The Two Core Questions

Humanity, we presume, is the pinnacle of intelligence on Earth, and from this high place of intellect and understanding, humanity finds itself confronted by the mystery of its very own conscious existence. This mystery by virtue of its great complexity and extreme level of detail is very intimidating to the point it seems to be unapproachable

To consider the overwhelming enormity of this problem all at once is beyond the ability of human intelligence. The problem is, however, manageable when it is reduced down to its most elemental forms that are still sufficiently detailed to develop a clear understanding of everything hat really needs to be considered. The secret to solving this great mystery lies in finding this optimal level of simplification that addresses the problem without all the incredibly overwhelming details. 

This simplification must reduce the matter down to its core elements without the unmanageable burden of all the other details that only clutter the big picture we seek.  At its most basic level, the great human conundrum is driven by the two facts that we are 1) consciously aware and 2) surrounded by an elaborate combination of things in the surrounding physical world.   These two core components inspire in everyone the two fundamental questions of: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What is going on around me?’. 

The ‘Who am I?’ question is the basis of our unending search to discover the who, what, and why of our personal existence. This line of questioning exists because we are consciously aware beings trying to figure out the nature of our conscious experience in a physical environment. Initially, this question is focused on the topic of our physical body, but progresses more to the conscious experience of our existence as our understanding matures. 

The ‘What is going on around me?’ question is posed by the physical challenge presented by the hostile physical environment around us that cannot be ignored. This question exists because our conscious awareness is constantly being challenged in a complex physical reality of forms with which we must interact in order to survive and hopefully even thrive. The most prominent of those physical forms is the human body directly connected to our individual conscious experience. 

The human life experience is above all else a journey of spiritual discovery. In this spiritual journey every thought and every action no matter how coarse or misguided is driven by a core primitive impulse to understand the personal true of ‘who am I?/ and the everything else truth of ‘what is going on around me?’. The short term goal of spirituality is to define your conscious identity in terms of functioning in the physical world (i.e. ‘who am I and what do I want to do?’), but its ultimate goal is to develop the conscious spirit to its highest potential and live life to the fullest possible extent. 

 With the passage of time, these natural occurring and seemingly superficial discoveries driven by the core primitives eventually become more clearly recognizable as spirituality, the only path to the ultimate truths. Every individual interpretation of spirituality is different based on their particular level of spiritual evolution and their special interpretation of their surrounding reality. 

From these two fundamental questions, all further human inquiry ensues.