Interesting stuff. I know in some of the nondual traditions, the absolute truth, i..e, the ultimate reality, cannot be perceived by the mind or senses. However, simultaneously, this ultimate reality is **everything**, without being exclusively any one thing.
In Buddhism, there is the phrase "form is none other than emptiness, and emptiness is none other than form", in the Heart Sutra. Emptiness and Form, therefore, are never divorced. In Advaita Vedanta, there is Nirguna Brahman, i.e. the "formless Brahman", and Saguna Brahman, i.e., Brahman with form, with attributes. Nirguna and Saguna are never divorced. Thus, Being and Becoming, while both are vital, are never divorced. There is not even a nanometer of separation. On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 1:43 AM Ernest Prabhakar <[email protected]> wrote: > What it would take to solve the metacrisis… > > > > https://2transform.us/2026/01/15/becomingness-the-unthinkable-metaphysic-we-need-now/ > > Becomingness: The Unthinkable Metaphysic We Need Now > > > > > January 15, 2026 > <https://2transform.us/2026/01/15/becomingness-the-unthinkable-metaphysic-we-need-now/> > > Write as Pierre Hadot <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Hadot> about > how this solves modernity’s metacrisis > <https://www.artberman.com/blog/metacrisis-getting-honest-about-the-human-predicament/>. > > ChatGPT Prompt (condensed) > > I. Philosophy as a Way of Life, Not a Theory > > Modern philosophy has forgotten something essential: > philosophy was never primarily a discourse *about* reality. > It was a *practice that transformed the one who engaged in it*. > > In antiquity, metaphysics was inseparable from *formation*. > To speak of reality was already to be invited into a different way of > living within it. > > From this perspective, the contemporary fixation on *Being* or *Non-being* > is not merely an intellectual error. > It is a *spiritual displacement*. > > What has been lost is not a concept, but an *exercise*. > II. The Blind Spot of Being > > Western philosophy, beginning with *Parmenides > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmenides>* and systematized by *Plato > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato>* and *Aristotle > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle>*, sought stability. > > To know reality meant to grasp what *is*. > > This produced extraordinary achievements: > > - logic > - science > - metaphysics > - law > > But it also imposed a silent cost. > > Reality became something to be *described*, not *entered*. > Truth became something to be *stated*, not *undergone*. > > The question *“What is real?”* replaced the more ancient and more > dangerous question: > > *“What kind of life allows one to participate more fully in reality?”* > > III. Why Becoming Was Never Enough > > Some modern thinkers attempted a correction by emphasizing *becoming*: > > - *Heraclitus <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus>* in fragments > - *Alfred North Whitehead > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead>* in process > - *Gilles Deleuze <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze>* in > flux > > But becoming, left to itself, dissolves into neutrality. > > If everything becomes, then *nothing is at stake*. > > Ancient philosophy never accepted this neutrality. > Change was always judged by whether it led *upward or downward*, toward *truth > or dispersion*, *integration or loss*. > > What was missing was not the idea of becoming, but a way to speak of *better > and worse forms of becoming without freezing them into static states*. > IV. Becomingness as a Spiritual Category > > *Becomingness* names precisely this forgotten dimension. > > Not: > > - being > - non-being > - mere change > > But *the degree to which a life remains capable of further transformation > toward truth, unity, and participation*. > > This is not a theoretical abstraction. > It is a *lived criterion*. > > Ancient philosophers would have recognized it immediately—not as a > doctrine, but as a *measure of spiritual progress*. > > - Is the soul more unified or more scattered? > - More attentive or more distracted? > - More capable of communion or more enclosed in itself? > > These were never answered conceptually. > They were answered *existentially*. > V. Spiritual Exercises as the Guardians of Becomingness > > In the ancient schools, philosophy consisted of *spiritual exercises > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_exercise_(philosophy)>*: > > - attention > - self-examination > - contemplation > - dialogue > - disciplined desire > > Their function was not moral improvement in the modern sense. > > Their function was to *increase becomingness*: > > - to enlarge the soul’s capacity to receive reality > - to prevent the hardening and closure that makes further > transformation impossible > > From this perspective, vice is not primarily “*wrong action*.” > It is *the consumption of becomingness*. > > And virtue is not rule-following. > It is *the preservation and intensification of the soul’s openness to the > real*. > VI. Why This Metaphysic Is “Unthinkable” > > Modern philosophy resists becomingness because it cannot be cleanly > systematized. > > Becomingness: > > - unfolds in time > - resists final definition > - implies irreversible loss and growth > - binds truth to practice > > It therefore *cannot be safely contained within academic discourse*. > > It demands something more unsettling: > > that philosophy once again become a *way of life*. > > VII. Why We Need It Now > > Contemporary culture offers: > > - endless experiences > - unlimited information > - constant stimulation > > Yet it quietly destroys becomingness. > > People feel intense, but become shallow. > They choose constantly, but are formed by nothing. > They desire endlessly, but become less capable of transformation. > > This is not a crisis of meaning. > It is a crisis of *ontological formation*. > > Becomingness names what is actually at risk. > VIII. A Final Ancient Insight > > The ancient philosophers never asked whether a doctrine was *true* in > isolation. > > They asked: > > *Does this way of thinking make one more capable of living in truth?* > > By that criterion, *becomingness* is not merely plausible. > It is necessary. > > Not because it solves a theoretical problem, > but because it restores philosophy to its original vocation: > > *the slow, demanding, and irreversible formation of a life capable of > reality.* > ------------------------------ > Appendix: Pierre Hadot > > Who, When, Why > ChatGPT Prompt > > A. Who > > *Pierre Hadot <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Hadot>* (*1922–2010*) > was a French philosopher and historian of ancient philosophy best known for > radically reframing what philosophy *is*. > > He argued that, in antiquity, philosophy was not primarily: > > - a system of doctrines > - a theoretical discipline > - an academic specialization > > but a *way of life*, sustained through *practices* meant to transform > perception, desire, and character. > > Key identity markers: > > - Historian of *ancient philosophy > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_philosophy>* > - Interpreter of *Stoicism <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism>*, > *Platonism > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism>*, and *Neoplatonism > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism>* > - Bridge between classical philosophy and *spiritual formation > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_formation>* > - Major influence on contemporary thinkers across theology, > philosophy, and cultural theory > > ------------------------------ > B. When > > - *Born:* 1922, Reims, France > - *Died:* 2010 > - *Active intellectually:* 1950s–2000s > > Historical context matters: > > - Formed in post–World War II Europe (*World War II > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>*) > - Witnessed: > - the collapse of grand metaphysical systems > - the rise of *analytic philosophy > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_philosophy>* and *structuralism > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism>* > - the professionalization of philosophy within the modern > university (*philosophy of education > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education>*) > > Hadot’s work is, in part, a response to the modern loss of philosophy’s > *formative > and existential power*. > ------------------------------ > C. Why He Matters C.1 His Central Insight > > Hadot’s core claim can be stated simply: > > *Ancient philosophy aimed at the transformation of the subject, not the > construction of theories.* > > Doctrines existed to *support practices*, not replace them. > > This reframes: > > - ethics → *formation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_education>* > - metaphysics → *orientation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology>* > - truth → *lived participation > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participation_(philosophy)>* > > This is why his work resonates so strongly with the concept of > *becomingness*. > ------------------------------ > C.2 Spiritual Exercises > > Hadot recovered the idea of *spiritual exercises > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_exercise_(philosophy)>* — > concrete practices meant to reshape how one inhabits reality. > > Examples include: > > - *attention <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention>* to the present > moment > - imaginative rehearsal of loss or death (*memento mori > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori>*) > - *self-examination <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection>* > - *dialogue <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method>* > - contemplative perception of the whole (*contemplation > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplation>*) > > These were not “*techniques for happiness*,” but *ontological disciplines* > — ways of increasing one’s capacity to live truthfully. > ------------------------------ > C.3 Key Works > > - *Philosophy as a Way of Life > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_as_a_Way_of_Life>* (*1995*) > - *What Is Ancient Philosophy? > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_Ancient_Philosophy%3F>* (*1995*) > - *The Inner Citadel <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Citadel>* > — a study of *Marcus Aurelius > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius>* and *Stoic philosophy > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoic_philosophy>* > > Across these works, Hadot shows that: > > - philosophical schools were *formative communities* > - doctrines were *pedagogical tools* > - truth was inseparable from *practice* > > ------------------------------ > C.4 Why He Fits *Becomingness* So Cleanly > > Hadot never used the word *becomingness*, but his entire project > presupposes it. > > He assumes: > > - reality can be participated in *more or less* (*degrees of being > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being>*) > - the soul can become *more unified or more dispersed* > - practices can *increase or diminish one’s capacity for truth* > - time and repetition matter ontologically (*habit > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit>*) > > In the language of becomingness: > > - spiritual exercises *increase becomingness* > - distraction, vice, and mere experience *consume it* > > Hadot gives historical legitimacy to this claim without freezing it into > metaphysical abstraction. > ------------------------------ > D. Why Hadot Is Increasingly Relevant Now > > Hadot becomes urgent in late *modernity > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernity>* because: > > - belief no longer reliably forms people > - information no longer produces wisdom (*information overload > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_overload>*) > - experience no longer guarantees transformation > > What remains effective are *formative practices*. > > Hadot provides: > > - a vocabulary for non-coercive formation > - a model of philosophy beyond ideology > - a way to speak about meaning without reducing it to emotion or > opinion > > ------------------------------ > E. One-Line Summary > > If the modern crisis is that people are *experiencing more and becoming > less*, > Pierre Hadot reminds us that philosophy originally existed to ensure the > opposite. > > That is why he would recognize *becomingness* not as a theory, > but as a *recovered truth about what philosophy is for*. > > Sent from my iPhone > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community < > [email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/RadicalCentrism/E217060B-19BC-4B55-B947-722EE12452DF%40gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/RadicalCentrism/E217060B-19BC-4B55-B947-722EE12452DF%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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