Understanding Philosophy

Philosophy: the art of arranging words to have specific meanings and thereby give us some understanding and to explain ourselves.

In our early lives we learn about various philosophies and use them to provide context for our behaviour (and politics) as we build our own personal philosophies to define and shape our own lives.

According to Wikipedia philosophy is "Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language." While some university may define philosophy as "the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, the mind, and language."

However in examining many of the available definitions, there is no philosophy that has any rational foundation. On the surface philosophy appears to be the manner in which we give meaning to life and there is no clear right or wrong, it's all about opinion and in that regard, everyone or should I say everyone's philosophy is right provided it doesn't conflict with the philosophy of the ruling elite.

So in the broadest sense, philosophy can be any arrangement of words intended to have some meaning from the most abstract of poetry, concepts of space and time to the mythology of how we clean our arses. The thief has a philosophy to justify thieving, politicians formulate philosophies to help them stay in power, we all philosophise about who we are going to relate to so that much philosophy mixes with idle dreams that in turn help to shape our personal philosophies.

In this sense, philosophy is simply a play on words, a rearrangement of everything we have learned to suit a particular outcome within a belief based framework. In the case of capitalism and belief systems, philosophies have evolved to justify wars and genocides while those with a more compassionate nature have evolved philosophies reflecting compassion and kindness.

As a mental construct, the art of philosophising can be used to plan, execute and justify any behaviour because it has no rational foundation and for the majority of the world's population whose philosophical nature is centred on some particular belief system, there can be no truth resulting in the world we see today.

In case you haven't noticed, while your neighbourhood may be peaceful and your life may seem perfect, we are living in a world at war due to philosophical differences and the populations have become so engrossed in this conflict they overlook the fact that we reside on an unstable rock floating through space.

However there is one philosophical system that has evolved over the millennia that recognises the fragility and impermanence of our existence which is the beginning point of the philosophical construct that 'we don't know'. In other words we have no idea as to our ultimate origins or purpose but, we share some common features like human bodies, a desire to be happy and to avoid suffering while ensuring that our DNA survives into eternity rather than being extinguished in some conflict or from the damage we are doing to the planet.

The philosophical system I am referring to is Sanatana Dharma which recognises that in terms of any ultimate reality, we do not know but through the art of yoga we can touch that ultimate reality which is beyond all philosophical phrasing. It is the art of yoga that serves as a means to keep the body and mind healthy, and manage unhealthy aspects of human nature. It is through Sanatana Dharma that we can adapt and live in harmony with planetary changes so that our DNA will endure throughout eternity even though our individual lives are so brief.

Links:
A Needs based Economy
A Rational for Sanatana Dharma
Hinduism can Save the World

"Arguing with a person who has renounced the use of reason
is like administering medicine to the dead."
~ Thomas Paine