Tag: reciprocity

Categories
- Religion - Science

Underlying Assumptions

There are commonalities between science and religion as systems of knowledge that help conceptualize them as complementary and reciprocal.  The first is that they both derive from  assumptions and articles of faith.

Religion assumes the existence of a Divine and Transcendent Reality, an Unknowable Creator referred to as God.  Religion then assumes that, although humanity cannot know God’s essence, we can perceive attributes of God and intimations of Divine will through revelation.  Religion further assumes that we can learn to apply these revealed teachings towards the betterment of humankind.

Science assumes that the phenomenal world, apparently chaotic, is actually governed by universal laws and principles which constitute a hidden order.  Science then assumes that humanity can increasingly understand these hidden laws and principles through systematic and rational methods.  Science further assumes that we can apply this knowledge towards the betterment of humankind.

These articles of faith are almost identical – in one system, applied to physical reality; in the other, to spiritual reality; though in both, being applied to human social reality.

How do you see these common assumptions operating in your field?

Categories
- Human Body Human Nature Oneness

The Human Body and the Body Politic

We are in disagreement with self-interested conceptions of human nature and competitive social models. These tend to derive from a materialistic reduction of reality. Humankind’s future does not rest in their espousal, regardless of how popular they may seem at present. Systems known to humankind each comprise a possible candidate on which to model social organization. The human body and not the jungle is a more constructive analogy for the organization of our society. The human body analogy equips us to envision a social order that is harmonious, united, and prosperous. Cooperation of the various parts leads to health, and selfishness of any cell or tissue produces disease states. Through the instrumentality of reciprocity and cooperation each member of the body politic contributes and receives mutual comfort and welfare. One member’s affliction or distress will produce affliction and distress in all members and the whole. The body politic experiences happiness and sadness as a single entity. Can my finger but not myself be in pain? Can acute injury to the eye spare the functions of the broader nervous system? The agency of the sympathetic nervous system, like the inter-human sense of sympathetic emotion, leads to interconnectedness in all matters of pain and pleasure, disease and health, disaster and prosperity. Can the part be distressed but the whole at ease? It is our foundational conviction that society should be organized according to principles of reciprocity, cooperation and interconnectedness. Through the arteries of humankind will then flow the spirit that empowers us to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.

Categories
Human Nature Oneness

Oneness as an Ontological Truth

The analogy of the human body to the body of humanity provides important insights to the nature of human society and the relationship between the individual and the collective, as well as into the principle of oneness itself. Yet, the concept of oneness embodies a deeper truth. Ultimately, oneness is a defining characteristic of the entire phenomenal world. Reality is one. Every part of the universe is connected with all other parts; every reality is an essential requisite of other realities; and cooperation and reciprocity – so characteristic of the functioning of the human body, as well as characteristics that the body of humanity desperately needs as it transitions to maturity – are manifestations of the interconnectedness that governs the entire universe.

The intrinsic oneness that characterizes humanity is derived from the underlying oneness of reality itself. It is true of physical phenomena, it is true of the human body, it is true of humanity (though it needs to be expressed in more fuller degrees), all because it is true of reality. This latent oneness of humankind will become manifest when cooperation, mutual aid, and reciprocity characterize all the relationships within our social body.

Thoughts? Please share below.

Categories
Oneness

Oneness

At this critical moment in the history of humanity’s social evolution, the diverse people’s of the world need a more coherent vision of society that can guide the advancement of civilization.  This need can only be met through the voluntary acceptance of an ever-widening circle of the earth’s diverse peoples of the principle of the oneness of humankind – which entails both transformation of human consciousness and organic changes in societal structures.  On a practical level, this principle defines relationships, between and among individuals, institutions, and communities.

Where do you see examples of relationships characterized by cooperation and reciprocity?

Where are there opportunities to create relationships characterized by cooperation and reciprocity?