Hello
For many years I have kept asking myself 'what shall I believe'. That's because I did many stupid things which really embarassed me in the past. I hope I can think and act in a way which I like, just as I did when I was a child. Just a few days ago, I improved my ideas to an extent which I believe it is exactly what I want. I’m not sure how well it works, but I think it’s quite interesting.
How do our minds work?
'The will to survive' drives our mind to react to external stimulations, just like animals. Things changed when a person becomes aware of himself when he is an infant. 'I exist and I’m observing the world. I am different from my body, and the world which is being observed', this idea is 'self-awareness'. Self-awareness enlightens and delights each person like a shining sun. It enables us to joy for our strength and goodness, and to feel sad for our weaknesses and hardship. It let us become the only creatures aware of the fact that we are living in a chaotic and uncaring world, and thus have the motivation improve our living condition by learning, working and trading.
Self-awareness generates 'the will to power', just like a sun emits light. 'I come to this world not to be enslaved by it, but to pursue meaning in it', this idea is the will to power. Here, ‘meaning’ is what makes us experience joy and peace instead of shame and regret when we confront our self-awareness, and ‘power’ is the ability to dominate our own purpose, lifestyle and fate. We label concepts which promote the pursuit of meaning as goodness and beauty, while label concepts which hinder the pursuit of meaning as evil and ugliness. The will to power enables a person to like goodness and dislike evil, to like beauty and dislike ugliness, to pursue strength, dignity and freedom. To follow and practice it is the fate of every human being, and no one can abandon it without hurting his own feeling. As a result, it makes us happier to admit the meanings we can achieve lacks quantity and certainty (like studying, working, having children) than to never pursue meaning (like keep playing computer games 16 hours a day).
The will to power generates 'the force of life', just like the light brings energy. 'I shall protect what I love and destroy what I hate, so as to give my limited life meaning', this idea is the force of life. Here, it is important to notice that healthy love always points to concepts which promote the pursuit of meaning, while healthy hatred always points to concepts which hinder the pursuit of meaning. The force of life gives a person the strength to conduct good deeds and constructive work. It protects us from despair and the hate for life in times of busyness and hardship.
While Nietzsche have a terrifying god called the will to power, I have a lovely and heavenly trinity goddess, named ‘self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life’ (I call them goddesses not because they have super natural power, but because I hope we can accept them as something valuable, beautiful and benevolent, despite the self-doubt and self-hate many of us might have accumulated in their lives)! They are just three simple ideas, yet they can be interpreted by an unlimited number of ways in different contexts, and an unlimited number of ideas can be derived from them. Everyone has these three great ideas (or ‘the trinity goddess’), although a person does not need to be aware of their existence. Nietzsche only knew about the will to power, which is not enough, because we can't understand her if we don't know about her mother and daughter! As a result, Nietzsche didn’t find out who she is, didn’t know how to find and strengthen her, and was unable to distinguish her from the desire to dominate others and the supposed power which dominates the universe.
Self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life have inspired the creation of the concept of 'trinity'. Their similarities include but not limited to: ‘the son’ flow out of ‘the father’ and brings ‘the spirit’, while the will to power flow out of self-awareness and brings the force of life; ‘the father’ creates the world, while self-awareness let us be aware of our own existence; ‘the son’ brings salvation while the will to power lift our purpose of living to mere survival to the pursuit of meaning; ‘the spirit’ gave spiritual strength and comfort to people, and so does the force of life. Although my trinity goddess is not as powerful as the trinity god, they are real, understandable and perceivable. They shaped the mind of humanity, their existence is the best definition of 'being human', and instead of condemning any of us, they are always awaiting us to find embrace them like sleeping beauty.
All our gods, idols and moral principles are the product of mistaken the three great ideas (or ‘goddesses’) in our minds for external entities. That explains why gods are spiritual and good (by humans’ standards), why they care about and similar to humans (in terms of moral standards, emotions and way of thinking), and why they can (at least seemingly) improve our spiritual conditions as we obey them, although they bring little physical benefits. As these three great ideas are the source of our internal goodness and strength, mistaken them as external entities or deny them with materialism (which is not backed up by science) could cause lack of passion, lack of confidence, self-hate and other negative results in the long term.
What’s wrong with us?
As we have self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life, we should have a world where everyone is spiritually free and sincere. Something has gone wrong!
Well, if a person suspects that he can't or didn't practice his will to power (by pursuing meaning), he will generate a feeling called 'guilt', which makes him lose the courage to confront his self-awareness! As the will to power comes from self-awareness, this further weakens his will to power, and strengthen his guilt. So at last, he has a self-worsening cycle of guilt and weakness! Guilt makes weakness, weakness makes more guilt... So sad! I call it 'cycle of weakness'.
Cycle of weakness has disastrous effects on our mind. It hides self-awareness, weakens the will to power, and suppresses the force of life. It clouds the sun and poisons the soil, transforming our mind into a sunless wasteland.
We still have self-awareness, though, so we feel bad about ourselves. We don't know how to change ourselves, and we have forgotten our will to power and force of life. We can only remember that we were happier and purer when we were a child. As a result, some of us (such as those guys with alt-right political opinions) pretend fighting against weakness by humiliating or hurting those who are inferior to them (often only in their imagination). Some of us (such as those guys with alt-left political opinions) pretend to be strong by gaining a sense of moral or power superiority from unrealistic while seemingly glorious ideals. Some of us let idols like power, money, authority and rulers become their meaning of life. Some of us let others define the meaning of their lives at will by blindly devoting themselves to religions and ideologies.
What Christians call ‘sin’, I call it cycle of weakness. It is the source of most, if not all of our spiritual issues. Christians believe that sin is separation from God, and I believe cycle of weakness is inability to confront self-awareness. Christians believe that sin made it difficult for us to recognize God, and I believe cycle of weakness made it difficult for us to find the trinity goddess, who are sleeping and waiting in the depth of our unconsciousness! They do have an important difference, though. While ‘sin’ sounds like ‘our faults and flaws’, ‘cycle of weakness’ is a difficulty or disease. The god of cycle of weakness is a black dragon named ‘Bahamut’, it blocks our self-awareness, bends our will to power and trample on our force of life. It is he who granted the dragon named ‘you should’ (mentioned by Nietzsche in his work) strength and influence, not the opposite.
How to fix ourselves?
Some people believe that their own feelings, desires and emotions are distracting them from their pursuit of meaning. As a result, they keep fighting against their feelings, desires and emotions, wasting their already weakened will to power in self-torture. Some people want to practice their will to power, even though it is weakened and they are unaware of its existence. As a result, they mistaken their will to power for external moral principles. They try to make themselves and other people obey the principles they have 'found', and that makes their cycle of weakness even stronger and makes their will to power even weaker!
So, what are the right things to do? Well, all we need is three virtues called liberty, goodness and straight.
First, our strength is limited and our life is short. Yet no matter how a person is, his self-awareness always exists. Whenever he temporarily forgets his guilt and try to feel his own existence, the will to power (along with delight, comfort and dignity) will flow out of his self-awareness like a fountain. Therefore, self-awareness and the will to power are strong and reliable. The will to power is the source of our desire for goodness and meaning, while evil and weakness is nothing more than its decline. Therefore, the will to power is beautiful and lovely. If a person is aware of these facts, he will regain his courage to confront his self-awareness. Then his will to power will regain strength and his guilt will decline, which makes him feel joyful and peaceful. I call this 'liberty'.
Second, if a person practices his will to power by doing something meaningful, he will gain healthy pleasure. Healthy pleasure gives us long lasting hope and happiness. When we confront our self-awareness, our healthy pleasure makes us feel as if everything in our life is beautiful and let us love ourselves (If this does not happen, it’s probably because a person does not think he did something meaningful from the bottom of his heart). If a person does something harmful to the pursuit of meaning regardless of his will to power, he can only gain unhealthy pleasure. Unhealthy pleasure can only give us short lived happiness. When such happiness is gone, it is replaced by negative feelings like shame, regret, emptiness, etc. When we confront our self-awareness, our unhealthy pleasure makes us feel as if everything in our life is hopeless, and let us doubt and hate ourselves. If a person is aware of the difference between healthy and unhealthy pleasure, he will thirst for the former and be tired of the latter. Then he will gain the internal motivation to practice his will to power, as well as keeping a clear mind and avoid being lost. I call this 'goodness'.
Third, when a person is going to practice his will to power, the external world will hinder him with difficulties and mislead him with lies. Meanwhile, his will to power will give him a tendency to love good or beautiful entities and spirits, and despise evil or ugly entities and spirits. If a person accepts such righteous tendency like a worrier receiving a weapon, force of life will emerge within him, filling his mind with fresh energy and new ideas (If this does not happen, it’s probably because a person misunderstands the will to power). The force of life will help him defeat the difficulties and lies the external world throws at him! I call this 'straight'.
What do I have here? I have an atheism version of 'faith, hope and love'! I believe that the effects which 'liberty, goodness and straight' and 'faith, hope and love' have on our minds are quite similar, although they sound totally different. For example, ‘feel our own existence and let the will to power flow out of self-awareness’ have similar effects with ‘worship Jesus as son of god’, ‘thirst for healthy pleasure and be tired of unhealthy ones’ have similar effects with ‘be hopeful about the heaven’; ‘receive the force of life and use it to overcome difficulties’ have similar effects with ‘let holy spirit fill your body and give you strength and healing’. A person who achieve 'liberty, goodness and straight' will become spiritually strong and pure, free of guilt and filled with the force of life. I call such people 'proto-Übermensch'.
By defeating a range of difficulties and lies and devoting himself entirely to the pursuit of meaning (which is god for Jesus), Jesus looks like a manifest of the will to power of man. When Christians accept, obey and love him, they either recovered their will to power, or replaced it with an artificial substitute, a 'prosthesis' called Jesus. That greatly relieved their cycle of weakness (or 'sin'), which made them so amazed and delighted that they can’t resist the temptation to honor Jesus as their savior! Such is the true nature of Christianity, and it does not matter whether Jesus is a god or not! They invented 'faith, hope and love' because it can benefit their minds just like 'liberty, goodness and straight' do. In fact, 'faith, hope and love' is nothing more than 'liberty, goodness and straight' plus a religious coating! That coating made it easier for spiritually ignorant people to understand and accept 'liberty, goodness and straight' so they can enjoy their benefits. It sounds like giving a child a pill covered with sweet coating.
It should be noticed that while Nietzsche's ‘old testament Übermensch’ might despise all Christian values, my proto-Übermensch feels like an atheist-Christian, whose trinity god is replaced by trinity goddess, whose obedience is replaced by passion. Nietzsche seem to believe that those important guys are born with strong will, while the poor are born with weak will, and one can become one of his ‘old testament Übermensch’ only if he is born to be so. I believe that by following the steps above, each person can greatly strengthen their will to power, gain the force of life and eventually become one of my ‘new testament superman’.
How is this world?
Our minds can only receive and process a limited amount of information. If a person walks around and do some scientific experiments, he can feel and analyze the external world based on the information he received through his sensory organs. If a person conduct meditation, he can feel a variety of life experiences which allow him to understand the state of his mind. What else can we sense and understand? Nothing!
Then, there comes an issue. As the information we can receive and process is limited, we can never eliminate the possibility that all of them are wrong, faked or unreliable by other means! Can we know our life is not a dream created by demons or aliens? Can we know that we are not a group of aliens playing VR games, in which our true memory is temporarily hidden? Can we know other people have their own consciousness and not just moving husks? The answer is: no, we can't. We can’t be certain about anything (Including this idea itself, as the mind in which it is understood and stored could also be illusions). We can't even be certain that we are currently thinking, as we know we were thinking in the last moment because we received the life experience generated by that process a moment ago, which could also be an illusion. Some people might believe their god is absolutely real, however their life experiences and religious texts, which convinced them that their god exists, could also be an illusion.
In a world where there is absolutely no certainty, we have neither a reason to believe it’s real, nor a reason to believe it’s unreal; we have neither a reason to be sane, nor a reason to be insane; we have neither a reason to live, nor a reason to die; we have neither a reason to do good, nor a reason to do evil. We cannot find any meaning in this world, and anything we believe in has no foundation at all. If a person accepts this fact sincerely, all that he once believed in will be destroyed. Including his self-deception, common sense which he took for granted, moral principles which other people taught him, etc. Even the will to power won't save us, as it could also be an illusion.
Actually, from the bottom of our hearts, we all know that the universe is uncertain and we won’t find any meaning in it by intuition. We don't want to accept this fact, we are afraid of this fact, so we accept religions, ideologies or philosophies, not because we are strongly convinced by evidence, logic and or life experiences, but because they claim that there is some kind of certainty and meaning in our lives (like ‘what we do will make a better society and we are destined to success’, or ‘God knows and dominates everything and he gives us meaning and purpose’)! Our fear is so strong that some of us refuse to give up their radical religion, ideology or philosophy, even if these opinions are ridiculous and they ask a lot from them, while some others keep lowering their acceptance standard for the definition of meaning as they are desperate to find one, to an extent that they end up accepting things like nationalism or animal protection as their meanings of life (They are not terrible, but we shouldn’t see them as the meaning of life). It can be said that the greatest and deepest motivation behind our search for faith and desire for knowledge is our fear of meaninglessness.
I want to call those findings 'the Azathoth theory', provided that no one else have found them already. I believe that Lovecraft's dark gods are the best exhibition of our fear to uncertainty and meaninglessness. The Azathoth theory is 100 times better than Nietzsche's 'eternal return'. First, they both bring about nihilism, while the former is way more convincing. After all, we have no idea whether the laws of physics we know dominates our minds, whether it dominates an infinite amount of time and space, whether it is constant and what is it exactly. There isn’t enough evidence to reasonably suggest that eternal return is real. Second, we tend to set different outcomes (such as experience peace, rise to heaven, be rich, be powerful) as meanings, purposes and what we desire, and that’s exactly how our mind works. As a result, not only we can’t find any meaning in a world of 'eternal return', it would also be extremely difficult for us to set new meanings inside it (Perhaps this one cause of Nietzsche’s madness). I can’t imagine how can the idea of eternal return contribute to our internal well-being, and I really dislike it.
There is still hope, though. Although this universe has no meaning, it is still possible for us to set meanings for our lives and pursue them. Such is the only way to overcome the Azathoth theory. In movies, novels and animations, we often see characters face despair, tortured by it, adept to it, defeat it and then become even stronger. Such is the manifest of our unconscious desire to overcome the uncertain and meaningless nature of this universe. However, one cannot achieve this without first becoming an ‘Übermensch’ (as Nietzsche have noticed).
What should we do?
One can refuse to believe the Azathoth theory, as he will not be sent to hell for that. However, as the knowledge humanity has grows, the Azathoth theory would become more and more obvious, and it would be almost impossible for us to refuse to believe it. I’m afraid that there would be a time (maybe 100 years later) when the majority of humanity has to face the Azathoth theory, either being consumed by nihilism or become an Übermensch (as predicted by Nietzsche, although due to different reason). There are plenty of sign of nihilism’s (or Azathoth’s) arrival: old values are losing strength and new values cannot be found. Cults are rising because there is a lack of better belief systems. Constructive criticism against existing values are lacking because we lack strong basis (such as humanism philosophies) for them. Concepts like tolerance and peace are considered good, yet many people can’t backup and explain them with philosophy. Accepting the Azathoth theory is dangerous for those who haven’t overcome their cycle of weakness, as they might fail to complete those steps mentioned below. For a proto-Übermensch, however, accepting the Azathoth theory is the first step to become an Übermensch. Here is what he should do after that.
First, a proto-Übermensch who accepts the Azathoth theory will understand that he can't be certain about anything. Although that could be painful, he is gifted with the ability to never be tired with this world and see all his experiences in a way as if they are all brand new. More importantly, he is now free to reanalyze and reevaluate everything and anything (as predicted by Nietzsche). When he begins to do so with the information he has at hand, his first finding would be that, it seems that he has self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life. The trinity goddess would be the only and the first, greatest and realest thing he would notice during his reanalyzing and reevaluation. If he assumes that they are wrong, he would be able to reanalyze or reevaluate anything. He has no choice but to choose their existence as the first assumption to hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
Second, as the Azathoth theory destroyed all old beliefs, there is nothing prevents our proto-Übermensch to experience his trinity goddess now. He becomes aware that the trinity goddess is the only ideas which are not destroyed by the Azathoth theory, and he can’t destroy them even if he tries to disbelieve them. In surprise and delight, he discovers that the three great ideas (or 'goddesses') is not something he believes in (although he does can believe or disbelieve their existence). Instead, they (instead of the inability to follow and practice them) are what defines him, makes him and powers him, what all his believes are based upon, and what his true-self is. Should they disappear, he as a human will cease to exist. When he says ‘control myself’, the three great ideas are the omitted subject. Our proto-Übermensch is amazed by the goodness and purity of his (as well as the rest of humanity’s) nature and cannot help but love it. Filled with hope and confidence, the Azathoth theory cannot frighten him anymore, and he notices that the source of its terrifying might is not uncertainty itself (which is always inevitable) but the inability to face uncertainty caused by self-doubt and self-hate. Then he stops asking 'WHY affirm my life and assume the world I see is real'. Instead, he shouts out 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real?' At this moment, an Übermensch is born. 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real?' is the second assumption our Übermensch will hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
Third, before our Übermensch accepted the Azathoth theory, he tried to find meaning in this universe, and he failed miserably. Now, believing 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real', he has the courage to accept uncertainty and the internal motivation to pursue meaning. He no longer needs to find absolute definitions of meaning or reasons to pursue it from external entities such as ‘God’ or ‘absolute truth’. As a result, he now has the option to set his meaning of life for himself. Such is how his suffering ends! I choose to set 'Let me and everyone else become stronger and happier' as the meaning of my life, as I can't imagine anything sounds more meaningful to me! You can set your meaning of life for yourself freely, too. But be careful, if you are insane and you set murder as the meaning of your life, other people might fight you for their meanings of life, such as 'to protect all that I love'! It's a good idea for an Übermensch to choose this as the third assumption to hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
When this is done, an Übermensch would be able to experience, explore, understand and pursue meaning in this world freely and passionately regardless of its uncertain and meaningless nature. He has little guilt and plenty of curiosity, just like a child new to this world.
As you can see, the Azathoth theory brings new life along with destruction. All that we believe in just like a building. This building is in a poor state, as it has no firm foundation beneath it (thanks to the Azathoth theory), while self-deception, moral principles and other stupid ideas weaken it from within. The Azathoth theory will push it down, break it apart and wash it away like a big flood. Although this is a destructive process, it will also expose the trinity goddess from mud and rubble, a firm foundation on which a taller, more beautiful and more flood-resistant new building could be built.
Now I have a prophecy: the god of nihilism, Azathoth, will soon descend upon our spirit realm like a giant asteroid. It will burn the earth, block the sun and freeze the air. What that we once believed in are like dinosaurs. All of them will die of hunger, darkness and coldness, and their bodies will cover the earth like carpet. Although they once ruled the spirit realm, fossils would be the only thing they leave behind. Azathoth’s abominations, such as cults, drug taking and fascism, will rampage across the realm, bringing chaos and despair wherever they go. Even the trinity goddess of self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life won‘t be able to stop Azathoth. However, as the realm lies in ruins, the trinity goddess will conceive a new god: ‘the god of affirmation’. Pure, brave and newborn, the god of affirmation is both a lovely little boy and a mighty warrior. He will protect the trinity goddess, absorb and purify Azathoth, and fill the spirit realm with life again!
What would be the outcome?
An Übermensch (as defined above) is the slayer of nihilism, he defeats nihilism by embracing it. His faith is the truth of the world he sees, his strength is his trinity goddess, and what he loves is the life of human-beings. An Übermensch is a paladin of humanism, self-awareness is his power armor, the will to power is his burning sword, the force of life is his guardian angel, and the affirmation of life is his holy banner. He combines the strengths of Christians, Nietzsche’s ‘old testament Übermensch’, as well as animation characters, while having none of their weaknesses.
An Übermensch will not feel guilt. However, he will not do something evil such as hurting or dominating others, as he does not have cycle of weakness which motivate him to do so, as he understands that is not what he truly wants and enjoys.
An Übermensch loves himself, yet he is not selfish. He loves himself because he understands and realizes the awesome potential of humanity, which also makes it natural and logical for him to love others.
An Übermensch will not value actions over ideas, as he knows how important it is to find and pursue meaning. He might have some kind of conversation with himself, like ‘What am I thinking?”, “Is that really what I want?’, as his lack of guilt made it easier for him to conduct introspection freely and throughly.
For an Übermensch, there is nothing more important than his trinity goddess, as he understands that they are what lifted him from an animal to an Übermensch, what his true self is. He might enjoy walking, travelling, listening to music or other activities which enables him to experience their existence.
If an Übermensch has a lover, he/ she might come up with ideas like: 'My life is great, so does his/hers, so it must be a great thing for us to be with each other and create new lives together! I don't know how did I come to this world, nor do I fully understand it. However, I appreciate what he/she has brought to me and I'm glad to meet him/her in this world!'
If an Übermensch is about to die, he/she might come up with ideas like: 'I have fought for my trinity goddess by pursuing meaning in this meaningless world. I have protected what I love and fought against what I hate. If such is the end of my life, then I shall rest in peace, free of guilt or regret'.
If I need to give a cartoon image to my Übermensch, I will choose a lovely little boy or a pretty school girl, instead of some kind of genetically modified super soldier.
For many years I have kept asking myself 'what shall I believe'. That's because I did many stupid things which really embarassed me in the past. I hope I can think and act in a way which I like, just as I did when I was a child. Just a few days ago, I improved my ideas to an extent which I believe it is exactly what I want. I’m not sure how well it works, but I think it’s quite interesting.
How do our minds work?
'The will to survive' drives our mind to react to external stimulations, just like animals. Things changed when a person becomes aware of himself when he is an infant. 'I exist and I’m observing the world. I am different from my body, and the world which is being observed', this idea is 'self-awareness'. Self-awareness enlightens and delights each person like a shining sun. It enables us to joy for our strength and goodness, and to feel sad for our weaknesses and hardship. It let us become the only creatures aware of the fact that we are living in a chaotic and uncaring world, and thus have the motivation improve our living condition by learning, working and trading.
Self-awareness generates 'the will to power', just like a sun emits light. 'I come to this world not to be enslaved by it, but to pursue meaning in it', this idea is the will to power. Here, ‘meaning’ is what makes us experience joy and peace instead of shame and regret when we confront our self-awareness, and ‘power’ is the ability to dominate our own purpose, lifestyle and fate. We label concepts which promote the pursuit of meaning as goodness and beauty, while label concepts which hinder the pursuit of meaning as evil and ugliness. The will to power enables a person to like goodness and dislike evil, to like beauty and dislike ugliness, to pursue strength, dignity and freedom. To follow and practice it is the fate of every human being, and no one can abandon it without hurting his own feeling. As a result, it makes us happier to admit the meanings we can achieve lacks quantity and certainty (like studying, working, having children) than to never pursue meaning (like keep playing computer games 16 hours a day).
The will to power generates 'the force of life', just like the light brings energy. 'I shall protect what I love and destroy what I hate, so as to give my limited life meaning', this idea is the force of life. Here, it is important to notice that healthy love always points to concepts which promote the pursuit of meaning, while healthy hatred always points to concepts which hinder the pursuit of meaning. The force of life gives a person the strength to conduct good deeds and constructive work. It protects us from despair and the hate for life in times of busyness and hardship.
While Nietzsche have a terrifying god called the will to power, I have a lovely and heavenly trinity goddess, named ‘self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life’ (I call them goddesses not because they have super natural power, but because I hope we can accept them as something valuable, beautiful and benevolent, despite the self-doubt and self-hate many of us might have accumulated in their lives)! They are just three simple ideas, yet they can be interpreted by an unlimited number of ways in different contexts, and an unlimited number of ideas can be derived from them. Everyone has these three great ideas (or ‘the trinity goddess’), although a person does not need to be aware of their existence. Nietzsche only knew about the will to power, which is not enough, because we can't understand her if we don't know about her mother and daughter! As a result, Nietzsche didn’t find out who she is, didn’t know how to find and strengthen her, and was unable to distinguish her from the desire to dominate others and the supposed power which dominates the universe.
Self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life have inspired the creation of the concept of 'trinity'. Their similarities include but not limited to: ‘the son’ flow out of ‘the father’ and brings ‘the spirit’, while the will to power flow out of self-awareness and brings the force of life; ‘the father’ creates the world, while self-awareness let us be aware of our own existence; ‘the son’ brings salvation while the will to power lift our purpose of living to mere survival to the pursuit of meaning; ‘the spirit’ gave spiritual strength and comfort to people, and so does the force of life. Although my trinity goddess is not as powerful as the trinity god, they are real, understandable and perceivable. They shaped the mind of humanity, their existence is the best definition of 'being human', and instead of condemning any of us, they are always awaiting us to find embrace them like sleeping beauty.
All our gods, idols and moral principles are the product of mistaken the three great ideas (or ‘goddesses’) in our minds for external entities. That explains why gods are spiritual and good (by humans’ standards), why they care about and similar to humans (in terms of moral standards, emotions and way of thinking), and why they can (at least seemingly) improve our spiritual conditions as we obey them, although they bring little physical benefits. As these three great ideas are the source of our internal goodness and strength, mistaken them as external entities or deny them with materialism (which is not backed up by science) could cause lack of passion, lack of confidence, self-hate and other negative results in the long term.
What’s wrong with us?
As we have self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life, we should have a world where everyone is spiritually free and sincere. Something has gone wrong!
Well, if a person suspects that he can't or didn't practice his will to power (by pursuing meaning), he will generate a feeling called 'guilt', which makes him lose the courage to confront his self-awareness! As the will to power comes from self-awareness, this further weakens his will to power, and strengthen his guilt. So at last, he has a self-worsening cycle of guilt and weakness! Guilt makes weakness, weakness makes more guilt... So sad! I call it 'cycle of weakness'.
Cycle of weakness has disastrous effects on our mind. It hides self-awareness, weakens the will to power, and suppresses the force of life. It clouds the sun and poisons the soil, transforming our mind into a sunless wasteland.
We still have self-awareness, though, so we feel bad about ourselves. We don't know how to change ourselves, and we have forgotten our will to power and force of life. We can only remember that we were happier and purer when we were a child. As a result, some of us (such as those guys with alt-right political opinions) pretend fighting against weakness by humiliating or hurting those who are inferior to them (often only in their imagination). Some of us (such as those guys with alt-left political opinions) pretend to be strong by gaining a sense of moral or power superiority from unrealistic while seemingly glorious ideals. Some of us let idols like power, money, authority and rulers become their meaning of life. Some of us let others define the meaning of their lives at will by blindly devoting themselves to religions and ideologies.
What Christians call ‘sin’, I call it cycle of weakness. It is the source of most, if not all of our spiritual issues. Christians believe that sin is separation from God, and I believe cycle of weakness is inability to confront self-awareness. Christians believe that sin made it difficult for us to recognize God, and I believe cycle of weakness made it difficult for us to find the trinity goddess, who are sleeping and waiting in the depth of our unconsciousness! They do have an important difference, though. While ‘sin’ sounds like ‘our faults and flaws’, ‘cycle of weakness’ is a difficulty or disease. The god of cycle of weakness is a black dragon named ‘Bahamut’, it blocks our self-awareness, bends our will to power and trample on our force of life. It is he who granted the dragon named ‘you should’ (mentioned by Nietzsche in his work) strength and influence, not the opposite.
How to fix ourselves?
Some people believe that their own feelings, desires and emotions are distracting them from their pursuit of meaning. As a result, they keep fighting against their feelings, desires and emotions, wasting their already weakened will to power in self-torture. Some people want to practice their will to power, even though it is weakened and they are unaware of its existence. As a result, they mistaken their will to power for external moral principles. They try to make themselves and other people obey the principles they have 'found', and that makes their cycle of weakness even stronger and makes their will to power even weaker!
So, what are the right things to do? Well, all we need is three virtues called liberty, goodness and straight.
First, our strength is limited and our life is short. Yet no matter how a person is, his self-awareness always exists. Whenever he temporarily forgets his guilt and try to feel his own existence, the will to power (along with delight, comfort and dignity) will flow out of his self-awareness like a fountain. Therefore, self-awareness and the will to power are strong and reliable. The will to power is the source of our desire for goodness and meaning, while evil and weakness is nothing more than its decline. Therefore, the will to power is beautiful and lovely. If a person is aware of these facts, he will regain his courage to confront his self-awareness. Then his will to power will regain strength and his guilt will decline, which makes him feel joyful and peaceful. I call this 'liberty'.
Second, if a person practices his will to power by doing something meaningful, he will gain healthy pleasure. Healthy pleasure gives us long lasting hope and happiness. When we confront our self-awareness, our healthy pleasure makes us feel as if everything in our life is beautiful and let us love ourselves (If this does not happen, it’s probably because a person does not think he did something meaningful from the bottom of his heart). If a person does something harmful to the pursuit of meaning regardless of his will to power, he can only gain unhealthy pleasure. Unhealthy pleasure can only give us short lived happiness. When such happiness is gone, it is replaced by negative feelings like shame, regret, emptiness, etc. When we confront our self-awareness, our unhealthy pleasure makes us feel as if everything in our life is hopeless, and let us doubt and hate ourselves. If a person is aware of the difference between healthy and unhealthy pleasure, he will thirst for the former and be tired of the latter. Then he will gain the internal motivation to practice his will to power, as well as keeping a clear mind and avoid being lost. I call this 'goodness'.
Third, when a person is going to practice his will to power, the external world will hinder him with difficulties and mislead him with lies. Meanwhile, his will to power will give him a tendency to love good or beautiful entities and spirits, and despise evil or ugly entities and spirits. If a person accepts such righteous tendency like a worrier receiving a weapon, force of life will emerge within him, filling his mind with fresh energy and new ideas (If this does not happen, it’s probably because a person misunderstands the will to power). The force of life will help him defeat the difficulties and lies the external world throws at him! I call this 'straight'.
What do I have here? I have an atheism version of 'faith, hope and love'! I believe that the effects which 'liberty, goodness and straight' and 'faith, hope and love' have on our minds are quite similar, although they sound totally different. For example, ‘feel our own existence and let the will to power flow out of self-awareness’ have similar effects with ‘worship Jesus as son of god’, ‘thirst for healthy pleasure and be tired of unhealthy ones’ have similar effects with ‘be hopeful about the heaven’; ‘receive the force of life and use it to overcome difficulties’ have similar effects with ‘let holy spirit fill your body and give you strength and healing’. A person who achieve 'liberty, goodness and straight' will become spiritually strong and pure, free of guilt and filled with the force of life. I call such people 'proto-Übermensch'.
By defeating a range of difficulties and lies and devoting himself entirely to the pursuit of meaning (which is god for Jesus), Jesus looks like a manifest of the will to power of man. When Christians accept, obey and love him, they either recovered their will to power, or replaced it with an artificial substitute, a 'prosthesis' called Jesus. That greatly relieved their cycle of weakness (or 'sin'), which made them so amazed and delighted that they can’t resist the temptation to honor Jesus as their savior! Such is the true nature of Christianity, and it does not matter whether Jesus is a god or not! They invented 'faith, hope and love' because it can benefit their minds just like 'liberty, goodness and straight' do. In fact, 'faith, hope and love' is nothing more than 'liberty, goodness and straight' plus a religious coating! That coating made it easier for spiritually ignorant people to understand and accept 'liberty, goodness and straight' so they can enjoy their benefits. It sounds like giving a child a pill covered with sweet coating.
It should be noticed that while Nietzsche's ‘old testament Übermensch’ might despise all Christian values, my proto-Übermensch feels like an atheist-Christian, whose trinity god is replaced by trinity goddess, whose obedience is replaced by passion. Nietzsche seem to believe that those important guys are born with strong will, while the poor are born with weak will, and one can become one of his ‘old testament Übermensch’ only if he is born to be so. I believe that by following the steps above, each person can greatly strengthen their will to power, gain the force of life and eventually become one of my ‘new testament superman’.
How is this world?
Our minds can only receive and process a limited amount of information. If a person walks around and do some scientific experiments, he can feel and analyze the external world based on the information he received through his sensory organs. If a person conduct meditation, he can feel a variety of life experiences which allow him to understand the state of his mind. What else can we sense and understand? Nothing!
Then, there comes an issue. As the information we can receive and process is limited, we can never eliminate the possibility that all of them are wrong, faked or unreliable by other means! Can we know our life is not a dream created by demons or aliens? Can we know that we are not a group of aliens playing VR games, in which our true memory is temporarily hidden? Can we know other people have their own consciousness and not just moving husks? The answer is: no, we can't. We can’t be certain about anything (Including this idea itself, as the mind in which it is understood and stored could also be illusions). We can't even be certain that we are currently thinking, as we know we were thinking in the last moment because we received the life experience generated by that process a moment ago, which could also be an illusion. Some people might believe their god is absolutely real, however their life experiences and religious texts, which convinced them that their god exists, could also be an illusion.
In a world where there is absolutely no certainty, we have neither a reason to believe it’s real, nor a reason to believe it’s unreal; we have neither a reason to be sane, nor a reason to be insane; we have neither a reason to live, nor a reason to die; we have neither a reason to do good, nor a reason to do evil. We cannot find any meaning in this world, and anything we believe in has no foundation at all. If a person accepts this fact sincerely, all that he once believed in will be destroyed. Including his self-deception, common sense which he took for granted, moral principles which other people taught him, etc. Even the will to power won't save us, as it could also be an illusion.
Actually, from the bottom of our hearts, we all know that the universe is uncertain and we won’t find any meaning in it by intuition. We don't want to accept this fact, we are afraid of this fact, so we accept religions, ideologies or philosophies, not because we are strongly convinced by evidence, logic and or life experiences, but because they claim that there is some kind of certainty and meaning in our lives (like ‘what we do will make a better society and we are destined to success’, or ‘God knows and dominates everything and he gives us meaning and purpose’)! Our fear is so strong that some of us refuse to give up their radical religion, ideology or philosophy, even if these opinions are ridiculous and they ask a lot from them, while some others keep lowering their acceptance standard for the definition of meaning as they are desperate to find one, to an extent that they end up accepting things like nationalism or animal protection as their meanings of life (They are not terrible, but we shouldn’t see them as the meaning of life). It can be said that the greatest and deepest motivation behind our search for faith and desire for knowledge is our fear of meaninglessness.
I want to call those findings 'the Azathoth theory', provided that no one else have found them already. I believe that Lovecraft's dark gods are the best exhibition of our fear to uncertainty and meaninglessness. The Azathoth theory is 100 times better than Nietzsche's 'eternal return'. First, they both bring about nihilism, while the former is way more convincing. After all, we have no idea whether the laws of physics we know dominates our minds, whether it dominates an infinite amount of time and space, whether it is constant and what is it exactly. There isn’t enough evidence to reasonably suggest that eternal return is real. Second, we tend to set different outcomes (such as experience peace, rise to heaven, be rich, be powerful) as meanings, purposes and what we desire, and that’s exactly how our mind works. As a result, not only we can’t find any meaning in a world of 'eternal return', it would also be extremely difficult for us to set new meanings inside it (Perhaps this one cause of Nietzsche’s madness). I can’t imagine how can the idea of eternal return contribute to our internal well-being, and I really dislike it.
There is still hope, though. Although this universe has no meaning, it is still possible for us to set meanings for our lives and pursue them. Such is the only way to overcome the Azathoth theory. In movies, novels and animations, we often see characters face despair, tortured by it, adept to it, defeat it and then become even stronger. Such is the manifest of our unconscious desire to overcome the uncertain and meaningless nature of this universe. However, one cannot achieve this without first becoming an ‘Übermensch’ (as Nietzsche have noticed).
What should we do?
One can refuse to believe the Azathoth theory, as he will not be sent to hell for that. However, as the knowledge humanity has grows, the Azathoth theory would become more and more obvious, and it would be almost impossible for us to refuse to believe it. I’m afraid that there would be a time (maybe 100 years later) when the majority of humanity has to face the Azathoth theory, either being consumed by nihilism or become an Übermensch (as predicted by Nietzsche, although due to different reason). There are plenty of sign of nihilism’s (or Azathoth’s) arrival: old values are losing strength and new values cannot be found. Cults are rising because there is a lack of better belief systems. Constructive criticism against existing values are lacking because we lack strong basis (such as humanism philosophies) for them. Concepts like tolerance and peace are considered good, yet many people can’t backup and explain them with philosophy. Accepting the Azathoth theory is dangerous for those who haven’t overcome their cycle of weakness, as they might fail to complete those steps mentioned below. For a proto-Übermensch, however, accepting the Azathoth theory is the first step to become an Übermensch. Here is what he should do after that.
First, a proto-Übermensch who accepts the Azathoth theory will understand that he can't be certain about anything. Although that could be painful, he is gifted with the ability to never be tired with this world and see all his experiences in a way as if they are all brand new. More importantly, he is now free to reanalyze and reevaluate everything and anything (as predicted by Nietzsche). When he begins to do so with the information he has at hand, his first finding would be that, it seems that he has self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life. The trinity goddess would be the only and the first, greatest and realest thing he would notice during his reanalyzing and reevaluation. If he assumes that they are wrong, he would be able to reanalyze or reevaluate anything. He has no choice but to choose their existence as the first assumption to hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
Second, as the Azathoth theory destroyed all old beliefs, there is nothing prevents our proto-Übermensch to experience his trinity goddess now. He becomes aware that the trinity goddess is the only ideas which are not destroyed by the Azathoth theory, and he can’t destroy them even if he tries to disbelieve them. In surprise and delight, he discovers that the three great ideas (or 'goddesses') is not something he believes in (although he does can believe or disbelieve their existence). Instead, they (instead of the inability to follow and practice them) are what defines him, makes him and powers him, what all his believes are based upon, and what his true-self is. Should they disappear, he as a human will cease to exist. When he says ‘control myself’, the three great ideas are the omitted subject. Our proto-Übermensch is amazed by the goodness and purity of his (as well as the rest of humanity’s) nature and cannot help but love it. Filled with hope and confidence, the Azathoth theory cannot frighten him anymore, and he notices that the source of its terrifying might is not uncertainty itself (which is always inevitable) but the inability to face uncertainty caused by self-doubt and self-hate. Then he stops asking 'WHY affirm my life and assume the world I see is real'. Instead, he shouts out 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real?' At this moment, an Übermensch is born. 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real?' is the second assumption our Übermensch will hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
Third, before our Übermensch accepted the Azathoth theory, he tried to find meaning in this universe, and he failed miserably. Now, believing 'WHY NOT affirm my life and choose to believe that the world I see is real', he has the courage to accept uncertainty and the internal motivation to pursue meaning. He no longer needs to find absolute definitions of meaning or reasons to pursue it from external entities such as ‘God’ or ‘absolute truth’. As a result, he now has the option to set his meaning of life for himself. Such is how his suffering ends! I choose to set 'Let me and everyone else become stronger and happier' as the meaning of my life, as I can't imagine anything sounds more meaningful to me! You can set your meaning of life for yourself freely, too. But be careful, if you are insane and you set murder as the meaning of your life, other people might fight you for their meanings of life, such as 'to protect all that I love'! It's a good idea for an Übermensch to choose this as the third assumption to hold after accepting the Azathoth theory.
When this is done, an Übermensch would be able to experience, explore, understand and pursue meaning in this world freely and passionately regardless of its uncertain and meaningless nature. He has little guilt and plenty of curiosity, just like a child new to this world.
As you can see, the Azathoth theory brings new life along with destruction. All that we believe in just like a building. This building is in a poor state, as it has no firm foundation beneath it (thanks to the Azathoth theory), while self-deception, moral principles and other stupid ideas weaken it from within. The Azathoth theory will push it down, break it apart and wash it away like a big flood. Although this is a destructive process, it will also expose the trinity goddess from mud and rubble, a firm foundation on which a taller, more beautiful and more flood-resistant new building could be built.
Now I have a prophecy: the god of nihilism, Azathoth, will soon descend upon our spirit realm like a giant asteroid. It will burn the earth, block the sun and freeze the air. What that we once believed in are like dinosaurs. All of them will die of hunger, darkness and coldness, and their bodies will cover the earth like carpet. Although they once ruled the spirit realm, fossils would be the only thing they leave behind. Azathoth’s abominations, such as cults, drug taking and fascism, will rampage across the realm, bringing chaos and despair wherever they go. Even the trinity goddess of self-awareness, the will to power and the force of life won‘t be able to stop Azathoth. However, as the realm lies in ruins, the trinity goddess will conceive a new god: ‘the god of affirmation’. Pure, brave and newborn, the god of affirmation is both a lovely little boy and a mighty warrior. He will protect the trinity goddess, absorb and purify Azathoth, and fill the spirit realm with life again!
What would be the outcome?
An Übermensch (as defined above) is the slayer of nihilism, he defeats nihilism by embracing it. His faith is the truth of the world he sees, his strength is his trinity goddess, and what he loves is the life of human-beings. An Übermensch is a paladin of humanism, self-awareness is his power armor, the will to power is his burning sword, the force of life is his guardian angel, and the affirmation of life is his holy banner. He combines the strengths of Christians, Nietzsche’s ‘old testament Übermensch’, as well as animation characters, while having none of their weaknesses.
An Übermensch will not feel guilt. However, he will not do something evil such as hurting or dominating others, as he does not have cycle of weakness which motivate him to do so, as he understands that is not what he truly wants and enjoys.
An Übermensch loves himself, yet he is not selfish. He loves himself because he understands and realizes the awesome potential of humanity, which also makes it natural and logical for him to love others.
An Übermensch will not value actions over ideas, as he knows how important it is to find and pursue meaning. He might have some kind of conversation with himself, like ‘What am I thinking?”, “Is that really what I want?’, as his lack of guilt made it easier for him to conduct introspection freely and throughly.
For an Übermensch, there is nothing more important than his trinity goddess, as he understands that they are what lifted him from an animal to an Übermensch, what his true self is. He might enjoy walking, travelling, listening to music or other activities which enables him to experience their existence.
If an Übermensch has a lover, he/ she might come up with ideas like: 'My life is great, so does his/hers, so it must be a great thing for us to be with each other and create new lives together! I don't know how did I come to this world, nor do I fully understand it. However, I appreciate what he/she has brought to me and I'm glad to meet him/her in this world!'
If an Übermensch is about to die, he/she might come up with ideas like: 'I have fought for my trinity goddess by pursuing meaning in this meaningless world. I have protected what I love and fought against what I hate. If such is the end of my life, then I shall rest in peace, free of guilt or regret'.
If I need to give a cartoon image to my Übermensch, I will choose a lovely little boy or a pretty school girl, instead of some kind of genetically modified super soldier.
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