The most important founding principles of life

Question from the Internet:

“What are the principles that have worked for you greatly and you would like to pass on to the next generation?”

There are two principles that have been passed on from generation to generation for millennia that wise sages and empirical scientists consider the foundations of life.

I have been studying and trying to implement these principles with other people in unique groups where we commit ourselves to live by those principles.

Studying and implementing these principles requires time and great effort since they go against our instinctive nature; they go against how we always want to behave and exist in the world.

The first principle is “Do not do to others what you yourself hate”. This is already complicated. By default, we act only for our own sake; we try to excessively accumulate and consume everything and everybody for our own pleasure and fulfilment regardless of the consequences. Even if we are not aware of it, we constantly try to control, manipulate and exploit others, especially since we exist in a closed, mutually integrated and interdependent world.

Thus trying not to harm others already requires great, honest and objective insight into our own behaviour, and implementing it requires such “self-control” that we are not born to start with. Even just acquiring a unique objective viewpoint of ourselves, where we sort of watch ourselves “from the side,” requires great effort and a unique method in a special environment.

The next principle, “love others as you love yourself”, is even more difficult. After we have already mastered the art of observing ourselves objectively from the side, and we also developed the necessary self-restraint to stop ourselves completely when we notice that our intention is harmful towards others, we would need to learn how to do anything we do only for the sake, for the benefit and perfect fulfilment of others — while receiving nothing in return for ourselves.

When we master this second principle, we basically accept that we exist only for the single purpose of selflessly and unconditionally caring for and serving everything and anything that is “outside of our self”.

While for us, these principles require great effort and self-sacrifice, and a unique method to learn and practice, they are the prevalent and instinctive principles and laws in Nature’s system to all elements except human beings. Without these principles and the mutual integration and mutually complementing cooperation that is based on them, life would not exist.

Only human beings have to consciously and purposefully learn and implement these Natural principles that create and sustain life.

But it is specifically the conscious learning and implementation — above and against our inherently selfish and egoistic nature — that will make us truly Human beings. The process we have to go through, taking on ourselves these two principles above and against our inherent nature, will provide us with similarity with Nature’s laws and working, and that will give us unparalleled insight into the system of Nature and its processes.

And that will make us the system’s only conscious, integrated but at the same time independent observers and equal partners.