifth (highest dimension) is, according to transcendental ethics, Thought. Thought is a synthesis and upgrade that has evolved over time from all other dimensions. Without Thought, there would be no notions of matter, energy, space, time, there would be no awareness of the existence of anything. Thought is the highest dimension that defines all other dimensions. In Thought the awareness of consciousness and the meaning of existence is defined.





Five basic elements


From the pre-Socratics—ancient Greek, Indian and Chinese philosophies—to the present time, earth, water, air and fire are mentioned as the four basic elements. Aristotle and Descartes mentioned the ether as the fifth element, but they understood it differently. And this opinion has existed for thousands of years.

But no one has mentioned the Sun as the fifth element, as foundational and important for the creation of life. The Sun is treated as a celestial body, as something external, separate, non-fundamental. But the influence of the Sun is essential, it is the very basis of life. Without the the Sun's influence, water would be frozen, air would be trapped in solid matter, without light and 40





heat there would be no organic matter, no life, no interpreters of nature. Thus, the Sun is the fifth element in transcendental ethics, but the first and fundamental element for the origin and development of life.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Rá was the god of the sun (whatever that means). He was highly revered and people were aware of his meaning. Of particular interest is the myth of the union of the two sun gods Ámon and Rá into the deity Ámon-Rá, born from his own thought.

All of the basic elements listed are inanimate, at least as far as the concept of inanimate is currently generally defined. It was from the inanimate that what is alive arose and evolved.

I wonder how it is even possible that the basic precondition (element) of life (Sun) and the highest dimension (Thought) are mentioned as important countless times, but so vaguely, and never explicitly defined or presented as the basic and most important fact for all that exists—existence and self-awareness of existence in Thought.

These two basic factors, so self-evident, are obviously the most hidden even to dedicated thinkers.



The sun is the source, the substance is the river bed, and life is the river that flows into the sea—which is Thought!





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THE UNIVERSE IS A CONNECTED WHOLE

Everyone can understand that everything in the universe is somehow related, but most people are not sufficiently aware of this; this wareness could be the basis for a more harmonious life with nature.

Most of the time, out of necessity or indifference, we only think about our own needs and desires.

But the relationships in the universe are relationships of dependence. Without awareness of the dependence of everything, one cannot truly understand oneself, others, or nature.

The purpose of this chapter is to explain the need for an in-depth awareness of the interconnectedness and dependence of all parts of the universe with an emphasis on human spirituality, for without this awareness we will continue to wander without vision through the thick fog of egoism and dissatisfaction.

Many

philosophers

have

written

about

the

interconnectedness of the universe, this idea is embedded in the foundations of Stoicism and pantheism,4 and was presented in 4 Translated from Slovene: 'The doctrine of Greek Stoicism was strict materialism - spirit and body are one (both are material-corporeal substance).

For there is only that which is corporeal. Only space, emptiness and the meanings of sentences are immaterial. But in everything there is a governing principle, a mind, destiny, divinity (also of a material nature). Stoic materialism equates God with the world - if there is something divine or intelligent in everything, then we can claim that God is everything, and everything is God (the principle of pantheism). /…/ The Stoics did not conceive of God as an otherworldly personal being, but as an active power of the cosmos. Pleasure does not represent the basis of ethics for them (like it does, for example, for the Epicureans), rather the basis of ethics is the instinct for self-preservation. This is where their highest ethical principle comes from: To live in harmony with yourself, to live in harmony with nature.' (Wikipedia, 2021c)

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great depth by the French philosopher Denis Diderot in D'Alembert's Dream, as well as many others.

For the sake of correct understanding, I will define the terms

'universe,' 'nature' and 'world' as precisely as possible. They can be understood and used as synonyms, but the differences in meaning must be precisely defined.

The universe as an idea is everything that exists, the visible and the invisible, the perceptible and the imperceptible. In the material sense, the universe is the absolute entirety of matter and energy which exists and is only partially perceived and mentally defined as cosmic bodies—planets, stars, moon, asteroids, comets, and so on.

In this book, nature is a somewhat narrower concept, it is the 'local' part of the universe that encompasses the Sun, Moon, and Earth, with an emphasis on the existence of life, which is more the exception than the rule in the universe.

In this book, the world means humanity as part of nature.

Let us also define the concepts of substance, 'time' and

'space.'

The entire universe is made up of substance. Substance is matter and energy. Perhaps even an idea? Energy is that which allows matter to change, and matter is the source of energy. It is similar to how immaterial thought changes the substance, studies it, and shapes it, but the source of thought is in the substance.

The substance has always existed and will never disappear.

It is eternal and ever-changing. In everyday conversation, we use the expression that something 'emerges' to denote a change in something that already exists. Basically, nothing is created, only what already exists changes. Because sometimes significant, substantive changes take place within that which already exists, 43





for example, when a new entity is formed, we say that something has 'emerged.'

Attempting to explain the actual origin of the 'first'

substance, however, leads to nonsense. If we say that a substance emerged at moment T, there is no answer to the question of what it came from, except that it came from nothing, which is contrary to the logic that 'nothing comes from nothing'. If we believe that it arose from something, even from 'one infinitesimally small point,' again we do not get an explanation of its origin, but only that what already existed changed into something else (it became different).

So, the 'first' substance did not come into being, or rather, it is eternal—it has no beginning and no end—it is non-created and interminable! The notion of eternal cannot be explained in a logical, satisfactory way. The inability to understand the concept of eternity stems from our inability to truly understand substance and time.

Time is neither matter nor energy. As such, time does not exist, but there is the concept of time, a dimension, an abstract definition of the measure of change, a counter—similar to numbers. It exists only now, nothing more, the past and the future are merely concepts, categories of thought. The concept of time is only a mental means of measuring the sequence of events from some starting event or state of matter determined by the mind. It is relative because substance has no beginning or ending in time. However, because we exist in the physical world, the concept of time is frequently misunderstood. That which broke yesterday can be fixed today so that it can work tomorrow, and this misleads us into thinking that there is a 'time,' while we overlook the fact that an event that has already happened cannot be changed or annulled. Time travel, which is often shown in science fiction, is not possible.

Space does not exist, it is nothing, emptiness, it exists only as a concept that we consider only as a relative measure of the 44





distance or relative distance of substantial bodies, expressed in units of substance. Substance is therefore something that exists within emptiness, nothingness.

And if 'something' can exist within 'nothing,' then 'absolute nothing' does not exist, which confirms the claim that the universe is eternal (it was neither created nor can it disappear), but is quantitatively definitive and spatially limited.

The quantity of the universe is eternal, it always contains the same number of the smallest invariant particles. The spatial dimension is constantly changing—it may pulsate, stretch and contract, thin and thicken, but it is always limited. The whole universe is probably a sphere or disk of swirling dust and cosmic bodies, and beyond which there is a complete void.

Let us imagine the Sun and Earth as two spheres existing in a space. The room is dark and cold. The first sphere (the Sun) is shining and emits heat and light into this space. The second sphere (Earth) is a dark, solid substance. The second sphere revolves around the first one at a certain distance and simultaneously rotates around its own axis.

The heat and the light of the first sphere heat and irradiate the latter. This triggers changes in the second sphere. Since it rotates around its own axis, the influence of the shining sphere reaches at any given time only a part of the surface of the dark sphere, and within one complete rotation it affects its entire surface, but never the entirety of it at the same time.

If the second sphere did not rotate around its own axis, it would be continuously heated on the sunny side (the side facing the first sphere), and it would be cold and dark on the other (i.e.

shady) side.

The first sphere affects the second in each case, it cyclically, continuously and linearly changes the dark and cold to light and warm and so on, over the entire surface of the second sphere.

These changes, their infinite circular motion, act as a kind of

'engine' that causes constant changes on the second sphere.

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The system formed by the light and the dark sphere triggers innumerable processes and changes on the dark sphere. For life, the light sphere is a source of energy, and the dark one is a source of matter. It is a fact that 'inanimate' parts interact to create active processes such as nuclear fusion, winds, tides, lava eruptions, earthquakes, and so on. Gravity, which unites particles, is the basis of the formation and motion of cosmic bodies. Within all the individual elements of the universe, processes take place that, in interaction with other elements, change structures and shapes. Basic particles that are not affected by any change are eternal and immutable. The grouping and ungrouping of these elementary particles forms everything that exists and functions as an autonomous part of the whole.

When the dark sphere is heated to a temperature above 0°C, its top layer softens and turns into a liquid state—water. As it heats up even more, the liquid begins to gradually dilute and evaporate. The range of somewhere between 0°C and 50°C

creates special conditions, the mobility of matter and multiplication of processes which are a precondition for life.

According to science, temperatures can range from -273°C or 0°K (absolute zero) to, say, 15 million degrees Celsius in the solar core. Viewed in terms of the universe, outside of the short-lived, temporary, narrow temperature range from 0–50°C life, as we define it, cannot occur.

Thus, in the presented system of the two different spheres, one light and the other dark, life developed, and from life spirituality. If both spheres had the same properties, life could not have arisen. The mutual influence of diversity in a single system is a prerequisite for life.

Below, I explain how everything in the universe is connected, how everything affects everything else, and how the meaning of life can only be found within the whole. In addition to being majority inanimate matter, the universe is also a living organism made up of countless parts, in which we humans (and 46





possibly other thinking beings) are just cells of the distributed consciousness of this organism. Similarly, individual neurons in our brains are unable to think independently, but they are carriers of individual information. It is only through the interconnection and interaction of neurons that thought, consciousness, cognition are formed.

The notion of wholeness, except when I mention the universe, is not to be understood in an absolute, but rather in a relative sense, depending on the mental level of consideration we are currently interested in. The relatively understood wholeness is the focus of our interest. A part can also be a logical whole if we treat it that way. Whether we call an entity a part or a whole therefore depends on the context. The heart can be considered as a whole if we focus our attention on the study of the anatomy of the heart, but it can also be considered as part of the organism, because the heart does not work only for itself and it also depends on the functioning of other organs. The heart is at the same time a whole, as well as a part of a bigger whole—

the organism.

In order to understand the purpose of the heart, it is therefore necessary to consider the whole organism. At the same time, we have to take into account the functioning or the purpose of other organs acting in parallel and in coordination and which maintain a closed circle, a whole, called 'the body.' It is explained further below that considering the body or the animal as a whole is also a relative notion.

Unlike plants that are physically attached to the soil by their roots, animals have the ability to move around (swimming (fins), walking (legs), flying (wings), etc.), which allows them some autonomy, mobility and spatial self-management.

How did the physical separation of animals from soil occur?

It is easiest to imagine that the first life formed in a liquid (water) as a kind of separate, autonomous bubble and developed further in a kind of semi-liquid state. It was only later that this more 47





developed life form gradually made its way to the land and developed further as a land (separate from the soil, i.e. mobile) animal. The first of what were to become organs was probably a simple kind of liver, which filtered the particles that 'flowed'

through the core of the emerging organism. Other organs (lungs, intestines) gradually formed later, but the connections between them developed into a seemingly separate organ—the brain. The skeleton, the eyes, ears, legs and arms were formed last due to the growing needs of the developing organism and the consequent need for an increased active intake of essential substances from the environment.

Connectedness should be understood as the mutual inseparable influence of two or more of the phenomena considered. It can be understood as interdependence. A change in one phenomena affects everything else to varying degrees.

The younger entities, formed chronologically later, are completely existentially dependent on the previous, older ones.

The older entities are seemingly independent of the younger ones, but they can still be significantly influenced. For example, a younger entity can destroy an older one (the human can partially or completely exterminate plants or an animal species, and pollute the air and water).

We will examine the interconnectedness of parts of the universe from three angles: the interconnectedness of the animate and the inanimate, the interconnectedness of man and nature, and the interconnectedness of humans within humanity.

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ANIMATE AND THE

INANIMATE

At the basic level, we divide nature into the animate and inanimate. The inanimate part of nature is comprised of the soil, water, air, the sun, the moon, etc. The animate part of nature are plants and animals (and of course people who are also animals 48





in the biological sense). The animate and inanimate worlds are influenced by natural forces, which can be considered as part of the inanimate world, with special properties. These forces are universal, they are not limited to Earth: gravity, magnetic force, radioactive radiation, sunlight which we see and whose heat we feel, etc.

The inanimate does not depend on the animate, it can also exist without the animate. The animate, however, cannot arise nor exist without the inanimate. And within the animate part of nature, fauna cannot exist without vegetation. So the animate cannot exist without the inanimate, only together they form what we call life.

There is no strict line between the living and the non-living.

The inanimate flows continuously through the living. The living is always inextricably linked with the inanimate. We inhale

'inanimate air,' we drink 'inanimate' water (the human body contains about 70% water), we are warmed by 'inanimate' sun rays, we move on 'inanimate' soil. When we breathe air, drink water, consume food, they come into us, become part of the living, part of the process of life, and when they leave us again, they return to the non-living.

The inanimate is a necessary, indispensable external factor of every living organism. A person can survive without certain parts of the body, but not without air or water. The connection is organic and perfect, and we must be aware of this if we want to properly understand and define the concept of life.

Most aware of this constant, uninterrupted connection are those who plan space flights or fly into space, shipwrecked people who crave a glass of drinking water in the middle of the endless sea, and the like.

Providing water and air to astronauts is, I suppose, the most demanding engineering task, more demanding than making a rocket propulsion system.

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In the animal world, the destruction of other lives is a prerequisite for the existence of one's own life. Animals are forced to eat (destroy) plants or other animals. When this happens, the animate changes shape—the grass turns into a deer, the deer into a wolf, the wolf into grass, the mouse turns into a cat, the antelope into a lion and so on.

The soil is the physical carrier of all inanimate and living things and the source of the strength of organisms, the raw material of life. All life forms are soil which has been upgraded and transformed. If we look at a modern, technologically advanced society, we will find that man also obtains everything from the soil. Food, houses, cars, planes, computers, yachts, rockets—everything is entirely sourced, processed and made from soil. When we sit in a car and turn on the engine and radio, do we realize that the whole car is created from (originally) ordinary soil? Man has turned soil into an artificial creation with his thoughts and work—the car, the computer and the like (the adjective 'artificial' stands for everything created by man).

In addition to being the physical carrier of aquatic life, water is also essential for all terrestrial life forms. It directly enables and physically flows through all life processes. Plants dry out without water, and animals (aquatic and terrestrial) die.

Air is the physical carrier of flying organisms. Additionally, it makes possible the transfer of plant seeds and protects life from harmful radiation from space (the atmosphere). Living organisms constantly absorb it and use it as a basis for bodily functioning. Only a brief break in the flow of air is enough to end a life.

The basic source of energy that enables and influences all processes on earth is 'our star'—the Sun. With its radiation, the sun creates light and heat and continuously provides 'all life' with conditions for existence and development. Without solar radiation, molecules could not move, everything would be still.

Everything would be frozen, and water would be solid.

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The sun is also the center, the fulcrum around which Earth revolves, connected to it by the invisible and powerful forces of gravity.

Recently, I was quite taken aback and disappointed when I watched a show on television about how the Sun (so they explained), a seemingly harmless star, is basically a 'killer' or a

'sinister star' from which Earth protects us so that destruction does not happen!

There was no emphasis on the fact that the Sun is the basic source of life and, like everything else we unconditionally require, is deadly if we are exposed to it to an extreme—for example, think of drowning in water. But to proclaim that water is dangerous is nonsense! All the processes by which Earth protects us from the Sun are triggered precisely by the Sun, e.g.

photosynthesis, which is fundamental for the existence of plants and the creation of air; in addition, it maintains water in a liquid state and so on.

Why am I writing this? I promised myself that I would not criticize anyone in principle, but such a level of misunderstanding of the basic processes in nature, and by a world-renowned media house, really stunned me. This show was not prepared by one person; many could have noticed that this kind of interpretation of relationships in nature is very misguided, but apparently no one has figured it out.

We can imagine Earth as the mother who gave birth to us and the Sun as the father who fertilized Earth (it goes without saying that the human qualities of such a relationship, such as conscious decision, love, and emotions are absent). The bond between us and the Sun is perfect, organic, not defined in merely poetic terms. Of course, I do not want anyone to understand this as the foundation of a new religion or sect, because that would take away the original meaning of the written parable and add a bunch of interpretations for which we can already imagine, if not their form, then certainly what their purpose would be.

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Sometimes we find in the media the opinion that we could use more solar energy (and of course we would!), but this idea sounds both sad and funny—the Sun is the basic source of energy which enables and sustains all life on Earth!

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE

Let us start by estimating the impact of humanity on the nature of the planet Earth (assumption: year 2019, a population of about 7 billion people) and what this means.

If all people held hands and each individual represented 1

meter in this chain, we would circle Earth 175 times around the equator! Or we would orbit the Sun almost twice around its equator!5 If we go along with the assumption, this is about 17

distances to the Moon (about 400,000 km).

The surface of Earth is about 510 million km2, of which the land represents about 30% or 149 million km2 and the water surface about 70% or 361 million km2. Mathematically, one earthling gets 0.021 km2 of land or 21,000 m2—which represents the surface area of a square with 145 meter sides. However, if all the people of the world gathered in one place and each occupied 1 m2, they would altogether cover an area of only 7,000 km2, which is approximately equal to the area of the smallest countries in the world (e.g. Cyprus has a surface area of 9,251

km2).

If we take into account the amount of space required for plants which are needed for human survival (food), the raw materials to make billions of cars, build housing and the like, we can be sure that our impact on the planet is enormous, 5 Seven billion people represents seven billion metres this way. If this is divided by 40,075,000 metres, which is the circumference of Earth at the equator, we get approximately 175. The circumference of the sun is 4,379,000

kilometres.

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substantial. All other plant and animal species are subordinated to our own needs or are threatened by us. We have a significant impact on a world we do not understand well, and we are guided only by our own selfish interests.

The interconnectedness of all parts of nature, as shown in Figure 1, is hierarchical. The higher levels in the hierarchy depend on all lower levels, while lower levels are generally less or completely independent of the higher ones. Plants, for example, are dependent on water but not on herbivores (however, herbivores do frequently enable the plants to fertilize or reproduce). Herbivores, on the other hand, are completely dependent on both water and plants.





Figure 1: Pyramid (dietary and intellectual)



Plants are a staple food for herbivores, and herbivores are a staple food for predators. It is a food chain where each link in the chain has its indispensable role. The term chain refers to a sequential and inseparable connection of all the links. Because in the process of life there is a solid hierarchy, a sequence of subordination and superiority, the more appropriate term is the 53





food pyramid, with the human, a thinking being, at the end of the chain, i.e. at the top of the pyramid. The imagined pyramid is most spacious at the base, and it narrows towards the top to a single point.

The pyramid is made up of all life forms from water, land and air. The basis of the food pyramid is the ground (soil), which is the physical support or foundation of the entire structure. The next layer consists of inanimate water and air, which all living things depend on. Above the water and air there are plants that feed on water and minerals from the soil. Above the plants is the level of herbivores that feed on plants and water. The next level belongs to predators—carnivores and omnivores—that need all the previous lower layers for food (existence). At the top of the pyramid is the human who consumes plants, herbivores, omnivores and even predators for food!

It is clear that the food pyramid coincides with a similarly conceived 'intellectual pyramid.' Ability, mobility and creativity increase with each level. There are microorganisms on all levels of the pyramid that form a 'subsystem' or a part of an organism without which probably no life would be possible.

Each lower level of the pyramid is the existential basis for all higher levels and this fact gives meaning to each individual level. The human, who is at the end or the top of the pyramid and whose purpose cannot be determined by the logic of an intermediate link, seems to make no sense! All previous levels could exist without the human!

But that's just an illusion. Man possesses spirituality, something of the highest quality, which has grown from all the lower levels. Due to this property, man significantly influences all lower levels, changes them, exploits them and adapts them to himself. The essence, the meaning of all lower levels and man himself, is spirituality.

The existence of man is therefore completely dependent on all the lower levels. Billions (countless) processes and years 54





have passed in the development from the original substance to spirituality, and man has been in this still rapidly advancing phase for only the last few hundred years.

What were initially physical processes gradually diversified and upgraded with chemical, biological and then spiritual processes.

The entire pyramid presented above is illuminated by the Sun. Without the influence of the Sun, only the lowest level, the ground, would exist (as with other planets). There would be no liquid water either. Currently, there is no life on other planets of our solar system. Earth is in the optimal position in relation to the Sun. But within cosmic proportions this is only for a short period of time and the situation will definitely change.

How sensitive our existence is to the influence of the Sun is also shown by the significant differences in the distribution of life in different areas on Earth. Where the sun's rays fall at a smaller angle, at the Poles, there are very few plant and animal species; on the South Pole there are almost none. Temperatures are extremely low and unfit for life.

So there are places on the planet otherwise abundant with countless forms of life where there are no suitable living conditions.

It is too hot in the deserts, there are no permanent human settlements, water is inaccessible, plants and animals are a rarity.

At the same time, there are large reserves of oil in these areas (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, etc.), which testifies to the fact that in these areas life was very rich in the distant past.

In places where solar radiation is moderate, life is rich, diverse, there are countless microbes, plants and animals.

Vast rivers of people travel hundreds and thousands of kilometers during the tourist season to reach sun-drenched beaches. They long for the source and cradle of life.

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While Earth is turning, sunlight in a certain geographical location gradually turns into darkness, and the vast majority of people gradually, following the darkening, lie down and rest.

When sunlight eventually reappears, people wake up and become active.

The sun radiates continuously with approximately the same intensity (of course, there are occasional eruptions), and its influence on the earth, water and air causes constant climate change, depending on the position of Earth and its properties—

gravity, magnetic field, static electric charge, etc.

Of course, the influence of the Moon and its gravity is also very important, as well as many other factors that will not be considered separately.

Astronauts who have lived on the International Space Station say their view of Earth from space has changed their lives. Their view of the world changed! Nowadays, we can watch footage of Earth on the internet and, if we want, we can experience all the diversity and richness of Earth. The most glorious thing man saw when he set foot on the Moon was definitely the view of Earth!

We actually look at and experience the world around us like a frog at the bottom of a well. We only see a piece of the sky and stars, while the wall of the well represents our ignorance. Until we sink under the surface of the universe visible to the eye, we will not understand its wholeness and our position within it. We will only be unhappy or falsely happy slaves of our bodies, states, nations, banks and so on.

Viewed from Earth's orbit, humans cannot be seen with the naked eye at all, they are invisible. But if we look at man carefully, up close, if we think deeper, we realize what a glorious creation he is! Man himself is a universe within the Universe!

We humans are just autonomous parts of nature, always bound by the 'umbilical cord' to the inanimate, which flows and also lives through us. Of course, autonomy does not yet mean 56





independence. A living organism is always, at all times, completely attached to and dependent on its environment—the soil, air, water, solar radiation. Despite its own autonomy, it is a

completely dependent part of a larger whole, of nature.

We can feel our connection to the universe, although we cannot rationally define it, while listening to and experiencing music. Man does not necessarily need music to survive, but he has performed and listened to it throughout history, in all corners of the world. Symphonies awaken something beautiful and pleasant in us, in our emotions, something that we cannot rationally define because we do not know how to.

It is not necessary for an individual to be educated to feel this beauty and harmony. It can be experienced by people of all ages, uneducated people and intellectuals.

The sensual experience of music confirms that the possibility of harmonization with the universe does exist, but we are not sufficiently aware of it due to our still predominant, instinctive, animal side.

At the same time, it reveals the spiritual side of man which can be harmonized with, and not contrary to, the truth, the Universal Harmony.

Composers, musicians subconsciously feel the Cosmic Frequencies and pass them on to other people, communicating that there really is harmony and beauty in the universe.

Through music we can feel and be aware of the connection to the universe on a spiritual level.

The connection with the universe can also be felt on a physical, biological level.

At the moment of orgasm during sexual intercourse, man experiences the subconscious, non-intellectual, rationally inexplicable, supreme satisfaction of a fulfilling union with nature, fulfilling a higher purpose that is higher than him personally. And that purpose is to overcome personal mortality through the continuation of the species. But a lot of 57





misunderstanding and consequent misperception of oneself and the world takes place precisely in the field of sexuality and mortality which basically shape the human mindset.

CONNECTEDNESS OF PEOPLE (HUMANITY)

Awareness of the dependence of each individual on other people and the functioning of all humanity is essential to understanding the meaning of life. If we thought more deeply about interdependence, we would understand the world better.

Imagine being alone in the middle of a forest where there are no other people or things made or built by people. How would you provide what you needed—water, food, shelter? Are we aware of the extent to which our modern lives depend on things made by other people? By that I mean roads, bridges, apartments, shops, power plants, plumbing, food, medicine, clothing, furniture, cars, phones, and countless other things we use every day. Are we aware of our dependence on and connection with the people who work in power plants, produce, transport and distribute food, water, and how dependent we are on doctors and dentists, teachers, teachers in kindergartens and countless others?

In a society, work is distributed. Each person contributes in their own field. Let’s look at the average doctor and bricklayer as an example. The profession of a doctor is above all humane, but also professional, demanding, responsible and generally respected, salaries are adequate, above average. However, it should be borne in mind that a doctor cannot perform his duties without nurses, medical instruments, medicines, electricity, buildings built by bricklayers and designed by architects, without professors who have transferred the knowledge and experience of many, including those long dead, scientists, and so on. But all these builders, architects, professors, nurses, and 58





others have to eat the food produced by food growers, they need appropriate clothing and so on.

Bricklaying is a physically difficult profession. Working at heights is risky, exposure to injuries and differing weather conditions put a strain on health, wages are moderate, no bricklayer is wealthy.

But no one can manage without a food-producing farmer.

Not even the doctor. If the food was not grown by a farmer, the doctor would have to grow it for himself and his family, and in that case he would not be able to treat people.

If we delve into the connection and interdependence of all people and professions, we will be able to make and mentally reconstruct countless similar connections.

It is important to be aware of this and respect bricklayers and farmers as well as doctors, traders, babysitters, drivers, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, etc. Huge differences in social status and earnings are proof of general tolerance of established misperceptions of these connections. Everyone is important and everyone should be provided with decent eliving conditions—even the unemployed, because if they do not earn money from work, the necessities of life can only be obtained through criminal acts, which is not in anyone's interest.

The purpose of this text is not revolutionary, but gradually everyone, especially the wealthy, should realize that the so-called golden rule of the inviolability of private property, which allows for the concealment of countless embezzlements, speculations, minor and major frauds and manipulations, abuses of power and corruption that manifest themselves as enormous wealth differences, is not based on ethical but extremely selfish principles that disregard the reality of the social division of labor and the real interdependence of people. Eventually, democratically, with an upgraded perception of the world, the world order must be reconciled with real relations, because this actually is in everyone's interest.

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Countless generations before us gradually built the world as we know it. Each succeeding generation upgrades and perfects the achievements of its ancestors.

We are creating a society that everyone wants and represents differently, but we do not have common global goals and plans defined. As if the world begins and ends with our ego.

An individual would live like in the Stone Age without engaging with others, because he alone cannot do much more than find the most suitable stick or stone. It is very difficult to light a fire or provide food for yourself without matches and tools made by fellow humans.

The role of man in humanity and his smallness and at the same time relevance and indispensability can be illustrated with the example of individual bricks in a wall. One brick in a wall doesn’t mean much, but a wall wouldn’t exist at all without each of the individual bricks. It is similar with the individual cells that make up the body.



The world is not outside us, we are inside the world.



We exist to contribute to the world; the world was not created just for us or any individual. It is not okay for us to just take from the world, accumulate its riches only for ourselves and not feel indebted! Only a human who contributes, who gives and returns to the world and nature what he has received from them, in any way, can feel fulfilled and reassured because he is fulfilling his real purpose.

I am also We and I am also They and They are also We, and We are all part of the world and Earth is part of the Universe.

When I came into existence I had no influence on my own creation (nor desire for it). Everything I am, I got from the outside. And as a thinking being, I am obliged to act in accordance with my own purpose and not just maintain my own 60





life, I am obliged to think for the sake of everything external (us, you, the world, the universe).

Even a small group of people is not able to take care of their own needs satisfactorily. Achieving the material standard in economically developed countries requires a huge number of

'ordinary' and highly specialized workers and managers.

Our real purpose is to cooperate and contribute to humanity.

Even if we are selfish, if we act only for our own profit, we can be a useful part of society. Through the social division of work, which 'forces' us to specialize in a profession, we contribute much more to society than if everyone worked only for themselves. With such specialization, the productivity of society increases exponentially due to synergy.

The question is, can humanity build a human society in which the vast majority are satisfied based on the premise that each individual works only for himself and does not take others into account? We can only hope to 'balance' each other and coordinate on the basis of still misunderstood and often deliberately overlooked truths.

We individuals do what seemingly benefits us personally, and we subconsciously believe that this is how the world can function; that the 'market' automatically regulates everything.

But this is not the case. There are countless examples in history when things stop, society comes to a standstill, but no one, not even any organization, has a defined mandate or responsibility for crisis prevention. When our many uncontrolled and uncoordinated actions become so complex, they lead to serious crises, wars and disasters, which we solve in a hurry without taking preventive action. The example of the Black Death, the plague that decimated Europe, can illustrate what will happen if we do not handle waste more responsibly and take care to prevent environmental pollution. If our descendants do not have drinking water, if the environment and air are polluted, no one will be held responsible, as no one has an explicitly defined 61





responsibility. The fate of the world is basically in the hands of the personal selfish interests of seven billion people!

But to each other, we are truly precious and indispensable.

Without cooks, housewives, merchants, engineers, doctors, teachers, nannies, accountants, and thousands of other professions, the current standard of living would not be achievable. Every individual contributes to humanity. Going to the Moon is impossible without cooks and food producers and without insects fertilizing the plants we use as food! For this reason, we must respect, truly respect all nature and every human being, and behave and act in accordance with such (world) consciousness.

Spirituality is what separates us most from less developed ancestors. The production of material goods (which is basically just an upgrade of animal capacities) is the basis, but without spirituality and culture, human society would be something completely different, not human at all, but animal. Without books, paintings, music, and the like, the world would truly be an 'animal empire.'

The human is autonomous, but completely dependent on nature. What does this mean? It means that man possesses the ability to move, act and think independently, but only within the firm boundaries of external circumstances and conditions.

I will not literally quote different definitions of the term autonomy, but I have read many incorrect ones that cite independence as synonymous with autonomy. Autonomy is not independence, it is just the ability of a part to function (while being absolutely dependent) within the whole.

The entire knowledge of humanity is distributed among individuals. There is no single center of thought that contains all the knowledge of the world. Each individual learns only a part of the truth and sees a limited, unique image of the world. The diversity of knowledge is humanity's wealth. It is a view of the world from billions of different angles. Spiritual autonomy 62





allows individuals to delve into the essence of different phenomena, dimensions and parts of the world. It is impossible to know the complexity of the world and the universe without mass autonomy of thinking beings. Billions of different opinions give rise to countless creative actions in countless areas. What emerges from this multitude of creative acts is an endless, diverse array of products for everyday use, works of art, paintings, books, songs, theatrical performances, films, as well as means of destroying people.

Mutual sharing, exchange and synthesis of knowledge is the precondition for the existence and development of a multitude of autonomous rational beings. We will be able to know the truth only when we are able to mentally connect and understand the essence of all the various representative insights.

THE CONTINUATION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES

The interconnectedness and interdependence of people is not only a fact of the present, but also of the past and the future.

More than a hundred billion people have lived before us through countless generations. These generations passed on as a baton a great deal of knowledge, achievements, as well as material goods, which represent the starting point for those living today; religion, philosophy, science, culture, ethics, art, paved roads, universities, magnificent buildings and monuments, and so on.

Each succeeding generation has added something to this heritage, as we are, and this will be the starting point for future generations.

There have been many things in the history of mankind that seem wrong or incomprehensible to civilized man—plague, extermination of indigenous peoples, plant and animal species such as bison, unrestricted fishing and whaling, wars, concentration camps, slavery, apartheid, cyclical crises of 63





overproduction, stock market crashes—as well as the current immense pollution of the planet. These are strong messages about bad experiences that need to be remembered. People have to be made aware of them and prevent them, collectivelly and each according to his capabilities, in the present and in the future. Perhaps these bad things are necessary, as a kind of adolescence, an intense phase in the development of humanity towards the ideal of man.

We can only hope that humanity will be able to develop to the stage of maturity.

Perhaps we could draw a parallel between the development of the individual and the development of humanity: Human

Humanity

baby

life in the beginning; passively gets everything

it needs from nature;



child

Stone Age, learning about the world, taking the

first independent steps;



adolescent

rapid development of technology, science and

emotion, identity crisis;



young man cooperation, search for partnership, taking and woman flight;



maturity

work, responsible behavior, caring for the

continuation of the species;



old age

wisdom, unification with the universe.





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And then what? Maybe the human race will survive for many years to come, maybe it will reach other planets and solar systems and continue to exist. Another possibility is the extinction of humanity! Even if this is the case, everything happens in cycles in nature. New, fresh life and spirituality will be reborn and develop, which is the essence of substance. Maybe over billions of years. The cosmic processes will begin anew in a similar way and the consciousness of the universe will awaken and develop again, because the universe strives for self-knowledge!





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THE FUNCTIONING OF NATURE AND MAN AS PART





OF NATURE


A negative attitude towards the meaning of life often stems from a misunderstanding of the essence of processes in nature.

Relationships between parts of nature, between its different forms of life, sometimes seem cruel and illogical to us. However, if we dig deeper and think, we can eliminate our initial superficial and negative experiences of nature and the world through understanding.

On the outside, nature looks beautiful, colorful, rich, and diverse, and at the same time it is strong, wild and cruel in its functioning. Lightning, thunder, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, erosion of rocks and lands, earthquakes and countless other phenomena are its unceasing expressions. In addition, it seems as if parts of nature are 'hostile' to each other. The bigger fish swallows the smaller one, the cat tortures the mouse, people hate each other and kill each other. Living organisms behave completely selfishly. An individual life form selfishly takes from nature everything it needs and it does it at all costs. Nature knows no moral principles. Moral principles were created by people out of the need to harmonize interpersonal relationships.

Despite the fact that everything in nature is constantly changing, the basic principles of nature are constant and unchanging, they are the starting point for all other processes of change.

So let us think about nature's basic principles.

ACCUMULATION OF BASIC PARTICLES

The basic precondition of all other processes in nature is the accumulation of elementary particles. The basic physical law of nature is the law of mutual attraction or gravity. This law applies to all particles and bodies in the universe. This attraction is also 66





the basic driving force of the motion of cosmic bodies.

Numerous small movements between the elementary particles cause the rotation or circling of the masses around the central axis and then the rotation of these masses around the larger ones, which are like a kind of locally central anchorage point. Circular motion can be recognized as a rule where everything constantly returns to the same point again and again and sets off repeatedly on the approximately same path, which, however, necessarily gradually slightly changes.

The basic building blocks of the universe exist in at least two different forms, because by combining the same building blocks, nothing significantly different from the component of the material itself is formed. Due to gravity, larger and larger masses, planets, the Sun, the Moon, and Earth, gradually formed, creating countless very complex processes in their interaction with each other. All the planets, suns, and moons were formed as more or less ideal rotating spheres moving in different orbits.

No cosmic body is at rest; everything is moving. The movement of cosmic bodies takes place linearly in closed circles or ellipses around even larger central bodies. The same rule applies to the movement of these central bodies. We can imagine that all galaxies or even larger unnamed space systems revolve around one central point or body that is the centre of the universe. Could this central point be Thought, that is, the realization that gives meaning and an awareness of its own existence to this whole moving physical mass of innumerable particles?

EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE6

All phenomena in nature that have influenced the origin and development of life are the result of a constant intense and 6 American astrophysicist Eric Chaisson writes about the physical, chemical, biological and spiritual evolution of the universe.

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complex interaction between inanimate entities. The interaction between inanimate formations causes motion, heat, cooling, radioactive, electrical and magnetic radiation, and nuclear reactions, it forms clouds, rain, wind, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

These physical processes of aggregation of elementary particles have led to an increase in the mass and complexity of the resulting masses. The interactions between these particles led to chemical processes. Furthermore, in proportion to the complexity of cosmic bodies and, of course, also due to the

'external' influences of nearby suns or other bodies, biological

processes and life also developed. In contrast to physical and chemical processes, which can be local and individual, biological

processes

require

innumerable

different,

interdependent subprocesses.

The movement of particles, i.e. electrons, is present already in atoms, which is probably the basic precondition for the emergence of life. There is no motion without particles; nor can motionless particles be the basis for life. As the number of compounds becomes larger and complexity increases, a new autonomous process emerges, a whole, characterized by an inner essence, the interconnectedness of internal structures, a beginning of the id7 that seemingly separates from the 7 The id is the most primitive, instinctive part of the mind. Transated from Slovene:

'Id, ego and superego are the three parts of the individual's mind defined by Freud. Each of them develops over a certain period and has its own function.

The id is present at birth and represents the basis of bodily needs. It is about unconscious, instinctual needs, impulses and desires for pleasure that the child has. It is characterized by a demand for immediate gratification regardless of circumstances, consequences or other aspects of reality. It is based on the principle of satisfaction here and now.

Around the second and third year, the ego develops, which has the function of satisfying the needs of the id in an acceptable way. The main 68





environment and nature, becomes independent, gradually develops and begins to exist as an autonomous entity, a process within a process. The initial life forms only vegetated, they had no consciousness. They were passive, they got everything they needed from the environment. With development and growth, the needs of autonomous life increased, and passive reception alone was no longer sufficient for existence. The organism was slowly forced to begin actively seeking and taking additional substances it needed to grow. It began to multiply by division, similar to bacteria.

Spirituality developed from life; this is the period in which we exist. The complexity of everything is growing (we are also part of this process), spirituality is still evolving. The direction, forms, and possible limits of the development of spirituality are unknown and impossible to predict reliably. Even more complex processes that we cannot imagine at the moment will develop.

With increasing complexity forms are emerging that are more developed and better adapted to their environment.

Through generations, man has been adapting more and more to the environment. The shape of the body, hands, fists, and fingers is a perfect reflection of our interaction and functional harmony with nature. The same is true of our spirituality.

Something similar happens at the birth of a child. From conception, through fetal development to the birth of a child, all stages of development from the beginning of evolution to the characteristic of the ego is the principle of reality. The child realizes that not all of his needs can always and immediately be satisfied and with the help of the ego he tries to control which needs to satisfy now and which later. The ego enables thinking, predicting and deciding.

Around the age of five, the superego is formed based on upbringing. It is a set of moral values and beliefs that individuals take from their surroundings. The superego is not aware of reality, but strives for perfection and strict moral principles, which creates constant pressure and feelings of guilt.' (Psihoterapija Izbira, 2016)

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present day are shown in a relatively short period of time. The fusion of sperm and egg and the formation of the zygote (fertilized egg) and the whole further course until the birth of a child is a kind of vague picture of the evolution of the human race (but not only human) from the 'beginning.' At the start of development, the embryo is completely passive, it gets everything it needs from the environment. As it develops, its needs grow and it becomes more and more agile, but still completely dependent. After birth, physical separation from the mother, and while growing up, the child begins to actively take from the environment and has all the necessary organs that are nothing but means of interacting with nature.

A small child is a seemingly independent entity, but it is completely vitally dependent on its parents. Our attitude towards nature and humanity is supposed to be similar to the attitude of a child towards its parents. Nature, like parents, gives us everything we need, it protects us, and allows us and encourages us to gradually become more independent as we grow up.

DIVERSITY OF LIFE FORMS

The next principle is the tendency for the formation of a

multitude of different life forms. The fact that countless different life forms have evolved also points to the necessity of interaction between them. The previous chapter presents the connection between plants, insects, herbivores, predators and bacteria.

The diversity of life forms is the precondition for the existence of each individual form. The interaction of diversity in balance is a precondition for the existence and development of life.

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THE RELENTLESS STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE LIFE

Every organism strives to preserve its own life. To this end, it is richly endowed with various senses and mechanisms for the preservation of life—with feelings of hunger, thirst, pain, fear of the unknown, and fast legs, aggression and various 'means' of self-defense (horns, teeth, stench, poison, etc.). Fear and aggression are substances present in both animals and humans.

They are a precondition for saving lives. They will always be the foundation of existence, although today, due to the growing pressure of society, we hide and push these feelings away, but we cannot avoid them. Sometimes they erupt together when the gap between the individual and society widens beyond a certain limit.

Every living organism instinctively fights for its own existence. Without any moral boundaries, it will uncompromisingly, due to the relentless pursuit of its own needs, take from nature everything it needs. Over generations, it will adapt more and more to the environment and train for its own preservation (this does not mean that our hands have 'grown' so that we could steal, but that we could to work).

CONTINUING THROUGH DEVELOPMENT

Life tends towards the continuation and development of a species. These two tendencies form a logical whole, as development takes place within the process of continuation.

In order for life to continue developing, the lives of older members of the species must, after 'giving birth' to offspring, necessarily end; in this way, life is refreshed, it purifies itself

and develops. Development is the process of improving an organism's adaptation to an ever-changing environment. And every process has a beginning, a development, a waning and an end. Life has been developing and has maintained itself for 71





millions of years. Thus, our personal life can be understood as just one phase in this continuity of uninterrupted beginnings, existences, ends, new beginnings and so on. We have evolved

'from flies floating over water' to our present form and development continues into the future.

Through reproduction and birth, nature enables life to continue even after an individual dies. The innate mortality that we humans are so afraid of, and which seemingly deprives us of all meaning in life, is essentially the optimal way for life to continue and develop. Most people, writers and even philosophers, experience a kind of excessive, negative and irrational fear of death, wondering why we should live and suffer if nothing remains in the end. This feeling of nonsense and emptiness leaves them in despair. Let us think more deeply about life and death.

What if there was no mortality? Our hairy ancestors from thousands of years ago would live among us, including everyone up to our parents in the present day. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of billions of ancestors have lived before us. Where would all these immortal people live? Would they be healthy despite their age? Would they adapt and become educated over a period of thousands of years? Would they be in a good mood, willing and able to work? How many billions of such old people would there be in the world? Would women even give birth to children and what for?

It would be bad if we didn't die, the world would be full of the living 'dead' who would mostly just eat and watch TV, they would know all the jokes by heart and wouldn't find anything interesting or funny anymore. In their subconscious, they would always carry spiritual trauma and pain from the past. For example, those who were born in 1900 and survived both world wars would subconsciously live in fear and expect a third, even more terrible war. What about criminals and thieves who would live forever and 'work on their skills?' Mortality ensures that bad 72





people are not permanently cared for because of their bad deeds.

This is the only 'justice' that does not allow for the hope that crime pays off.

Being very sensitive to our own pain and suffering and transience should remind us to not cause pain, suffering and death, to do as much as possible in our lives for posterity, to improve the world, to understand our own position within humanity in the present and to position ourselves as a solid link between the past and the future.

BIPOLARITY OR DUALITY

The human race, like most other life forms on Earth, is naturally 'divided' or 'composed' of two poles—female and male.

For the most part, members of both sexes are similar, with basic differences in reproduction. The male fertilizes the female, and the latter gives birth to offspring. These two opposite poles must merge in order for the life of the species to continue in a slightly modified and more developed form. A more developed form means better adaptation to nature. We change from generation to generation. We are part of this ongoing process and our descendants will be increasingly more different from us.

Therefore, no one can predict with certainty what humans will be like in the future.

Through the duality of the poles, it is once again clearly shown that man is only a part of humanity, he is nothing as I by himself, because biological continuation, the continuity of life is possible only through sexual union of two people of different sexes. Bipolarity also applies to the relationship between different animal and plant species. For example, bumblebees and bees pollinate flowers, and this is how they get the food they need to survive. And the already mentioned relationship between cat and mouse can be understood as a kind of bipolarity (between animal species).

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Studying various sources on the meaning of life led me to the old Chinese tradition and mindset of Daoism, which is closest to the thinking presented in this book, in addition to the worshiping of the Egyptian Ámon-Rá (not in a mystical sense, but only as a form of awareness of the Sun as a source of life).

The symbol of Daoism reminds me of the unity of duality and the interconnectedness of all the individual parts of the universe— the unity of diversity in balance.





Figure 2: Yin-yang, a symbol of Daoism



The yin-yang symbol makes me feel that what we call

'wisdom' actually exists. It engenders countless thoughts and ideas, indicates an understanding of the whole, the experience of darkness and light, good and bad, chaos and harmony, and the interdependence of both poles. The symbol reflects wisdom, thousands of years old, captured in a completely abstract, clear and (relatively) simple form. It penetrates straight to the highest levels of spirituality without words, letters or numbers. It is a synthesis of wisdom, something that encourages reflection more than most books in the field of mindset and philosophy.

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Although it does not offer any explicit statement, it is associated with the essence of Everything.

The human has gradually perfected a machine—the computer—which unimaginably increases his ability to process information as a potential opportunity to consolidate and spread spirituality. The computer is based on digitization which, put very simply, is essentially based on two numbers—1 and 0, i.e.

on two different states. Different combinations of these states make it possible to present and process different types of information. It is possible to capture, display and process images, sound and virtually any other information. A bit of information means something only if it also has the opposite

'value', and that is zero.

NATURE SELF-REGULATES

Everything in nature influences everything else and maintains a dynamic balance by individual entities adapting to everything else (the animate and the inanimate). The most obvious example of self-regulation is the numerical balance between the female and male sexes; globally, the number of female and male newborns is always in balance. This shows the strength and stability of processes in nature, regardless of our desires and actions.

The body temperature of healthy people ranges between 36

and 37 degrees Celsius. A deviation of ± 10 percent is life-threatening. And this balance, this stability is automatically maintained. Damage to the body heals automatically—we can only speed up this process or alleviate pain, but the essence of

'repair' or recovery is done by the body automatically.

The numbers of game and predators are constantly balancing. If, due to the severe drought, the number of plants and the consequent number of game decreases significantly, the number of predators will also decrease over time. Of course, the 75





opposite is also true. Animals (wolves, cats, dogs, etc.) automatically grow thick hair before winter as a preparation for the cold and also automatically shed it in the warmer seasons.

Plants get rainy and sunny periods alternately as they need both to grow, but cyclically.

Life goes on in repetitive cycles; spring is followed by summer and then autumn and winter. Plants mature, bloom and multiply in cycles, animals mate and give birth at certain times of the year, etc.





I'm walking through the woods, alone, with a wooden stick in my hand. Suddenly, about twenty meters in front of me, two deer cross my path. First one and then another . . . and then a third! They swiftly, inaudibly dash before my eyes and merge with the forest, the trees, the bushes. I don't see them anymore.

I think about this encounter, about animals and deer. Do they think of me too? I know what to call them, people named them. We know a few facts about them. What do they know about people, how do they experience them? They respond instinctively, just as nature tells them to. They run, they hide. I am not afraid of them because I know they are not dangerous to me.



THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTION AS PART OF

NATURE

Although the basics of nature's functioning are general and apply to all living organisms, the human has some peculiarities, explained below.

The founder of the philosophy of the Absurd, Albert Camus, concludes that the world is irrational and bad, and that it does not correspond to a deeper human nature because it (the world) 76





is neither rational nor orderly. This view is based on the faulty assumption that man is separate from the world. We could also say that the human is unreasonable and bad and that this does not suit the deeper nature of the world, because he (the human) is not yet sufficiently reasonable or orderly.

The fact is that the world exists and functions as a big circus—life exists, develops and progresses, evolves, sometimes in a way that is incomprehensible and very cruel to us. The world is not subordinate to the individual, the individual is subordinate to the world. The world does not have a centralized consciousness, it operates according to the firm laws of interdependence and mutual coordination of the parts that make it up. The human is yet to define these laws correctly, understand them and coordinate one's actions with them.

The world sometimes seems absurd to us, mainly because of the cruel, incomprehensible behavior of man against his fellow man, animals and nature. Within their own species, only humans (and maybe ants?) kill each other en masse, ruthlessly and cruelly. There is certainly nothing wrong with our bodies—

we are healthy, mobile, functional, fast, strong, and incredibly effective in destroying each other. The reason for this kind of behavior is therefore in our spirituality. We are steadily increasing the scope of self-destruction with the technology we are eagerly developing.

If we imagine suffering, unarticulated screaming and pain, corpses and body parts scattered across a beautiful landscape, we certainly think that mutual destruction makes no sense. Can we even consider ourselves rational beings if we are not able to agree and make compromises? The story of war that is accepted is always provided by those who survive (and win), those who are killed and humiliated do not get a chance to present their experiences at all.

Leaving aside emotions, we can ask ourselves a question: Would humanity have evolved to the point of spaceflight at all 77





if (seemingly?) unnecessary battles hadn't taken place? In this case, would our consciousness remain at the level of animals?

Would we be content with just food and water, like sheep or monkeys? Would we have reached the current level of development and technology?

Perhaps it is precisely this uncertainty, struggle, injustice, pain, and the crimes we inflict on each other that are the fundamental condition of the scientific and technological progress of humanity and the basic motivation for overcoming evil, much like injuries and diseases are the basic motivation for exploring the human body, inventing medicines and sophisticated technical means that have improved our quality of life and extended our lifespan.

Could global participation of people develop without antagonisms

between

political

communities?

These

antagonisms encourage intensive cooperation within opposing communities. Fear or hatred of another community unites people of local communities, raises awareness of interdependence and forms a kind of (egoistic) idea of good and bad (evil).

Science advances rapidly during wartime. Does suffering gradually lead to a higher level of awareness? Science also advances in periods of peace, which we call technological revolutions; but the consciousness of good and bad may then stagnate or even be in regression (decaying?).

The roots of wars branch deep during periods of peace, when people think only of themselves. When interpersonal relationships based on mass egoism—personal, group, state—

without exception lead to serious problems in society, the culprit is usually identified outside oneself, the group, or the country (just like when an individual always blames others for his own problems, and always believes himself to be right). This egoistic view stems entirely from an inability to truly understand the whole.

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It is difficult to imagine any animal species that kills each other en masse and mercilessly, for example, horses against horses, monkeys against monkeys, even wolves against wolves; but if something like this really happened, you would think there was something very, very wrong with these animals. You would think of a disease that affects the brain, perhaps rabies? It is true that males do fight individually for territory, troop dominance and the right to mate, and acquired injuries and scratches usually heal more or less automatically.

Let us try to better understand the sometimes incomprehensible behavior of a person (people). The basic motive for human action is to satisfy one's own needs. Needs are sometimes personal, and sometimes, as explained below, they are dictated by something higher, the Wholeness of all that exists. A precise definition of the concept of need is essential for understanding the relationship between man and nature.

The condition for the existence of an individual living organism—plants, animals and also man—is the fulfillment of the needs that this organism has. The concept of need means and most clearly represents the connection between the animate and the inanimate. Every living organism, although autonomous and seemingly independent, is absolutely dependent on the Whole and is in constant interaction with its environment. It passively obtains or actively takes essential substances, energy or information from the environment. This relationship, the necessity of 'supplementing' a part with some of the Whole's treasure, is what we refer to as needs.

But man also has needs that plants and animals do not have.

In addition to needs, man also has desires that he often perceives as needs. Sometimes this is to the benefit of man, but many times it is a cause of utterly unwise behavior. The need to write is a reality, the desire to write is something else. The desire to fly is not a need, but man has wanted to fly since time immemorial.

And he succeeded, flying higher and faster, and further into 79





space. It makes sense to question whether flying indeed is not a human need, especially a spiritual one, because it could mean a starting point for something more, perhaps the expansion of life in space. So it is not a personal need, but a need of a higher power that is only 'projected' into the individual, as is explained in more detail below.

Meeting the basic needs for air, water, food, and heat is essential for the functioning of the organism and its preservation.

These needs are instinctive, animals have them as well. The

basic needs arise from the constant and complete dependence

of the autonomous organism on inanimate nature. We cannot properly understand life if we are not aware of this essential connection.

Not only did man materially come from earth, water, air, and solar radiation, but he constantly needs contact with the earth (for physical support), solar heat and light, and the flow of air, water, and food through the body.

In addition to personal needs, which are a condition for the existence of life (basic needs) and the quality of life (social needs of the individual), there are needs of the higher Whole

(humankind, society, nature, universe), which are realized by individuals and generally experienced and (wrongly) interpreted as personal needs. These needs are projected deeply into the essence of each of us. They do not originate in the human, but in the higher Whole. Socrates 'knew he didn’t know,' but that sense—the spiritual sense that is part of the Universe within us—is much more important for experiencing (rather than for truly understanding the entire contex of) Being.

Below, I list the needs by their purpose.

The basic existential needs of organism (plants, animals and humans) are:

- the need for contact with soil, water, air as a carrier,

- the need for heat and light provided by the sun, 80





- the need for air, water and food, and the excretion of products of physiological processes.

Needs that people and animals do have, but plants do not:

- the need for mobility,

- the need for rest.

Sleep and passivity were the starting states of the first organisms. With the growth of an organism, the needs also increased and gradually, having to intervene and capture ever more necessary substances from the environment, the organism began to awaken and develop activity. Eyes, limbs, etc.

developed.

Failure to meet a single basic need means the end of life.

In addition to the basic needs of life, man (and to a greater or lesser extent this also applies to animals) has social needs:

- the need for security,

- the need for love,

- the need for sociability,

- the need for competition and prestige,

- the need for creativity (which is unique to man).

These needs are arranged somewhat hierarchically, so safety comes first, but sometimes, for example, a mother's love for her child in a dangerous situation is more important than her own safety. The source of Love and the meaning of Love is the love of a mother or a female for her offspring. And every true love is the basis of human happiness. Love is the strongest bond between people and gives a feeling of complete spiritual connection. Happiness and contentment are equated only in Love. Love is a need of both the individual as well as the human race.

The social needs of the individual are necessary for the coordination and placement of the individual in society. If they are not met, the person is dissatisfied in proportion to other needs in the already mentioned 'hierarchy.' Contrary to the basic needs of life, social needs are of a spiritual nature. If they are 81





unfulfilled, it makes a person unhappy and has a very negative impact on the individual.

The basic need of the higher Whole— the human race (as well as animal species) is the continuation of the species, which animals fulfill instinctively, occasionally, in certain periods. In humans, this need is often experienced by individuals as (personal) sexual desire, a source of satisfaction in itself, because its impact on individuals is very strong, even obsessive.

However, the sexual desire of the individual is, in essence, the tendency of nature to continue and develop humanity. An individual can live his life without fulfilling this basic need of the human race, but humanity cannot. Sexuality is a way for life to overcome the mortality of the individual and ensure the immortality of the human species.

The needs of human society are also projected into the consciousness of individuals. For the functioning of society a common social basis is necessary in the form of unwritten or written rules, regulations and laws. Rules governed by the field of ethics, that is, rules about what is right and what is wrong are required for the harmonization of a complex and growing human society. Ethical rules are universal—they should apply equally to all members of society. If ethical rules do not apply equally to everyone, then such a society is, to put it mildly, unethical. An individual is, in principle, allowed to do whatever others are allowed as well, and at the same time, any act that harms any individual or community is prohibited.

With the help of ethics, we manage interpersonal relationships, and also people's behavior towards nature. Other than other people's responses and the perception of the consequences of our actions on nature, there is no supervisor of the correctness of our actions.

One of the forms of regulating relations in society are also ideologies, which aim to subordinate the whole of society to a single set of related ideas or one basic idea by a certain group of 82





people. Ideologies reach deeper than ethics (which is primarily a set of general principles of good and bad) into the concrete lives of people.

Laws are generally binding social acts that regulate detailed rules in important areas of society.

Getting to know and mastering processes as well as curiosity that grows into science are also more a societal need than that of the individual.

The next level of needs are the needs of the highest whole—

the universe, which are also strongly 'projected' into individuals and are above everyday urgent needs. They are not necessary for the existence and functioning of society, they are the needs for the highest, still insufficiently recognized and experienced achievements. These are the needs we personally feel and whose satisfaction we seek in art and philosophy, in the search for truth, beauty and harmony.

In order to survive and live an everyday life, man does not necessarily need to spend time contemplating himself, society, nature, and the universe, however he is constantly driven by a kind of universal curiosity. This curiosity is therefore not some personal or social need, but a need of the highest whole—the universe, 'projected' into the human. The saying 'Know thyself'

is only the first step and the starting point on the path towards knowing the Whole; at the end of this journey, the Whole will know itself—through us!

Just how much we are (subconsciously) connected to the universe is perhaps best perceived in the case of the stylized star, which is perhaps the most often depicted and accepted symbol of something sublime, the desire for the beautiful but unattainable. Many countries have a star symbol on their flags, hotels have three to five 'stars,' the expression 'a star is born'

means success, and so on.

Art is a universal means of communication that can be understood by any person, regardless of language, nationality, 83





religion or country. Painters communicate their vision of the world; music can be listened to and felt by people from all over the world.



Despite real needs, both economically well developed and underdeveloped societies are based exclusively on original egoism, which subordinates all other stated needs, transforms them, deforms them and adapts them to its own interest. It doesn't matter what and how much people really need, the only things that matter are sales and GDP growth, 'unnecessary needs'

are created by the media, etc.—consumerism has developed.

In such societies, the basis of mutual relations of individuals and on this basis the driver of development is pure 'forest-like'

egoism, which can, in increasingly complex conditions and with the concentration of power in the hands of the few, take on unforeseen forms, and which has the potential for development as well as degeneration and destruction. In a society where competent entrepreneurs are supposed to be the most successful, as a rule, corruption and crime, exploitation and manipulation are actually the most successful, and these lead society in the wrong direction and are extremely harmful. The 'less competent'

are necessarily forced to resort to alternative methods (lies, fraud, theft) because they have no legal backing, and this is not in a formal sense, but a matter of fact. No law states literally or something in the sense of, 'Let the one who is not successful in the market live from water and air, or let him find a different way.' And for part of the population, it is a matter of bare existence.

The original egoism is suitable for the rainforest, savannah or ocean, but we can partially mitigate it and adapt it to the needs of life in an increasingly developed and interconnected civilization, especially by developing a mindset and awareness of interconnectedness and interdependence. When (and if) the most influential egoists begin to realize this, the world will 84





become a nature-friendly and human-friendly space. When (and if) they realize that 'it is good to do good,' their lives will also gain meaning.

In contrast to consumerism, production for the market and not for the people, in contrast to a life based on bodily pleasures and excessive consumption, there are also ideologies that essentially advocate and practice asceticism (denial of pleasure in the pursuit of spiritual perfection) and celibacy (abstinence from sexuality). Personally, I think the best middle ground is balance, which is definitely the hardest thing to achieve in life.



Full belonging and connection with the universe can be felt on three different levels.

On a physical level as sexual desire, an extremely strong desire for sexual intercourse, sexual union with another person.

Nature strongly encourages the continuation of the species in us, the birth and upbringing of children. Orgasm, which is the culmination and conclusion of sexual intercourse, is a feeling that no one can rationally describe and explain. It originates from the basic, deepest source of life itself. It is an act of complete union with the universe, the most glorious 'bodily' experience a human can feel.

This extremely strong need for the continuation of the species has, due to countless different influences on the thoughts of individuals, reached a huge number of transformations and variations in man, and is perhaps the best example of good and bad possibilities of thought—real or unreal experience of the world. As a rule, sexuality is a goal unto itself, it is the gratification of sexual desire in innumerable variants, which are sometimes completely opposite from their source, that is, the continuation of the species. But perhaps in this case nature is also self-regulating—most children are born in 'stable'

marriages, even in poorer societies, where people mostly strive to meet basic needs (the mortality rate is also higher there).

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People who do not conform to the unwritten laws of nature, who go overboard, and who care only about their own (sometimes perverted) pleasures, mostly do not continue biologically.

The 'western' most technologically advanced part of the world is already below the 'free reproduction' birth rate (less than two children born per woman). Without workers from less developed countries, the industry of the Western world would certainly not be able to function at its current level. Westerners give birth to too few children, even though they produce the most material goods.

At the intellectual level, through science and the sharing of knowledge, we get to know, see and understand more clearly the world around us, the laws that operate beyond the reach of our senses and experiences. We still cannot fully connect and understand the whole, but we consciously and subconsciously strive for this goal from generation to generation.

On a sensuous level, we connect with the universe through art, outside the rational and the absolutely necessary. Art strives to imitate or transform the world, create visions, harmonies and fantasy worlds. It is on a higher level than productivity out of necessity, it is the alignment of oneself and the existing world with a higher, subconscious ideal.

Many musicians have said that music gives their life meaning. Our experience of music differs. A tune that some like, others may reject. Practically everyone listens to music, the young and the old, the educated and the uneducated; music can be heard everywhere people live. We experience the melody regardless of the author's nationality. It is a universal emotional language that can be 'understood' or experienced by anyone who can listen to it. The musical genius is not a rational thinker, but a person who, in a profound way, perhaps subconsciously, experiences the frequencies of the universe and interprets and translates them into a melody that other people can feel. In short, a musician is a person who passes on something that the universe 86





has given him, a platonic ideal that does not originate from mentally defined influences, but rather from a higher truth.

Music is not vitally important for the existence of humanity.

It is not the fruit of passion, it is neither physical nor intellectual satisfaction. It is an emotional communication with the universe.

It certainly makes life more beautiful and spiritually enriched; sublime, in other words.

If a human spirit exists, then the source of music is certainly within it and not in the rational, logical part of the human brain.

Through making or listening to and experiencing music, we certainly come into contact with the more beautiful side of our personality, into contact with the harmony of the universe; this happens when our spirit tunes into some unknown frequency in which the whole universe oscillates, into the Truth. Music suggests that the universe is structured in harmonious relationships, and it points to the path of man towards alignment with the universe.

When cruelty and egoism and various happenings in the world and our personal lives make life seem pointless, let us listen to popular music and perhaps we may find it easier to feel that this world has created something glorious, something beautiful in itself, something that is a reflection of the 'highest good.'

I personally feel the harmony of the universe, the movement of galaxies most genuinely when I listen to Mozart's Symphony no. 40 in G minor, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto no.

1 in B minor, Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Vivaldi's Storm, Bach's Jesus Remains My Joy, Shostakovich's Waltz no.

2, and many other glorious harmonies.

The experience of and reflection on music evokes the hope that in the very core, in the very essence of man, there exists a side completely harmonized with the universe, which indicates and revives the beauty of the human spirit and denies the assumption that man is fundamentally bad. The charm of Truth 87





also lies in its inaccessibility, and because we are still longing for it and unsuccessfully searching for it in logic, its simplicity and beauty can only be felt in musical harmony for the time being.





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THE MEANING OF LIFE

The previous chapters on unity, interconnectedness and interdependence explain that everything alive which arises, exists and develops has its own meaning or indispensable role in the whole process we call life. Life rests on the basis referred to as the inanimate—soil, air, water, solar radiation and countless other (inanimate) forces.

As a thinking being, man is at the top of not only the food but also the intellectual pyramid. He upgrades the whole base—

from inanimate water and air through plants that only vegetate, and then through mostly passive consumers in the form of herbivores, and active hunters or predators—with spirituality, which he gradually and uncertainly but persistently realizes more and more.

Neither religion and world ideologies nor science raise questions about the meaning of life. They also do not seek answers to them. Science deals with narrow, specialized areas of practical, applied thought. Religions defend the myth of the creation of the world and, partly based on myths and partly based on an ethics rooted in actual needs, define the rules of everyday life. Religions do not deal in depth with the meaning of life, 'for only the creator knows the meaning of everything.'

Finding the answer to this question is in the domain of philosophy.

According to Einstein, 'The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.' (Goodreads, 2021b) The famous saying by Descartes, 'I think, therefore I am ( Lat. Cogito ergo sum)' expresses the idea that existence is confirmed through thought, and we will expand and deepen it with the substantive question 'I am, therefore why am I?'

Tsiolkovsky, a Russian pioneer in the theory of spaceflight, believed that Earth was just a cradle from which we would one 89





day move on to outer space. The writing on his tombstone says,

'Humanity will not forever remain confined to Earth.'

I once read a statement I will remember forever: 'Man’s purpose is to observe the stars.' I will never know with certainty what exactly the author wanted to communicate (whether he said it as an astronomer or a poet or philosopher, or perhaps something else), but I was overwhelmed by the beauty of what was said.

Man does not come into being on his own, he is born from a two-parent relationship. He is not born of his own free will and is not born where he might have wanted to be. He is not born beautiful, ugly, sick, or healthy of his own volition or merit. He does not take the credit if there is a lot of water and fertile fields in his environment, and he is not responsible for the water in his country being dirty and difficult to access, and because there is a lot of sand and little grass. He is not credited with the birth of a genius composer in a nearby town a hundred years ago who created magnificent symphonies that are still listened to and admired by the whole world today. He does not answer for the fact that his father may still hunt today with a wooden stick in the jungle.

It follows from the above that our meaning would be easier determined by our parents, because we personally obviously have no influence on whether we are born, where we are born and what we are born as! So can we define our own meaning?

Each individual perceives himself as the center of the world, around which and because of which everything else in this world exists. Our needs and desires are the only thing that fully satisfies our thoughts, even when they seemingly relate to others.

Occasionally, some enlightened person thinks about his behaviour towards the world. But to see such a small part of the whole picture and experience the picture of the world so narrowly is, in the context of a complex, multibillion-dollar society, like judging a book of the world based on one letter, at 90





best one randomly selected sentence. It is paradoxical that we are aware of our own thoughts but never see our own body, while we see all other people's bodies but are not aware of their thoughts.

We were born without the possibility of any influence of our own, and this is the first and basic finding that we must be aware of!

The cause, the sources of and all the conditions for the origin and existence of every living organism are outside it!

Ever since he became aware of himself, man has had an innate need to understand all the things and phenomena he perceives with his senses. He used to know nothing, but he still interpreted phenomena on the basis of a mixture of instincts and senses that were the only things at his disposal.

Gradually, curiosity spread from the immediate environment and direct influences. As the human became more aware of the environment, he became more attentive and aware of the sun, the moon, the stars, etc.

Based on analogy, he gradually began to interpret and name important visible phenomena whose cause he did not know under a single name: unknown cause. He called the cause of the lightning 'the unknown cause of the thunder.' He called waves and storms at sea 'the unknown cause of the fluctuation of the sea.' This is how so-called polytheism developed.

After many centuries, several unknown causes 'merged' for various reasons into a single 'unknown cause,' the 'first source,'

which is called differently in different parts of the globe.

This is a period of monotheism that has been established for the last few thousand years. During this time, different monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) developed in different geographical regions; Hinduism, however, remains the greatest polytheistic religion. In addition to providing mystical explanations of the origin of the world, religions also set ethical rules of life in certain areas of influence. For example, 91





some prohibit eating pigs, others cows, still others eat everything except on Fridays, and so on.

Somewhere between the period of polytheism and monotheism, a kind of mentality emerged which was not satisfied with dogmatic, religious truths. In parallel with religion, it went even deeper, wider and higher in thought. This mentality is called philosophy. Often, whenever it was unable to find a satisfactory answer to a particular question, it nevertheless referred to the (unexplained and inexplicable) action of a higher power—the gods.

As an alternative view of the world atheism also emerged, a belief that God or higher beings do not exist, as well as agnosticism, which contradicts the dogmatic belief in the existence of God or the belief in some 'higher power' that cannot be explicitly defined.

In pantheism, on the other hand, God is not anthropomorphized, but 'everything is in God,' the universe is alive and an organic whole. This view, actualized in Western culture by Spinoza and strongly advocated by the great philosopher and cosmologist Giordano Bruno, has its roots in Stoic philosophy, which already in ancient Greece did not conceive of God as a being but as the whole cosmos.

The Stoic principle goes: if there is something divine in everything, then God is everything and everything is God.

This book is closest to Stoic philosophy and pantheistic beliefs, exploring and analyzing them further, and at the same time explaining the expression 'the universe is a whole.'

The notion of meaning as is to be understood in this book is, in other words, the reason why man trully exists.

Meaning, purpose, reason, role, goal can be understood as synonyms. It is also important to define the concept of

awareness as clearly as possible.

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Awareness is a clear and focused mental definition of a particular phenomenon, much like concentration or focused attention while driving a car.

If we see an unknown man-made object, we first ask ourselves, 'What is this?' What does this question actually mean?

It means that we are interested in what this object is intended for—what it is used for. It is essentially a question about the meaning of this object. The object was made by man in order to achieve 'something.' So this 'something,' some goal or purpose, gives meaning to the object. The meaning of an object is what interests us most, more than who made it and how it was made.

The object makes no sense in itself, it is intended to achieve a goal. An object without a purpose (goal) would not be made at all.

If similar logic is applied to man, it is more important to find an answer to the question of our meaning than an answer to the question of how we came to be. The answer to the question of how we came to be is in the domain of science (although most different 'answers' are offered by various myths and different religions). Why we came into being is in the domain of philosophy.

Of course, the two questions are inextricably linked because they relate to the same subject—man; and a synergy of science and philosophy is essential for a correct answer. For this synthesis to succeed, philosophy must always take into account scientific achievements and must necessarily distance itself from mythical, religious, ideological, national and other limited, closed frameworks.

The goal is the state to which the subject aspires. What or who is the subject and what is the goal?

In the broadest context, the subject is the highest whole—

the universe, which consists of all its parts. Although the previous sentence sounds strange (in the second part it states something self-evident), it is important to emphasize that the 93





universe is not a kind of 'super-entity,' but it represents a myriad of functionally interconnected entities8 with their own identity and sometimes autonomy.



The universe strives for several goals:

1) to be aware of oneself, of one's own existence, 2) to get to know oneself,

3) to develop to the highest level—spiritual creation.

All these goals can only be achieved through the processes of spirituality, the consciousness that has developed in thinking beings.

The first goal that the universe achieves only through thinking beings is awareness of its own being.

The next goal is to know the truth about yourself. Thinking beings explore, know, name, and define things and their interrelationships, while through their actions the whole gets to

know the truth about itself. The next goal is to create something that the whole is not able to create without the influence of thinking beings—perhaps it is music, harmony, beauty in itself?

So, thinking beings are necessary to achieve the stated goals. The meaning or purpose of thinking and spiritual beings is just that—achieving the goals of the universe.

To understand the meaning of spirituality is to understand the meaning of human life.

Practical intelligence evolved as a means to improve everyday life, to help meet urgent needs, and to develop different capabilities.

Later, spirituality and the need to understand the world developed within man. Countless different worldviews have emerged, often mutually exclusive and even hostile. As long as 8 Translated from Slovene: Entity is a philosophical concept that is related to the existence of anything in a given space and time, but does not necessarily take material form; something that is, that exists. (Wikipedia, 2021b) 94





Mother Nature held our hand and wisely guided us on the path of life, there was no way we could stray. When she let go of our hand and said, 'Child, now you have to take responsibility and continue on your own,' we suddenly felt insecure and indecisive.

We looked around and saw that Mother Nature was still holding the animals firmly with her other hand, and we were aware that she would continue to guide them, sometimes in a seemingly too strong and cruel way, but certainly correctly. Of course, even the Mother could not predict what would happen to us in the future, what traps and dangers and pleasant experiences were ahead of us.

But we are simply 'adult' enough and we have to take on the burden and responsibility of life on our own. I believe that humanity is somewhere in the 'puberty' of development, at least that's how it behaves. In a way, we are more insecure than animals, but at the same time we can choose between the myriad possibilities and crossroads of spirituality that unfold before us.

At present, few people think of man as a part of nature, a natural being, because we are caught in a complex network of categories we created in the past and continue to make countless knots—religions, nations, ideologies, rules, laws, customs, vices, obligations, responsibilities, governments, opposition, and so on—from the relationships of which arise and develop thoughts of meaninglessness of one's own existence, fears, stress, dissatisfaction, greed, hatred, denial of moral values, and glorification of materialism as the ultimate goal and meaning of humanity.

But man's purpose is not to gain, to get rich, to satisfy his passions—these are 'childhood diseases,' the necessary stages in the development of man from an 'impassioned' primate with a blurred consciousness to a truly rational being.

In any case, the meaning of countless generations of ancestors and millions of years of human development cannot take the form of excess, wantonness or perversion.

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Perversion (an act contrary to its original purpose) leads to personal and social unhappiness and ruin.

We all—some more, some less—seem to have lost touch with reality and the awareness that man is a natural physical being who was not born of his own volition and is forced to live, to exist. We are all very similar in this. We have forgotten about the original man, a natural being unencumbered by race, religion, nationality, material possessions, position in society.

Because of this, we often experience other people as hostile, dangerous, unwanted beings, unaware of how connected and indispensable we are to each other.

The fact that sexual intercourse between different human races leads to healthy offspring is solid evidence that we are all one species. Even female slaves who were considered 'worse than animals' and were raped by damned slave owners gave birth to healthy children.

I recently had the opportunity to watch a feature on television on the daughter of a (black) Aboriginal mother and a (white) European father who has achieved a lot in the world of music and film. She is a kind, knowledgeable and optimistic person, but she said in an interview that she encounters racism over and over again, which casts a shadow over her life.

However, her parents and she as their child are an exemplary case of the fact that we are all equal after birth, regardless of race or skin color.

Were it not for the education system and the transmission of knowledge acquired through millennia from generation to generation, every individual would only potentially be capable of survival, despite his or her human potential at the animal level.

Only consciousness draws the line between animal and human and truly incarnates us; asking the question about meaning.

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The animal side still dominates through the production of tools, machines, and through economy, but enriched with intelligence. Reason is not limited merely to the level of satisfaction and development of human living conditions and capabilities. A part of reason, which we refer to as spirituality, reaches to the essence of the perception of the whole.

Art and philosophy reveal the actual spiritual dimension, which, as far as we know, throughout the universe, has developed only in man.

The following examples should serve to illustrate the various misconceptions (more on this is written in the Great Misconceptions chapter, while the 'minor' misconceptions are listed here) that exist in the world of ideas and considerably influence nonsensical behavior.

In the world of ideas categories have emerged that do not exist in the world of instincts. Man has created in his mind the notion of preciousness—rare but ordinary stones such as gold and diamonds represent something glorious and most desirable only in the mind; and such thoughts spilled over into actions, even into the meaning of individual lives, have caused people misery, and have led to slavery, sweat, blood, and suffering.

Gold and diamonds are not necessary for the existence of man.

Their market value which is too high stems (besides from their rarity) mainly from base, meaningless desires and greed.

Man covers his body with clothing that protects him from injury and cold, and also from the gazes of other people. He is ashamed of nudity in company; on the other hand, nudity has developed into the biggest fetish. Animals, however, have no sense of shame at all! And why is nudity forbidden, not only by the norms of society, but also by law, as something 'immoral?'

Think for yourself!

Prices of goods in stores around the world are written in the form of X,99, and the like. General misleading is accepted everywhere as something normal, it is even a kind of unofficial 97





standard. As a rule, the prices of merchandise are stated in the form of €99.99 and only exceptionally €100.00. Retailers are aware of the psychological effect of this, of errors in customer perception and they take advantage of it. The crux of the problem is that consumers are not aware of a lot of things that retailers are well aware of regarding human psychology.

Many people work to exhaustion and are under constant stress, but many unemployed people are also under stress and there is no government in the world trying to correct this imbalance by relieving those who work too much and employing the unemployed, thus reducing stress in society. Why are working hours usually 8 to 12 hours? Why are they not shorter and why not have a working week with fewer days to employ more people? Consequently, there would be fewer recipients of social assistance and also less crime.

A person mostly responds intuitively, with a mixture of needs, emotions and intelligence. He mostly decides and acts on what we call 'intuition.'

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist, described intuition as a perception that comes from the subconscious, as a kind of inner voice.

This voice is often seen as something divine, spiritual, incomprehensible—everything but the hereditary genetic legacy of our ancestors. As in, there was a bang and we emerged from air and now we have some inner, mystical, inexplicable voice and it is a miracle that stirs up spirits and who knows what else. Our body was created on the day of our birth and none of our ancestors had anything to do with our shape, skin color, etc.?

Especially not with our spirituality?

The same could be said of wheat grain, referring to the mystical, transcendental forces that form the plant, the seed, and leaf of wheat, and completely ignoring the fact that the genetic record, 'the knowledge of the wheat to grow from the seed,' was 98





transferred and copied from countless previous genera of this grain.

Intuitively, we either like someone at first sight or we do not. We like certain people, cars, things, or events without thinking about why we like them.

Let us have a look at what some more and some less famous people have said about the meaning of life (Goodreads, 2021c):



'You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.'

– Albert Camus



'Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.'

– Joseph Campbell



'There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.'

– Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin



'If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.'

– Victor Frankl



'I believe that I am not responsible for the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of life, but that I am responsible for what I do with the life I've got.'

– Hermann Hesse, Verliebt in Verrückte Welt: Betrachtungen, Gedichte, Erzählungen, Briefe



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'As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. …

That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life…

Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind.'

– Anthony de Mello



Albert Camus is a representative of the philosophy of the absurd—a view of the world or the relationship between man and the world as something absurd. The absurdity stems from the fact that the world and man are not in harmony, they are opposites. The absurdity lies in the fact that the world does not suit the deeper human nature because it is neither rational nor orderly. The world is perpetually without a meaning that would suit man.

If we analyze the opinions presented above, it becomes clear that many people believe that life has no meaning, that it is absurd, or that it may make sense, but they do not know it or cannot define it, or that each individual must find out or create some meaning of his own.

And since all opinions are at the level of conjecture, we will find a clear and explicit answer to this question together below.

Let us try to think differently for a moment. What is not the meaning of life, but that many individuals strive to achieve:

- wealth of mythical proportions,

- luxury,

- envious neighbors,

- power,

- the fulfillment of excessive desires and passions.

Why has no one, especially philosophers and writers, so far been able to provide an explicit, universally acceptable answer to the question of the meaning of life? The reason for this is very simple, it stems from the wrong starting point. All failed 100





attempts have taken the individual, his ego, as a starting point, and they treat external factors as resources that are intended and supposed to exist solely to meet the needs and desires of the individual.

It is impossible to correctly define the meaning of anything or anyone without considering the whole or at least the broadest known context.

If the starting point for finding the personal meaning of life is within the self (the ego), which is supposed to be completely independent, and also possibly be in complete contradiction with the meaning of all humanity, it is impossible to get to the real answer. Certainly, each individual has a personal and also a social meaning as a:

- friend, comrade,

- family member—child, brother, sister,

- partner—husband, wife, or extramarital partner,

- parent—mother, father,

- citizen, community member,

- animal keeper,

- professional at work,

- volunteer in any field, etc.

You are personally indispensable and valuable to friends, partners, children, parents, society. And they are all equally valuable and indispensable to you. In any case, to realize the meaning of the individual, other people or animals, in some cases even plants, are needed!

Within the ego, without the direct involvement of others, there is only creativity—certain branches of art, hobbies, individual sports and philosophy. It is then that man is by himself and in relation to the inanimate and nature.

Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina, a Persian scholar from Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan), said that even though you think you are nothing, the world resides in you.



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The second starting point is to search for the meaning outside the ego. Specifically: what is the meaning of life of the entire human race, which at the same time represents the true meaning of each individual?

Nothing has meaning in itself and no one has meaning in himself, meaning is truly definable only in the relationship between part and its environment or the whole.

I will once again highlight what is explained in more detail in the chapter on the interconnectedness and interdependence of everything in the universe. Part and whole must be understood relatively. The foot is part of the whole body, but the toes are part of the whole foot. The leg can be understood as part or whole, depending on the point of view.

Let’s look at man as a whole made up of head, body, arms and legs. You could say that the basic purpose of the foot is to allow the whole body to move on solid ground. It may also have an additional purpose, e.g. pressing the pedals in a car, etc. But it is obvious that one leg does not allow the body to move, so two legs are needed and the purpose or meaning is better defined in the coordinated action of the two legs.

The situation is similar with the the meaning of the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, etc.

The original purpose of the mouth was to enable the intake of water and food, but it gradually upgraded and also gained meaning as a means of speech or communication. Of course, with development, the mouth has also changed physically.

It is obvious that all these parts have a well-defined meaning, but only within the whole (i.e. the head) and of course within the whole human body. The ear itself makes no sense, it only has meaning as part of a whole.

It is more than obvious that we are designed to interact perfectly with nature, our body is a functional set of connections with nature—we have eyes to see shapes and colors and 102





movements in the environment, ears to hear sounds, nose to breathe air, mouth to drink fluids, consume food from the environment, to have conversations and to communicate, hands for handling objects in the environment, legs for moving.

Everything was designed exclusively for the functional fulfillment of a certain need.

Each individual human being is a set of cells, and each of the cells has its own meaning within the entire structure of man.

The beginning of man is the merging of two cells, which then naturally divide and multiply. There are more and more of them, and each one has a specific purpose or meaning within the whole. Cells join to make bigger wholes, organs, and each organ has a specific purpose in the body. In the brain, the needs and requirements of each individual cell are shaped into a single sensation called 'the need.' This drives us to act in order to provide everything necessary for each individual cell. All of the above happens automatically, without having to think. Animals that faithfully but not consciously 'follow' nature are at this developmental stage. Thought developed in difficult conditions, when man could not meet the needs 'set' by the cells; it is a consequence of the urgency to find a more efficient way of sustaining life.

The brain as an organ, of course, has its own purpose. In addition to meeting the needs of the whole organism (even though we are not consciously aware of it), it also possesses the capacity for what we refer to as 'spirituality.' Spiritual ability has its meaning, whether we currently understand it or not. Man can find his meaning only where he first began to look for it—in thought, in spirituality.

The individual is also part of a higher whole, of humanity, which is part of nature, the universe. A single person, like a single leg, does not make sense or cannot be logically defined.

It takes more people, more generations for the human to acquire and fulfill one's purpose or meaning. The capabilities and 103





achievements of a group far exceed the capabilities and achievements of an individual. The capabilities and achievements of all mankind surpass those of the individual as well as those of groups of people. Each succeeding generation builds on and refines the achievements of all previous generations. Our interactions and our differences are generators of changes that become more intense and unpredictable as the world population grows.

Let's think about how a complex structure that represents a whole, an entity, for example, a machine, is built. Ahead of production we define the purpose—the meaning, which tasks the machine will be used for. We must know the true properties and effects of the component parts we plan to use and their relationship to each other, then combine them according to logic, and in this way create a machine, a device that begins to function as a whole that serves a specific purpose.

The machine will not work properly until all the conditions and phases of creation are aligned with the truth.

Therefore, we test it, check it, change it, and upgrade it until we achieve consistency with the truth.

It is similar with the human, whose development is still underway, the process is not yet complete. There exists an urgent need to test, verify, change, and upgrade until we are aligned with the truth. And the truth is the realization of actual processes and properties in nature—such as they are.

The idea presented above of man as a 'creator' should be understood as hundreds and thousands of engineers and workers who utilise the knowledge and achievements of previous generations. Something complex does not arise from one source, the interaction of many participants and factors is necessary.

Individual citizens are a part of a country and each country is a whole and at the same time a part of the world. A country has a government that should make sure its citizens have a dignified life. The state should provide optimal conditions for 104





every citizen to meet their needs. This is similar to the relationship between the brain and individual organs and cells.

If a government acts in accordance with its meaning and the purpose for which it was established, citizens will be satisfied and will fulfill their purpose without hindrance. However, if this is not the case, dissatisfied individuals and groups will adjust their behavior, they will only work for themselves to provide for their own existence and harm others.

Their behavior can range in accordance with the amount of dissatisfaction, from little to extreme dissatisfaction. They can begin to spread a negative influence and threaten the existence of the state as it is. From this example we can see that in a certain whole, which is always a sub-whole of something higher, everything must necessarily work in perfect harmony, which is a prerequisite for the existence of the whole. Until this coherence is achieved, the parts and the whole must necessarily change, develop and coordinate.

The universe strives for harmony.

No one exists solely for their own pleasure. No one exists to satisfy their own needs above the necessary level. Nothing and no one is created by itself, and not only for itself—everything is a product of the whole.

A teacher, a cook, a merchant, an engineer, a policeman, an entrepreneur, a babysitter, an artist, a doctor, etc. has a specific purpose. They all contribute to the existence and development of all humanity. We are indispensable and precious to others, without us their lives and our own would be empty and completely unimaginable! It is important to realize that without those involved in food production, flying by plane or going to the moon would not be possible at all! The motives and the way we contribute to the whole are not always clear and understandable to us. Nature automatically shapes and regulates them, drives us and harmonizes us.

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Imagine a car. Every part of a car has a purpose, a meaning.

The car consists of a large number of parts. Every screw, cogwheel, belt, etc. has a specific purpose, but only as an integral part of a larger part, for example, an engine. The engine, however, only makes sense as part of the car. If an individual cogwheel were conscious, it would certainly start to wonder about its own meaning during operation, but it would find it very difficult to define because it does not have an 'image' of the whole car. Even most people who are not car mechanics would find it difficult to define the purpose of a cogwheel. A car does not make sense in itself; its meaning is, let's say, to enable greater human mobility.

When making a car, man follows similar patterns to those enforced by nature—only nature is not a thinking, personal entity; everything happens automatically as a process of mutual tuning of parts of nature.

Cars are made all over the world, in many factories, in countless versions. The design is the same—four wheels, passenger compartment, etc., but each model is specially designed, just as each person has their own peculiarities.

Like a gear in an engine, to make an extremely 'mechanical'

simplification, man also makes sense as part of a larger whole that he knows only partially, while a lot—due to his limited perception—still remains unknown to him and makes him full of assumptions.

So each 'part' has a specifically defined meaning, whether it is aware of its meaning or not.

The fact that human meaning is defined only as part of the whole also means that it is indispensable.

If we return to the aforementioned cogwheel, we can easily see that a whole car without such a small but sensibly designed part cannot work (properly) at all!

Precisely this is the basic problem with finding one's own meaning—any individual who believes that his life has its own 106





independent inner meaning, which is on the outside of the whole of humanity, nature, and the universe, will never find it.

It is also necessary to achieve our own, though perhaps seemingly insignificant, 'fulfillment' in any field—be it work, creative, family— because only in this way we can also contribute to the fulfillment of the meaning of the whole.

We will not be completely satisfied with this kind of 'self-fulfillment,' because the indisputable fact of the mortality of one's own 'self' makes it less meaningful. The irrational fear of death, which is supposed to nullify any meaning of our lives, can be overcome precisely by realizing that mortality is not merely an unpleasant necessity, but is also a necessary precondition for the development of life.

We are physically and temporally limited, a drop in the river of life, part of the biological continuity of the human race. We must not allow the self to separate us from the whole because of a limited and consequently untrue perception of the world. If we live only for ourselves and do not contribute to the whole, we live contrary to the true purpose for which we exist.

By being aware of our indispensable role in generational continuity, by being aware of our position as an intermediate and connecting link in the chain between countless generations of ancestors and countless generations of descendants, we can certainly be convinced of a personal meaning. We personally carry life from the past to the future, continue the existence of our biological chain through hundreds of thousands of generations, and carry the burden of ignorance and suffering in the hope that humanity will one day be worthy of the meaning of its title.

We are the descendants of hunters, warriors, workers and at the same time the ancestors of the unknown and unimaginable form of man of the future. We will always have the original animal roots and traces of our predecessors inside us; we will gradually and steadily upgrade our spirituality. The gap between 107





our 'animal base' and the growing influence of society will widen, which will certainly lead to more and more difficult trials in the future.

Just think about what a miracle you are and every human being in this world; how miraculous our bodies and our thoughts, how much time and how many generations have passed for us to have evolved to our present form and content! What an extraordinary level of coordination the various parts of our body have reached so that we can exist and function above all as a spiritual entity! Think deeply and you will realize that this is a pure truth that we are not aware of in our daily lives, that we overlook and disregard, but it is the basis of any wisdom, worth remembering every time we have to make an important decision and when we think about ourselves and the world.

Humanity has been evolving for millions of years, philosophy only for three thousand, and Christianity only for two thousand. It is only in the last few hundred years that science and technology have developed exponentially. One hundred years ago, man first flew a plane, and sixty years ago, he flew into Earth's orbit. In the last sixty years, man has set foot on the Moon, space probes have landed on all the planets in our solar system or filmed them up-close. Computing and communications have been part of everyday life for the last forty years, accessible to the widest possible audience. We need to be aware that we live in a society that is dynamic, connected, interdependent and fast-changing; it is more a revolution than evolution of humanity. These sudden changes have resulted in severe burdens on nature, two world wars and countless local wars, pollution of soil, water, and air. The habitats of plants and animals in water and on land have become shrunken and limited.

But these negative consequences stem mainly from our selfishness and a lack of awareness of the meaning of what is happening.

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What is written below stems from a single thought, an idea that matured in me for more than half a century, and before that in countless generations of my ancestors. Millions of years had to pass in order for this idea to be finally clearly formed and presented; evolution took place through countless generations of ancestors; immeasurable factors had to come into interaction, and the continuity of an unbroken biological chain had to be maintained.

And suddenly, unexpectedly, the idea appeared as such a clear image that it changed my view of the world forever.

I experienced a 'Eureka!' moment; the exclamation of joy at the discovery—'I have discovered it, I understand.' I felt like Archimedes, who, as the anecdote goes, was running naked through the streets of Syracuse when he had finally 'discovered'

the Archimedes’ principle, later named after him. An 'apple of knowledge' dropped on my head, just like it anecdotally happened to Isaac Newton, which led him to formulate a general theory of gravity.

I believe and hope that this kind of perception of the meaning of life will be accepted by most people in the future, regardless of this book or any other source, because this is about a millennia-long continuity of an idea that will eventually certainly mature in other people as well. I have a hard time believing that no one else would prove that Earth is round and that it is not the center of the universe if it hadn't been for those who had already proved it. I hope that our descendants will look at the current period of human history with disgust, but also with understanding! And I hope that they will be aware of the glorious and important things that we have managed to achieve in these difficult times.

I immediately felt the need to share this idea with others, to write it down in case something happened to me that made me unable to pass on this thought. I consider it to be the most precious thing that has happened to me in my entire spiritual life.

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I suddenly found myself at the top of the highest mountain and this glorious feeling will accompany me forever.

I have found that the meaning of our lives is above everyday politics, the struggle for survival, the struggle for self-assertion and domination, the acquisition of money, and the search for false pleasures.

Why did this thought come to me out of all people? 'Why did THIS have to happen to me?' one usually asks oneself during difficult trials, but this time I said it at a brilliant moment of enlightenment!

I find the answer to why this thought came to me in a short but exceptional period of my life, in my mature years, when I am (temporarily) without major worries and also without major ambitions.

In relatively stable living conditions, I paint and listen to the music of the universe, aware of the beauty of the world, and in my subconscious I am simultaneously shown the greatest evils and suffering of people around the world.

I am not driven by desire for glory, because glory is a burden and a loss of freedom and peace.

But even back then, when the idea first came to me, I was aware that that 'blessed' period would not last long.

Indeed, everyday life soon brought me back to the daily routine of obligations, work, minor worries, but big enough so that I didn’t write a single sentence for a long time.

Right now (2020), three years since I started to write this book (2018), something has happened that no one foresaw at the time nor could have believed would happen. The global covid-19 pandemic has broken out. The whole world has literally stopped! State borders and borders between municipalities are closed, so are factories, shopping centers, schools and kindergartens, only a few airplanes can be seen in the sky.

Scientists around the world have been developing a vaccine for more than half a year that is still lacking, despite billions 110





invested.9 The health care system is overloaded, the pandemic is spreading like wildfire. Social peace is maintained through

'bundles of billions of financial aid' that no one knows who, when, and how will eventually be repaid.

We all hope and expect to overcome the virus and return to our normal lives. And this is wrong! We can't live like before!

We need to change our mindset and way of life, we need to be more in tune with nature. We must no longer dump enormous amounts of plastic, packaging, waste technology into the ground and water. We must no longer pollute the air, cut down forests, destroy animals and biodiversity. Landfills, official and unofficial, on land and in the seas, that we keep 'pushing under the rug' are staggering—unnatural mixtures of metals, glass, plastic, hazardous chemicals, waste oils and paints, acids, biological waste and natural bacteria and viruses. No one can predict what will develop from these mixtures. Consumption, profit, buying new and throwing away a year or two old but still fully functional and usable phones, cars, and electronic equipment generates pollution and poisons nature like we have never seen before.

We urgently need a different mindset; one that stems from an awareness of the interconnectedness and interdependence of everything.

We may not know the facts, or we may know them but we do not want to acknowledge them, but the consequences of facts cannot be avoided!

In a way, it is a difficult experience, because the idea that filled me spiritually at the same time (paradoxically) undermined my spiritual peace due to the feeling that it is not intended only for me, but for all of humanity. How am I, an 9 While the book is being finished, multiple vaccines have been developed and vaccination has begun all over the world.



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unknown and inexperienced writer, and an unknown person, to spread some new, revolutionary idea, if not as knowledge, then at least as something to consider?

In an instant, I was given a glorious mission that is very difficult for me as an individual to fulfill.

Even if I fail, if I don’t receive support, I need to at least write down and plant the seed of this idea.

It is believed that it is a teacher's duty to share information; how students understand it is up to them.

When I complete this book, I will be content feeling that my mission in this world is fulfilled.

At the beginning, inspired and creatively-driven, I tried to present the idea to those closest to me—acquaintances, friends, relatives—expecting them to understand and support it, or even further encourage me to continue sharing it.

On the contrary and quite unexpectedly, most of them politely dismissed me, explaining that they did not understand the presented idea or that they were not even interested in this kind of 'philosopy.'

Perhaps the main reason for the negative attitude in people is precisely the simplicity and at the same time the grandeur of this idea. The essence of the idea is so simple, so easy to understand, in front of everyone's eyes, but at the same time hidden and invisible. Simplicity and grandeur do not seem to go together. But that is not true! All inventions and innovations are new discoveries, discoveries of previously unknown facts about that which already exists. The number and depth of these insights grows constantly and steadily. When the meaning of discovery is radical and all-encompassing, we call it enlightenment.

All the people I talk about above are close to my heart, I don't like anyone any less because of their negative stance, but when I experienced their negative attitude, I realized how difficult it is to have a completely new idea, unusual, but like a 112





mountain stream pure and clear—the idea of the meaning of our life, which can be expressed in one sentence—and to share it with other people! I sincerely hope that at least some of you reading this book will understand the essence of what I mean.

What is in front of you is an original and unique text. Despite years of searching for something similar, reading many philosophical writings and statements by celebrities and some lesser-known people, I have never come across anything like this.

This final, unequivocal conclusion about the meaning of life has always been missing. All I have managed to find over many years have been relatively witty thoughts, more or less beautifully crafted, frequently incomprehensible, ambiguous or misleading, often with imprecisely defined vocabulary (despite the use of dictionaries).

I want to pass on the idea because it was given to me for precisely this purpose.

This enlightening thought, the idea, goes as follows:



The thinking man is the only consciousness of the entire

universe!



Without human consciousness, nothing in the universe would know it existed. So we, our consciousness, came into being, evolved, and exist for a reason; and the reason is that only

through our awareness everything in the universe is aware of its own existence! Without us, without our thoughts, the universe would not know it existed, and its existence would make no sense.

Countless parts of the universe as a whole strive for self-knowledge; man is the physical bearer of the realization of this spiritual aspiration. We give meaning to the entire universe, to 113





every entity and phenomenon we perceive, mentally define and name!

Can we wish for or imagine some higher, more glorious meaning of life? How would the sun know it existed if it weren’t for me? I, however, would not exist if the sun did not warm and illuminate me. So, the sun gives me life, and I give it meaning, the awareness of my own and its existence. We are actually, physically and spiritually, organically connected, just as I am organically connected to the water, the air, and the ground on which I stand, all of which are the material source of my physical body. The universe sees the seas, the rivers, the mountains, and the stars with our eyes. It can also admire them with our spirituality!

The more we learn and the more we get to know the world around us, the more the universe gets to know itself. This MEANING, in other words, the purpose, our role in the universe can fill us with a sense of happiness to exist!

Are you ready to accept this teaching, dear reader? Or do you find it banal?

Without our awareness, the entire universe would be vegetating like an unconscious man, a man in a coma!

And let's be realistic. This privilege of spirituality is not the merit of our selves, it is a gift we receive. We are a product of nature, the object of the entire cosmic process. Gradually, with the maturation of spirituality, we also become a subject, and an important subject at that.

We are created to create! What nature cannot do on its own is our task—we are an upgrade of nature. Only we can create music, art, and beauty, we may be expanding life into space and perhaps something else which remains a mystery that we will always seek and maybe never discover.

The notion of beautiful and good originates precisely from the heat and light radiated by the sun which has transformed our otherwise dark and frozen world into a wonderful oasis 114





somewhere in the infinity of the universe. Love is a synonym for this life force that pleases us, without which we would not exist at all.

We love the heat and light that is the infinite source of everything. It connects, shapes and revives matter.

Awareness is the purpose, the essence of our existence, the meaning of spirituality, in which all the phenomena of the universe that we perceive and know come together.

Everything that exists would of course exist even without consciousness, but it would be vague and irrelevant. Intelligence defines and names individual parts. It distinguishes individual components of the universe, names them and understands their uniqueness. Only in consciousness do the notions of individual entities emerge: a planet is defined as a planet only in consciousness, and the same goes for the stone or water on that planet.

Everything that exists tends to develop self-knowledge, or contains the potential that it realizes only after the passage of time required for the development of intelligence. It is a repetitive, cyclical process. Intelligence arises, develops, and perishes, and the process begins all over again somewhere else.

There is no fear that this process will ever end, and the collapse of intelligence, and civilization is not meaningless, as a new one will surely develop. Awareness of the transience of everything does not need to lead us to accept 'nonsense' as the basis for (falsely) perceiving the meaning of our existence. It is just an endless process of change that we are part of. One only needs to understand and then easily and wisely accept one’s own role in the constant changes that go on indefinitely.

Just because everything eventually ends, and because intelligent animals have appeared and disappeared in an instant, Nietzsche’s philosophical despair and pessimism is not justified.

Despair is not justified, because everything endlessly repeats in cycles, unless we are overly focused on our own ego and 115





ourselves (as humanity)! The natural process simply really goes that way and a wise man can only perceive, understand and accept it. But this does not mean that our life is insignificant—it precisely confirms it with the necessity and aspiration of the whole towards existence and the development of intelligence!

A great poet from a small country of Montenegro, Petar II Petrović Njegoš (1813–1851), already came so close to this consciousness when he wrote in his work The Ray of Microcosm:

'Tvar je tvorca čovjek izabrana,' which I have transformed into:

'The Matter of the Universe man is chosen.'10

A summary of the meaning of our existence goes:

- awareness of the existence of everything and each individual part only through human thought and only in human thought;

- getting to know the universe through science;

- creation, art.

This perfectly coincides with the goals of the whole—the universe!

There are forces in the universe that, in interaction with each other, start life from matter and maintain it, develop it, but at the same time nothing (no one) in the universe knows that these forces exist. Eventually, the created life develops to the level when the first thought awakens in it. The thought is weak and vague, it is the seed of intelligence. Life's first thought is a finding from which a question gradually grows. At first it knows almost nothing about this world, it learns in small steps, gains experience, begins to draw logical conclusions and gradually begins to become vaguely aware of itself and the world which surrounds it. Many times these conclusions are wrong, but life driven by unconscious force always shapes and reshapes them over and over again. So it learns from mistakes, changes its conclusions and the process continues unceasingly. When life, 10 Njegoš, 1974: 139.

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embodied and spiritualized within a human, finally gathers enough experience, these forces realize that they exist!

One more time: we represent the highest (known) stage of development in the entire universe, but this is not due to personal merit; we are the product of the forces and the matter of the universe— we perceive, name and interpret these differently.

I am aware of how this statement represents an unusual view of myself and the world, but it is certainly a fact which is in front of everyone's eyes, and at the same time invisible, as most people do not even bother to think deeply about this everlasting question, and either out of necessity or because they decide to remain within the self and the everyday slave relationship with the world.

I feel like the richest man in the world today, but I am aware that, unfortunately, many people have nothing to eat, mostly through no fault of their own. Blessed are those who are free to think.

To quote Njegoš: 'Svi svjetovi bez očih su mračni,'11 or in free translation: 'All worlds without eyes are dark.' I interpret

'eyes' as 'thoughts,' and 'dark' as 'subconscious.'

Awareness, however, is not self-evident, it means a well-defined thought that needs to be said out loud or written down.

We all know that every object falls to the ground. But it was Isaac Newton who defined the general law of gravity that we all feel, but only subconsciously.

Any new awareness of the nature of any phenomenon or thing, which of course has always existed, but we were not aware of before, is called a discovery. If a discovery in the spiritual realm is very important, we call it 'enlightenment.'



But a long, million-year journey must be made to enlightenment. The path of connection of everything. This idea 11 Njegoš, 1974: 148.

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of the meaning of life, presented in a few words, covers different sources gently combined and intertwined—I will list just a few:

- worship of the god Ra in ancient Egypt

- ontological philosophical ideas of the pre-Socratics,

- ideas about ethics by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle,

- the idea of stoicism,

- the idea of pantheism,

- Christianity's ideas of love,

- ideas of Buddhism,

- ideas of Daoism,

- the works and destinies of Copernicus, Galileo and Giordano Bruno,

- Isaac Newton's general law of gravity,

- Denis Diderot's findings in D'Alembert's Dream,

- Eric Chaisson's findings on the evolution of the universe,

- human spaceflight and landing on the moon, space probes, images of Earth, planets, and galaxies, etc.,

- the Internet as an open book of the world,

- The Ray of the Microcosm by Njegoš, a mixture of religious epic, emotions, magnificent verses and sublime philosophy,

- works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, van Gogh and countless other works of art,

- symphonies by Vivaldi, Mozart and Tchaikovsky; songs of all musical genres, as well as Roma songs,

- observation of the clouds, the nature, the sea, the sun, the moon and especially the starry sky.

I will stop now because I find that the list cannot be completed.

In Buddhism, the concept of vigilance is established as a basic principle.

Buddhism is one of the twelve major world religions and at the same time a philosophy based on the teachings of its founder.

It is the only religion whose originator did not proclaim himself 118





to be a prophet of God or his messenger, and he also rejected the very idea of God as the supreme being.12

Buddha means 'enlightened, awakened' in Sanskrit and other languages.

The name usually refers to Siddhartha Gautama, a South Asian nobleman who lived around 623 BCE up to 543 BCE and achieved enlightenment around 588 BCE.13

But he was called that only after he had really woken up from the ignorance of his existence and swimming in the sea of ignorance.14

In order to realize our own meaning, it is necessary to wake up from the instinctive, semi-conscious state in which our daily lives take place.

For example, are we aware that we will never truly see our own face in person? We can see our own hands, feet, a reflection of our face in water, in a mirror, in a photograph, but life will pass and we will never see ourselves 'live' as others see us. By the way, the same is true for our back! Of course, this is immediately clear to us, but let’s honestly ask ourselves if we have ever thought about it or been aware of it before.

Are we aware that we are exposed to the sun's rays our whole lives, but we will never and should not ever look directly at the sun? Our heads are always bowed, facing away from the sun.

A cat being on the prowl for a mouse does not mean that the cat is aware of its actions. Just because grass grows, it does not automatically mean that the grass is aware of its own growth.

Awareness in this text should be understood as a clearly and precisely defined thought about a phenomenon. The idea of awareness can be understood through analogy with listening to 12 Dijaški net, 2021.

13 Wikipedia, 2021a.

14 Thera, 2017.

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music: we listen to an orchestra performing a composition, and if we pay close attention we can hear the drums or violins that are an integral part of the whole harmony.

I respect every opinion and world view unless the holders of opinions and views are self-declared supreme authority over all others. Then they are no longer what they are at their source, which is temporarily their purpose, but become fanaticism—

religious or political—which, I hope, will never succeed (as it has failed so far) in stopping the development of human thought.

I am sure of this because from what has been said so far, it follows that the universe tends towards self-knowledge, and I hope that this force is stronger than any egoism!

But it is not enough to simply define the meaning, it must be realized! The greater the distance (due to egoism, lack of understanding of the meaning) between meaning and actual behavior, the greater the dissatisfaction of man—in proportion to this distance, sometimes even the abyss.

Meaning has its opposite: nonsense; it is an influence or action contrary to the fulfillment of one's own meaning or the meaning of another entity. Nonsense is manifested primarily in actions, and not in the very physical existence of individual entities. The starting point or assumption is that the existence of each individual entity has its own purpose, meaning, while failure to fulfill this purpose is nonsense.

I will refer to acts or actions that hinder and prevent the fulfillment of meaning as nonsense, or as nonsense action.

Nonsense is a force that is constantly at work, especially in humans.

The source of all nonsense is ignorance and its consequence is stupidity. When an otherwise intelligent human overlooks his own meaning, temporarily completely shuts off the ego and releases the id to act without restraint, when he binges and unnecessarily acts wildly, he literally separates himself from spirituality and is already starting to descend into madness. This 120





usually happens when a person is not in tune with society. When there is no control in society, people tend to do all sorts of unnecessary and stupid things, just like when a dog that has been kept on a short tether by social rules for a long time is allowed to run free and do whatever it is called to do by nature. Because society enforces limitations and constantly influences and controls us in a way, control of behavior is transferred exclusively to the self. If there is not enough spirituality within the self, the whole consciousness shrinks down only to the id, but there is no room in it for that which is meant to be human.

Evil is excessive, an unnecessary and harmful act. There is a lot of stupidity and wantonness in this world, and it is unevenly distributed among people, similar to reason and consciousness.

The potential is distributed fairly evenly at birth, but all further influences strongly shape it into a unique and unrepeatable spiritual profile.

Egoism is a necessary precondition for the existence of every living organism. But selfishness that goes beyond actual needs, such as acquiring excess money and getting rich, causes imbalances in society and is a source of evil. Some often gain in different ways much more than they actually need, while a vast number of people live in poverty.

The human is the only source of good or bad in the entire universe.

And what does 'good' even mean? A child is neither bad nor good at birth. It comes into the world with inherited ancestral traits hidden somewhere within the subconscious. The parents and then society influence this 'raw material' and shape it. The good is a societal need because we all want life to be good to us most of all.

Those who see further are aware that virtue (the good) is indispensable for the existence and unhindered functioning and progress of society. The idea of good is an urgent need of humanity; even murderers inspired by ideology falsely claim 121





that they commit atrocities in the name of some (misunderstood) higher good (justice, freedom, etc.).

WHY DOES AWARENESS OF THE MEANING OF LIFE

MATTER?

Science is no longer enough, wisdom is what's needed.



A friend who was among the first I presented my vision to and who seemed to understand the essence, asked me, 'Even if this were true, what is the use of this idea?'

I paused for a moment; the question made sense to me.

People are looking for gains, material or social, and all of a sudden are unable to understand what they would get out of being aware of the true universal meaning of man?

And what good do we gain from finding out and knowing that Earth is round, that it orbits the Sun, that the Sun is bigger than Earth and the Moon, that all processes are driven by gravity and the like.

When we mention 'gain', it inadvertently shows how strongly we are attached to our own selves; a person who thinks only of himself. In this case, 'gain' is synonymous with material goods. But finding meaning is about value, not material possessions. Society without values would not be worthy of its own name, of what we understand by the word man. Material possessions are supposed to be only the basis for realizing values. Anyway, the 'gain' of being aware of one's own meaning is spiritual, not material. It is primarily about the perception, experience and understanding of the relationship between the self and the world. Our relationship and interaction with the world depends on how we understand the world.

The goal of understanding the meaning is precisely to change the prevailing perception based on materialism and consumerism. The goal is to understand, adapt, create and 122





develop moral values, and harmonize ourselves and our actions with nature, and the universe.

Throughout history, for some seemingly incomprehensible reason, thinkers have been eagerly searching for truth on earth and in heaven. But this reason exists within the very essence of man or space. In philosophical thought, a related opinion is mentioned vaguely and in undefined terms as, 'good is the purpose to which everything aspires.'15

Thinking, the search for truth is transmitted through countless generations of people from the past to the future, as a kind of light that we do not allow to go out because the source of light is in the infinite darkness of the universe. The unbroken chain of people over time maintains a continuity of reflection associated with oral tradition, books, monuments, and faith in one’s own meaning. Our task is to pass this light on to our descendants in the future.

We are the descendants of hunters, predators, warriors and at the same time the ancestors of new generations, whose development will be based on spirituality and whose forms and essence we cannot even imagine. But it is inevitable that people will change according to patterns unknown and unpredictable to us, striving for unknown higher goals set by the universe.

The human grew out of nature, but he is also an upgrade of that growth. Whichever way he came about or was created, man is changing the world. What the universe is unable to accomplish on its own will be created by man as a continuation of the process of creation.

Man is the spiritual upgrade of the universe.

He has created musical instruments, music; as well as ships and rockets out of dust. If the universe itself is not capable of creating the conditions for life on Mars, will people create it or 15 Aristoteles, 1994: 47.

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bring it about as a kind of seed? There are other endless and unpredictable possibilities.

Who knows what people will achieve in the coming years if they manage to survive their own egoism.

A man who is unaware of a true, all-encompassing vision of the world is a breeding ground for unrealistic ideas that bring inhuman misery and suffering to humanity all the time. At present, in the most economically developed countries, the unwritten motto of young people is 'sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,'

and for the elderly, 'I want a better car than my neighbor and I want my neighbor's wife,' which actually reflects the mentality on which the future of the world relies.

The development of technology which is not intended for the real needs of humanity seems wrong because a lot, if not most, of the technological potential of computing and communication capabilities is exploited for the production of weapons and in order to realize the mentality mentioned above.

The forces that tend to prevent the realization of meaning are constantly at work. Due to these destructive or hindering forces—injuries, diseases, poisoning, overload—the functioning of cells or organs is hindered or destroyed, and this is called disease. When of a part of the organism is diseased, the functioning of the whole body is also endangered. Human society is similar. If individuals or groups significantly impede the meaningful engagement of other people, animals, plants, and water, we can speak of a sick society.

Nature automatically strives to maintain balance and proper function—there are injuries that can heal on their own. For example, bleeding (if it is not too heavy) stops and wounds heal.

The felled forest grows again. Poisoned water gets clean, the carcasses of animals are eaten by scavengers and insects. Of course, there are countless more examples. But a man who is unaware of his own meaning often does irreparable damage that nature cannot repair.

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The Vikings believed that the meaning of life was to die with a sword in hand, and that was because the historical period of struggles for survival necessarily dictated this kind of consciousness.

The meaning of life is not pleasure, the purpose of pleasure is to make life easier and more enjoyable, and it is only the basis for meaningful action. If one indulges in pleasures too much, meaningful action is absent.

The most important thought about ethical life was written many years ago: Don’t do to another what you don’t want the other to do to you. Or: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Despite the fact that almost everyone knows this saying, few people behave in accordance with it.

The various sciences are just parts, relatively narrowly focused on individual areas of research and application.

Mathematics, logic, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, zoology, economics, law, medicine, veterinary medicine, electronics, computer science and many other sciences and scientific fields that are constantly emerging and evolving are parts of the truth that exist and develop with a single goal: to reconcile the human with the truth.

There is no special science that is a 'higher science,' a

'science of all sciences' or the like. The only area that deals with this difficult but supreme task is philosophy, or 'love of wisdom,'

which I personally experience as 'seeking the truth about the whole.' This very vaguely defined field, limited only by human imagination, is supposed to deal with the mental formation of a true view of the world.

Philosophers have used the 'emergency exit' since ancient Greece to the present day. If they didn't have a basic idea about a topic or didn't possess sufficient imagination how to explain it, they resorted to saying that it is God's plan and in this way they admitted their own ignorance. Thus, they set a limit to their own 125





thinking. Beyond this limit is the explanation of everything, that which is most important, but nothing known. 'Go ahead we will deal only with the crumbs under the table.' Regarding the mystery of life, Descartes wrote in his Discourse on Method that life is God’s work, just as it's God’s work to make wine out of grapes (they were not familiar with yeasts at the time).

If anyone died of a bacterial infection, it was God's will (bacteria and antibiotics had not yet been 'discovered').

The aforementioned as well as all things and phenomena can of course be experienced and interpreted as a consequence of the action of a higher power. Why then would we even study light, microbiology, physical laws, in short, anything, since everything is essentially 'God's work'? Even death, of course, but we still do not give in to illness, we do not give in to fate, but we try to invent medicines that alleviate problems and prolong life, despite the fact that we cannot prevent death. With the development of science, we oppose giving in to destiny.

I understood the problem of the relationship between science and religion for the first time as a teenager when watching a film that dealt with the decimation of Europe by plague. A priest came to a seriously ill man, heard his confession and explained to him that he would die because that was 'God's will.' In the meantime, a doctor appeared and tried to cure the patient with medication, which he eventually succeeded in doing. The priest was angry with the doctor because he questioned and opposed the 'will of God' and even more so the

'priest's authority.'

Throughout history, science has severely curtailed many of the views held by religions.

A few years after man first flew a plane, when he finally realized his gigantic dream and armed a flying machine, he began using it to kill (fellow) people. This is a very instructive example of why we need consciousness. We can fly into heights, but without consciousness, we fall into the abyss.

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Wrong ideas cause real wars.

In a technologically advanced world abundant with material goods, albeit unevenly distributed, physical satisfaction has replaced happiness and the fulfillment of human purpose.

It is no wonder that in the most developed countries there are a huge number of lonely, unhappy, drugged, obsessed and perverted people, because material goods and the satisfaction of unnecessary desires cannot fulfill them spiritually.

We can easily be convinced of the spontaneous (unarticulated) course of human civilization. Despite the rapid development of technology and production surpluses as well as the destruction of nature, higher economic growth, increased trade and exports etc. are still the most pressing political goals.

People are working more and more hours a day, days a month, years of life, and at the same time there are millions of unemployed able-bodied people. As a result, crime, social hardship and an endless series of other negative consequences are on the rise. 'Democratically' (the word is put in quotation marks due to the decisive influence of financial centers of power on the outcome of elections) elected politicians easily override scientists, humanists and obvious truths.

Towards the end of this chapter, I 'meditate' on some other concepts which are a kind of necessary by-product of previous reflections.

THINKING ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF TRUTH

Truth is knowledge of facts. Facts are actual and uniform properties of things, phenomena and relationships. Ignorance of the facts and misperception of the facts is falsehood.

This is a broad topic (the truth about individual things, processes) and will be considered here as a general concept, the truth about anything. Let's illustrate this with the example of numbers. The number 1 (one) can represent one mouse or just 127





one elephant, so one of anything. It only contains information about the number of something, not about any other property. So 1 (mouse) + 1 (elephant) = 2 (animals) or 1 (anything) + 1

(anything) = 2 (anything). If we are interested in the number of fruits, we can add pears and apples.

The truth is that 1 + 1 = 2.

The essence of truth is in the symbol =. When we justifiably insert a logical = between subjective opinion as a mirror of reality and events in nature, it means that the opinion is true.

The facts cannot be changed, we can only establish them, and we call this the truth. But we can change things and relationships, and new facts emerge.

However, they may be misinterpreted intentionally or out of ignorance.

I have read and also heard many times that there are several truths. Such claims are made primarily by politicians, with a different meaning, but many take them literally.

There is only one truth, and it is inappropriate—unless the goal is to manipulate the thoughts and actions of others—to spread the view about several truths, because it is not really about truth at all; it is about untruth. And there can be many untruths.

Untruth comes from three sources: stupidity, ignorance, or perversion.

Stupidity can be a disease or extreme irresponsibility towards society and fellow human beings, as well as towards oneself. This, of course, depends on the age of the person. We cannot say that children are stupid, merely appropriately ignorant for their age.

Ignorance can result from objective circumstances (if one does not have the opportunity to learn or find out the truth), but it can also be the result of laziness or indifference and irresponsibility.

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Perversion is when a person knows how to achieve something that does not belong to it with untruth, and in many cases does not even need it. The person knows his actions are based on lies. But if he is not aware that he is lying, we are again talking about some kind of ignorance or stupidity.

The source of untruth is not the untruth that is brought about in distress, by the threats people make to protect their own or another's life or property.

Individuals and groups declare their own imperfect or completely misguided interpretations as truth. Because they want to directly use this kind of 'truth' in order to manage relationships in society, the large number of participants and opinions leads to ideological and physical conflicts. Throughout history, 'truths' have often led to mass madness of religious communities and entire societies.

Computer programmers are aware that the program they create is a perfectly accurate sequence of commands for processing data, and that sometimes a single incorrect comma, a letter, or a number completely disables program execution.

People have an innate ability for seeking the truth, but they do it (or don't do it) from different starting points.

Some people are not interested in seeking out the truth at all, they go about their daily lives doing only what they have to, and spend their free time on what they find pleasant and what brings them satisfaction.

Others may want to seek the truth, but they have no choice because the burden of everyday life is too overwhelming, and they do not have spiritual peace, sufficient time, etc.

Still others seek the truth and get lost in various labyrinths of thought and prejudice, but they really are active thinkers and eventually get closer to the truth, and the whole human race alongside them. They are a kind of consciousness of entire humanity.

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Truth, the actual coherence of any process, can be determined by observing its consequences:

- if something does not work—it is not in line with the truth;

- if it works wrong—it is not in line with the truth;

- if it works correctly—it is in line with the facts.

THINKING ABOUT THE CONCEPTS OF SCIENCE,

PHILOSOPHY AND WISDOM

What do the terms science, philosophy, and wisdom mean?

Science is the mental research, understanding and knowledge of a certain limited area of human interests with the aim of harmonizing man with nature and also subordinating nature to man.

It asks and answers the question How?

I will define philosophy as awareness of ignorance and an attempt to strengthen reason, especially in the area of awareness of the meaning of 'everything'. It doesn't specialise in a narrow field of application, its spiritual scope is unlimited. It means thinking from a bird's-eye view, beyond the self.

It is a desire to understand the whole. Looking to answer the question Why?

Wisdom is the goal we call the realization of truth, reality.

It is the highest level of spirituality, spiritual harmony with nature, the original purpose of everything.

There are surprisingly few accurate descriptions or definitions of terms that are often used as synonymous with deep and correct thinking: philosophy and wisdom.

Here is an idea I consider quite sophisticated:

'Knowledge and wisdom are among the fundamental principles of a stable and happy society. Knowledge includes information, facts, descriptions, skills, and abilities that we acquire through experience, education and training. It means the acquired information and knowledge, which enable us to shape 130





our life and interpersonal relationships and to solve problems.

Wisdom is the ability to follow universal principles, values, reason, and knowledge in leading one's own life and in counseling others. It represents the ability to find the best solutions to life's tasks and problems for ourselves and others within a given situation. But knowledge and wisdom are not only general and socially important value categories; they are also personal, individual: wisdom is the most important personality trait for many people. The relevance of knowledge and wisdom is so present in our thoughts about ourselves that we have even used the term Homo sapiens, the knowledgeable or wise man (our narrower genus even containing the double use of the adjective, Homo sapiens sapiens), in the biological naming of our genus.'16

Knowledge acquires its true value only if it is used wisely, if it is therefore used sensibly and ethically. Knowledge without understanding does not mean much. Therefore, in this domain, knowledge is closely linked to wisdom. Wisdom combines knowledge, reason and intuition with life experience, and then all of that with high ethical standards and moral sense. Wisdom combined with knowledge and other values enables deeper and more effective understanding, insight, judgment and advice even on the most difficult, complex and uncertain issues. Thus, wisdom is directed towards the good in oneself and the good in others, and its meaning is to use it to regulate personal life, interpersonal relationships, and to manage a harmonious society.

Wisdom is the goal of philosophy, of knowing the facts as they are. The philosopher thinks, searches, strives to find the truth. The sage is the one who has come closest to the truth, but is still looking for it, checking it over and over again because he is aware that he knows that he doesn’t know.





16 Inštitut za etiko in vrednote, 2019.



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There are many unexplained, undefined concepts in philosophy, such as essence, ideas, good, the highest good, virtue, etc., the understanding of which is left to the reader's intuition. There are many differences and disputes among philosophers about understanding and interpreting basic concepts. There is no consensus; and modern translators and experts on philosophy cannot even bring up an original thought without, in addition to objective linguistic problems, often extremely subjectively processing, reworking, and interpreting it. It follows from the above that we can rely on intuition when interpreting philosophy; the definition of the highest good is left to the reader and will necessarily be subjectively limited. Of course, what is good is also a basic subject of philosophers'

dialogues and reflections, but the final definition that would be unanimously accepted by different philosophers is never obtained, the discussion is generalized and it is only research, never a definitive answer.

A good example of the difference between reasonable and wise behaviour can be found in waste management, the burning problem of the present time. Reasonable people, I suppose, decide on the way waste is handled. Despite 'reasonable'

management, waste accumulates, and pollutes and destroys life on the planet.

There are countless cleaning products that can be bought over-the-counter without restrictions, which explicitly state that they are toxic to aquatic organisms, but thousands of tons are released into the sewers, water and soil every day. Are these products also produced, approved for sale, marketed and bought by reasonable people? Reasonable from the point of view of earnings and economics, but not from the point of view of ecology, medicine and the like. Long-term damage is inestimable!

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Our behaviour could be wiser, focused on the long-term and take into account the bigger picture; all stages—production, usefulness, recycling, possible alternatives and other factors—

not only economic interest but also social interest and impact on the nature as a whole. Obviously reasonable thinking is not enough, we need wisdom, today for tomorrow.

THINKING ABOUT ART

What is art? Why do people engage in art?

There is always some kind of a need behind human action.

People also have needs beyond the physical existence, needs we might consider 'for the soul'. Due to not knowing the truth or being influenced by the subconscious which is confronted with the human's insufficiently defined 'world of ideas', the actions we take often are often detrimental to us or those around us, but they also meet our unspecified, subconscious needs for spirituality. Wantonness, greed and similar phenomena result from the contradictions between the subconscious and the conscious mind. For some individuals, the need to create and design stems from consciously undefined sources that may be perceived as the influence of nature and the pursuit of spiritual upgrading of itself through man.

People also have a predilection for humor, fun, adrenaline challenges, interesting stories, etc. We need something that excites us.

Art is also something rooted beyond the rational and the absolutely necessary. It is a kind of imitation or transformation of the world, the creation of visions, harmonies, fantasy worlds.

It is on a higher level than productivity out of necessity, it is the harmonization of the existing world with a higher, unconscious ideal.

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IS A SOCIETY OF REASONABLE PEOPLE POSSIBLE OR

IS IT A UTOPIA?

Certainly, one of the main goals of philosophy is to determine what is good for a person, with the aim of achieving awareness of the truth and behaving in accordance with these findings (the highest good).

Suppose that one day human society develops into a society of reasonable, wise people in which most untruths and passions are eliminated. The actions of the people would benefit themselves and society at large, and suffering and justifiable dissatifaction would cease to exist.

It is, of course, a utopian but very interesting assumption of what would happen if this goal of the evolution of society were achieved.

The preconditions for such a society are the satisfaction of the basic needs of all people and the guarantee of this satisfaction.

Then, could a society exist and develop without fierce competition and ruthless struggle? Can a society exist and develop on the basis of its awareness of what is good and what is necessary, founded on cooperation, and devoid of the desire for (excessive) enrichment and exertion of influence? Can awareness be a sufficient motive for that?

If we take a family as an example, we see that it can be successful if the relationships are harmonious. In a harmonious family, the role of each member is clear—the parents, who are the most capable, take care of children, work and create. When children grow up, they take on a part of the obligations and contribute to the family to the best of their ability. All family members contribute as much as they can, and each uses as many resources as he or she needs.

When the parents are no longer able to work, their children take care of them. However, if only one member of the family doesn't act in accordance with the needs of the whole family, the 134





quality of life of all members is significantly reduced. In our case, each member of society should act in accordance with the needs of the whole society. The motivation for action comes from being aware of the necessity of and justification for the actions of individuals.

Nowadays, a lot of minds are focused on the idea of settling Mars, and creating the conditions for human life on that planet.

Does it even make sense to create 'heaven' out of 'hell' on the very same moral foundations and relationships based on egoism and extravagance that have made a 'hell' out of 'heaven' (Earth)?

Until we fundamentally change our mentality and behavior, we will certainly not succeed in this feat, because for the time being it is completely pointless to make a 'hell' out of 'heaven' only to make a 'heaven' out of 'hell'.



And here is where I close the circle. I hope I have written everything nature has given me and that I've been entrusted with on this mission!





135





136





POETRY SUPPLEMENT

During the process of writing this book, I often woke up from sleep.

Ideas, thoughts, and verses amazed me, to put it mildly, and kept me awake. Enthusiastically, I got out of bed, took a pen in my hands, and wrote down the thoughts before they dissipated.

Then, as a rule, I would step out of the house and stare at the starry sky, feeling with my whole being a sense of belonging to the universe.

I am aware that in order to make this book possible millions of years of human development had to pass along with countless generations of our ancestors.

The verses were originally written in Slovene, even in a mixture of some South Slavic languages, because it seems to me that their beauty can only be expressed in this way. Sometimes I can’t believe this spiritual beauty was presented to me!





137





138





Snov Vesolja človek je izbrana Ljudje smo iz zvezdnega prahu

Smo fizično majhen, neznaten delček vesolja

A naša duhovnost je vseobsegajoča

Skozi nas se pretakajo zrak, voda in sončevi žarki Smo člen v časovni verigi življenja

Potomci neštetih generacij lovcev, bojevnikov, delavcev In upajmo predniki bodočih mnogoterih kdove kakšnih generacij

Smo edina bitja, skozi katere se miselnost

Vesolje zaveda lastnega obstoja



Iz naše mičkene domovine Zemlje

v neskončno, mrzlo in temno vesolje odmevajo

veličastne simfonije in hkrati kriki bolečine





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Esej o Soncu in človeku





Sem Sonce.


Sem iz Zvezdnega prahu in v Zvezdni prah se bom povrnil.

Nisem sam, v Vesolju je milijarde sonc, podobnih meni.

Pravzaprav sploh ne morem vedeti, koliko nas je!

Zakaj obstajam, kateri je moj namen, kaj je moj smisel?

Svetim in oddajam toploto v neskončni temi Vesolja.

Omogočam in vzdržujem življenje nekje na oddaljenih otokih.

Iz prahu ustvarjam Misel.

To je moj smisel!

Seveda, teh besed ne morem napisati osebno.

Piše jih Misel, ki sem jo ustvaril.

Misel me je imenovala, Misel se zaveda, kdo sem. Sva organska celota, drug brez drugega nimava smisla.

Nestrpno sem čakal ta trenutek, milijarde let sem potrpežljivo oddajal svetlobo in končno dočakal ta dan!

A zdaj se mi zdi, da je vse tako hitro minilo.

Še naprej bom, dokler lahko, ogreval dom, v katerem Misel živi, in izpolnjeval smisel lastnega obstoja!

Sem Človek.

Sem iz Zvezdnega prahu, in v Zvezdni prah se bom povrnil.

Nisem sam, na Zemlji je milijarde ljudi podobnih meni.

Nešteto je tudi rastlin, živali. Pravzaprav sploh ne morem vedeti, koliko nas je!

Zakaj obstajam, kateri je moj namen, kaj je moj smisel?

Ali bolj poglobljeno – zakaj obstajamo, kateri je naš namen, kaj je naš smisel?

Življenje mi je dano, da ga podam naprej.

Rodil sem se, živel, umrl in se na novo rodil že neštetokrat, a vedno za odtenek v boljši različici.

Postopoma se je v meni razvila Misel, skozi milijone let, v borbi za obstoj, v bolečini, krvi, smehu in igri.

A zdaj se mi zdi, da je vse tako hitro minilo!

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Še naprej bom, dokler bom lahko, nadaljeval življenje, v katerem živi Misel, in izpolnjeval smisel Našega obstoja!





Sem Misel.


Rodila sem se in razvila brez lastnega materialnega telesa, nekje med ljudmi.

Vsak človek me vidi in doživlja različno – eni me imajo zelo radi, drugi pa me ignorirajo.

Indirektno sem tudi jaz iz Zvezdnega prahu in v Zvezdni prah se bom MORDA povrnila.

Ne vem še!?

Moj nosilec, človek, se delno vrne v prah, ampak glej, pred tem pa čisto mičken delec sebe in mene prenaša iz roda v rod, iz starega v novo telo, in tudi jaz, starejša kot sem, bolj sem mlada!

V meni je zajeto celotno Vesolje. Brez mene se nič v Vesolju ne more zavedati lastnega obstoja.

Sem gladina, na kateri se ogledujejo Galaksije, Sonce, Luna, Voda ... Človek počasi odpira oči, zbuja se iz popolne teme. Še tava po lastnem egu, išče me, včasih se tudi hudo poškoduje, ko nezavedno naleti na drugega Človeka ali pa nehote pade kjerkoli v Naravi. A tudi jaz vztrajno iščem človeka in mogoče se bova enkrat le srečala.

Še naprej bom, dokler lahko, iskala Človeka in izpolnjevala smisel mojega obstoja!





Jaz sem Smisel.


Ki ga išče Misel.

Sliši se kot pesmica!? Mogoče pa to ni naključje?

Vse kar nisem jaz, je nesmisel! Težko me je najti, ker se zdim abstrakten, razpršen. Pa nisem! Sem oblikovalec Vsega, brez mene ni niti trohice prahu, nobena travna bilka ne zraste brez mene!

Sem večen, neskončen in nedokončan.

Lepo je, če se vsaj nekdo zaveda, da obstajam.



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Kepa

Zbudi se, prsti kepa,

že milijone let ti spiš,

vse nared za tvoj je prihod,

čas je skrajni, da se zbudiš.



Vse okrog tebe se premika,

obrača, spreminja in gori.

A brez tebe pesem nastati ne more,

ustvariš lahko samo jo ti!



Slišala boš zvoke,

videla svetlobo, reke, gore;

prišla boš na neznane poti;

a vedeti moraš,

da to ceno svojo ima

in včasih zelo

zelo boli.



O svetu novem,

seveda, nič ne veš,

zato opazuj, se uči

in dobro pazi, kaj počneš.



In kmalu potem

naprej boš zopet neskončno spala,

ti – prsti kepa,

a možnost imaš živeti naprej;

a le, če ljubiš sočloveka.





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U pjesmu se probudio

U noći me pjesma probudila,

u snove mi pjesnik pohodio

Na jastuk mi rječi položio

»Ti ih složi kako god umiješ

Ja sam tvoje djelo započeo!!«



Više dvjesta godina od tebe

stih tvoj svjetli u tamu bezumlja

Stihovi su od nas puno veći

iz nebeskih padaju visina

u misli nam naše zamagljene



Hram mudrosti ja ne mogu naći

što si lijepo u pjesmi napis’o

Al tražiću dokle ga ne nadjem

Samo trebam časa da se snadjem



Iz bola se svako djete radja

Valjda tako i čovještvo naše

Duh čovječji centar je svemira

Oko misli sav se svemir vrti



Misao se oblikuje sama

Svašta ima šta misliti treba!



Šta je čovjek?

A šta biti može?

Dal’ je čovjek

il’ suprotnost svoja?

Malo zatim ko je poletio

Na krila je bombe objesio

Nije čovjek još uvjek postao

No se muči čovjek da postane

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Nije čoj’ku mozak izrastao

samo da bi stomak napunio

Nit’ je čovjek što čovjeku sliči

No je ono što se dobro čini



Čovjek može biti šta god hoće

Tu nečovjek jedina mu brana!



S sudbinom čovjek pomirit' se mora

Ali njoj se predat’ ne smije nikada!

Samom sebi čovjek svrha nije

Viši smis’o ima u Kosmosu





144





An Essay about the Sun and Man I am the Sun.

I am made of Stardust, and I shall return to Stardust.

I am not alone; there are billions of suns just like me in the Universe. In fact, there is no way for me to know how many of us there are!

Why do I exist? What is my purpose? What is my meaning?

I give away light and warmth in the infinite darkness of the universe. I enable and maintain life somewhere on faraway islands. I create Thought from dust.

That is my meaning!

Of course, I cannot write these words myself.

They are written by Thought, which I have created.

Thought named me, Thought knows who I am. We form an organic whole; we have no meaning without each other.

I had been waiting eagerly for that moment, for billions of years I had patiently been radiating light and finally that day came!

But now it seems to me that everything has come to pass so fast.

I will continue to, for as long as I can, keep warm the home in which Thought resides, and to fulfil the meaning of my own existence!





I am Human.


I am made of Stardust, and I shall return to Stardust.

I am not alone; there are billions of humans just like me on Earth. There are also innumerable plants and animals. In fact, there is no way for me to know how many of us there are!

Why do I exist? What is my purpose? What is my meaning?

Or rather – why do we exist? What is our purpose? What is our meaning?

I am also we.

I have been given life to pass it into future.

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I have been born, I have lived and died, and have been reborn over and over countless times, and every time in a slightly better version.

Gradually Thought developed in me through millions of years, in fighting for existence, in pain, blood, laughter, and play.

But now it seems to me that everything has come to pass so fast!

For as long as I can, I will continue the life in which Thought resides, and fulfil the meaning of my and our existence!





I am Thought.


I was born and have developed without a personal physical body, somewhere among people.

Every human sees me and experiences me differently –

some love me very much, others ignore me.

Indirectly, I am also made of Stardust, and I MIGHT return to Stardust.

How am I to know!?

My bearer, the human, partly returns to dust, but lo! Before that, he carries a small piece of himself and myself over from generation to generation, from the old body into the new one; and as for myself, the older I become the younger I am!

The whole Universe is contained within me. Without me, nothing in the Universe can be aware of its own existence.

I am the surface reflecting Galaxies, the Sun, the Moon, the Water… The Human is slowly opening his eyes, waking from total darkness. He is still wandering his own ego, looking for me; sometimes he even injures himself severely when he unwittingly hits another human or accidentally falls over somewhere in Nature. Likewise, I am also looking for the Human, and perhaps, one day, we meet each other.

For as long as I can, I will continue to look for the Human and fulfil the meaning of my existence!





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Man is the chosen essence of the universe People are made of stardust

We are a physically small, trivial part of the universe But our spirituality is all-embracing

Air, water, and sun rays pervade us

We are a link in the temporal chain of life

Descendants of innumerable generations of hunters, warriors, labourers

And hopefully ancestors of a myriad of who knows what kinds of generations

We are the only being whose thought

Makes the universe aware of its own existence

From our tiny homeland Earth

Into infinite, cold and dark space echo

Majestic symphonies and simultaneous shrieks of pain.





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Ball of soil

Wake up, you ball of soil

you've been sleeping for millions of years

Everything is ready for your arrival

It's high time you woke up



Everything around you is moving,

spinning, changing and burning

Without you, a song cannot be created

Only you can create



You'll hear noises

Saw light, rivers, mountains;

You will come on unknown paths;

But you have to know

that it has that price

and sometimes very,

it hurts a lot



About the New World,

of course, you know nothing

So watch, learn,

and be careful what you do



And soon after

you will continue to sleep endlessly again

you: ball of soil

but you have the opportunity to feel ahead;

but only if you love another human.





Duško Bojanc





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I invite you to view my creations: https://duskobojanc.wixsite.com/slikebojanc/home

https://meaningoflifeblog.home.blog/





149





Sources

Aristoteles (1994): Nikomahova etika. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.

Dijaški net (2021): Gradivo: Budizem.

https://dijaski.net/gradivo/soc_ref_budizem_14

Goodreads (2021a): Albert Einstein Quotes.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/369-a-human-being-is-a-part-of-the-whole-called

Goodreads (2021b): Albert Einstein Quotes.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/532920-the-man-who-regards-his-own-life-and-that-of

Goodreads (2021c): Meaning Of Life Quotes.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/meaning-of-life Inštitut za etiko in vrednote (2019): Znanje in modrost.

http://evi.iev.si/ogrodje-etike-in-vrednot/znanje-in-modrost/

Njegoš, Petar II Petrović (1974): Celokupna dela Petra II Petrovića Njegoša: Gorski vijenac: Luča mikrokozma, knjiga 3. Beograd: Prosveta.

Psihoterapija Izbira (2016): Id, ego in superego.

http://www.psihoterapija-izbira.si/id-ego-in-superego/

The Meaning Of Life (1988), zbral Hugh S. Moorhead.

Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated.

Thera, Hiriko (2017): Menihove misli: Budizem za radovedneže. SloTheravada: Budistično učenje v slovenščini.

http://www.slo-theravada.org/ucenja/blog/381-budizem-za-radovedneze.html

Wikipedia (2021a): Buda. https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buda Wikipedia (2021b): Entiteta.

https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entiteta

Wikipedia (2021c): Stoicizem.

https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicizem

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Contents

INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 5

UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCING THE WORLD 19

Different perceptions of the world and the necessity of upgraded

perception ................................................................................ 19

Great misconceptions .............................................................. 30

"Man is separate from the universe" ................................. 30

Experiencing the universe ................................................. 32

Overestimation of an individual's mind ............................ 32

The fallacy that sexuality is an individual's need .............. 33

Misplaced values ............................................................... 34

The idea of transcendental ethics ............................................ 35

Five basic dimensions ....................................................... 40

Five basic elements ........................................................... 40

THE UNIVERSE IS A CONNECTED WHOLE ................... 42

Connection between the animate and the inanimate ............... 48

The connection between man and nature ................................ 52

Connectedness of people (humanity) ...................................... 58

The continuation of the human species ................................... 63

THE FUNCTIONING OF NATURE AND MAN AS PART OF

NATURE ................................................................................. 66

Accumulation of basic particles .............................................. 66

Evolution of the universe ........................................................ 67

Diversity of life forms ............................................................. 70

The relentless struggle to preserve life ................................... 71

Continuing through development............................................ 71

Bipolarity or duality ................................................................ 73

Nature self-regulates ............................................................... 75

The principles of human action as part of nature .................... 76

THE MEANING OF LIFE ..................................................... 89





Why does awareness of the meaning of life matter? ............ 122

Thinking about the concept of truth ...................................... 127

Thinking about the concepts of science, philosophy and wisdom

............................................................................................... 130

Thinking about art ................................................................ 133

Is a society of reasonable people possible or is it a utopia? .. 134

POETRY SUPPLEMENT ..................................................... 137

Snov Vesolja človek je izbrana ............................................. 139

Esej o Soncu in človeku ........................................................ 140

Kepa ...................................................................................... 142

U pjesmu se probudio ........................................................... 143

An Essay about the Sun and Man ......................................... 145

Man is the chosen essence of the universe ............................ 147

Ball of soil ............................................................................. 148

SOURCES ............................................................................. 150





Duško Bojanc

THE MEANING OF LIFE

BETWEEN EGO AND SKY



Original title:

MED EGOM IN NEBOM

Knjiga o smislu življenja



English translation by Tatjana Bojanc



Technically edited by Valentina Fras



Publisher:

SMART - Duško Bojanc s.p.

Novo mesto, 2023



Electronic edition

PDF format



URL: https://free-book.org/



Free copy