There was a time when the simplest elements of our life were a mystery … and simple living required accepting stories based on fear and myths. 

At some point, storytellers used our fear and created religions based on an unknown, powerful entity who rules, creates and has an understandable direction toward a beautiful place called heaven. Amazingly, it worked. Until now.

Faith helped us exist without fear and elevated our living standards into what we called civilized society.

Many of the unknowns are now known to us. Faith has been challenged.  At the same time, so many more questions have arisen, pushing us to think, investigate, experiment and find a reason to get up every morning and carry on.

Where are we going? Why we are going there? Is it right direction? Is there such a thing as the right direction?

Who says we shalt not kill or steal? If there were no manmade law,  I could pillage and plunder and live happily ever after in a $200 million estate in sunny Florida.  The law of the jungle? Wild animals are so close to us in their DNA structure that with just minor changes to their chromosomes, they might act and think like us. That doesn’t stop us from eating them.

Can someone tell me with certitude what my fate will be if I do all the good things I’m supposed to do? Will I morph into a different form or exist on a different plane than I would otherwise?

Almost everyone I talk to believes that some form of power out there has all the answers.

The Genesis story of Creation crumbles in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence. Our entire, immense solar system is just one infinitesimally tiny speck in a unimaginably gigantic reality we call the universe.

Inarguably, we are part of a well-balanced system that rotates, changes, creates, destroys and moves with direction. You and I are not capable of doing anything to change that path … OR ARE WE?

Every now and then, one of us earthlings has explored that concept.  Why do we yearn for wisdom beyond that which we can see, taste, touch, hear and smell?  Fear of the unknown may be one reason. A quest for self-satisfaction or joy?  Perhaps humans possess an inner need to improve, spread knowledge, change the future and evolve into something better. Perhaps that’s our purpose of existence.  

Where did our hominid progenitors come from? Were they sent by a supreme power or powers to accomplish a mission? Were they human? If not, what exactly was the line between ape and human?  When, where and how was it drawn?

Unconnected ancient civilizations developed systems in far-flung parts of the globe, with completely different cultures and languages. Yet almost all had the same inner goal – a thirst for meaning and purpose. Their writings were so similar, it was as if they copied each other.

The miracle – or mystery, if you prefer – is that the answers they found thousands of years ago ring true to this day. The similarities of the messages of such varied prophets as Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Zoroaster and Muhammad are uncanny.  Even more startling is how closely the ancient wisdom correlates with contemporary theories of quantum physics.

Who where these people? Fear mongers who controlled populations with tall tales of myth and Supreme Beings? Their long lines of disciples certainly filled that role, but I believe the so-called prophets themselves were mystics who found wisdom and inner peace, then spread the word with parables, in terms their fellow citizens could grasp.

I believe I am one those people who has found the answer.  It is so simple, it can be stated in just one word – balance.

Everything in nature is made of elementary particles. Essentially, the known universe is an expression of the differentiation of matter and antimatter.

As an electrical engineer, I know it’s easy to convert a piece of semiconductor into a device that can dictate billions of possibilities by simply getting a reference from one point to another. Our bodies and everything else in the universe are based on the exact same principle,  and the sole purpose of creation is to seek the perfect combination that can create absolute balance.

Now more than ever, we are realizing that if this gigantic system is to survive, there must be some kind of law, some kind of order.  It’s clear to me that the only law that matters is the simple law of balance.

For all we know, we are the only beings in our galactic neighborhood with self-awareness and the full knowledge that each one of us is doomed to die.  Lower life forms have never shown the slightest hint of belief in or need of an afterlife.

We are the ones who can see everything we are made of. We alone can explore the best possibilities of how to achieve balance among the billions and billons of choices we have. We alone can sort through all those choices and sift it down to one simple answer: balance.

From a perspective of balance, we can see which choices are counterproductive and should be abandoned.  For example, it is not very difficult to see the imbalance created by capitalism, or the foolishness of converting valuable energy from our habitat into lesser-valued energy. Companies may get rich doing it, but the environmental costs – the unbalance it creates – could be catastrophic.

Happiness – the driving force for most everyone – cannot come from burying yourself in the rapidly expanding complexities of modern technology. The Information Age has bombarded us from every direction. We’re going faster, texting more, taxing more, legislating more, watching more, acquiring more – and none of it has made us one whit happier. Less than one-third of Americans describe themselves as “very happy,” according to a recent Harris Poll.

Self-absorption is not the path to happiness. Those living in accordance with the law of the universe – balance – are far more likely to find happiness, wisdom and inner peace.

We can end all wars, achieve harmony and live our lives in transcendence and tranquility. Yes, it requires faith – in the law of balance – but we don’t have to believe in any particular religion.

There is absolutely no reason to believe that any Higher Power out there has any interest in our particular species except as part of a universe governed by the law of balance. We can ignore the law and destroy ourselves, or we can change to create a perfect balance. That balance, ultimately, will lead to peace and harmony with a universe that is us.