In Book 1 of Metaphysics, Aristotle observed, “All men by nature desire to know.” But even so, we may ask: what can be said about the title of this essay without immediately becoming caught in what the Buddha called “the thicket and contortion of views?” The answer is, not much. More often than not, the search for “truth” is a search to justify what is already desired. In this context, we are reminded of Zen master Wu Kwang’s aphorism “open mouth, already a mistake.”

Does this mean we should not venture forth to consider such topics? No, it means we should venture forth carefully and with a sense that, if our goal is to affirm and regenerate all life, we may begin by asking, “what is the universal source of truth?” For example, if we seek truth in the outer world, we start with our own sensory experience, and by testing and hopefully correcting our often erroneous conclusions. Humanity has mastered this by inventing and refining the scientific method that lead to the generally beneficial and irreversible scientific r/evolution.

Yet, this same r/evolutionary breakthrough has also lead to our present impasse and the dire necessity for a new r/evolution to rebalance our materialism and lust for power. If we want to discover and fully manifest the “truth that affirms and regenerates all life,” we must look inward instead, beneath the surface mind we regard as “I, me, and self”.

Why? Because none of the “truths” and rigidly held beliefs our surface minds concoct will ever discover and harness the truth needed to bring about humanity’s next, and now desperately needed, r/evolution. In essence, we must discover (or rediscover) a field of common experience and knowledge that is similar in scope but fundamentally different from scientific and spiritual materialism. We will have to address the three basic questions posed by the ancient Greeks: “what is real and of the real; what is good; and how do we make more of the good?” In an era of unlimited skepticism, endless speculation, and unceasing criticism, how can we possibly find answers to these questions and link them to “the truth that affirms and regenerates all life” and do both while avoiding “the thicket and contortion of views?”

We might begin with discovering That which is both real and foundational to every human mind. We must take the sage Uddalaka’s advice in the Chandogya Upanishad and seek to “Know That by knowing which all else is known.” In the pre-scientific age, the object of this search was called the Indwelling Spirit of God, the One without a second, or atman. Now it is referred to as the Transcendental Field of Pure Consciousness by those seeking to rescue It from the religious baggage that so plagues and divides humanity. With apologies to Shakespeare’s Juliet, the sweetness of the rose underlying all these names is unchanged.

Introspective self-transcendence (a.k.a. “self-transcending meditation”) is the age-old neuro-cognitive technology for directly experiencing this field. It is the r/evolutionary investigative tool for discovering the truth of human consciousness in the same way the telescope r/evolutionized the study of the heavens and the microscope r/evolutionized the study of micro-organisms. With daily use, any interested human being can discover the irreducible, universally real and unchanging foundation of our diverse and ever-changing minds, That which is ultimately real in our experience and by which all else is known.

We will discover that this seemingly infinite, seemingly empty field of pure consciousness or Spirit is in fact an inexhaustible reservoir of pure positive potential. It parallels the nonphysical quantum ground state that physicists believe is the irreducible cause of all physical change. We will reach this conclusion by carefully observing ourselves and one another as we use introspective, self-transcending techniques. That is, we will discover that our daily use of these techniques steadily increases the balanced expression of eight universally good qualities of thought, intention, communication, and action. These qualities are steadiness and joyfulness; empathy, compassion, and generosity toward all others; and creativity, intelligence, and wisdom in the pursuit of our goals and day to day objectives.

The answer to the second question posed by the ancient Greeks is that the expression of these qualities is always and everywhere good. Best of all, we will also answer the third question posed by the Greeks – how do we make more of the good? We simply add twenty minutes of meditation to our daily routine of eating, sleeping, bathing, and brushing our teeth.

Once we discover the personal benefits of doing so (usually within the first thirty days of daily practice), we will go on to discover at least four other neurological and cognitive technologies that help us better apply these eight qualities in each of the four outer realms of our lives: our interpersonal relationships; educational and workplace organizations; local, regional, and national tiers of community; and the various public institutions that govern them. We will discover how to support one another and serve our communities through weekly or biweekly participation in small, face to face communities of practice. And, we will, at last, learn how to correct our public institutions by perfecting the use of Gandhi’s Nonviolent Direct Action.

Ultimately, we will discover that steady, scientifically measurable progress toward social harmony, economic vitality, and environmental stability in every community simply requires that a tiny portion of its population (on the order of 1%) begin cultivating our finest qualities directly from the abundant source directly accessible within each of us.

How does this approach relate to our search for the “truth that affirms and regenerates all life?” It is a sound, comprehensive, practical, scalable methodology for both discovering and realizing this truth without becoming bogged down in the “thicket and contortion of views” the Buddha warned us about. The Transcendental Field of Pure Consciousness and the unlimited positive potential it contains are genuine resources needed to bring humanity to and across the threshold of our fourth global r/evolution. How? By providing each of us with the key ingredients for natural leadership and the r/evolutionary grass roots organization needed to elevate and transform our lives, contribute fully to the lives of others, and leverage the social harmony, economic vitality, and environmental stewardship of our communities on a global scale.

This, in a nutshell, is the new, positive, practical, r/evolutionary paradigm for personal, interpersonal, organizational, communal, and institutional change. What could be more truthful, more life-affirming, and more regenerative than that?