This Homepage tittle, "Quest for Utopia," is named afterUnended Quest the autobiography of Karl R. Popper. He was searching for something. I also search for something. It is an UNENDING QUEST for truth, happiness, utopia, and so on.
Everyone pursues happiness, a reason for existence, and universal truth. In my student days I studied philosophy of law to understand justice. I have read writings of the Neo-Kantians to study epistemology. I wondered if knowing the truth we might find that this world is a relative world; the world I see might be different from the world seen by others. We could not see "things-in-themselves". Would we see the correct reflection of the real world ? I had thirst for the ultimate truth. At the same time I wondered about the existence of truth itself, I began to study ontology and the Zen buddhism. This intense study confused me. Then I thought, "If God were to exist, every question would be answered." On the other hand, I thought, "Who knows God? The concept of God is an escape. God must originate from the imagination of mankind." But I know that my soul could never deny God because I know that the greatest spiritual leaders such as Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha were definitely not foolish. As times goes on, I have perceived that words could not describe the truth.
The great philosophers discussed the dualism of the soul and the physical Body. Some philosophers argued that man consists of both soul and physical Body. Others argued in favor of the monism of man. Socrates attempted to prove the immortality of the soul (Plato's dialogues ex.'PHAIDON' 76C-77D). Some even asserted that the mind or emotion originates from a chemical reaction in the brain. Nowadays some medical scientists say that death comes when brain function ceases. So you accept as true? I do not believe it.
Many great men have tried to prove the existence of God. For example, Isaac Newton demonstrated the law of gravity in order to prove the perfection of God's creation. Albert Einstein argued against the incompleteness of quantum physics because God would not create an imperfect world.
Though art is difficult for me to understand, I think that art may be a pathway to the truth. Many of great artists, musicians, and writers must have felt the presence of God.
Modern psychologists do not argue about the origin of the mind, but Carl G. Jung referred to a 'collective unconscious', 'synchronicity' and religious approach. I admire the achievements of Abraham H. Maslow and Joseph Murphy. Joseph Murphy asks "Why is one man sad and another man Happy ? Why is one man joyous and prosperous and another man poor and miserable ? Why is one man fearful and anxious and another full of faith and confidence ?" and answers "Is there an answer to these questions in the workings of your conscious and subconscious minds ? There most certainly is."(THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND)
Ken Wilber, a transpersonal psychologist, recognizes the level of the conscious (The Spectrum of Conscious). He explained using the words of 'The Atman Project' that man aims for God through the evolution and involution of consciousness. He is interested in enlightenment and tries to bridge the gap between psychology and religion. But he does not refer to the existence of God, though my concern is the existence of God and transmigration of the soul. I used to read books about new religions but discovered that the founders of new religions do not know God, and do not tell me which direction to go.
In this century Marxism attracted the young ,including myself, on account of its dynamic theory. Now I would like to point out that Marxism has a defect in its dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism is epistemology. Marx should not have applied dialectical materialism to a theory of history. Marx asserted that Hegel's dialectic was upside-down. However, later philosophers pointed out that it was Marx's dialectic that was upside-down. You can not derive an objective perception from historical materialism. And no one can constantly derive the best social and economic policies from historical materialism. The collapse of the U.S.S.R. and Communism in the eastern European countries indicates that communist philosophy is the distribution of poverty; on the other hand, capitalist philosophy is the distribution of wealth. Marx showed me no utopia. Marx said, "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."(THESES ON FEUERBACH) "....to change world ?" Yes, I know he dreamed of Utopia, too. These words turned my eyes to society from the world of scholarship. Now, My proposal is "Change your mind, then change the world."
Descartes said," I think, therefore I am (Cogito, ergo sum)." But I say "God will, therefore I am." Ken wilber holds that human race aims for God because human race has evolved from amoebae. However, I believe that the human race aims for God because the human race is God's child(Buddha's child). Relativists and pluralists do not make a judgment of values under the position of scholastic neutrality. I know that they insist that it is impossible to make judgment of values from facts. In my opinion, they are irresponsible in their search for truth. They may consider the concept of the Creation as naive and a fairy tale. It is rather easy to consider the Creation as naive. No matter how naive it seems to be, God's truth assert itself.
My conclusion is; man is born into this world from the other world. With his death, his soul leaves his body for the other world. God created this world, the other world and our soul. It is simple to explain the world, "God creates all of all".
The word Utopia was coined by Thomas More. It means 'no place'. Immanuel Kant asserted the everlasting peace, because it ought to be realized. I suppose it is possible to realize Utopia, not only because it ought to be realized, but because this world is the reflection of the other world, which is a real world and Utopia. We can make this a reality if we try. That is God's will. Marxists hold that the environment controls your consciousness, and no one knows God. But I think that your consciousness affects your surroundings, and God knows all. To begin with, you should find God's light within yourself, then you will find Utopia within yourself. We should seek a life in accordance with the Will of God. I intend not to be a recluse, but to be a great man of common sense and active in society. Let us make the public happiness of the whole society and the whole world which can originate only from the private happiness of each individual!
We fail to wander here and there to seek a Blue Bird. We will never find a Blue Bird anywhere, but in ourselves. In short, no matter how hard we try to seek happiness in every field out side of ourselves, we cannot find happiness but in our mind. Sometimes we even deceive ourselves into believing that we are happy. We find our life worth living because of a lover, son and daughter, business, property or something else, while our souls know whether or not we are happy.
What on earth is a human being? Where do our physical bodies and souls come from? From what does our mind originate? After we die, where does our mind go? What is happiness for a human being? It is a dream for which mankind longs. Is it impossible to realize ultimate happiness ?
I think that no one can answer these questions, unless you assume God and the transmigration of the soul. God creates the universe, the earth, all creatures on the earth including human beings. Man is born into this world from the world of souls or the other world. This explanation may sound commonplace to you. But who can present another answer?
Unended part II
Unended Quest