General Ideas
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1. The path of Heterosophy is designated for those who have a strong passion towards nature and the mysteries of the universe, along with strong feelings for ritual and religious experience. If all these come along with a constant rational doubt as to the mystical nature of things, this path is for you.
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2. Mysticism is a historical matter: it is what humans have not yet figured out. When the mechanism behind a particular mystery is revealed, it is no longer considered mystical. At the same time, there will always be something more to discover - truth will always remain partial.
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3. Reality is what happens within the encounter of subject and object - between them are countless filters, which constitute a mediating factor and a hiding screen, both at the same time. Body, knowledge, history, education, culture and language, all of these are just some of these filters.
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4. In order to be able to exist in reality and to survive within it, human beings tend to construct their perception of reality through stories. The great, communal stories, which include symbols common to all members of the community, are called Myths.
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5. Although they are non-factual stories, myths present profound truths about the nature of things as they are perceived by human consciousness, and about the nature of human consciousness itself.
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6. The categories and definitions that construct reality (as it is perceived in consciousness) serve as significant elements in the stories and myths of the human being. They have nothing to do with the truth, and are always the result of culture, language, and consciousness itself, but they are an essential necessity for human existence upon the earth.
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7. In order to exist sustainably, communities must agree among themselves on the different categories, and pretend that these are all part of the natural order.
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8. Giving too much trust in categories and social conventions is a recipe for getting societies with dangerous hierarchies, fixed and uncreative thinking, and various phenomena of fundamentalism. The wise human (and human society) must constantly cast doubt on existing norms and standards, and find out about the various currents (political, historical, cultural etc.) swarming beneath them. Creative thought and creative action will always include transgression and the blurring of boundaries between categories and norms, that were established throughout history.
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9. Time and space as we know them are also categories of human perception, and therefore serve as a main character in the human story. In nature (as far as we can understand) all things are in a state of constant change and movement: everything flows into everything else, and there are no clear stable boundaries, neither of periods of time nor of areas within space. Living beings are the only ones who give meaning to time and space, and the more complex their consciousness is, the more fanatical they become about it.
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10. Once a person has recognized that the reality of his/her life is a story he/she is telling himself/herself (whether it is personal or communal story), he/she must understand that he/she has the key to change the story or to write a new one. The Institute of Heterosophy is asking to offer the tools for constructing such a new story.