Process Philosophy as a Safety Net against Systemic Crisis (1/2)

Wong Weng Hon

Introduction

The Absolute Truth in this article refers to the Unity of Existence which is designated dissimilarly as God, Tao, Brahman, Buddha or Allah. The Unity of Existence is that its Unity is eternal and immutable but its contigent parts of Unity are dynamic, temporary and mutable. The contigent parts are the myriad beings or things constituting the unity of the entire cosmos. Man is the key contigent condition of the unity of the process reality of the icons of modern civilization. The creative advance of the world is generally anthropogenic.

The knowledge of  Process  Philosophy of Monotheism is the safety net against the eruption of any global crisis. Succinctly put, the knowledge of God (God= Brahman= Tao= Buddha=Allah=eternal Truth of process philosophy) is the perennial wisdom of process philosophy. Upaniṣads, Buddhism and Hireclitus philosophy  are the most ancient forms of process philosophy of perennial wisdom (sanātana dharma; Sophia perennis; waḥdat al wujūd). As the world is currently swamped with epi and dire global crises, such as  the financial crisis and eco-crisis, the knowledge of process philosophy of interconnectedness and interdependence becomes more evident to us.

Right View of God

God’s satisfactions or blessings should be philosophically comprehended as rewards or harvests dependently co-arisen from unity of positive contigent conditions of the unity of existence. God’s wrath or punishment should be perceived as the disunity of negative or toxic contigent conditions which falter the process becoming before accomplishment is actualized.

If one perceives Man as a separate substantial entity from God (God= Brahman=Tao=Buddha=Allah= eternal Truth) or God as a separate substantial entity from Man, the bipolar  Process Reality of God and Man is misconstrued or misconceived. The not so well instructed Theists  personify God as a personal permanent substance independent from other beings. This is done merely as a metaphorical expression of the substantial al-mighty power of God. In reality, God is the impersonal Truth of Insubstantiality. God and Man are originally one. It is because Man ignorantly seeks separation from Man’s original unity with God that sinful evil actions  are committed. 

Any believer worshipping God externally and seeking blessing from an external al-might God has plunged himself or herself  into the incorrigible worship of idolatry or substantiality. From Buddhist insubstantial doctrinal perspective, the worship of idolatry is the advocate of the substantial view of ontology. Substantial ontology produces attachment and aversion defiling the ordinary minds.

The purpose to discern the Truth of God is to eliminate attachment and aversion directed and empowered by self-centric ego. All major’s world religions recommend the taking of internal refuge in the inner Heart of Man. The communal Truth of Wisdom of all major world’s religions is thus : Whoever knows his True Self knows the Lord – the eternal Truth. It is the eternal Truth realized through the inner Heart that liberates a believer spiritually. God dwells in the inner Heart not outside our inner Heart. No external al-mighty super-spiritual  Power can save Man. Praying externally seeking for the blessing of an external divine  saviour is idolatrous. It is the knowledge of God or Truth that saves Man. Prayer  is only a means to an end. It is the  end. The end is knowledge of the eternal Truth of God.

Even before the emergence of Buddhism in the sixth century B.C.E, the Hindu’s scriptures of Āraṇyakas and Upanis̄ads which are originally derived from the God’s revealed Vedas and have evolved into modern Vedānta philosophy of Hinduism awaken the Hindus and the world  that ritualism alone  can not emancipate Man from suffering. It is knowledge of Truth of the Absolute that saves Man spiritually. The highest blessing originates from human wisdom and virtue of viewing the world rightly, thinking rightly and doing things rightly. Ritualistic practice does not produce the highest blessing.  The highest blessing is perfect knowledge of  the eternal Truth of Brahman, Tao, Buddha, God or Allah.

For instance, pragmatically put,  ritualism can not fix the on-going 2008-2009 global financial crisis and teetering economy. Only knowledge of wisdom and virtue can curb abuses that are contributing to the diffusing financial  chaos in 2009. The toxic balanced sheets of shaky securities are the product of human greed, laxity and irresponsibility. Wisdom and virtue derived from the knowledge of the eternal Truth are essential antidotes to these human fallibilities and vulnerabilities .

 The ordinary worldlings perceive the myriad things or beings as static and immutable. They are either  mesmerized by the pleasant  multiple forms of the empirical world or are upset by those unpleasant ones. Object mesmerization produces attachment to the pleasant objects. Object rejection generates aversion towards the disliked objects. The ordinary worldlings do not see the  eternal Truth and are subjected to moral flaws. The eternal Truth is the greatest saviour producing the highest blessing. Discernment of eternal Truth brings forth human innate supreme wisdom and ethics. This is the highest blessing.

Greed and Hatred

 Being mesmerized by materialism, human beings  become greedy and develop the propensities to take what are not given. They become thieves who steal or become corrupt officials or bureaucrats.  Consequently,  greed corrupts their character formation. Moral corruption affects the Unity of Existence negatively because it toxicitizes one or some of  the contigent  conditions of the total economic system creating a systemic risk. A systemic risk has the propensity to falter the entire system.

 Being upset or perturbed by adverse external environmental stimulus, a victim may be agitated and develops hatred or anger towards the foe and the unfriendly one. Hatred or anger of the vengeful has the propensity to harm his or her foe immorally. Hatred taints the mind. It impedes moral development. Hatred and  violence disharmonize human relationship and obliterates the unity of cohesive existence.

The unity of existence or systemic unity of existence is philosophically  designated as the unimpeded flow of the unity of  process reality (sanātana dharma) of dynamic process becoming. The dynamic process becoming of any system  is the holistic or organic organization constituted  from a main cause and  a set of essential contigent  conditions in which human behaviourial inputs  are the key or crucial contigent conditions. Man is the primary cause and other environmental factors are the set of  supporting conditions.

Actual Entity

For instance, a financial institution is a systemic or holistic organization or entity constituted from a main cause and a set of contigent conditions. The main cause is the enterprising entrepreneur and other factors of productions, such as land, capital and human resources are the contigent conditions.  Process Philosopher, Whitehead designates any organization, profit or non-profit as an ‘Actual Entity’. Buddhism designates it as a ‘Conditioned Phenomenon’. Mahāyāna designates it  as the Truth of ‘Emptiness’ (‘Sūnyatā). Sufism  labels it as a  ‘Fixed Archetype’ (al-A’yan al-Thābitah) or the ‘Latent Reality of Thing’ or a ‘Prototype’. A financial institution is an actual entity which is a conditioned phenomenon. The entire financial industry is a larger actual entity dependently co-arisen from a large number of financial institutions. Hence, it is obvious that every macro actual entity like a financial industry is dependently co-arisen from a large number of micro actual entities of diverge financial institutions. A sound financial industry is one that is free from systemic risk created by its micro actual entities or its constituting subsystems.  

Essence of God

Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī defines God as the unity of existence. Therefore, a united business system is the Essence of God. It follows that when a business entity is impeded by toxic contigent conditions or its supporting parts, the face of God is said to be disfigured. When a business entity collapses, it is said that the mould of God has collapsed. The collapse of the unity mould  of God is moral lesson for a failed individual or entity. The collapse of God mould is to punish the organic business entity for mismanagement of the contigent conditions. It is evident that God system contains an innate mechanism of moral accountability. Ethically put, God system rewards the good who constructs the unity of existence. God also punishes the evil who is the destroyer of unity of existence. When Emptiness is equated with God concept, Buddhism and Monotheism are harmoniously reconciled philosophically or theosophically.

Cause and Conditions

 A business entity is the process unity of a principal cause and a set of contigent conditions which are changing throughout the process of production. The principal  cause is the entrepreneur or the CEO. The supporting contigent conditions are staff, clienlete, technology, hardware, software, premise , utilities , products, services, government regulations,  banking services and so forth. If the entrepreneur or CEO is not adept, prudent and untrustworthy, the whole organization will be afflicted with  a systemic risk. The systemic risk will develop into a systemic crisis if the entrepreneur or CEO irresponsibily or unprudently  manages the corporation.

For instance, a key man may commit severe criminal breach of trust that falters the business entity due to personal greed . Likewise, if the some staff members are lax, inefficient, ineffective, unproductive or corrupt, the profit margin would be gravely eroded and eventually incur business losses. Heavy financial losses  may develop potential  systemic risk. The systemic risk may also lead to systemic crisis if other supporting conditions are also defective and corrupt. This systemic crisis is termed financial crisis. A crisis is the collapse of the unity or mould of God  or Tao or Emptiness of the business entity.

Systemic Risk

 The ongoing 2008-2009 financial meltdown erupted in U.S and E.U in 2008 because a few giant multi-national corporations have developed grave systemic risk leading to the state of bankruptcies. Some  giant banking institutions are financially clogged by frozen credit flows in the financial markets due to toxic  bad debts, foreclosures, toxic investments, toxic balanced sheet, excessive payments of bonuses even during  bad times and so forth.  

Thus it evidences that when the contigent conditions are flawlessly or prudently or honestly executed,  the unity of existence is a harmony of association of positive contigent conditions resulting in human accomplishment and concrescence. Conversely, if the contigent conditions are adverse or defective or toxic, the unity of existence becomes a disharmony of association of contigent conditions resulting in systemic risk conditioning a systemic crisis. The  systemic crisis  may develop  into a  catastrophe when the global industry collapses. The ongoing 2008-2009 financial meltdown is a bitter lesson to the world.

The worse possibility of a  systemic crisis turning into  a systemic catastrophe occurs when a number of key contigent parts or conditions of unity become so toxic, cancerous and contagious that the whole system is paralyzed.   A systemic crisis or catastrophe is the collapse of the unity of existence or a total system or totality because some parts of the unity have failed to support the whole system or totality. Its defect or toxicity affects the normal growth of the entire unity of existence of the whole entity and the whole  industry. In this sense, the knowledge of process philosophy of God helps avert the potential systemic risk.

 The process philosophy of God makes everyone of us to realize that everyone is always an integral part of the larger whole. We are intimately interconnected and interrelated . When a key team member or subsystem  fails, a systemic risk is developed. When more severe systemic risks  are developed  by other team members or subsystems, they may collectively develop into a systemic crisis.

The process philosophy of God teaches us heedfulness that what one does positively or negatively affects the entire systemic organization. The team members are the multiplicity. The sound health of the systemic organization is the Unity. Thus, we find that the multiplicity exists in the Unity and the Unity is  sustained by the multiplicity.

Religiously and philosophically put, the collapse of the unity of existence or  total system or totality is the obstruction of the normal flow of the Absolute or Tao. The Absolute or Tao is the Process Reality of dynamic process becoming of the world. The Process Reality of the Absolute or Tao is the ultimate Truth of God, Tao, Brahman, Buddha or Allah. The face of the Absolute or Tao  has been disfigured or even shattered asunder when some essential contigent beings have become  too weak to sustain the unity of the entire system.

 Buddhitsly put, the Absolute or Tao is the ultimate Reality of Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) or Insubtantiality (Anattā). Emptiness and Insubstantiality are  the attributes of Process Reality of the Absolute or Tao. Scientifically put, the obstruction of the dynamic flow of Process Reality of dynamic becoming is the systemic risk. A serious systemic risk can develop into a systemic crisis. An unregulated systemic crisis can develop into a catastrophe.

Systemic Crisis

The ongoing 2008-2009 financial crisis  or economic downturn is a dire systemic risk turning into a very grave  crisis. The ecocrisis of global warming and climate change is also a  systemic problem. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle East are systemic issues. International terrorism or extremism is systemic ill. Every systemic problem or crisis mirrors that the  dynamic flow of the unity of existence has been clogged or obstructed  usually by problematic deontological ethics of either the employer or employees or both. Poor work performance  is directed and empowered by self-centric ego. Self-centric ego is the carnal self or lower self of Man characterized by egoism or selfishness prioritizing self-interest or selfish desire. Today, greedy speculative behaviors of consumers can also threaten the systemic equilibrium.

Growth or Decline

Wisdom and virtue promote and foster unity of existence or systemic growth. Ignorance and vices retard or upset the organic system of growth. All human beings are participants of the global concrescence in the unity of existence or systemic growth. When a significant number of staff members  are  not performing  their duties or responsibilities loyally, the whole unity of existence or systemic growth is adversely affected. What one does negatively or positively affects countless others ultimately in any organic system in which  participating members are closely interwoven in determining the destiny of the business entity.

Every system is organic, that is it is unity of contigent or correlated  parts. Buddhistly put, every system is Emptiness. Every system is insubstantial. What is empty or insubstantial is the Essence of God.  Every human being  is an element of the interlinkages or interdependencies in the Process Unity of any system of activity or production. This Process Unity is the oneness of every system or the world. The Process Reality unveils that every accomplishment or failure is an accomplishment or failure  in a system of interconnected parts  in which the accomplishment or failure of a preceding actual entity can trigger the accomplishment or failure of the successive actual entity of a conditioned phenomenon.

 Every phenomenon is a dependently co-arisen  actual entity. Discrete actual entity does not exist. All clusters of actual entities are interconnected and interrelated. Every actual entity is an integral part of the larger whole or totality or system.

Interconnectedness

Gotama Buddha (in fact all Supreme Masters) teaches us that all the beings in the universe are dependently co-arisen (pațiccasamupanna). They dwell interconnectedly and correlatedly  as a cosmic Unity in a cosmic village. All biotic or abiotic beings are contigent conditions of the conditioned empirical world. They  are insubstantial or empty of autonomous existences. Human beings are the key contigent conditions of the unity of existence. They are impermanent and constantly mutable. Gotama Buddha admonishes us  to change ourselves from light to light (from good to better; from better to best). We are warned not to change from light to darkness (from good to bad) or from darkness to darkness (from bad to worse; from worse to worst) in order to preserve sustainable development.

Communal Message

If we do not  Understand the fundamental teachings of Dependent Co-arising, and Insubstantiality or Emptiness, we would upset or obstruct the systemic unity of the flow of co-existence. We would inflict suffering upon ourselves as well as upon others. All world’s religions teach the divine attributes of Dependent Co-arising, Insubstantiality, Emptiness, suffering and salvation to impart the message of the Lord. At the summit of esoteric spirituality, there is only one Lord but not two.  The terms or the paraphrases or literature of expression may be dissimilar exoterically but the esoteric message is communal or identical : We are constituting members  of the many. The many exist in the One ; the One exists in the many. The many is the multiplicity of the conventional truth. The One is the Unity of the ultimate Truth.  Such spiritual teaching or theosophy  is universal, non-sectarian and non-denominational. The universal Truth is non-discriminative wisdom.  It concurs with the Buddhist Heart Sūtra’s central theme : Form is Emptiness ; Emptiness is Form.

Conclusion

 Form is multiplicity of the multiple forms of existents ; Emptiness is Unity of existence. Without the parts, Unity does not come into being. Without Unity, how could parts exist ? The world of multiplicity is the food for the Unity of the Absolute; the Unity of Absolute is also food for the multiplicity. They are non-dual and reciprocal. The multiplicity is secular life; the Unity is the eternal Truth or the Wisdom of living. Secularity and spirituality cannot be divided. When they are ignorantly and perversely separated, problem or crisis assails us. This is the root of human  vexation or suffering.