Who or what is Christ?

Now, as far as the philosophy itself is concerned, you are left hanging in the air, because the next step is causative, you must make some effort, but I'll leave you a clue, for the sake of all mankind.
Your working clue being "If we define Satan as the programmed activity of the body, then who or what is Christ"?

How do we answer the primary philosophic question - What should we do?


email me or Contact us through the Hone Your Mind website if you want to discuss any of these questions or answers.

Coming to grips with Satan

A characteristic of a CLP (Causative Living Person) is that he resolves religious and philosophical paradoxes. We don't sweep them under the carpet, or 'not-is' them, or invalidate them; they need resolution in order to leave the obscurity of belief, non-belief, and 'not-is-ness' to come into the light of understanding.

When I first met Bil, one of his gambits was 'Let me introduce you to Satan!', & I thought 'O yeah! how can anyone introduce me to something that doesn't exist?' So I said 'Go ahead' and I waited.

What followed was that Bil gave me a definition, 'Satan is the programmed activity of the body', in other words the body-emotion system.

Now surely, the body-emotion system includes beauty and love as well as ugliness & hate, what the heck is he talking about?

Wow! I had never even considered everyday functions could be somehow anthropomorphised and I wanted to hear more.

Faith and Reason

What role do Faith and Reason have in causative living?
What is the function of Faith and what is the function of Reason?
This seems to be an age old debate, how can I contribute?

Nowadays, bar possibly for some Middle Eastern countries, expressing a view contrary to orthodox religion doesn't excite any real attention. So, we may ask, have any new views emerged under this freedom? The answer is not really. There have always been apostates from faith who suddenly discover some of their 'Father Christmas like' dogmas are difficult or impossible to entertain any more. Orthodox religion mostly no longer interferes with people who hold moderate views contrary to theirs, and there are now billions of people who were not even born into any structured faith at all, so we would expect some crystal clear epistemology to have emerged. Yet this hasn't happened, or rather there is no charismatic champion espousing such truth.

Rather, what seems to be happening, is a natural process of maturation. When still very young, to our disappointment we unmask myths like the tooth-fairy and Father Christmas, then we go through a rather cocky period scorning anyone who still believes in them, then we go through a period of indifference when we realise no one really cares, and finally with our children we renew the cycle and share in their childish delights. Still the tooth-fairy and Father Christmas myths have functions useful to our society. The tooth-fairy is a placebo to the natural, but painful, process of getting our adult teeth, and Father Christmas is the 'Spirit' of giving and of generosity fundamental to western society. Understanding these functions, I think, does more to keep them alive than to end them.

So too, I posit that faith and reason have functions useful to society, or they wouldn't stick around so doggedly. Knowing the tooth-fairy and Father Christmas are myths does not invalidate their use or stop their perpetuation, but rather, in understanding, they are perpetuated. Now I realised, as others have too, resolving myths like Father Christmas is a process of understanding gained through natural maturation, and further suggest that issues of faith may be resolved in the same manner. That is, they (issues of faith) are resolved on a personal level which will not necessarily end their perpetuation after resolution. Four reasons I now give why understanding issues of faith will not end a religion or dogma are:

1. Trying to force people, into accepting anything will be resisted.
Like Dr. Semelweis trying to force his ideas onto his colleagues. Even children, not ready to let go of the Father Christmas myth, will endure the scorn of other children until they themselves are ready. I know, I resisted in my youth!

2. Faith is an excellent people control weapon.
Someone who believes in Valhalla can be counted on to be brave in battle and can be manipulated into doing all sorts of inane things. Someone who believes in hell can be persuaded not to break certain commandments or laws.

3. Vested interests and livelihoods.
There are an awful lot of grocery bills paid by believers. Why tell the faithful that you have matured beyond belief and so lose your livelihood?

4. Religions try to guide their followings into good behaviour, and very often reason can do no better.

One function of both faith and reason is to guide our intentions and actions. However, in faith we are constrained and are not free to set our own course. With reason we are free, even if we set the same course that faith dictates, but now WE become responsible for our own choices and actions.

Faith and dogmas will stay for ever, as it is as natural as adolescence is in life, even if they are sometimes cruel and dangerous. In faith there is limited responsibility, but in reason we find full responsibility.

Seven Characteristics of a Causative Living Person

Seven Characteristics of a Causative Living Person (CLP)

At present I'm going to list seven characteristics of a causative living person, there are more, of course, than the ones I am listing, Bil listed 21 for me in the course of our association, but these seven form a useful foundation on which we can build.

1. A CLP is aware of his games.
2. He has assumed responsibility for his life and its consequences.
3. He has excellent body posture of which he is constantly aware.
4. He resolves religious and philosophical paradoxes.
5. He is not affectively controlled by dogma or authority.
6. He translates knowledge into wisdom.
7. He contributes to raising his fellow humans to the level of Causative Living 'homo novus'.

Let's briefly discuss these:

Being aware of your games. If there is a goal there is a game, you can succeed or fail, score or not score. In nature the big game is to survive. The survival of everything that exists, plants, animals, people, concepts, religions, is involved in the big game. We see the game employs a simple, but effective, reasoning that 'something must always exist' or 'something else must never exist'. Mostly the players are not aware that they are players, resulting in the attempted perpetuation or eradication of things, people and concepts. Causative living on the other hand does not focus on this type of survival or eradication, but by definition, focuses on following goals that result in creation, it adds to that which exists. To the degree you are aware of your goals, is the degree to which you are aware of your games.

Assuming responsibility for your life. Assuming responsibility for your life, really means not blaming any one or anything for your circumstances, but regardless of which, we are not stopped, we strive to fulfil defined goals. In fulfilling goals we lead fulfilled lives, obviously.

Body posture. One's posture is a communication shibboleth, wherein we expose our attitudes, likes and dislikes. It is body-language. Practising particular postures increases awareness. Assuming a particular posture in a particular situation to effect a particular outcome is causative. I'm sure thespians, for example, who rely on precise communication for success, must practise posture control, and be constantly aware of their own postures. In causative living there are practics which can get one up to speed, but these may initially require individual tutorial or guidance.

Resolving religious and philosophical paradoxes. A good God allowing bad things to happen is an age old paradox. Paradoxes of what we should or should not do in particular situations are as relevant today as they were in antiquity. What do paradoxes (seeming absurdities) like Lucifer being banished from heaven and Adam & Eve eating of the forbidden fruit mean?

Being affectively controlled by dogma or authority. Now, whereas we cannot avoid, dogma and authority physically controlling our lives in the form of governments, receivers of revenue, law makers, police, the military and so on, we do not need to expire when they say boo or bah, we still are free to be causative and to create, even when we are in the most dire of situations.

He translates knowledge into wisdom. Our attitudes generally reflect how we translate knowledge into wisdom. Wisdom is applied knowledge, e.g. in knowing that smoking is harmful to the body, wisdom is found in not smoking. Yet one might have a paranoid attitude toward smoking & be completely unaware that this paranoia may also be a carcinogen.

One example of wisdom (applied knowledge) I like to use is Dr. Ignaz Semelweis' efforts to introduce infection control into obstetrics to reduce the appalling death rate, at the time, from puerperal fever. The example is useful because firstly it was so simple, secondly the idea was scorned at by Dr. Semelweis' colleagues, and thirdly Dr. Semelweis usually introduced his ideas in an autocratic manner.

Anyway, when talking about how our attitudes and actions may be related to wisdom I found the word 'benesidious' coined to mean 'that which is cumulatively beneficial' in conjunction with its natural opposite 'insidious' meaning 'that which is cumulatively harmful' is a particularly useful tool. Dr. Semelweis' ideas were benesidious, his colleagues' scorn was insidious and his autocratic manner was also insidious.

We may also describe habitual drunkenness e.g. as an insidious habit; while sobriety, meaning voluntary but deliberate control of our actions, we describe as a benesidious habit.

He contributes to raising his fellow humans to the level of Causative Living 'homo novus'. In life, survival is a major issue. Causative living, the concept of benesidiousness, and the concept of rightness (to be introduced later) are perhaps neologies, but they are the fruit of an ancient tree. By analogy, in order to live trees need to be fed and watered, and to survive as a species their seeds to mature and to propagate. This blog is one way that I contribute to raising fellow humans to the level of 'homo novus' (new man).

Introduction

Causative Living

Causative living is a term that exactly describes our intention - that is to live fulfilled lives on purpose.

I was introduced to the concept in 1979 by my friend & mentor Bil Botha, who at the time ran the Causative Living Foundation. Sadly Bil was killed in an auto accident in the late 80's & it appears that his foundation died with him.

Still, causative living is not a belief system or a religion, but is reliant on understanding, wisdom and common sense, and not on a particular driver. Causative living really is the FUNCTION of mature man, and it is his inheritance.

Now the word maturity connotes a transition from one stage to another. It describes one who functions maturely and who manifests increasing understanding and wisdom, one who exhibits and grows in the characteristics of a causative living person.

Now our, that is homo sapiens', inheritance is mature function, and this can be recognised in the manner in which he solves his problems. Solving problems affectively or by force are sure indicators of immature behaviour. So when homo saps uses wars, pogroms, social, racial and religious persecution and bias to 'solve' his problems, we recognise mature function is missing.

In nature it seems clear that there are no forgone conclusions, and so said, maturity is an end that has to be aimed at causatively and won, game-like. Plants, and animals have inbuilt body-emotion programs tending towards physical maturity. Programs like - avoid predators, get old enough, have sex, get kids, raise kids, then die - are common in nature, but constrain their owners to more or less reactive behaviour. The spirit, as creativity, intention, and understanding, on the other hand is not programmed but is the free author of its creations.

Homo saps can just as well die out as any other species, but for arguments' sake, and to further a very ancient argument, let us categorise mature man as a functionally new sub species which we'll call 'homo novus'. Now, as we are able to describe the characteristics of homo novus, so we are able to direct our intention toward that end. This ancient argument culminating in 'New Man or Christ' is the spirit (the essence) of the bible, it is a teleology bestowing upon man his inheritance, salvation or mature function.

Homo novus is not a racial or religious group, like Jews, Arabs or Christians, but it is a functional one that already exists. Its members are largely unknown to each other, but is seen in those who live causatively & responsibly. They are spread around the world, and drawn from different racial groups and religious groups.

In my next blog I intend to list 7 characteristics of a CLP, Causative Living Person.