Life's Essence: eight Principles

[NaturaNaturans]

Life's Essence: eight Principles

"Every acquisition, every step forward in knowledge is the result of courage, of severity toward oneself, of cleanliness with respect to oneself."
Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo

Background

I'll be honest: I have dug myself into a deep hole. Life can be pure bliss, but at times it can be a real struggle, perhaps even hell. As it says in the Gospel of Matthew, the gate to damnation is "wide and broad," while the way that leads to life is "narrow, and few find it."

Given my current life situation, I have decided to create a short and concise list of the most important principles for a good life. I have pre-determined that I will limit myself to 10 principles, without knowing exactly what they will entail. This is because I want them to be impactful and to the point. Naturally, this is a personal list — my rules for my life, and by no means intended to be universal. However, I am very open to feedback, comments, and your own principles on the path to paradise.

Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

The project is clearly inspired by the aforementioned book. I know he is a controversial character, but I don't give a f***. I like him. He argues that life is characterized by order and chaos. It can perhaps be compared to yin and yang; I wouldn't know, as my knowledge of Eastern philosophy is practically nonexistent (unfortunately).

Peterson points out that too much order and too much chaos can both be harmful. Too much order can lead to rigidity, stagnation, and even totalitarian tendencies, while too much chaos can result in fear, anxiety, and the disintegration of meaningful structures. Humans need a dynamic balance between these forces to live a rich and meaningful life. Rules, routines, and structures can help us find this balance, without losing the ability to adapt and grow in the face of unpredictability. Here, I will create my own "rules for life."

"The scientific world of matter can be reduced, in some sense, to its fundamental constituent elements: molecules, atoms, even quarks. However, the world of experience has primal constituents, as well. These are the necessary elements whose interactions define drama and fiction. One of these is chaos. Another is order. The third (as there are three) is the process that mediates between the two, which appears identical to what modern people call consciousness. It is our eternal subjugation to the first two that makes us doubt the validity of existence — that makes us throw up our hands in despair and fail to care for ourselves properly. It is a proper understanding of the third that allows us the only real way out."
― Jordan Peterson

Norse Mythology - Order, Chaos, and Creation
In the Norse creation myth, Ymir is the first being, a primordial entity that holds the potential for the entire world within itself. Ymir exists in a chaotic primal state, where all opposites — light and darkness, order and chaos, male and female — exist simultaneously and indivisibly. Through his asexual creation, the giants emerge, making Ymir a symbol of a state of unity where all contrasts are merged.

The dualities of the world come into being through the sacrifice of Ymir; his body is divided by the gods to create earth, sea, trees, and mountains. This act of violence marks the transition from unity to diversity, showing how order often arises from chaos. Ymir must die for the world to exist, and his sacrifice makes it possible for opposites such as night and day, land and sea, gods and humans to take form.

This illustrates how order and chaos function as complementary forces in creation. Ymir represents chaotic potential that must be shaped, while the gods create order. Creation becomes a process where both forces are necessary; they are not merely opposites but also prerequisites for each other. The world emerges in a tension between these forces, and it is in their interplay that the cosmos finds its form and beauty.

This is the backdrop for my ten principles: an understanding of life as a dance between order and chaos, between light and darkness, and how we can find our way through this landscape by embracing both structure and spontaneity.

The eight principles
1. Read Great Thinkers

This will make more sense as the majority of the "rules" contain quotes from great thinkers. People have pondered over life's great mysteries since practically forever. One of my favorite artworks illustrates this in a spectacular and beautiful way:


Lions, Chauvet Cave, France

The cave painting is 35,000 years old. No one can convince me that these people did not have as rich an inner life as us. Once in a blue moon, people so profound appear that reading them will enrich your life immeasurably. The older, the better. If it has stood the test of time, there is undoubtedly a reason for it.

2. … but you are the final authority

By all means, listen to the wise. Listen to everyone, in fact, because I believe everyone has something to contribute if you give them the chance. However, beware of the conman.

"Go alone, my disciples, You too, go now alone. Thus I want it. Go away from me and resist Zarathustra! And even better: be ashamed of him! Perhaps he deceived you… One pays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil. And why do you not want to pluck at my wreath? You revere me; but what if your reverence tumbles one day? Beware lest a statue slay you. You say that you believe in Zarathustra? But what matters Zarathustra? You are my believers – but what matter all believers? You had not yet sought yourselves; and you found me. Thus do all believers; therefore all faith amounts to so little. Now I bid you to lose me and find yourselves; and only then when you have all denied me will I return to you… that I may celebrate the great noon with you."
― Nietzsche

3. Logos - Universal Reason
According to Herodotus, "Persians educate their boys to ride well, shoot straight, and speak the truth." The Persian word for truth would be asha or arta. This is part of a shared Indo-European notion of cosmic order. The wiki page on Proto-Indo-European mythology says the following:

"Linguistic evidence has led scholars to reconstruct the concept of *h₂értus, denoting 'what is fitting, rightly ordered', and ultimately deriving from the verbal root *h₂er-, 'to fit'. Descendant cognates include Hittite āra ('right, proper'); Sanskrit ṛta ('divine/cosmic law, force of truth, or order'); Avestan arəta- ('order'); Greek artús ('arrangement'), possibly arete ('excellence') via the root *h₂erh₁ ('please, satisfy'); Latin artus ('joint'); Tocharian A ārtt- ('to praise, be pleased with'); Armenian ard ('ornament, shape'); Middle High German art ('innate feature, nature, fashion')."

This is also where the Hindu concept of karma and dharma stems from. In classical Greek philosophy, particularly in the works of Heraclitus, logos refers to the rational structure that permeates the cosmos. Heraclitus saw logos as the universal law or principle that governs change and order in the universe. He believed that even though the world is in constant flux, everything happens according to an underlying rational order — logos.

This is why my username is NaturaNaturans (nature natures).

4. Eudaimonia (term coined by Aristotle, often translated to human flourishing) - nurture your environment
"Think of a flower. If you water it, give it enough light, maybe feed it a little, then it will grow and bloom… Human beings can flourish like plants too."
― Nigel Warburton

5. Kill the Dragon - One Foot in the Known, One in the Unknown
Science tells us that this is the key to a fulfilling life: finding the balance between order and chaos. Too much order, and life becomes meaningless. Too much chaos, and you become lost and confused, at best.

In the Norse universe, the first humans, Ask and Embla, were made of wood. Just as God breathed life into dust, Odin and his brothers breathed life into them. Odin, Vili, and Ve, Woðanaz, Weljon, and Wixan, their names meaning shamanic fury, the will, and the sacred respectively. They gave their creations, humanity, Midgard, a beautiful and magnificent place between the gods' fortress and the great unknown: Utgard, where they would dwell until Ragnarok.
To explain this further, I must elaborate on the concept of "gard." Gard means enclosure: a fenced-in and protected place. We have Asgard, the fortress of the Aesir (the divine), Midgard, home of the tribe and the known and protected from Utgard (outside the fence), where giants, enemies of the gods, dwell. Utgard is frightening and exciting. Sometimes necessary to explore, but with great risk, and the potential for everlasting fame.

Here's something to note. Firstly, they divide the world into three mental categories: the high and divine, the known and safe, and the wild and unknown. The high, the mundane, the low. Heaven, Earth, Hell. In Voluspa, Odin learns of the fate of the gods and their creations:
"The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea,
The hot stars down from heaven are whirled;
Fierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame,
Till fire leaps high about heaven itself."

Despite this, the knowledge of one's own and others' demise, Odin travels through the different realms in search of wisdom, to prepare for the inevitable end and to challenge fate itself. He takes the bravest warriors with him to Valhalla, where they prepare for the final battle.

In the vedic epic of Bhagavad Gita, two rivaling royal families stood ready to battle in the northern plains of India. Arjuna, the rightful heir to the throne, was prepared to fight for his right. But as he looked at his relatives, teachers, and friends on the opposing side, he was overwhelmed by deep sorrow. How could he kill his own kin? It was at this moment that the Supreme Personality of God, Krishna, revealed Himself to Arjuna. In the text, Krishna is described as the source of all existence. Arjuna humbly asked for guidance: "Now I am your disciple, and my soul is surrendered to you. Please instruct me."
Krishna/the Supreme Personality of Godhead said: "My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy. (...) Give up this petty weakness of heart and arise."

Trito, from proto indo european mythology, is the archetypical warrior/hero. He would chase down an foreign enemy to retrieve the cattle they had stolen. To do this, he had to face a serpent, three headed monster or something similar. By retrieving the cattle, he was welcomed back as a hero. This is where we get the so called serpent slaying myth, which lives on to this very day. You even find it in Shrek haha.
Point is, the greatest treasures is to be found in a dark cave, guarded by a fire-spitting, flying reptile - the ultimate predator. Only by facing him bravely, can you achieve the highest good.

6. Memento mori
All the following quotes are from Marcus Aurelius:
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."

"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

"If souls survive death for all eternity, how can the heavens hold them all? Or for that matter, how can the earth hold all the bodies that have been buried in it? The answers are the same. Just as on earth, with the passage of time, decaying and transmogrified corpses make way for the newly dead, so souls released into the heavens, after a season of flight, begin to break up, burn, and be absorbed back into the womb of reason, leaving room for souls just beginning to fly. This is the answer for those who believe that souls survive death."


7. Appreciate beauty
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."
Aurelius, meditations


8. Become whole
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15pjQRA80bs

And at last:
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
Aurelius

[Cadcam]

Sounds like you have it all cataloged well. It's a nice outline, full of hope! Even has an account for God's and creation.

[NaturaNaturans]

The principles progress from a pursuit of knowledge (1), to the establishment of independence (2), to the understanding of a universal order (3), and further to applying this understanding in one's own life and environment (4), and then to action and courage in the face of challenges (5). The principles of mortality (6) and beauty (7) put this entire journey into perspective, while the final principle (8) encourages bringing everything together in a process of self-realization and wholeness.