The very basics of my Judeo-Buddhism in a few bullet points

For those who did not follow all my writings and want to get some orientation about my philosophical standpoints without reading tons of my literature. Here is a small overview in a few bullet points:

Everything exists in relation to something else, therefore there is nothing which exists independently except God who is the first cause.
Since everything exists in relation to something else, we can talk of relationships. This also goes to human-beings, we are in relationships with each other. As such, the actions of others have an impact on us, and our actions have an impact on others.
Everything which exists, exists due to a cause, except God who as first cause is uncaused.
A relationship needs similarity (so to say, the same). A certain plan that is shared by both and which stands above both. Thus, they have a model. The model is the intermediary between the idea in a Platonic sense and the human thought of something particular.
That which keeps relationships together is love.
Love is reciprocal and it transforms boundaries.
Through love, two things or two people become one.
Matter and form are forced into unity forming a possession. Similarities attract each other.
The world is not perfect but it is good as it is, thus it is ki-tov as Genesis reveals.
The human-nature is not perfect, human-beings are not flawless. However, every human-being has a basic goodness.
Basic goodness means that every human-being has the ability to be good, goodness lies in us by nature, but it does not mean that every human-being automatically uses it.
Man has no direct access to reality. His environment is perceived by inborn instruments, such as the senses. They are the cause of defilements but they are also necessary to survive. In contrast, reason comes from God and is transmitted through the soul. Thus, true knowledge is accessed through the soul.
God is androgynous, because He created male and female in His likeness, so God Himself must inherit both, the male and female quality (yin and yang).
God is good and is only responsible for the good (Plato!).
God is transcendental and He is a personal God. [Timo Schmitz: Deep in The Ocean Is a Hidden Treasure. Manderscheid: Timo Schmitz, 2023.]
Everything which exists naturally in the world and which is a single entity can be used in a good way. Originally, even weapons were good in a way that we can haunt and through this, mankind survived. The misery started when one man used the weapon against another.
There is an objective good, but as humans, we are not able to grasp the objective good directly which leads to the problem that we always stay subjective. [Timo Schmitz: Good and bad reshaped: A harmonious society as balance between collective requirements and individuality. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
We only see the manifestation of the Good in the perceptional world, we cannot grasp the Good Itself since it is in another realm, the ideal world, or the world of ideas.
Even though human-beings cannot get to this perfect state of the Good, they always strives for God-like qualities. In other words: Human-beings strive for perfection. They are an Imago Dei (image of god) and since God is perfection they perform an Imitatio Dei (imitation of God), such as Enoch who walked with God while the world was wicked, so he realized what is good when it was not possible for many to realize goodness.
An important key concept is tikkun olam: The reparation of the world. We were created by God and the world was entrusted to us by Him. In a further sense, it refers to avoiding disharmony in society (Zimmerman!). We see that the outside world suffers since there are wars, famine and a lot of troubles, so we need to work for a change. But also our inside world suffers a lot (see the Next point).
Human-beings suffer because of the three poisons (trivisa). (See also the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.)
All evil in the world comes from defilements that are the results of misinterpretations of the Good or the lack of understanding the Good. (People behave bad because they do not see anymore what is good.)
We have to develop a philosophical attitude to reason about everything as through reasoning we can reflect and through reflection, we can purify. Through refelction in meditation, we shall realise that we do not really grasp reality, but that we have defiled views and re-appraise them. As such, we go through a process of purification.
A purification is a kind of mind-cleaning. We can never be perfect, we are not God, we never grasp the whole nature. But we can get rid of delusions and illusions and accept our point in the world, we feel “pure” – nothing bothers us anymore!
That which is good comes from the Good (i.e. God), while evil is the absence of the Good, as the Good only brings forth good things. [Timo Schmitz: Good and bad reshaped: A harmonious society as balance between collective requirements and individuality. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
If something is completely planned in advance, then we can talk of a praevidentia, since everything was decided before us. Providence however, comes through us, but still we have no full control over it, because it is the sum of all collective decisions made at a certain point. Destiny in contrast lies in our hands while providence is already set: through the collective of everything that exists, consciously or unconsciously.
Religious doctrines and the ethical code were always understood to be in a relation, and therefore, many laws still show traces of the morality once established by religious authorities. Nonetheless, many rules seem to be valid, even in a secularized society, which gives them a higher truth, as they were accepted all over the world amidst all changes. Universal ethics are part of the Divine Law. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Divine Law means that God revealed something to human-beings regardless of their religion, it is universal. Natural law in contrast is the determination of natural processes, it is not a form of revelation. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Divine Law does not equal the revelation, since revelations differ in different religions. Instead, Divine Law can be absorbed out of the common ground of different religions. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.] – The Jewish norm “dor dor v’doroshav” is important: Every generation has an own interpretation of ethics.
Divine law is only a guidance given through an ultimate truth, but human-beings cannot realize the ultimate truth itself and therefore just its guidance. As a result, a true objectivity does not exist when we talk about ethics.
Revelation is a weak source to seek for truths. Therefore, I suggest reason over revelation. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Reason is strongly connected to mind. However, I suggest a mind-body-dualism. The mind is not a materialistic part of the body, which means that mind refers to something beyond us. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
We have limited minds, while the ultimate (absolute) mind can only be found in God. Thus, only God is perfection and absoluteness. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
If mind as an absoluteness exists through God, then the source of reason is God. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
If reason is strongly connected to God, God must be an intelligent being. In fact, nature points to such an intelligence. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
God must necessarily exist, because a world without God knows no mercy, no compassion.
If there is not the one true revelation, there is also not the one true religion. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
God must be universal. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Divine Law comes from a universal God. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
As God is universal, no religion is better than another. God favors no religion and thus no human-being over another. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
God is the Father, the divine essence is the Holy Spirit, and the emuna (faith) is the son (Jesus). Therefore, Christian Trinity is the visualization of a spiritual concept. [Timo Schmitz: Deep in The Ocean Is a Hidden Treasure. Manderscheid: Timo Schmitz, 2023.]
Knowledge exists a priori and is not dependent on experience. So there is an independent truth. As such, learning is nothing more than remembering (Plato!).
The soul is a force which cannot act on itself. It needs a carriage through which it can act, which is the body.
The “I” is expressed through the soul, but there is no permanent ego. Thus, we are object of change. As such, one shall purify the ego-centered mind, but this does not mean that the “I”, the self-identification, vanishes.
Meditation has an appraisal function as we get into touch with ourselves: we become the object of reflection ourselves. Therefore, meditation is also a projection. As a self-test, reexamination, reappraisal it functions as a purification towards the ideal, as we get rid of our illusions that got stuck unquestioned in our mind. The purification is the recreation of the model, as the model is responsible for the manifestation of the creation and thus through reflecting on the model, one recreates and shapes it. As such, it is a form of tikkun olam.
Injustice leaves traces on our soul, even if we consciously not realize it.
Same as we can never stop our soul, we can never stop thinking. Thinking is an essential part of our life.
It is important to support the thoughts which come from reason and de-emotionalise them, as their emotion is not from pure reason.
We can find orientation according to the THINK-Method. When we say something: T – Is it True? H – Is it Helpful? I – is it Inspiring? N – is it Necessary? K – is it Kind?
Through speech, we can just express that we extracted something in our mind and we share that we know it, but despite giving information about the known, we cannot make it intelligible in its nature to others.

“All that which Judeo-Buddhism actually means is understanding Judaism and Buddhism and their close relatedness in content. Jewish and Buddhist philosophy is linked to a religious tradition, of course, but the whole world is actually religion as religion means “not knowing”. At the point where our knowledge ends, religion starts. And we are still far away from knowing anything, since we just know a little amount of all knowable things – this is how limited our mind is. But since we strive for wisdom and want to reason, we conduct philosophy, the highest discipline of all reasoning.”
Timo Schmitz: Short Introduction Into My Judeo-Buddhism (2019). In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.

There are boundaries to grasp reality. Language restricts us as we can only communicate that which has names. We try to give names to everything, but abstract things, such as feelings, cannot be universally perceived. Everybody has an own perception of that certain feeling. So our world is defined through language, through words which are arbitrarily. Nonetheless, the “term” (not the “word”) is universal!
Intelligibility is the opposite of perception. Therefore, it is something which is not grasped by the sensory organs, but purely by the mind.
Perception does not reveal any truths.
Every experience which we encounter is stored in our storehouse-consciousness and affects our future behavior. As such, it creates illusions.
The world is a manifestation as the mind of God. Therefore, only the ideas are true nature, while our perceptual world around us is just our environment.
Nothing in this universe is meant to exist forever, thus it is finite. Only that which exists in the realm of the ideas is eternal, though we have to ask, whether the ideas have a beginning, since God is the first cause, so only God is eternally eternal.
The ideas are objective, truthful – I am subjective!
All bothersome thoughts are stored in the mind, all fears, everything is nothing but mind (Grimes!).
Through mind, a human-being has its only ability to know of its existence, as it is a thinking being (Descartes!) and through his lifespan, he shapes his destiny on its own, and therefore is merely a project (Sartre!). Though unlike Sartre, I rather see a divine project in it.
Every cause leads to an effect. We cannot isolate ourselves. As long as we live on one globe, we have to care about this globe together, otherwise we cannot survive.

“Judeo-Buddhism does not try to reveal anything – revelation is a kind of religion. In contrast, philosophy is not revelation, but reasoning. And that is what we are doing here, we reason about how reality works as we have no real access to reality. This is a purely philosophical problem.”
Timo Schmitz: Short Introduction Into My Judeo-Buddhism (2019). In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag

If we judge people, it does not tell anything about these people, but only refers to ourselves. Judgments thus are self-referentials. They tell how we see things.
Laws are just self-referentials, because the state laws are made by people who create them according to their own judgment, thus it reflects their own wishes. [cp. also Timo Schmitz: Good and bad reshaped: A harmonious society as balance between collective requirements and individuality. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
We start to reason because we have doubts.
If we want to reason freely then we have to purify our thoughts to get rid of defilements and use our clean mind to think really freely.
The Good reveals itself through forces and we can feel it in our environment.
Natural religion and real reasoning is not dependent on a revealed God, but only takes up a reasoned God. God can exist only in a way in which we can reasonably defend Him.
The middle of two extremes, the ἀρετή, is an ideal state.
People tend to form communities to engage in exchanging values. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
To encourage people to choose their faith on their own, the state should stay neutral on religion and thus, religion and politics should be separated. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Religion might be a source for inspiration of a politician, so a politician himself might be a devout believer. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
A society without religion cannot be progressive, since religions remind us of morality in times where people only think of themselves and their own benefits. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Religion can help a person or group in finding or building an identity. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Identities are always subjective constructions, so the identity is built through a self-reference. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Freedom is a space of action given by God.
A public space should be a space of deliberation. Only if we keep in dialogue and take everyone’s concerns serious, we can find solutions.
We have to avoid that a small minority takes over the channel of discussion narrowing tolerance. [Timo Schmitz: The role of revelation and reason in finding εὐδαιμονία. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
The world is built up on mathematics and quantum physics. Thus, they are important keys to understand the physical world. [Timo Schmitz: Is God immanent or transcendent and which role might quantum bits play?. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
Wuji contains the potential to become, but it is neither of matter nor of form, taiji consists of yin and yang, and same as the wuji might struggle for taiji – yin and yang struggle for their emanation to “become”. Nonetheless, they are not two poles but cyclic, such as we can see with the seasons of a year. Thus, sometimes two seemingly opposite things might appear opposite to us, but are actually just two sides of the same coin. [cp. Timo Schmitz: Is God immanent or transcendent and which role might quantum bits play?. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.] – Taiji contains the two forces which produce the emanation of everything.
There is a smallest entity which is the simplest thing such as Leibniz’ monads which are from God, and as such divinely, as they come from The One, and therefore are a direct part of divinity, so everything is a total sum of the divine. This means ultimately that everything is in interaction, everything is alive! So our universe must be a kind of network! [cp. Timo Schmitz: Is God immanent or transcendent and which role might quantum bits play?. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
The key to everything is love (see the notes before). An important aspect is the mutual exchange in which we give and take (Leo’s Giving first and taking later!). [cp. Timo Schmitz: Is God immanent or transcendent and which role might quantum bits play?. In: Timo Schmitz: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.]
The working together of heart and mind is important, empowering xin. [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
The heart inherits a divine force! [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
Something which is not true cannot be localized nor can it have a substance, because things that are not real cannot become physical, i.e. to attain existence. [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
When wisdom and courage are combined, the result is reasonable. Together, they can overcome the desires! (cp. Plato!)
Experience is important helps us to survive, for example to recognize dangers in time. But through misattributions or ambiguous experiences, we create illusions which are stored in our storehouse-consciousness (see notes above).
Pain exists in our sensually perceptible realm and because we perceive displeasure and lust, this realm is called Kamadhatu. [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
As pain does not exist beyond the perceptible realm, pain itself is not really true, i.e. it does not really exist. And if it is not true, or precisely inexistent, then there is no physical appearance in the sense of an image – so there is no archetype and therefore no essence. [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
Because pain is not real, it does not originate from the heart or mind. Self-confidence is the police in the heart or mind, because the police gives a feeling of security and without the regulation of the police, there is a possibility of confusion leading to chaos. The unfolding of the fundamental things of the xin will lead to the elimination of the painful imaginations. [Timo Schmitz: 梦和真实的分别. In: 佛教与犹太教的智慧联合. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2022.]
The purification leads to empowering xin, and thus to enlightenment. Heart and mind are in a complete balance!
The world does not only consist of physical but also of spiritual forces. [cp. Timo Schmitz: 나의 유대불교철학. Trier & Vachendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2021, where the terms 힘 and 에네르기 are used to portray the difference.]
Plato proposed in his philosophy a μετεμψύχωσις, which can be equated with the idea of reincarnation. He said that every soul would be judged in heaven after death. If the soul lived a righteous life, it will enter heaven. If the soul lived a ruthless and meaningless life, it will go to hell. After some time, the souls return and choose their new life in a lotcast.
Since no human-being grasps the whole truth himself and everybody only grasps bits of it, we need a pluralist, democratic society and always keep in a deliberative exchange.

To put it in a nutshell:

God is good and the source of morality. He is a universal but personal God.
Only God exists independently because He is the first cause, everything else is in a relation to something else, so we make up a whole network. Everything we do therefore has an effect on the whole network! (Butterfly effect)
Human-beings ought to take care of God’s Creation.
Human-beings are limited and as such accumulate defilements.
To get rid of defilements and illusions as much as possible, we should purify ourselves.
Human-beings have a basic goodness.
Human-beings are created in the Image of god.
We should place reason over revelation because God’s revelation wants to be interpreted, but every interpretation is already a limit because human-beings are limited. Thus, no one can grasp the whole revelation and so we have to continue our reflections.
There is a universal ethics which is taught through all major religions, and thus it must be part of the Divine Law.
To enter a relationship, one needs love. Since everything is in a relation to each other, love is an important key.
True knowledge exists a priori, while our a posteriori experiences are only assumptions. The latter nebulizes our true knowledge, but we need experiences to survive on this planet.

Timo Schmitz, 28 March 2023

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