The question of life has been subject to relentless debate since the dawn of critical thinking. The Western traditional world believed in deities and transcendental systems of order, and relied upon this to provide them with inherent purpose and meaning, but as the exaltation of intelligence and education began to manifest in all areas of human life as time progressed, in our hubriatic naivety, we sought to challenge and question the validity of these deities and divine systems of order, and by extension our purpose and meaning, until there was nothing left to deconstruct, leaving but a brutal self-awareness among the ruins of heaven and Valhalla. And for now, there is no going back, Ouroboros has already consumed it.
So why do we persist in the notion that Christianity can be saved; that theistic paganism can be resurrected; that this conundrum can be solved by importing non-Western traditions and spirituality, and then bastardising them in our hubris, or that god can be seamlessly swapped out for science or secular moral crusades? The answer to all of the above is denial, and a refusal to accept the responsibility of our actions, of what we have done: an act of species self-destruction that far eclipses any genocide. We unleashed a pandemic of mental illness unrivalled in history through collectively annihilating our reason to exist. And so now, we must take the ontological surgery we began, but left unfinished, to its extreme conclusion with uncompromising honesty, using only logical process as our guide.
The hardest part to come to terms with is that our reason to exist was always a logical falsity. It was a method of coping with the absurdity of existence, and with the existential nightmare that complete self-awareness of this brings.
A four-point breakdown will now be given.
The Essence of a Room
What is the precondition of a bedroom, or a study, or a store room? Is it the substance within: the comfortable sleeping apparatus; the desk and chair; the cleaning equipment and supplies, or is it something else? What first needs to be present before a room can be filled with substance?
The answer is emptiness. Without the room first being empty, a bedroom it cannot be, a study it cannot be, and a store room it cannot be. Prior to the introducing of substance to the room, it was empty, and after the substance is inevitably removed from the room, it will return to that emptiness.
The Essence of Movement
What is the essence of movement? Is it a specific form or style of movement? What must first be present in order for there to be the potential for the manifestation of movement?
The answer is stillness. Without there first being stillness there can be no movement. Stillness is both what precedes movement and what it will return to once finished.
The Essence of Sound
What is the essence of sound? Is it the object it is emitted from, how it resonates with the hearer? What must first be present in order to manifest sound?
The answer is silence. Without silence being present first there can be no sound. Sound is born from silence and will inevitably return to silence.
The Essence of Something
What is the precondition of something? Is it the form of that something or its personality? What is first needed in order for something to exist? What comes prior to something?
The answer is nothing. Nothing is what that something was and what it will once again become upon its death.
Logical Conclusion
Stillness, Silence, and Nothingness are eternal because movement, sound, and something are preceded and proceeded by them. Movement, sound, and something are illusory because they are not eternal: they fade in, and they fade out, like a dream or hallucinogenic state, and so too does life fade in and out; trapped in a cycle of existence and Nothingness, of illusion and reality. Gone is the age of blissful illusion, the red curtain has been lifted. Facing reality, facing what is eternal, and knowing that as “something”, in accordance with the prior ontological investigation, we are illusory, that the concept we have of a self is a logical fallacy. The belief we have that we are somebody, that we are special, that we are relevant, and that we should have “rights” or “god’s protection” because of this, is built upon denial, cowardice, and dishonesty; because in actuality and essence, we are nobody. We are not special; we are irrelevant; we are Nothing. But there is a beauty and a freedom to be found in that. Make no mistake however, we are trapped by our self-awareness; condemned to be free.
The most any of us can hope for is a brave odyssey through life, or to leave behind something for when we once again become Nothing.