Pantheism: The Forever All: A Philosophical and Spiritual Guide, 2nd Ed

By Guyus Seralius

In my pantheistic view, the entire universe is the Supreme Being, an infinite, purposeful system of positive and negative forces which has always existed and always will, and ultimately each of us is that eternal being of light and darkness. In this book, I discuss my tailored views on pantheism; how I view The Forever All to be the constant causation of my existence, of your existence, and of its own existence. I discuss the importance of balance and how it is the heart of the Forever All and the secret of life. I discuss the needed balance between the atheists and the theists, between the spiritual thinkers and the scientific thinkers, between the capitalists and the socialists, between the Democrats and the Republicans, and between the government and the governed. I also discuss how neither science nor religion, independent of the other, can adequately explain the world and how ultimate truth will only arise when the scientific thinkers join forces with the spiritual thinkers. I created this book as a philosophical and spiritual guide for all those seeking truth. Inside, you will find my views on pantheism, metaphysics, science, technology, politics, and religion, along with samples of my artwork. (30 illustrations included).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304927521

Book preview

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Pantheism: The Forever All:

A Philosophical and Spiritual Guide,

2nd Edition

By

Guyus Seralius

Copyright

Copyright © 2012, 2013, 2020 by Guyus Seralius

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-304-92752-1

This work is licensed under the Standard Copyright License

youtube.com/guyusseralius

Please visit my website The Eye of Guyus at guyuseye.com

and my website showcasing my artwork at guyusart.com

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my loving, supportive family, without whom this book would very likely not exist:

To my father who has instilled in me the deeper, meaningful lessons of life like how to be more spiritual and less materialistic, the importance of working hard to try to earn all that I receive, and the importance of honesty and integrity; who has taught me to have great consideration for others, and who has taught me a lot about stoicism and self-sacrifice. Thank you!

To my mother who is so loving and giving and supportive, who is always impressed by what I do and by what I produce, who has taught me the importance of having a good work ethic and the importance of responsibility and duty by means of her own incredible example, and who has taught me about pragmatism and how to read between the lines. Thank you!

To my sister whom with I’ve had many philosophical and political debates and who has helped me from an early age to see past much of the baloney and excessive, superficial fluff in the world. Thank you!

To my three very analytical, kindhearted brothers whom with I’ve had many interesting philosophical discussions, especially with my younger brother who has served as an excellent sounding board over the years and who has given me a lot of helpful feedback. He is my right-hand man, my number one, my copilot, my Benjamin. Thank you!

In their own way, they have all taught me how to better express myself and communicate my views.

Thank you! I Love you all,

Guyus

Preface: Welcome to My Thoughts!

I created this book in hopes of providing a philosophical and spiritual guide for all those seeking truth. Here, you will find several excerpts from my personal writings—many years in the making and still counting (1992-2012, 2013)—on subjects like metaphysics, science, technology, politics, and religion. I will discuss the needed balance between the atheists and the theists, between the capitalists and the socialists, between the Democrats and the Republicans, and between the government and the governed.

Before continuing, it’s important to note that we are now living in a more global community which allows me to take certain liberties with my grammar choices. At times, I prefer the grammar rules used by the United Kingdom like when placing commas in a series of quotes. I also, at times, take a literary license and use my own grammar rules if I feel it helps the rhythm or meaning. For example, I often like to place a comma after the conjunction ‘but’ when used as an introductory word, even though a parenthetical element does not necessarily follow, to provide a poetic pause. And I often use the word ‘their’ in place of ‘his or her’. However, at times, I do make genuine grammar mistakes, which I’m sure are sprinkled throughout this book. Please consider them to be my Persian flaws.

To summarize the essence of all my views and the purpose of this book–

I am under the impression that the universe is an infinite system, which has always been here and always will be, and that each of us can consider him or herself to be at the apex of that infinite and forever system. I believe this infinite and forever system, which I often call The Forever All, is required in order for any of us to exist.

I strongly believe there is a profound meaning and purpose to it all and an inherent goodness, which can never be destroyed. Unfortunately, I believe there is also an inherent darkness, which too can never be destroyed. There can’t be one without the other. But, ultimately, these two forces remain conserved and balanced.

I’ve come to realize that neither science nor religion, independent of the other, can provide a satisfactory explanation to our existence or the existence of the world. I believe ultimate truth will arise only when the scientific thinkers join forces with the spiritual thinkers. Yes, the world can be viewed as a mechanical thing, but at the same time, it is an awesome, divine thing, which ultimately goes beyond full understanding.

I also believe we have reached a critical point in our history when the ideal society can be truly realized if we can all just learn how to deflate our egos and work together as a team.  Now is the time to permanently throw out the out-dated idea, It’s every man for himself, and instead adopt the much more compassionate slogan, All for one and one for all.  Therefore, I invite all thinkers, spiritual and scientific, to read on.

In my opinion . . .

CHAPTER 1: Defining the All—A Brief Introduction

Star field by NASA’s Hubble telescope.

There is the All. The All is everything and every thing is of the All. It is a divine system with clockwork-like precision and order, which we are all a part of. It is the ultimate body, the ultimate mind, and the ultimate spirit. It is not the created, nor is it the destructible. It is the Supreme Being which has always been, is, and always will be. It is the law and it is the authority. It is what governs all things, including itself, yet it has no choice but to be what it is and to do what it does. That which is responsible for the existence of the All . . . is the All itself.   

The All is also the ultimate contradiction, the ultimate paradox. It has substance, and yet it doesn’t. It moves, and yet it remains fixed. It is very old, and yet it is brand new. It is divided, and yet it is whole. It is singular, and yet it is infinite. Therefore, it is both good as well as evil, cruel as well as kind, beautiful as well as ugly, and painful as well as pleasant. At times it is frightening, though at times it is comforting. At times it hurts us, though at times it pleasures us. At times it gives life, though at times it takes it away. But, overall, it remains conserved, unchanged, and completely balanced. Overall, it is the guiding force that pushes us towards a balanced path. Overall, it is responsible for our existence. Overall, it has meaning and it has purpose.

CHAPTER 2: You are the All

The Great Epiphany by Guyus Seralius, © 1993-2010. Digital painting. All rights reserved.

All things play a part in creating your perception.  Therefore, in your perception, you should see that you are the All.

There is your local self, that version of you that likely moves around within a vessel of human flesh at the moment, a subset of the All that forever grows, changes, and which will one day die, and then there is your cosmic self, that truer, eternal, universal version of you that is the All in its entirety and which will never change or die. In one sense, you are like a single leaf upon an endless cosmic tree, but in another, equally real sense, you are the entire, endless cosmic tree, for it is all, ultimately, connected.

Everything requires the All in order to exist. Nothing can exist outside the All, nor be independent of it. Consider what it takes for you to exist. Aside from requiring the obvious, such as a brain, a heart, a digestive system, etc., you require all else beyond your apparent body. For instance, you require water to hydrate your body, an atmosphere to hold the water into liquid form, a strong gravitational force to pull in and compress gases into such an atmosphere, a planetary body to provide the gravity and to serve as a platform, a source of heat energy, like our Sun, to warm things up. Atoms are needed to form these gases, planets, and stars. Space is needed for these objects to occupy, and so on. In short, you require the All, the entire universe, an infinite system, in order to exist.

The All is what makes any one thing possible. The All is required in order for any of us to exist, and, ultimately, no one thing is more important than any other.  Each thing, no matter how insignificant it may appear, plays its part in sustaining you as well as the All.  Therefore, since the All is required for you to exist, you should see that . . .

YOU ARE THE ALL.

You are the All trying to perceive itself, trying to understand itself, and trying to know itself. You are the forever cosmic tree, whose branches never end. But you are not alone. You are actually in infinite company. I too am the All. So is your neighbor. And so is the smallest house fly. But you are the All from your own special position in time and space. This position allows you to forever remain unique. But in a deeper sense, at our core, we are all the same. We all have our moments of fear, moments of jealousy, moments of embarrassment, moments of anger, and thankfully . . . moments of pure joy!

The All is indestructible, which means you too are, ultimately, indestructible. Your mind will move from one life to the next, and you will at times forget your true identity. But thankfully, you will at times be reminded by the All who and what you really are, that true version of you that goes far beyond what you may normally see as your local self, and that is . . . The Forever All, an inescapable system of profound order, which will forever remain balanced and conserved.

If you are a good student, learn the great lessons it has to teach. If you can read the pages of life, then try to enjoy the epic story it tells. When you truly understand it, you will be in awe of its magnificence and you will marvel at its complexity and perfection.  It will be your greatest epiphany. You will truly know it is the ultimate kingdom and that this kingdom is truly you!     

The All can not be fully understood, for it is ultimately unknowable. It’s like trying to stare too deeply into the light of the Sun to see its core only to be blinded. Though enough evidence of the All is available for us to use our mind’s eye so-to-speak to understand it well enough without being permanently blinded.  At times you will need to glance away from the brilliant light of truth to give your eyes a rest.  Instead of staring at it dead on, use the corner of your eyes.

It is difficult to discuss the true nature of the All or to describe its true form, for we the perceivers have always experienced it only in part from a limited point-of-view. It can all be greatly misunderstood, but I will do my best to describe my take on it.  I will at times discuss the All as it is, in its true form, but I will also describe the All through the eyes of the perceiver.  Hopefully, you will know one from the other, eventually, if not right away.  Do not try to look through the trees to see the forest, because you never will.  You must take a step back and look all around, for you are in the forest and the forest is all around you.

CHAPTER 3: The Positive vs The Negative—The Yin and The Yang

Darkness and Light by Guyus Seralius, © 2011. Photoshop. All rights reserved.

The Positive and the Negative are the two ultimate descriptive words of the All.  They are the two ultimate forces, the two ultimate attributes, and the two ultimate values of the All. Understand these two forces and how they interact and you will be very close to understanding the theory of everything. The All is comprised of these two fundamental forces, which are always in opposition of one another. Therefore, one half of the All constantly contends with its other half, yet the All forever remains balanced and conserved as a whole.

These two forces are responsible for all other opposites found in the universe. Everywhere we look in nature do we see examples of these two opposite forces at work—also known as the Yin and Yang, terms which have been popularized by Eastern philosophers. Examples of some of these opposites are night and day, up and down, large and small, hot and cold, light and dark, open and closed, pain and pleasure, etc.  It could be said that these two main opposite forces serve as our true parents, for they are responsible for your existence and are responsible for the All. You can’t have one without the other. When you adjust one, you automatically adjust the other, for they shape each other. One pole will always be inversely proportional to its opposite pole.  If you increase the light, you automatically decrease the darkness. If you increase the heat, you automatically decrease the cold.  If you remove pain, you automatically increase pleasure. But keep in mind, these increases and decreases in the opposites occur only on a local level from the perceiver’s point-of-view. Nothing can be added to or subtracted from the All as a whole. The reason we are forced to experience local gains and local losses in these two primary forces, the positive and the negative, is because we have to experience the universe in limited portions. If we heard all sounds, and saw all images, and felt all things, all at once, we would not hear, see, or feel at all.  One can not hear a song in the presence of all sounds. It can’t be done. So when one attribute is locally increased within a given area of the All, it must be drawn and decreased elsewhere from the All. It’s kind of like squeezing on one end of a balloon and causing the other end to expand and inflate. For instance, to increase the light within a given area of the All, perhaps within your bedroom, energy must be drawn and decreased elsewhere from the All. Thus the energy of the All is conserved.  Physicists have essentially discovered this fact about the universe and have termed it the law of conservation. Though for scientists, this law mainly applies to energy, mass, and momentum. But it is my strong belief that it can actually apply to any attribute of the All, such as pain and pleasure, love and hate, wellness and illness, ignorance and intelligence. Even the distribution of the color green, as it is perceived, is constantly conserved.   

Due to this law of conservation, the All will forever be maintained as it always has been, as it is now.  You can rest assured that the All will never one day become fully corrupt, or completely evil, or cause you non-stop pain and suffering forever and ever, for the All is not something that becomes anything.  It already is what it is and always will be what it is, and that is pure balance. Unfortunately, as well as fortunately, we the perceivers will always come to experience an offset in the opposite poles, due to a limited view, experiencing the highs and the lows and all the transitions in between. Time and time