Ontology.
Quick Hits
10 random key ideas.
1.
Article summary:
In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate asks if you exist before your time on Earth.
2.
Quote:
- Carl Sagan.
- circa 1980.
Meaning:
We are not separate from the universe—we are expressions of it, linked by matter, chemistry, and atoms.
3.
From History: You exist, then you mold your essence.
Existence grounds essence; identity is not discovered in a metaphysical realm but formed within structured reality.
4.
Ontology studies what exists. Spirituality explores what existence means.
5.
Quote:
- Laozi.
- 550 BCE.
Meaning:
For Laozi’s metaphysics, his reality is relational. Pairs rise and fall in unison defining and sustaining one another.
6.
From History: Spirituality is exploration.
When publicly discussing spirituality, distinguish thought of the material world, what we directly experience, from the spiritual interpretations beyond it. Organize each spiritual idea into agnostic, non-theistic, and theistic.
7.
What exists and what it means to be. The material world is our common footing. For the rest, your way of being is not fixed. You can reflect on who you want to be and grow into your more authentic self.
8.
Quote:
- Michael Alan Prestwood.
From History:
Meaning:
Frameworks are human-made interpretations, but truth is measured by alignment with a reality that exists independently of them.
9.
From History: The Nature of Being.
Ontology asks what exists at the deepest level, including whether the self, consciousness, or anything beyond the body is real. For living well, its value is humility: what you believe shapes how you treat this life.
10.
Existence before essence means you arrive without a script, and your identity emerges through a life in motion: shaped by change, choice, and time.
Done. Refresh for another set.
TST Trainer
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
