Religion :

The difference between understanding God and the absence of modern knowledge, along with the development of a greater understanding of the world through deeper concepts, led God to say that prophets, like other human beings, could serve as guides to wisdom and consciousness. Therefore, the further back we go in history, the more primitive things were, and the more limited the view of life was due to a lack of understanding. Logic and propriety in society, and in the encounters of human beings with one another, were among the priorities of early life, because thinking on a grand scale was not yet among the everyday matters or concerns of human beings. The sending of a Book, revealed by God, addressed the act of thinking about mutual effects and consequences. And the practice of gratitude for receiving the understanding of the wisdom and consciousness of the prophets led people to become followers and imitators, and to understand that even when they heard the words of a great person, they should see them within a vast world, a world that was called revelation. Revelation was the word of God spoken through the tongue of the prophet. Now, if in human relationships someone was a liar, there was a need to understand that God had abandoned that person—the liar—and in this way, culture was born from religion. Thus, the ethics, character, conduct, and way of life of the prophet came to be recognized as a model. It may well be that the scholars of the time of the prophet were people who reflected upon matters of thought, and that the prophet addressed them as knowledgeable and understanding people. As time progressed, these scholars continued to think, and they gained value. With the expansion of the population, they found followers, and these followers left behind works of their own. Therefore, thought gives birth to ideas, and ideas become useful in practice. Consider, for example, a statement in which an idea is formed: “A liar is an enemy of God.” That idea may be transformed merely into advice, while a great man is introduced to society as a person of wisdom. Culture and art roll up their sleeves in order to present the perspective of religion, with everything that it contains, as an understanding of the elevation and advancement of the course of life—to make it visible, influential, and, in a sense, calming. Therefore, religion speaks of the word of God, which is contained in the holy books, and this speech has no purpose other than bringing peace and encouraging a thoughtful perspective.

Cultural Economy :

For the sake of need, existence, and moving forward together, cooperation with any person depends on that person’s exchange of needs with you, which is based on two fundamental principles: maintaining one’s existing position or improving one’s position. This leads to the understanding that two or more people have positions from which they can exchange goods and capital, and every step requires attracting its own audience for the economy to keep moving. Now, it must be understood that this economy depends on everyone. The culture of withdrawing from an individual’s personal and collective life is a practice that distorts the existence of questions and answers. The same desire for progress that initially leads to economic development can, over time, become contradictory. When a person withdraws into solitude, shows indifference, and directs their attention solely toward themselves, they can no longer provide a logical answer to the questions of the person with whom they have accumulated wealth. This is because they are not prepared to respond; they have come to see the other person’s presence as empty, and that person no longer exists within their world. In economic culture, the exchange of goods works in such a way that the full attention and presence of individuals throughout their lives allow negative aspects to reveal themselves completely. This is because everyone’s attention has been devoted to economic exchange. When a loss arises, it becomes fully apparent to both parties; profit, too, becomes clear and prominent, and both parties acknowledge how valuable it is. Now, if both parties and the wider group that benefits from the economy remain physically and mentally present throughout their lives, as we have so far understood presence, this economic cooperation between two parties can lead to collective progress. However, the group’s personal achievements cannot be measured solely through bilateral economic cooperation. The only exception is when an individual leaves the group, in which case one must consider the destruction of the economic system that the individual has learned from us. This is because an economic culture requires its members to remain committed and present under all circumstances.

Moderation :

When information becomes accessible to us through movement toward an understanding of the world of thought, its newness and originality raise questions in our minds. These questions take shape in our minds very quickly, to such an extent that we may not even know what those questions are, let alone be able to answer them. Therefore, in a world we do not know—or, more precisely, in a world in which we are moving, rather than a world in which we have conducted an investigation and drawn up a plan for movement; no, that is not what I mean. For example, when we are taking water out of the refrigerator and someone is watching us, we are simply moving. So, it would be better to say that we are living in a world in which we move. It is as simple as that. Let us say it again: in a world where we do not know what the questions are, we naturally do not know the answers either. We must therefore choose moderation. Moderation means remaining alert and allowing the feeling of familiarity that is absolutely present within us to guide us toward the thought that, yes, it seems familiar. However, if we hear something unfamiliar or encounter an unfamiliar reaction, we should understand that it may involve either an increase or a decrease in the intensity of visual attention and perception. Therefore, our choice should be to focus on our own essential identity as we move through this world, to explain it, and to make it understood. We must demonstrate that we are not acting without questions and answers, which have already been analyzed in the unconscious. In response to another person or to an action, we reduce its intensity by explaining our essential identity within that movement. This process of carrying questions and answers within movement is a sign of the daily and yearly encounters each person experiences. Indeed, because of the purity of human nature, such encounters may have been taking place for that person over many years. At the same time, each person's needs, in the world they intend to build for themselves, balance questions and answers. However, this process is referred to as moderation because, when asking questions and seeking answers, the purity of human nature transforms them into decisions over time. If this awareness of questions and answers exists, then even if we cannot fully understand it, we know that we are in the process of eliminating what we do not want and attracting what we do want. Now that we understand that movement contains questions and answers, that human nature is pure, and that a process of filtering out what we want and do not want takes place—even in the most ordinary actions—we can say that we are practicing moderation.