The Basis of Being is my latest project, and so far one of the most rewarding. There has been quite a lot of feedback so far and a majority of it has been very good. One of the most popular questions I get is, "Why did you write this book?". Which is a very good question. In fact this was something I had never considered before early in 2005. The whole idea of the book actually sprang from a disagreement with my co-author, Liam Ballinagar. We were both participants in an online forum which covered a multitude of topics and at the time neither of us knew the other. One of the more popular threads was on people's beliefs. As you can imagine in an online forum this covered a very large spectrum of beliefs and religions as well as varied levels of attitude ranging from apathy to unwavering dogma. Liam and I fell somewhere in between but were both very adamant in our individual beliefs. Our discussion went beyond the forum and we started emailing directly. These emails eventually turned into point counter-point type of debates with neither of us really convincing the other we were right or wrong for that matter. What we did discover, however, was that despite our very different belief systems there were many fundamental similarities. This led us to start exploring other belief systems and discovering there were almost identical threads of wisdom in each.
This started the wheels turning and we felt there was a common basis running through all the various ideologies and religions. When the dogma and zealotry are peeled away from each it is amazing how similar the goals are between them. As if there is a fundamental similarity woven through each. We decided to call this The Basis of Being. It is founded not on religious belief in the sense of a diety but on a more mundane level of human interaction. This may involve religious activity in the sense that you do something repeatedly but does not involve actual "religion" in any way. In this way it is free from many of the problems that cause such division between people. By focusing on the commonality of all people and beliefs we hope to bring people together or at the very least understand we are all trying to achieve the same goals. This is a guide to better living by using common sense and living a good life. This is not to say there is anything wrong with following a particular belief system. One can be a Christian, Mormon, Satanist or any other belief for that matter and still follow the Basis of Being without impugning on their beliefs. This is not a spiritual guide but a guide for living every day human life. Much of what you read may sound like common sense and in fact it is. But have you ever asked yourself how common is common sense, really? There are so many times I have read about or seen things happen that just make me wonder why a person did not use common sense. Perhaps it is not as common as we would like to believe.
During this time the forum host, Don Lemmon, had put out an half-joking idea of the forum members coming up with their own "religion". There was a half-hearted attempt made but nothing ever came of it. So Liam and I contacted Don and started explaining what we had found in our own research and wanted to see if he would be interested in helping us put something together. Not a religion in the colloquial sense but more of a mundane approach to living life. He was very interested in our approach and very graciously offered to help us put the book together by leveraging off of his publishing contacts.
It was while Liam and I were putting our thoughts down on paper that we realized we needed an editor. Once again Don came to the rescue and put us in touch with a lady by the name of Corine San Crainte. I think she did a wonderful job with the material Liam and I put together.
This brings us to the format of the book. At first it may seem a bit odd in the way we approached the subject. Rather than exhaustively trying to explain our approach we felt it would be more beneficial to lead people down the same path we took in our research. Rather than trying to explain the various nuances in lengthy boring prose we broke it down into very small basic bite size pieces. After all it is quicker to learn by doing than trying to absorb it through a long drawn out tome of information. It came out in such a way that there are 365 different Maxims to learn from. By just reading and applying one a day you will find yourself on a journey of self-discovery and understanding of your fellow man.
For more information please visit the site at The Basis Of Being. There you can find additional articles and items of interest surrounding this book.