Part one: Validation of Origin: Concepts of Perception
“I followed all the rules—God’s and Man’s—and you, you followed none of them. And they all loved you more.”
—Legends of the Fall
There are forces in nature that cannot be stopped; they bring us to pinnacles, and sometimes they destroy us. We see and hear of great storms—hurricanes, tornadoes—striking one land or another, bringing relief or devastation, which parallel the emotional storms within all men. The heroes among men learn to channel and direct their storms, bringing to mankind the wonders it has never seen. They appear, displaying to the world their radiance, only to vanish without a trace. Some become legends. Held safe from their magnificent power, we are free to drop all fear and witness in awe, their astonishing beauty. The world will always reserve its most passionate response for those who look with their own eyes, decide with their own minds and take actions by their own standards–regardless of the opinions, laws, barriers or precedent of those who came before. They are the originators of thought and the fathers of honest effort who bring elegance to human stature, and a sense of glamour to precision. They are the Self-made Men, and their every generation faces nature alone. Accepting first and foremost that existence exists, they hold the most firm claim to this Earth, and to the extent that their premises are heeded, we as a people get to experience a touch of Atlantis.
Welcome, as the next four chapters are ourworld. We are those who are at peace with our maker, those whose dedication to civility and rational discipline did not rob us of our manhood. We remain in control, viewing our time here as our turnon this planet, and intend to match the glory of our forefathers, or surpass them.
Imagine for a moment a few candles burning, the crackle of a fire and peaceful music as light as thought in the background. The aura of this night is a setting for pleasant contemplation, accented by the faint howl of wind in the outer darkness. Drawn by an unknown urge, you move to the door and go outside. The sound stirred expectation of a chill, but surprisingly, the gusts are warm. Ascending the hill behind the country home, the long grass parts easily, as if welcoming motion. At the top looking back, a wonderful sense of safety washes over, in opposition to the ominous, darkening sky. The storm advances as if motivated by anger; sheets of wind challenge your stand and trees reel to remain steadfast, the grass hissing—the world is alive. As forces are set to embark on a violent battle, you are ready; for underscoring the howls moves a melody, untouched in the distant calm of the structure. With sympathy to any animal caught in the storm tonight, a brief chill runs its course, but turns to warmth in response to the glowing comforts that await. With an immense pride you cannot name, you feel a part of this great struggle, a contender, the master; and revel in the meaning of being a man.
We arethe masters. No other beings can carry on regardless of storms, regardless of night, with no break in the flow of their activities. We don’t live in defiance of nature, we live in harmony with all we’ve learned. We cherish the wind in our hair, the texture of the trees and the crunch of leaves under our feet. The smell of a world moving toward hibernation or of fresh new growth is intoxicating, and exists as a setting for every action we take. The glittering water and majestic sunsets bursting with color affect us with a fullness that feels nourishing to our eyes, and they are. Such stimulation expands and utilizes the full range of our tools, reminding us of their great capacity and preparing us to focus deeper, bringing us a warmth of confidence that we canunderstand, handle and appreciate our world. The senses through which we experience the glory of nature, provide us the gateway to fulfill our dreams and to reach all heights. This Earth is our home, and we are welcome on it wherever we can manage her forces. The wonderful relationship we share with our universe was made possible by the relationship we have with ourselves, through our sensate perceptions and our brave honesty to trust in them. But how did it all originate? What can we answer about our own origin and what is left to be discovered? Cozy in the glow of the fire, the distant howl a reminder of our pride, contemplation has us focused on the beginning of time. With the proper foundation, we can look into our possible future to confirm the course of our present. For years, we have looked to the stars and wondered what’s out there. Let’s go to them and look thisway for once.
Cruising in a small craft from deep space, we gaze upon our spiral galaxy in the distance. Just over two million light years from M7, we are almost home. Stunned by its majestic beauty, we contemplate, “Wow, by sheer chance, a planet begins to orbit at just the right distance to the scale of a star to develop and sustain life, and here we are.”
With every drawn breath, we all bear witness that this, the nature of existence, is the true foundation of it all—even if we aren’t consciously aware of it. The evidence is all around us. There is only one way to consistently advance, and that is to recognize and respect the proper frame of reference. As our galaxy turns, fundamental calculations are effected. Earth’s location relative to the stars—our early means of navigation—is not in the same place it was in Viking times. But the laws of nature, in the span of a human life and within the range of human use, do not fluctuate with enough significance to warrant account. They must be held constant and are for all human applications. From the darkness of space, we can see that we are the glorious sovereign beings of the planet—of the galaxy. We are the volitional entities, evolved without instincts and therefore without intellectual limitations, inextricably linked to the Earth’s celestial environment, its rotational patterns, its composition and its climates. The rotational velocity of the Earth determines our periodic exposure to this radiant star. What we have named “day” and measure time by, sets the growth and retraction cycle of all living things—from amoebas, to flowers, to Man. We awaken and grow tired as a result, in tune with this duration, which determines the amount of expendable energy in our optimum workday. Our needs of nourishment, which then determine our sensate capacity for the coherence to meet those needs, have their origin in our planet’s chemical composition. Our bodies are comprised of the planet’s materials and require the same materials to sustain them. Everything we need is here.
We were designed by this Earth, and grasping that is responsible for our every step forward. The frame of reference which must have our cognizance and respect is the natural world as it is. The closer we come to identifying universal truths, the more useful the information becomes. It is the base axiomatic frame of reference to be held as absolute, and our adherence determines our intellectual depth, our range of concern, our capacity to project our own futures and our ability to take the actions to achieve it. Just as for animals, our senses have evolved to sufficiently detect the fundamental aspects of this world, and all validation of what is good for us or evil rests on them. Earth’s gravitation defined Man’s range of size and mobility. Our physical dimensions define the basic scale of the buildings we inhabit, the tools we use, the beds we stretch out on and the vehicles we travel in. We have designed our products around ourselves and for the conditions they will encounter in our service; thereby extending our range of power, travel and depth. The birth of an individual creates predictable requirements for the sustenance of that life which, in a civil aggregate, creates the base of an economy. Even our most solemn sense of self-worth—our happiness—is found in our capacity, exercise and deepest respect for our own creative life-sustaining potencies. Our romantic idolization of heroes—those of passionate energy who stand to uphold justice and remain true to truth—confirms this. In all that we are, there are no contradictions to find, and none in our true origin. It all makes sense, and can be traced by a balanced mind, step by step, through time.
We witness human activity from the beginning of life to its end, from morning until night—beautiful in its own harmony, all geared toward one goal: to fulfill the requirements of living. We think of moral action and its reward. We see the glittering lights of our cities—ourstars—possibly unaware that they were originated by a moral process, to serve a moral purpose. Thought devoted to such advances has given us all that we have, and the human race depends on it. It is estimated that Earth has been here for thirteen billion years, and that Man has existed for over two million. After countless millennia, those who looked at the world with open, questioning eyes, willing to work for their values, road out the storms and won their peace at last, dispelling ancient myths with every new achievement. I have them to thank for this space ship and the technology around me, which has allowed such an incredible experience of life. To see the world from here and to know that there is no limit—that there is so much more to discover—is an honor. What happens when we reach a horizon? We find another. Just think, such excruciating efforts were taken to discover the principles necessary to build this craft which, with the Space Age, brought another consolidation of human intelligence. We now understand that space travel can exist on a large scale only if it serves industry—that is, human life. It can only be sustained by a free market system established and maintained on Earth—invulnerable to war—which generates a surplus large enough to allow us to explore. Just as freedom was necessary for economic expansion, peace is necessary for long-term projection, and within lies the confirmation for two hundred years of American capitalism and the bill of human rights upon which it rests—an example for the whole world to follow. As a man grows to be independent, the technology of this space ship also will one day be independent. As businesses and nations seek independence by means of prosperity, the sovereign entity at all levels is pursued as ideal. Peaceful productivity on Earth—a delicacy of thought and responsible action geared by self-interest on the part of everyone—is required to keep these ships flying. Another step is seen.
This technology has allowed us to observe other inhabited planets and watch their storms of men move through the same stages of barbarism into civility. We’ve seen their astonishment at every new discovery, frightened into believing fire and water were gods, possessing the choice to reward or harm them. The confident were tortured for effrontery as they faced these gods and experimented. As they began to develop concepts, Earth gods gave way to conceptual gods, emanating attributes such as wisdom, beauty and wrath. Eventually all authority consolidated under one god, coming full circle to take its proper form: the form of a man. Only one step precludes their meteoric rise as a galaxial species: final identification of the entity who has held the sole capacity of volition all along—themselves. The day they finally look in the mirror and see who has the definitive power to harm or reward them, to judge what is good or evil and to determine their fate is the day they reach full volitional maturity. Then, their chains will be off, and we will have many new friends.
In our experience, so rational a discipline was required to counter the ancient dissolution of consciousness and secure Man’s moral footing, that it now seems insurmountable. Still, in contrast, the root of the misguidance was only the Neanderthal action of closing one’s eyes, refusing fact and wishing that reality was something other than it is. To discover that the purveyor of so immense a malady was powerless all along is profound, but the pattern has been the same on every planet observed: consciousness aware versus consciousness dropped. It’s so easy to see who is right and who is wrong from out in space. The mystics could never outpace Man’s mind. It was our comprehension that originated every step; that conquered every barrier, placing new creations before the eyes of the world, which the Spirit Murderers could only sneer at, then attempt to subvert, steal or destroy. But reality turned out to be real. Proper evolution has continued, and here we are.