Prof. Dr. Ulrich Libbrecht is an authority in Eastern and comparative philosophy. After his career at the KUL, he founded the school for comparative philosophy in Antwerp and the school for philosophy East-West in Utrecht. Ulrich Libbrecht presenting his ideas in one article is an impossible task. He himself has tried to sell his ideas in thousands of pages. His latest book ‘With thanks to life’ concisely reflects his thinking.
Libbre chts Worldview
Originally, or certainly before the Big Bang, everything was formless energy. The term emptiness refers to the emptiness of forms and that everything is just pure energy. Where that energy comes from is the mystery of the cosmos. Nor can the fact that more and more energy become visible in the different forms (in-formation) be explained. The law of conservation of energy ensures that no energy disappears and everything just takes on a different form of energy. Energy is always in motion; constantly changing, while Western man painfully longs for something permanent. The evolving cosmos has 2 characteristics: on the one hand the increasing complexity & on the other hand the liberation of energy (a weaker energy bond that falls apart).
Where does the concept of God fit in for those who really want it? In this story he can be all the energy, the creative force. To create is to shape. God is everything; the emptyness; the process of energy formation. In Christianity, a dualism has been created between God and nature, which has created a limited respect for nature.
Libbrecht’s view of humanity
Man, an animal with free energy
Animals are exclusively bound energy and have stereotypical behavior patterns. An animal only has innate (immanent) knowledge that is aimed at self-preservation. Man, on the other hand, also has free energy and acquired (transcendental) knowledge. Man can turn away from the ego to the wonder of the cosmos, to Buddha nature. The realization that you are a wave in the immense energetic sea, experiencing the connection with everything. Man is an energetic unity in which the soul, as a function of the body, transcends free energy.
Duality, for example between thinking and feeling, only makes life more difficult. Reason can cause a person to deviate from their natural direction. Nature and man are inherently good . The less we intervene in nature, the better everything remains in balance, in other words respecting Taoist wu-wei (naturally so).
Sexuality is natural and necessary for survival and evolution. There is something liberating and joyful about it. It is pushed away by, among other things, Christian duality (the body is bad, the soul is the highest). An alienation arises from the body, while it contains immanent knowledge. Nietzsche already said: the mind is the little wisdom and the body the great wisdom. The body is the source of life. The division results in a blocking of transcendence or an oversexualization of society.
Man as an energetic being must be provided with energy to stay alive (through nutrition, among other things). Asceticism is a torment of the body and a denial of the mystery of life. Moderation is a virtue, while in today’s society overconsumption in all areas is the only meaning of existence. This leaves little room for spirituality. Economics and materialism are the driving forces in society at the expense of the meaning of life and the simplicity of being. It is important to make life comfortable, so that there is more free energy for meaning.
Man in relationship with fellow human beings
To survive and fulfill primary needs we are ego-oriented, but once there is a sufficiently comfortable situation, altruism can arise. Everyone is not the same, but different. And everyone has the right to develop their talents. All visions of life are equal and have a meaning based on their cultural background. Ulrich Libbrecht has united the valuable elements from the different life views in a philosophical model. He calls himself a world citizen: the world does not belong to a country or a religion but to all living things.
Man and language
In language we try to capture thoughts and concepts. For a very long time, language consisted exclusively of spoken language, which was more laced with feelings and fine nuances. The written language, the words on a sheet of paper (or on a computer screen), loses this emotional dimension. We try
to suggest reality in words and images , but everything is in a constant process of change. Man can capture the past in plain words and describe the future, but above all one must experience the now. The now contains an essential dimension of experience. In the East they use many metaphors, which have emotional power. If we want to capture reality exactly with reason, then you lose the poetic power. In poetry it remains vague and limitless. It is not about the one and only tree, but rather about how the reader or listener experiences or subjectively interprets it. All observable forms in the cosmos are a temporary representation of the driving energy, the formless, the void.
Not everything can be named, captured in words or encompassed in knowledge. For example, the scent of the rose, love, is something you only get to know through experience. Religion is an inner experience, a stirring for the mystery of existence. The only appropriate language here is that without words, silence. The mystical experience is empty of concepts. Authentic religiosity is opening up to everything that lives, nature, and this creates an experience that is not focused on the ego, but on the mystery itself.
Emotionality is the awareness of the change in your energetic housekeeping . E-motion is the motivator that ensures that the energy starts moving. Emotions can be expressed in a metaphor, in symbols or in pure sounds such as music.
In religion the symbols have a connecting meaning with the great mystery . Religions are often wrongly compared to their symbols, which are visible on the surface, instead of comparing them to the deeper underlying meaning of these symbols.
Man & a higher consciousness
Nowadays religion often consists of outward forms of dogmas, rituals and holidays. Religions still have to throw off the old hats. They need to recharge their batteries and not get stuck on old ideas. Continue to evolve by always returning to the origin, nature: the mystery of the cosmos.
The power to grow (in cyclical time) is in all phenomena. All phenomena are energy in different forms, which are subject to a constant process of change. This is due to the momentum and energy in the universe; by informing in other forms.
Mysticism is an individual transcendental emotion for the mystery of existence. It is a personal search back into the depths, behind the surface structures. No egocentric prayer, but rather making contact with the primordial origin within oneself and experiencing this. From that experience a connection with the bigger picture, which creates love and compassion from gentleness. To fully experience it, the person must get rid of all images and words and go along with the total energy.