What Is?
A debate between two brothers regarding Eastern Philosophies verses Christian beliefs. It is done using a large number of pictures in a coffee table format.
Introduction iv
As the Psalmist writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell
together, in Unity.” (Psalm 133:1)
3,000 years later, and after a lifetime of debate on the issue, two brothers ask the reader to be the judge to an age old question put most simply and without presupposition as, “What Is?”
In the beginning, there was Ron? I asked Ron once, if he was a Solipsist,* to which he responded, “yes.” I was sure he was unaware of what the word meant, because it was not the answer I expected to the question. I had been trying in my own debate with him, to get to the root of an issue, and unexpectedly found it. My first thought was, “What a fool! Surely this is madness!” But, what is madness? If Ron is correct, then “madness” is meaningless as a division, because what are we dividing, if all is one and the same? And even if he is mistaken, a label holds no more meaning than it conjures up in the mind of the one making the division. So, to quote Ron, “What we see in others, is often areflection of what is within ourselves.”
Then there is Steve, the youngest of the family, who speaks of this “thing,” this thing he speaks of as if it is almost a foreign word to us, outside of us, around us, and even in us? This thing he calls, “Love.” But what is “Love,” if it is not in relationship? And if there is “Love,” then there must also be, “non-Love.” If there is but One, then how can there be Two? Solipsism, and Pluralism? Can they co-exist?
During the writing of the project, both brothers lost their mother to natural causes, and Ron lost his wife, to cancer. And yet, in spite of it all, or perhaps as an even more seeming pressing need, they have continued on, seeking answers to these questions, in the mind of the other.
Maybe it is time, to rethink everything you ever thought about everything, for the sake of these Two Brothers, who try and solve the age old question, even if only for themselves. These two who represent us all in many ways, striving not to strive? These two, who's very existences seem to contradict each others, and yet they cannot possibly be without the other. Can their world views ever meet in the middle? Is simple disagreement proof that one or the other is wrong, or that they are both right? Can you, the reader solve this puzzle without yourself going mad?
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Introduction iv
As the Psalmist writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell
together, in Unity.” (Psalm 133:1)
3,000 years later, and after a lifetime of debate on the issue, two brothers ask the reader to be the judge to an age old question put most simply and without presupposition as, “What Is?”
In the beginning, there was Ron? I asked Ron once, if he was a Solipsist,* to which he responded, “yes.” I was sure he was unaware of what the word meant, because it was not the answer I expected to the question. I had been trying in my own debate with him, to get to the root of an issue, and unexpectedly found it. My first thought was, “What a fool! Surely this is madness!” But, what is madness? If Ron is correct, then “madness” is meaningless as a division, because what are we dividing, if all is one and the same? And even if he is mistaken, a label holds no more meaning than it conjures up in the mind of the one making the division. So, to quote Ron, “What we see in others, is often areflection of what is within ourselves.”
Then there is Steve, the youngest of the family, who speaks of this “thing,” this thing he speaks of as if it is almost a foreign word to us, outside of us, around us, and even in us? This thing he calls, “Love.” But what is “Love,” if it is not in relationship? And if there is “Love,” then there must also be, “non-Love.” If there is but One, then how can there be Two? Solipsism, and Pluralism? Can they co-exist?
During the writing of the project, both brothers lost their mother to natural causes, and Ron lost his wife, to cancer. And yet, in spite of it all, or perhaps as an even more seeming pressing need, they have continued on, seeking answers to these questions, in the mind of the other.
Maybe it is time, to rethink everything you ever thought about everything, for the sake of these Two Brothers, who try and solve the age old question, even if only for themselves. These two who represent us all in many ways, striving not to strive? These two, who's very existences seem to contradict each others, and yet they cannot possibly be without the other. Can their world views ever meet in the middle? Is simple disagreement proof that one or the other is wrong, or that they are both right? Can you, the reader solve this puzzle without yourself going mad?
What Is?
A debate between two brothers regarding Eastern Philosophies verses Christian beliefs. It is done using a large number of pictures in a coffee table format.
Introduction iv
As the Psalmist writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell
together, in Unity.” (Psalm 133:1)
3,000 years later, and after a lifetime of debate on the issue, two brothers ask the reader to be the judge to an age old question put most simply and without presupposition as, “What Is?”
In the beginning, there was Ron? I asked Ron once, if he was a Solipsist,* to which he responded, “yes.” I was sure he was unaware of what the word meant, because it was not the answer I expected to the question. I had been trying in my own debate with him, to get to the root of an issue, and unexpectedly found it. My first thought was, “What a fool! Surely this is madness!” But, what is madness? If Ron is correct, then “madness” is meaningless as a division, because what are we dividing, if all is one and the same? And even if he is mistaken, a label holds no more meaning than it conjures up in the mind of the one making the division. So, to quote Ron, “What we see in others, is often areflection of what is within ourselves.”
Then there is Steve, the youngest of the family, who speaks of this “thing,” this thing he speaks of as if it is almost a foreign word to us, outside of us, around us, and even in us? This thing he calls, “Love.” But what is “Love,” if it is not in relationship? And if there is “Love,” then there must also be, “non-Love.” If there is but One, then how can there be Two? Solipsism, and Pluralism? Can they co-exist?
During the writing of the project, both brothers lost their mother to natural causes, and Ron lost his wife, to cancer. And yet, in spite of it all, or perhaps as an even more seeming pressing need, they have continued on, seeking answers to these questions, in the mind of the other.
Maybe it is time, to rethink everything you ever thought about everything, for the sake of these Two Brothers, who try and solve the age old question, even if only for themselves. These two who represent us all in many ways, striving not to strive? These two, who's very existences seem to contradict each others, and yet they cannot possibly be without the other. Can their world views ever meet in the middle? Is simple disagreement proof that one or the other is wrong, or that they are both right? Can you, the reader solve this puzzle without yourself going mad?
Introduction iv
As the Psalmist writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell
together, in Unity.” (Psalm 133:1)
3,000 years later, and after a lifetime of debate on the issue, two brothers ask the reader to be the judge to an age old question put most simply and without presupposition as, “What Is?”
In the beginning, there was Ron? I asked Ron once, if he was a Solipsist,* to which he responded, “yes.” I was sure he was unaware of what the word meant, because it was not the answer I expected to the question. I had been trying in my own debate with him, to get to the root of an issue, and unexpectedly found it. My first thought was, “What a fool! Surely this is madness!” But, what is madness? If Ron is correct, then “madness” is meaningless as a division, because what are we dividing, if all is one and the same? And even if he is mistaken, a label holds no more meaning than it conjures up in the mind of the one making the division. So, to quote Ron, “What we see in others, is often areflection of what is within ourselves.”
Then there is Steve, the youngest of the family, who speaks of this “thing,” this thing he speaks of as if it is almost a foreign word to us, outside of us, around us, and even in us? This thing he calls, “Love.” But what is “Love,” if it is not in relationship? And if there is “Love,” then there must also be, “non-Love.” If there is but One, then how can there be Two? Solipsism, and Pluralism? Can they co-exist?
During the writing of the project, both brothers lost their mother to natural causes, and Ron lost his wife, to cancer. And yet, in spite of it all, or perhaps as an even more seeming pressing need, they have continued on, seeking answers to these questions, in the mind of the other.
Maybe it is time, to rethink everything you ever thought about everything, for the sake of these Two Brothers, who try and solve the age old question, even if only for themselves. These two who represent us all in many ways, striving not to strive? These two, who's very existences seem to contradict each others, and yet they cannot possibly be without the other. Can their world views ever meet in the middle? Is simple disagreement proof that one or the other is wrong, or that they are both right? Can you, the reader solve this puzzle without yourself going mad?
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940014080545 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Angela Han |
| Publication date: | 02/01/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 5 MB |
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