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This prologue is especially for those of you who come to this work through the World-Wide Web. A whole new mechanism of creativity with regard to the written word has been, I should say, unwittingly created, through the use of hypertext. Books, as we knew them, are unerringly linear, and of course, we read in a linear fashion too. But this web-based version - publication if you will - is not designed to be consumed in such a manner. I gave up on trying to match this version with the hard-copy a couple of months ago. The two are travelling on diverging paths. I know that now. And it was time to let them go their separate ways. It’s all part of the paradigm shift.

There is a linear path through the document, but the opportunities for derailment will grow as this work evolves, bifurcating and branching as a tree grows.

The other difference, which I have alluded to, is that unlike a book, this work is alive and growing. And unlike a book, it has no clear ending. Yes, there will be an end. My end, perhaps. Creations are inevitably tied to their creator. My hope is that the seeds of thought planted here will take root and find fertile grounds for independent growth.

Because there is no clear time slice, I don’t guarantee consistency. That would be foolish, even if I wrote the whole thing over a short time. I learn, I change my mind. No matter - it’s all truth.

So be warned: Links may change or just basically be difficult to follow. In some cases, explicit links won’t exist at all. But special trinkets await those who dare to follow the clues. And who knows, you might actually have some fun.

But for right now, don’t let me hold you back. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So take it..

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Canis Latrans, December, 1998.

Here's How To Find Your Path Through This Paper
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Introduction
The Way
Reality Check
The Path
Coyote Zen
A Model For Practice
The Myth Of Peace
The Diction Of Desire
A Universe Of Possibilities
An Epitaph Of Sorts

Why am I writing this? These words are unlikely to reach many ears. Mostly I am writing this for myself. I am on a spiritual journey of sorts. I quest for a spirituality that makes sense - that requires no "leap of faith". Once complete, or at least near complete, I want to convey my finds to the world. Why? Consider it a howl in the woods - hoping to hear an answering call. Hoping that there are others like me - that I am not alone.

I don't believe there are canned answers to spiritual questions. At least, they have never worked for me. With the world in the state it is in, I wonder if they have ever worked for anyone. Many of us are looking to words written long ago, hoping for an answer. And some find comfort, but that doesn't make it right - just comfortable. I am looking for an answer that fits me. And, although that answer may be uniquely mine, my journey is worth remembering. How can it not be? For there are different ways of looking at the world - the universe - than in the conventional sense, and maybe, just maybe, there are better ways for everyone.

Despite my lack of faith in words of the past, I realize some very important lessons about human nature have been learned through human history. Yet these lessons are destined only to be forgotten, and relearned, and reforgotten. The words lose their meaning. Why is that? Sometimes it seems like we are gerbils running a race in a wheel that just keeps turning. A lot of motion, but going nowhere. In spite of everything we know now, history teaches us that it's all going to collapse into nothing. I know, we've built up a very sophisticated society in the west. I grew up in it, and I'll probably die while the great industrial machine still chugs along full steam ahead. As individuals, it often seems this paradigm may last forever. But we know it cannot. Civilization has always given way to anarchy, and it will again. Chaos inevitably follows order. Looking in other parts of the world now, or in history, ancient and not so ancient, one finds all the convincing testimony one needs, that peace is and has always been a transient thing. What will we do, what can we do, when our complex social system becomes generally unsupportable? How much do we depend on this society for our physical and emotional well-being? Should I be worried for myself? For my offspring? More importantly, how can we avoid this cycle? I am strongly motivated to break this habit, for the sake of my children, and my children's children.

I am convinced that we are not God's little perfect creation, here to provide stewardship to the earth, her plants and creatures. We've done very badly at that anyway. Nor are we going to elevate to some higher plane. We are creatures ourselves, very successful creatures, very competitive creatures, who got to where we are by subduing everything that got in our way. The truth is that the world is now a much different place than it was before modern humans arrived, and most of that change is because of our presence. But creatures we are. And we are subject to all the physical laws - we mortals. And we all eventually die. This article is about the reality of human beings, and there may be some unpleasant truths along the way. But unless we come out of universal denial about who and what we are, this cycle of cooperation and conflict dooms us to be forever trying to gain back lost civilization only to lose it again once we think we have found it. After all that, I still believe we have the capacity to think and feel our way out of this cycle, and find a better way.

So how can we break out of the endless loop, and move forward? The past provides some excellent lessons on how certain people have managed to emancipate themselves from their own personal cycles. I would like to do that, and this effort is my beginning. My challenge has been great: I must embrace my spirituality, and yet speak the truth. There is enough mystery in the universe without confusing it with garbage. I have done that here, to my own satisfaction. I have rid myself of guilt, and am actually a much happier person for the effort. I don't know if that shows here in these writings, but it's true. I'd like to pass that on to you, the reader, in hopes that my understanding, and my happiness, is infectious. Read on!

What I am going to do here is present two separate spiritual paths, and twist them into a spiral pattern that never meets but is always together. First, I will describe, as best I can, Zen Buddhism, which by its very nature obscures description. I will model it - show you my model. I'll try to reveal some of its shortcomings, and then try to fix it, (which by the way, is an impossible and never-ending task).

The second spiritual path is that of Native American mythology, which I call the Coyote Path, (for lack of a better name). Though not worship of animal spirits, per se', this belief system is founded in nature, those things we can detect and observe. Reality here is unquestioned. What you see is what you get. Coyote is admired for his cunning and persistence, Bear for his strength, and Antelope for her speed. Humans may not stand out in any of these areas, but we have traits nonetheless, and they are as real as any that we observe in nature.

So how do we merge a belief system grounded in reality with one that exists to question the existence of reality itself? And how can that possibly be helpful? What is the glue that holds these two philosophies together? Oddly enough, unbiased observation, questioning, modeling, and testing, all of these aspects of true science, is the glue. Science is the process of moving pieces of the realm of the unknown into the realm of the known. This is the connection.

And each of these philosophies begets the other. One cannot question reality unless reality is there to be questioned, and we cannot have reality without questioning its existence. Together they expose the duality of existence that we see everywhere. A polarity of all things that affect our lives and the universe itself. These two together define the boundaries of the path we all walk. Being cognizant of them is like following twin beacons in the otherwise dark water of our lives. They are there to prevent us from running into dangerous shoals. They mark the middle path.

As should become apparent, being connected to these two philosophies provides the basis for a guilt-free existence for individuals, and can benefit humanity as a whole. But by benefit I don't mean that everyone can live in peace forever. What I mean is that humanity can be allowed to compete, improve, and eventually conquer the stars. (From our current vantage point, that means to conquer forever.) We don't have star stuff in us yet, but we may someday, if we allow it to happen.

And purpose? Well, maybe purpose, in the conventional sense, is something I want to do away with. Let us proceed, and see where we get.

Before we delve into the meat and potatoes, let us tary a bit with terminology. Truth versus Fact: You'll find I use the word "Truth" frequently in this article, but "Fact" very little. (Not at all, if I can help it.) For the purpose of this article, a fact is an absolute. If we assume that facts do indeed exist, then they must be very hard, if not impossible to find. We must discard the notion that we will ever know any facts. In a sense, facts are the gods of our universe, (if there are indeed more than one.) Truth, on the other hand, is used here in a relative sense. When we rely on our own observations, we detect that certain things are true. We can look at an animal and say, truthfully, that the animal is a dog, based upon our observations. But without ever knowing the ultimate basis for this conclusion, it can never be a fact. Looking in the night sky, we make an observation: The sky is full of stars. And each of us, from the child who first makes the connection, to the serious astrophysicist who has studied stars all his/her adult life, knows this to be true. But the depth required to make this statement a fact eludes us all.

Presumptions: Truths are also different from presumptions, which are the pillars supporting an individual human's psyche. These may or may not be true, depending on the internal conflicts an individual may carry. After analysis, it may be determined that many presumptions are false. Truths are based upon observations only, not feelings or communications.

Conflict and competition: I'm using the terms almost interchangeably, but in truth they aren't the same. One begets the other. Conflict is the state that exists between competitors until the conflict has been successfully resolved.

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