THE PLAN-- a personal belief system for the new millenium
THE PLAN
-- a personal belief system for the new millenium

INTRODUCTION

We are all instruments of THE PLAN, whether we like it or not. The idea of predestination is not new. Philosophers of all eras have battled with the subject, numerous works of literature and film are continuously dedicated to it (from arthouse movies by Kieslovski to more simplistic yet thought-provoking fare like Run Lola Run" and "Pi" - in the later the protagonist was even able to find a mathematical code which contained the key to the world's overall mechanism), but a concrete "faith" has not been popularized yet. I'm not implying that my concept of THE PLAN is something extaordinarily original or that it will indeed go on to be a significant Idea in the future of humankind. Not at all...it is merely my own personal belief system shared with whoever displays any interest in it.

SOME BACKGROUND

My father is an Orthodox christian, my mother is Jewish. I'm neither, but I had undergone a mysterious period of religious "awakening" from about 1990 to 1991, at the prepubescent age of 12. During that time (immigration to the U.S. through Italy) I read the Bible from cover to cover, prayed on all occasions and had all kinds of heavy guilt about virtually all my thoughts and actions not limited to sexual. It all started in an equally bizzare manner. During our brief stay in the train terminal packing our belongings, going to hell-knows-where, (I had absolutely no Idea what was happening to us, a concentration camp could be next for all I knew), I had a random incident of Paranoia. For no apparent reason I became utterly convinced that a bomb was planted in the train, and that within hours we're all going to perish. Not only did I keep all this to myself, I also went into an emtpty baggage compartment and broke into an extended prayer that represented all my fears about the future. Indeed, the "allmighty" listened to my pleas and spared us, and repeatedly done so until our glorious landing in Boston. Later, when my adolescent troubles began, heavens ignored me, so after a while I abandoned organised religion. From that point on, it was all quiet in the spiritual departament, except for the prophetic dreams which occured far too frequently to be considered a coincidence. I began to wonder what could be the origin of those dreams. And all the while, I was a victim of the relenltless suffering that life kept causing me. I also wondered why THAT was happening, as I'm sure most people who are whipped long and hard by life do. So in about mid 1996, after a particularly spooky series of dreams, I finally started to formulate my own belief system. Soon enough, it became of enormous help in my daily struggles, and finally alowed me to begin sucessfully overcoming the depression, which I had waged a war against for the last decade.

THE ESSENTIALS

In college, after learning in detail the Ideas of various philosophers( European and Asian alike), I began to synthesize them in order to create a more sensible understanding of this world. In a way, I took the concept of GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, THE CREATOR, THE UNIVERSAL FORCE, THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT, and gave it another name: THE PLAN. Since THE PLAN, by definition, is absolutely perfect, upon unraveling itself, it made no mistakes. Baruch Spinoza, a man who could be considered an early prophet of THE PLAN, made a excellent argument for an infallible God in his "Ethics". This means predestination without the Calvinistic dread of eternal damnation
THE PLAN is constantly manifesting itself onto our lives, and accordingly, I believe that free will, in and of itself, does not exist. There is no "justice" as we understand it, there is no distinction between "good and evil" outside our own minds (Neiztche, of course). We are total and complete products of internal and external influences (genes and environment). This concept may be as frightening to some as the inevitability of death, yet most have learned to accept the latter since their childhood days, and somehow manage to ajust their lives in its shadow. The same adjustment can be also made with THE PLAN If one analizes in depth any particular decision that he or she made, even the most insignificant, one will find that the decision was clearly based on something specific , something experienced previously (maybe as early as a second before) that has been somehow influential. And that something was in turn based on something else, and so on, and so forth. That is precisely how the combination of nature and nurture operates and controls one's every move and thought. Everything happens merely to affect something else and to propell the universal progress (or can it really be called progress ?)into an unknown direction, which is meaningful to THE PLAN itself.

The universal time frame is linear to our limited comprehension (especially in the case of Judeao-Christian religions or generally the Western school of thought), but at the same time it is circular (as most Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism hold it to be), which can be a rather difficult concept to grasp. Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" might help understand it better. We are oblivious to the number of "rounds" of existence the universe may have already undergone.

There is a possibility by which I'm rather intrigued, but not necesserily belive in: that everything had already happened, and we're reliving an insignificant portion of it forever. That is something called "eternal recurrance", suggested by Nietzche, largely as a didactic metaphor, in the 19th cetury. So it could well turn out that prophetic dreams are actually signals or leftovers from one's previous existence as oneself !!! (and so is deja-vu). There are people who posess the ability to get in touch with THE PLAN (pre-programmed by it, of course), either through dreams or through messages their minds recieve. Hence are prophets, or in modern terms, those who are "gifted" with ESP.

It is up to THE PLAN, whether one ends life in peaceful sleep or being sodomized by a large foreign object in prison, whether one becomes famous, or always works a pathetic mindless job. Most of the time an individual's destiny is hardly predictable, but THE PLAN loves to work against one's expectationsi.e. the oft-quoted and infamous Murphy's Laws (such as "if anything can go wrong, it will") are inherent truisms long recognized by the world's sceptics. One must learn to be realistic and objective when anticipating something or other. Bitter pessimism is a common attribute of depression and is often a mental distortion that perpetrates undue misery, but self-deluded or artificially-induced optimism can be just as decieving and unhealthy.

THE PLAN IN SCIENCE

The idea of THE PLAN is certainly not new. It can be found in nearly all stages of human thought. The ancient Greeks and Romans generally had a belief that the world obeys an underlying order, with early mathematicians like Euclid and Pythagoras writing down some of its basic laws. The Rennasiance continued the classical exploration, culminating in the Determinism of the Enlightenment, when most thinking individuals believed in something like the "clockwork universe", or the God who did not interfere with his own creation, i.e. Deism. Further scientific discoveries of the industrial age seemed to support their claim, but by the mid-20th century, physics, which have always been the leading inquirer into the mechanics of the world has reached a stumbling block, finding certain phenomena that seemed random and were not entirely comprehensible by the limited capacity of human beings.

So what about the uncertainty principle? Does it nessesarily refute THE PLAN? Absolutely not. It's only a matter of time when today's impossible problems will be solved. It might take another millennium, but eventually people will reach a better understanding of these obstacles in physics. Only five centuries ago, Newtoninan laws were still unknown. Debates still raged about Earth's placement in the universe and whether it was flat or round. People living in earlier times could not even concieve of what now is regarded as common knowlege. Therefore, it would be premature and naive to assume at the current moment that the universe cannot be fully governed by one unifying power.

DEALING WITH THE PLAN

Of course, modern society as it is, cannot accept or function by this Idea. People, or the masses, require a sense of guilt and fear of superior powers, in order to maintain a sucessful civillization. All too many will be seduced by the Idea of THE PLAN and use it as an excuse to commit various atrocities, later saying: "It wasn't my fault". Others will refuse to work or make any effort to improve themselves in hopes of their fates being decided for them. Indeed, THE PLAN can turn into a very dangerous Idea, not to be exploited or misinterpreted.

No, predestination does not eliminate responsibility in the context of human society. What every individual must do is become aware of THE PLAN's workings and make use of them. Anyone with common sense is already living according to the axioms below.
Dealing with THE PLAN means being able to anticipate its sometimes sudden and treacherous moves, carefully acessing one's options and consequences when making any decision. Always having a backup, knowing when to be spontaneous and when to be cautious, thinking ahead and at the same time savoring those moments one would like to relive again, are just some of the things to consider, in order to make sense of the inevitable destiny. Most importantly, it's the ability to adapt to sudden changes it brings on, and to make the absolute best out of any situation one is offered, even if seems utterly hopless. All this undoubtedly sounds familliar; again it's just common sense that most people who are content in their lives already employ all over the world.

But all of the above is just an illusion!! In actuality, those who behave in accordance with the above paragraph are already influenced, or given strength, (or that nesesary common sense) to survive and be productive. A person can still operate as if posessing free will, while they are simply fortunate for being "in favor" with THE PLAN, so to speak.

Of course, many people would rather settle for contrived explanations of various multiple-personality-disorder type dieties instead. It's simply more convenient to make such mental statements as "I control my own destiny", or "insert-supernatural-entity-name-here will always save me"... There is some truth to such statements, nevertheless - strong faith combined with wisdom and proper survival skills are often saviors. But it is important to recoginse, where this faith and wisdom originate.

WORSHIP OF THE PLAN

Almost every religion in the universe has a unifying postulate: One has to unconditionally Love God, or whichever supreme force one believes in. Even Spinoza, who was considered a heretic during his time has stressed this Love as the "meaning of life", so to speak. One can only be content, or at peace with oneself, when posessed by divine knowlege or the divine spirit. The same is true of THE PLAN. Whether they realize it or not, people can reach the state of happiness or bliss, only when they are "in tune" with it; either actively or passively aware of its greatness. It's a common occurrence when a particular action, (ranging from something as basic as driving or jogging, to more sophisticated such as hiking or martial arts, to the outpouring of one's creative process - crafting, acting, writing, painting, composing music) can cause supreme enjoyment because it transpires in a manner so seamless that one does not stumble for a moment and think "how am I able to do this"? That kind of flow of confident action that requires no twised thought process or extensive preparation can be called being "in tune" with THE PLAN. Some regard that unison as an ultimate expression of free will, but actually it's total submission to THE PLAN, the smooth carrying out of ITS will. Sexuality can also fall into that category, but only when a particular experience is truly fulfilling.

Contentment may also lie not only in pure action, but in observation. When we contemplate, appreciate or admire a landscape or an object, natural or manmade, our mental activity at that moment constitutes awareness of THE PLAN. Thus, meaningful travel and intellectual self-cultivation for some can very useful in maintaining awareness - hence the idea of pilgrimage as worship. There may be different types of pilligrimage, both of "nature" and "culture" variety, equally important.

Ideally, even the mundane sights of everyday existence are supposed to inspire great joy, but very few of us can actually achieve a comparable state. That is usually reserved for Bhuddist Monks. Naturally, those who slave in their cubicles for most of the year, or those who narrow their interests to the point of absurdity (such as some research scholars specializing in the most obscure) are far removed from awareness. As Lao-Tzu had said, "he who is wise does not have extensive knowledge, he who has extensive knowledge is not wise". This saying does not have to be interpreted as totally against learning - it means that those who have a broad understanding of the world and keep their options open are more aware than those who muddle in one area and do not venture out anywhere else. If any behavior according to this theology can be considered detrimental, unfortunate, or better yet "unenlightened", it's a refusal or unwillingness to partake in THE PLAN's greatness. A kind of "faliure to communicate"...

Another type of "unawareness" is overstepping one's boundaries, or the inability to see one's limitations. The Ancient Greeks called it "hubris", instead of "sin", and to me the former title is more accurate. The consequences of hubris can be severe, as in an extreme examples of drunk driving, drug dependency, or unprotected sex, but can also pass undetected for years. Self-restraint, that excellent Attic quality, is therefore, extremely important to live "in tune" with THE PLAN, but that does not equate to asceticism or extreme stoicism. To quote a favorite ancient paradox: "everything in moderation including moderation". After all, Ecclesiastes (which can be viewed as one of the essential texts in PLAN-study), calls one to "enjoy the fruit of thy labor".

Of course, one must realise that only through THE PLAN itself can we become aware of it and achieve happiness. Upon seeing this statement yet again, the reader might dismiss all of this writing as a thinly-veiled version of Calvinism. Rest assured, dear reader - Calvinism this is not. The concept of eternal damnation does not exist here, only the idea of "salvation through grace", so to speak. Unlike hardcore Protestantism, there is no strict set of rules and prohibitions to follow: every human being has a slightly different set of abilities and limits, so only vague prescriptions may apply, no overruling regulations.

The best (but not the sole) way to worship THE PLAN (and any time, place or religious institution is potentially fit to engage in PLAN-worship), would be to praise it, to revel in its glory; to thank it for making one aware of its presence. For some it involves putting themselves in a situation or a location where they could be in a higher "receptive" mode, so to speak; to make a physical or emotional journey. A Gothic Cathedral in England, or a summit in the wilderness of Maine, for example. Others, who are particularly blessed, are in a "receptive" mode throughout their lives without having to do anything extraordinary to elevate themselves.

If I could think of any pre-existing prayer to return to frequently, it would be Psalm #19, (the same as #18 in Eastern Orthodox tradition). While a bit dated scientifically speaking, its words capture THE PLAN's greatness perfectly, and ask only further understanding and self-refinement. Self-refinement means figuring out how exactly to optimize the reception of THE PLAN , and how to achieve awareness it in daily life without necesserily marginalizing one's part in society.

That ulitmate achivement of awareness really has to do with the personality of the individual, and cannot be mandated for all. For some it could be through altruism/helping others, for some it could be intense meditation/ observation of the world, for some it could be simply raising a family or having a rewarding career -all fairly conventional, ages-old stuff that many other religions already preach. The only difference is, that each individual has a unique relationship with THE PLAN, and only to that individual, can, in the best scenario, the solution be revealed. Those who become most "in tune" or receptive, are the most content, those who are not, well, aren't. And let me say that I do not claim to be one of the most "in tune" in the slightest. But contemplating the process is surely a good start...

10 Greatest Prophets of THE PLAN


1) Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) circa 1350 b.c.
First known person in history to introduce the idea of one higher power.

2) The Psalmist(s) , circa 1000-150 b.c.
Composed beautiful evocations of the divine, some perfectly reflective of THE PLAN

3) Lao-Tzu , circa 550 b.c.
Author of the Tao-Te Ching, advocated wu-wei (non-action) and closeness to the natural world.

4) Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha, Shakyamuni, Amitabha, Yakushi, Dainichi) circa 500 b.c.
First to delve into the problem of universal suffering, and offer a solution

5) Ecclesiastes circa 300 b.c.
Author of the most timeless, eloquent and thought-proviking work ever wrtten.

6) Lucretius circa 55 b.c.
Brought the essence of Epicurianism to posterity in his "The Nature of Things.

7) Marcus Aurelius circa 160 a.d.
Brought the essence of Stoicism to posterity in his "Meditations".

8) Baruch Spinoza circa 1650 a.d.
Of all the philosphers, one who most closely associates with THE PLAN.

9) Friedrich Nietzche circa 1880 a.d.
Brought the ancient idea of eternal recurrence to the forefront, in a newly presented dilemma.

10) Kurt Vonnegut circa 1970 a.d.
Wrote ingenious PLAN-like literature which explored the human perecption of time, and the interconnectedness of the universe, among other things.

THE SYMBOL

The Symbol resembles an hourglass stylized to look like a double P from top and bottom. It also has been compared to an inverted dollar sign.
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