Ontological Glossary

This glossary has the definitions for 23 of the words and terms used in the descriptions and excerpts from the four books in the Being and Life Series. Keep in mind that most if not all the words and terms defined here have much more involved meanings than can be explained in two or three sentences. These definitions give an indication of what these words and terms mean. But a deeper understanding of their meanings will be achieved by reading these words and terms in their contexts in many of the different ontological ideas discussed throughout the series. Ultimately, however, a full understanding of these meanings can be achieved only by understanding these concepts ontologically in one’s own life.

Alienation: As people become aware of their realself, they also become aware of their ontological distance, or alienation, from it and its world and life. At the same time, men and women who are increasing their degrees of realself feel more and more alienated from their socialself and its world and life. They feel this because they are increasing their ontological distance from their socialself.

Being: Our being is who we are before everything else. Everyone is born with a being, even though most people live their entire lives without ever becoming conscious of theirs, much less becoming it. A person’s being does not come with all the components of an identity or self such as language, nationality, or religion; it is deeper than this. In the Being and Life Series, the being in each of us is called our realself.

Day-to-day world: In realself ontology, the day-to-day world is the term used to encompass everything about the “world” of a society: the physical, intellectual, social, psychological, and emotional world in which most of the society’s residents live, along with any ontological information that world is aware of and incorporates into itself. The day-to-day world is also the ontological world of a society, with an emphasis on what the society’s members believe is the reality of the “here and now.” A society’s day-to-day world can be a socialself world, the realself world, or any of the infinite number of ontological worlds between these two.

Decreasing realself person: A decreasing realself person thinks that instead of everyone becoming more his or her realself, everyone should avoid and reject one’s realself, reinforce one’s ego boundary, and rigidly become all one’s socialself. Decreasing realself people act and believe as they do because they do not understand realself ontology, and because they are afraid to become their realself. Throughout history, decreasing realself people have caused considerable ontological harm to human life.

Degrees of realself or degrees of being: Degrees of realself can be viewed in two ways: (1) Each degree of realself represents one of the steps, stages, or states people go through as they become more their realself by moving forward along the Transition. (2) Each degree of realself—each step or stage of the Transition—is made up of ontological ideas and emotions, and because of this each degree of realself becomes an ontological state or an ontological world in itself.

Ego boundary: The ego boundary is what separates or alienates a person from his or her own realself, from the realselves in others, and from the realself world. Men and women in beginning states of the Transition often think they will evanesce if their ego boundaries thin completely, but they think this only because they have not yet become conscious of their realself and of the realself’s true nature.

Fully realized realself person: The fully realized realself person has become all his or her realself and is living completely within the realself world.

Increasing one’s degree of realself: People who are increasing their degrees of realself are slowly and consistently expanding their understanding of realself ontology, and because of this they are moving forward along the Transition and becoming more their realself.

Increasing realself person: The increasing realself person is a person who, to one degree or another, is striving to become all his or her realself.

Ontological state: Ontological state is another name for degree of realself, but looked at from the sense of the whole ontological understanding a degree of realself represents. Additionally, ontological states and ontological worlds are essentially the same; they are simply looked at from different perspectives.

Ontological worlds: People who are at a specific degree of realself are in that degree of realself’s ontological state, and it becomes their ontological world, which is made up of their intellectual, social, psychological, emotional, and ontological beliefs, emotions, understandings, and misunderstandings. The blending of all the ontological worlds of all of a society’s members makes up that society’s ontological world. An ontological world can be a socialself world, the realself world, or any of the almost infinite number of worlds between these two.

Realself: In the Being and Life Series realself always refers to the being in each of us. Realself is used because it is the most commonly used term by people who sense but are not conscious of their being within themselves. Our distance from who we truly are is the same as our distance from what truly exists, and so who we are and what exists are inextricably linked. Realself being is the being of one’s realself. See also Realself Ontology.

Realself life: Realself life is the ontological life that exists in the realself world. In this life everyone is being his or her realself with everyone else, relationships between couples are all realself-to-realself, and everyone is living fully in the realself world. This is the natural state of humans, and how we should all be living our lives.

Realself ontology: Realself ontology is the branch of ontology that is concerned with the realself, or being, within everyone, and with what is involved in becoming it. The realself in humans is the engine of human existence, and so, directly or indirectly, realself ontology covers all of human existence. If we are alienated from who we truly are we are inevitably alienated from what truly exists, and so to understand Reality we first have to understand ourselves.

Realself-to-realself: Realself-to-realself is the relationship that exists between two people who are being their realself with each other. This relationship can be a realself-to-realself friendship between friends or a full realself-to-realself relationship between lovers or spouses.

Realself world: The realself world is the ontological world of the person who is being all his or her realself. Increasing realself people are aware of the realself world—their sensitivity to their realself makes them aware of it—and this awareness contributes to their strong desire to reach it. Men and women who are increasing their degrees of realself believe that the realself world is Reality, and they are right. The realself world is also the natural world, in its best sense.

Socialself: The socialself is another name for the self that almost everyone now is mostly being and the self a person gets from his or her society. Men and women who are increasing their degrees of realself become more and more aware that their socialself is not who they know themselves truly to be. Socialself being is the living of one’s life as one’s socialself.

Socialself life: Socialself life is the ontological life that exists in the socialself world. In this life everyone is being mostly, if not almost entirely, his or her socialself. Relationships in this life are socialself to socialself, between friends and even between lovers and spouses.

Socialself person: The socialself person is being mostly, if not almost entirely, his or her socialself.

Socialself world: The socialself world is the ontological world of the person who is being mostly his or her socialself. The socialself person feels “at home” in the socialself world and considers it the “real world” and reality. Most people are being mostly their socialself, and so most worlds are and have been socialself worlds.

Transition: The Transition is the ontological path or quest people take as they become more their realself. The stepping stones of this path are the ontological emotions and ideas men and women encounter and have to understand in order to take their next step toward their realself.

Transitional state: Ontological states become Transitional state when looked at with respect to their locations in the Transition. The only difference between ontological states and Transitional states is how they are viewed: either in the context of realself ontology as a whole or in their location in the Transition.

Ontological Glossary

The Being and Life Series