Paul Corson - Regaining Paradise

Regaining Paradise

Forming a New Worldview, Knowing God, and Journeying into Eternity

Paul Corson

Regaining Paradise. Copyright 2020 Paul Corson

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64438-943-0

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-64438-944-7

Epub ISBN: 978-1-64438-945-4

Mobi ISBN: 978-1-64438-946-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from Paul Corson, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. For information, address RegainingParadise.com.

Published by BookLocker.com, Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida.

BookLocker.com, Inc.

2020

First Edition

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Corson, Paul

Regaining Paradise: Forming a New Worldview, Knowing God, and Journeying into Eternity by Paul Corson

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019919200

Many people who helped with the writing of this book deserve my deepest thanks. In particular, I would like to call attention to three unique individuals whose presence touched and inspired not only me but many others.

Louis DiJinios surreal, glowing presence could light up the darkest room. Louis unflaggingly encouraged me with suggestions of fresh avenues of thought. My memory of Louis elevates me to approach transcendent issues openly, as he did.

My memory of John Irwin, the saintly sage and accomplished poet, has not diminished. The cadence of his voice in readings to hushed audiences remains fresh in my mind, inspiring me as I attempt to reach people through my work.

A portrait of Anthony Giletto hangs in the main office of the religion department at Temple University in Philadelphia to commemorate an award for achievement and dedication that is given in his name. Anthony and I had discussions that often lasted well after midnight. His appetite for metaphysical discourse both linked us as kindred spirits and provided me with invaluable insights.

I am also grateful to Alexandra Grilikhes, Joy Schless, Julie Laffey, Dr. Fiora Raggi, Sue Katz, Evie Dennis, and Helen Mallon, along with the many others whose inestimable talents helped bring continuity and clarity to the text. Their dedication to this project went beyond the call of duty.

I am additionally grateful to Helene Oakes for listening as I read portions of the book aloud to her. Her suggestions helped me work out the knots in the text and increase the accessibility of the work. Also, I would like to express my appreciation to two good friends, Dean Elfman and Bruce Cox, who kept me grounded and helped me give life to the project.

Lastly, I am grateful for the life circumstances that allowed me to focus on the transcendent issues that this book addresses.

I have long thought about writing this book, but more recently a reason to do so has become obvious: The world is becoming a more fragmented, perilous place. The gallant Polish freedom fighter Vaclav Havel commented on the effects of this dangerous fragmentation when he received the Liberty Medal at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1994. Havel was a Czech playwright whose eloquence and personal sacrificehe spent five years in and out of communist prisonshelped to destroy communist rule in Czechoslovakia. His efforts in his own country proved instrumental in bringing down the Berlin Wall. Havels leadership endeared him to his fellow Czechs, and he was chosen as post-communist Czechoslovakias first president. On receiving the Liberty Medal, Havel offered these observations: The world of our experiences seems chaotic, disconnected, confusing. There appear to be no integrating forces, no unified meaning, no true inner understanding of phenomena in our experience of the world.

A majority of us on some level understand clearly what Havel says. We may at times have felt a degree of inner unrest that seems to arise from a place deep within us. This unrest, I believe, is connected to our being unable to make sense of the human condition. We seem to be living inside an insulated bubble in the eye of a virtual storm. We go on with our lives, searching for answers that seem just beyond our grasp. We hunger for higher knowledge that can make our lives meaningful and whole.

Sages over the years have said that the answers to the big questions for which we have long been searching are in plain sight. Some thinkers say that these questions are unanswerable, that they are unsolvable mysteries and are best left at that. Then again, if we were given reasonable answers to the big questions, would they meet our standards of proof? There is another puzzling aspect of this mystery: If the answers are in plain sight, why havent we discovered them?

Theres an often-overlooked fact regarding truths. What you take note of, accept, and honor is directed mainly on perception, the way you see the world, which arises from your particular take on life. Western society tends to see the world of people, objects, and things as Aristotle did, as physical, material expressions. We are inclined to view the world as an extension of ourselves and of our material bodies. This ego-based point of view, called anthropomorphism, forms the basis of science.

Your perception provides the roadmap that you follow after birth, after being taken from the timeless dream-state of the womb-paradise. What we encounter after our birth drowns out the sweet memory of that earlier idyllic place. Technology in particular, especially electronics, affects you on a deep level. It fashions, depersonalizes, and colors your world. The sounds and images on your screens and messages in the media dictate the steps you need to take to be welcomed into society.

But membership in society comes at a price. The steps youre advised to take have been devised by experts to influence and manipulate you. The theme is relentlessly drummed into you, and the steps and instructions continue all of your life. Yet where is the bliss that youre promised by the messengers on the screen? The more you consume, the further youre removed from your former state of paradise. On a deep level, you sense this deception, the self-serving intrusion into your mind, and you act out, actively or passively.

The influence of the ego, although recognized only recently, has been the driving factor in the wars, racism, greed, and divisiveness that drives wedges between us. The ego is also the unsettling factor behind the inner turmoil lack of inner peace that appear innate to humankind. Our inhumanity to one another seems to arise from our ego.

But how could plain sight on its own change the traditional course and enable you to enjoy a more genuinely productive and fulfilling life? Throughout human history, sages and prophets have taught us that self-discovery could engage us to see beyond the ego-based material worldview and permit us to become aware of truths that would free us from the treadmill of daily life.

To follow a more enriching path, you and I will set out on a journey that will allow you to see the world in a new light. Your minds eye will open outwardly and inwardly. New pathways of understanding will resonate with your sense of reason. When this understanding becomes your reality, your heightened perception about your true identity will lead to a deep sense of fulfillment. Youll glow.

I have come to see a connectedness between my own mind journey with the heros journey of myth that Joseph Campbell spelled out in his work on the relationship between myths and modern society. Its not that I have always thought of myself as a hero. Far from it. I have simply tried to lead a life that includes caring for and about others as a central component.