Approach metaphysical problems of existence using your inner knowledge
Metaphysics is the area of philosophy that most fascinates me. It’s the study of things that exist, and it’s always been exciting to me to try to understand why and how things exist. I began my journey with a scientists’ approach, trusting only logical, empirical answers to important questions. My philosophical training in university was centered around science and measurable observances, not intuition. However, after years of consideration, I’ve decided that trusting my gut feeling is all that I really need to answer the important questions of life.
Intuitive wisdom is all you really need.
You see, I look within for answers. I don’t worry anymore if I can’t explain these answers to others as long as they feel right to me. I used to be worried about what others would think — my fellow philosophy students might judge me for being spiritual, so I suppressed that part of me to try to conform. Now I finally understand that I am not obligated to explain my theories to others since they are essential to living my life happily.
My happiness doesn’t require that I convince anyone but myself of what is true.
So, let me explain some core metaphysical dilemmas and how I have come to solve them from my heart and intuitive wisdom.
Mind-Body Dualism
This problem in philosophy asks us how the mind and the body are related, how they interact, and whether the mind is the same as the brain. If you don’t believe in anything beyond the physical realm, then you might think that you have all the answers — the problem of dualism doesn’t worry you.
Dualists have to explain how a non-physical mind can connect with a physical body.
For me, this is only a problem if you’re coming from a very materialistic viewpoint. Cultures all over the world for thousands of years have believed that the mind and soul are beyond the physical. Those who study the chakras and other Vedic wisdom can explain that the pineal gland in the brain connects with the mental realm of life. Yogis that were meditating in ancient times found that the mind is not the same as the body.
I agree with those yogis.
In my inner journeys through meditation, I can tell you that it’s so very clear to me that we have a nonphysical component to our existence. I couldn’t prove it to you physically, but I feel it. All humans feel it. Could you really deny your experience of life?
Intelligent Design
Scientists tell us that evolution and the laws of nature govern all parts of our world. Science studies the big bang and declares that it has everything about reality figured out. There’s no reason for us to believe that anything about our existence is anything but meaningless and random if you follow this idea. The world couldn’t have been created through intelligent design.
I don’t believe this. I have always felt, from a very young age, that there’s no such thing as coincidence and that we are living in a conscious world. There is some kind of mind that we are inside. It can’t speak to us with a mouth as other humans speak, but it speaks with situations, messages in our minds, and through nature. Most interestingly, it speaks through us.
If you want to accept that there is no such thing as intelligent design and that our world has no rhyme or reason for its existence, that’s your choice. But I, for one, can never believe that. In my heart, I know there is some greater purpose and reason for everything, and yes, some kind of intelligence has led to us all being here.
It’s led to you finding and reading this very article.
Time
We typically think that the past, present, and future are all equally real times. The past is “gone” but its effects are with us, so it is as real as “now”, and the future is also something real — opposite to the past, we are waiting for it to arrive.
If you really think about it, from an internal standpoint, are your experiences aligned with this idea of time?
Time feels fluid. It feels like we are moving through moments. But the past doesn’t seem real anymore. And I certainly hope that the future isn’t real yet, since that would mean we are locked into one possible path.
My view is that we are energetic beings experiencing life moment by moment, but actually, all moments are the same moment. In my meditations and my inner reflections, I have realized that all I know is what’s going on right now. I am a presentist. This beautiful universe has somehow produced the experience of time so that moments can be experienced as separate, but in fact, all we have is now. Would you agree?
Free will
I recently wrote about free will and how our experience of freedom relies on the idea that our minds and bodies are not the same — as I explained above when I talked about mind-body dualism.
If our minds are brains, then how can we explain that our minds are able to do things above the laws of nature? We know from science that every event has a cause, leading us to understand that there’s a chain of events leading back to the beginning of time for anything that is happening. Our mental events, if dictated by neuron firings, are fully pre-determined if we believe that the mind is the brain.
I know this isn’t true. Our minds are not our brains. I have had experiences that completely convince me that I am a conscious being, free from the constraints of physicality. I feel that my mind is somehow above physical existence. I have true free will, and I’ll never be able to prove it through science. I’m okay with that.
It’s Okay to Feel It From Within
These philosophical problems are just a small sample of the metaphysical dilemmas faced by all existence. I chose them because they’re my favorites! I believe that having your own answer to each of them is essential to your life. I studied philosophy at university precisely because I wanted to come up with an informed and careful solution for myself.
Take your time and understand the implications of your beliefs. Think deeply about what you are and how you’re existing.
We are all philosophers. We all have a human brain that can decide what’s really going on. Decide for yourself. As always, I encourage you to make use of this valuable life by thinking deeply. Look within for the answers you seek as much as you look externally. Utilize your intuitive wisdom.
