Last Updated 10.21.25. 

Prologue

The Way of the Universe is our new name for explaining the objectives we were working toward on our old Universe Spirit website over the last 24 years. This new name better reflects our efforts to become a more universal and practical philosophy for daily life. We wanted to clearly distinguish ourselves from the many sticky negative associations that come from appearing anything like a traditional or dogmatic religion or any new-age type of spirituality. Please also note that our new website is still under construction. At the bottom of the page, there is an explanation of the ongoing upgrading work.

Introduction

To better understand our efforts to achieve a more useful and universal philosophy, it is essential to first explain what a philosophy is, as many people do not grasp the importance of its value, power, and beauty.

Philosophy is traditionally defined in the dictionary as:

1. The study of the foundational nature of reality and existence (the universe), and

2. The theory or attitude a person or organization holds as the guiding principles for their behavior and actions.

Within the Way of the Universe, we add a third important and, we believe, essential factor to the definition of what a philosophy is. 

3. Philosophy must not only come to understand and reflect the reality of the universe, but it must also openly search for, explore, and, if possible, connect to the reality of whatever created or initiated the universe. (The origin of the universe is sometimes called the Great Mystery, the Original Blessing, the Uncaused Cause, God, or hundreds of other such names found here.)

It might help to think of the origin of the universe as being the "seed" producing the universe, and the universe isatelf being the "fruit" of this originating "seed." From a rational, open systems, and science-grounded exploration of this seed, one can learn much about the nature/identity, qualities, possible answers to the existential questions of life, nd even the possible purposes or meaning for the existence of the "fruit." But, unlike religion, the Way of the Universe philosophy conducts this exploration in a rational, open systems and science-grounded way. This exploration approach to an area of existence potentially rich in meaning and purpose minimizes unhealthy practices, dogma, conflicts, abuse etc. common to the history of religions worldwide.

Other past definitions of philosophy

Here's how Seneca, the great Greek orator and Stoic philosopher, described philosophy.

"Philosophy isn't a parlor trick or made for show. It's not concerned with words, but with facts. It's not employed for some pleasure before the day is spent or to relieve the uneasiness of our leisure.

It shapes and builds up the soul, it gives order to life, it guides actions, shows what should and shouldn't be done --- it sits at the rudder steering our course as we vacillate in uncertainties.

Without it, no one can live without fear or free from care. Countless things happen every hour that require advice, and such advice is to be sought out in philosophy."

The great American writer, Henry David Thoreau, wisely said, "Philosophy helps us solve life's problems, not only theoretically but practically."

Philosophy is not an academic pursuit only for professors or the rich. Finding the most effective personal philosophy for living is a crucial learning activity for every individual seeking to lead a successful and fulfilling life.

As you can see from above, philosophy not only guides actions but also strongly motivates them. Every person should develop a philosophy that accurately reflects humanity's best understanding of the reality of the universe. In understanding the most accurate reality of the universe (existence), they will also discover their most accurate personal identity, meaning, purpose, and their relationship to the Great Mystery that has given rise to this universe.

Having rational and accurate information about the nature of reality in the universe will better guide their behavior and significantly expand the success of both individuals and the community.

Now that you have a better understanding of what we mean by philosophy , it should be easier to comprehend our unique Way of the Universe vision and objectives:

1. We believe and are working towards a universal philosophy that includes the best wisdom from past philosophies and the knowledge from our current science about the universe, which together ten can better supports individuals searching for identity, meaning, purpose, and their relationship to the Great Mystery in healthy and rational ways, will far better serve the durrent and evolving future of ALL humanity and its evolution out into the universe.

2. We believe a new, enhanced, and expanded philosophy is necessary today because of the growing threats currently challenging the survival of humanity and future generations. We believe that a widely practiced, more inclusive and accurate philosophy will protect the cycle of life for current and future generations.

3. We are also humbly attempting to update and expand a more useful and universal philosophy that transcends the many abuses and problems of past religions, one that still allows individuals to search for identity, meaning, purpose, and their relationship to the Great Mystery that has given rise to this universe.

We believe that the ongoing abuses, conflicts, and problems within and between existing corporatized, dogmatic, and faith-trumps-science religions far outweigh the limited good they may have done in the past or are doing now, especially in a shrinking, more globalized world. Today, in a rapidly globalizing world, our poorly evolved and polarizing religions divide us more than unite us, and they foment increasing levels of conflict.

A rational, adaptive, and evolving philosophy that better reflects the reality and nature of the universe and its origin has the potential to achieve all the good that religion does, without religion's negatives. A comprehensive reality-reflecting philosophy can unite us peacefully beyond any other system of religion, politics, or economic ideology we see today.

But, we still have a lot of work to do on this new transcending yet including new philosophy, which is described on the rest of this page.

Mobe about the new Way of the Universe

The Way of the Universe is a new evolutionary philosophy based on reality.

This new philosophy is derived from:

1. The best philosophic wisdom from humanity's past, particularly the best wisdom of the philosophies of Greek Stoics and the Chinese Taoists.

2. Our continually evolving scientific understanding of the universe's "Big Evolutionary History" in the form of the latest breakthroughs in evolutionary science, called Progressive Evolution, which reflects the evolution of the most successful and sustainable living systems over billions of years. 

3. Alignment with other current scientific disciplines.

The Way of the Universe and our ancestors

Humanity's first philosophies evolved long before the emergence of its first religions. The first human philosophies came from our ancestors' astute, accurate, and rational observations of the universe and the Earth's evolving living processes.

Our wisest ancestors learned to align themselves with the life-sustaining processes of the natural universe as much as possible. How well they did so determined our ancestors' success and survival, and the fact that we and you are here today.

Many researchers have noted that our ancestors' observations of the universe's powerful and magnificent natural patterns and cycles also served as an initiating and primary influence on the origins and practices of early religions, as well as their personal spiritual experiences.

As well as they understood the Universe, our later ancestors (particularly the Taoists and Greek Stoics) observed that the natural Universe was the powerful context that conditioned or controlled almost all of their circumstances and actions. (More will be said about Taoist and Greek universe reflecting philosophy in the links further below.)

A philosophy designed for everyday practical application

Not only does the Way of the Universe help you understand your big universe history, it is also a pathway of practices to help you align your decisions and actions with the universe's oldest, time-proven life-sustaining success patterns. Aligning with and living the universe’s time-proven success patterns will make your life more meaningful, successful, and sustainable.

The "Way of the Universe" also reflects a new Universe Evolutionary Worldview that embraces the latest scientific advances, dramatically reframing our fundamental understanding of evolution, life, our world, and the universe. Exploring it means learning ground-breaking new information about the nature and reality of existence, specifically:

1. Discoveries about how the universe creates, maintains, transforms, and sustains life and our environment,

2. how the universe successfully and consistently does the above over eons of time, and,

3. How the successful long-term repeated patterns of the universe's 14.2 billion years of evolution create a new set of universal principles for guiding individual and collective behavior and actions.

Many people already have a philosophical Way of Life or gradually find one as they age. However, this process is haphazard, random, or restricted, creating unnecessary, painful, and costly mistakes. Thus, much of humanity has never found a highly effective science-grounded philosophy or way of life.

Having a time-proven, practical, and effective philosophy that more accurately reflects our big universe history and the reality of life evolving in the universe is the difference between living a mostly healthy and prosperous life that you have chosen and living a life mainly controlled or directed by external natural and human forces you did not choose. While some painful and costly mistakes are necessary to redirect us when we make mistakes, many of life's mistakes can be avoided if one has a better time-proven, accurate, and reality-reflecting philosophy of life.

Some of the qualities of the Way of the Universe

The new Progressive Evolution discoveries of science (simplified in the Way of the Universe's Universe Principles) have significantly expanded and qualified our accurate understanding of:

a. Our place in the universe,

b. Our deeper meaning and purpose in life,

c. Our highest and most powerful identity, and

d. The optimal way to live successfully with others.

Today, the wisdom of understanding the universe's big history evolution and exploring its most universal, time-tested patterns and principles (the Universe Principles) to enhance one's existing philosophy holds more truth for a better life and a better world than ever before.

The Way of the Universe philosophy found on this website and within the Universe Principles has also been designed to be:

a. rational and science-grounded,

b. universal and timeless in its applicability,

c. non-denominational,

d. culturally, racially, and ethnically neutral, 

e. non-gender-biased, and

f. right- and left-brain skills, mobilizing, and honoring,

g. individual agency and action-oriented yet still balanced with community needs, directions, and being.

A dynamic, empowered new way of living is waiting!

The Way of the Universe is part of and offers a Powerful New Worldview

The "Way of the Universe" also encompasses the recent emergence of a new universe evolution-based worldview. A worldview is defined as the most fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or a society, encompassing the entirety of the individual's or society's knowledge and perspective.

The emergence of a new worldview is a rare occurrence. Only five new worldviews have emerged in the history of human evolution. A new worldview significantly broadens humanity's perspective on life, existence, and the processes that govern them. Whenever a new worldview emerges, there is great potential for major personal and societal shifts and improvement. Every new worldview began a major transition, advanced human knowledge, and transcended the previous worldviews. Today's new worldview is known as the Universe Evolutionary Worldview. 

How to get started learning and practicing the Way of the Universe

Most of us do not need to know everything about the science behind why something is true and works. For those who want an easy and fast start without a lot of science reading, start by exploring and testing the Universe Principles.

They are designed using the science-grounded principles of Progressive Evolution to help you make the optimal decisions, actions, and attitudes for a meaningful, sustainable, and successful life. They are practical daily action and attitude guides that you can begin immediately, and they are the easiest way to get started for most people. 

The Universe Principles are essential to a good life because, directly or indirectly, the evolutionary processes of the master universe condition and control ALL actions within the universe. Therefore, your understanding of the fundamental evolutionary processes that govern and shape everything in the universe, simplified in the form of the Universe Principles, will help you make informed decisions and take effective actions for the right reasons, at the right time, and in the right way.

In practical terms, the more your life aligns with the Universe's Principles of Right Action and Right Attitude, the better your life will become.

Once you start practicing the Universe Principles, you will prove the above claim to yourself.

Click here to start using and testing the concise version of the Universe Principles of Right Action and Right Attitude to dramatically enhance your life's success. In itsion is a short form of the Universe Principles that will guide you to a more rational, successful, and meaningful life. In its simplicity, the 7-day test version will demonstrate how to unite your rational mind and kind heart in a powerful way, while still living a successful life.

Why is it so urgent to begin practicing and help spread the Way of the Universe

Few would disagree that our world is experiencing continuous, accelerating global crises fueled by our growing technological capabilities and these other 12 global crises. The new Universe Evolutionary Worldview, embraced within the Way of the Universe, offers individuals and humanity new tools, knowledge, and realistic hope essential to resolving the 13 major crises facing humanity.

Albert Einstein said, "The consciousness that creates the problem will not be the consciousness that will solve the problem." Humanity now faces 13 rapidly worsening global crises that our collective human consciousness has created.

It is now time to move beyond the consciousness that created these 13 global crises to a far larger universe consciousness capable of solving these deadly global crises.  

Unfortunately, humanity's 13 worsening global crises are on a trajectory that will almost certainly soon lead to a widespread but not total Great Global Collapse.

Humanity must manage these 13 crises far better than it currently does to prevent widespread global collapse. The Way of the Universe and its new Universe Principles, along with the "thrive and survive" Universe Evolutionary Worldview, are critical because they can help slow the rapid acceleration of the world's 13 major globalized crises. Their rationality, science-based grounding, and effectiveness can facilitate more people working wisely, adaptively, and together on these common crises.

(Click here to learn more about humanity's 13 worsening global crises. This page describes these crises and links to other pages discussing possible and practical solutions to humanity's most significant challenges. These adaptive crisis solutions align well with this website's Way of the Universe principles and materials.)

Summary of the Way of the Universe's Great News

1. The Way of the Universe will help you align your life and actions with the unstoppable "Great Flow of Life" in the Universe.

2. The new Way of the Universe is based upon, follows, or is derived from the most time-proven, recurring patterns of successful, life-sustaining action in the universe's 13.7 billion-year-old evolution. These patterns of success and sustainability naturally upgrade an individual's and group's principles, values, identities, and daily actions. 

3. The Way of the Universe is a "thrive and survive" philosophy that protects the cycle of life, and which has arrived just in time to help manage and prepare for the escalating consequences of the climate change emergency, while also addressing humanity's 12 other global crises. If we do not act immediately, climate change will accelerate and exacerbate most of our other 12 global crises, rapidly pushing humanity toward unavoidable global catastrophes and mass extinction over the next few decades. 

4. The Way of the Universe offers tools, new knowledge, and a realistic and practical hope that humanity can resolve its 13 global crises if we utilize this new knowledge and its associated tools. (The climate change emergency and the 12 other global crises are described in detail on this page.)

5. Even if humanity fails to manage the climate change emergency and its 12 other global crises, the new Way of the Universe will be a powerful and effective tool for preparing for and adapting to global disasters and catastrophes. More importantly, after we finally navigate the coming difficult times, thanks to the principles found in the Way of the Universe, humanity will be empowered with the necessary knowledge and tools to build a better world.

6. If you are a naturally spiritual person, there is also an area of the Way of the Universe that could be useful. The Way of the Universe is neither a religion nor a New Age spiritual practice.

Still, it does provide a science-grounded, healthy, principle-based philosophy from which you can independently enhance your exploration of the possibilities of the Great Mystery, or design and create your own balanced, ethical, and wise form of personal spirituality. To explore the possibilities of enhancing your existing spirituality or creating a healthy one, click here.

6. More advanced Way of the Universe materials are found here. Earlier philosophical and science-related antecedents of the Way of the Universe are described here. The last development on this page, in the form of the Universe Manifesto, may be the most interesting.

7. Please remember that, like all truly good things in life, understanding our materials and becoming a practitioner of the "Way of the Universe " will require study, effort, and a time investment. With your diligent and persistent efforts, you can experience the tremendous rewards and benefits of living in alignment with the Universe's near-unlimited flow of life and energy, found in the Universe Principles of Right Action and Right Attitude.

About the Way of the Universe practitioners

The Way of the Universe practitioners often refer to themselves as universe citizens, Universals, or Evolutioneers. While the Way of the Universe practitioners seek to live successful lives aligned with the most life-affirming principles of the universe and its evolution.

The current motto and partial collective purpose of Way of the Universe practitioners is, "to protect the cycle of life for today and future generations."

We would appreciate your help if...

Are you already living some personal form of the Way of the Universe, OR do you feel the universe calling you to do more to advance and protect the positive evolution of life?

Do you like what you have heard so far?

Do you feel like a global citizen and a citizen of the universe?

Have you experienced the "Great Flow of Life" and the positive, beautiful synchronicities that occur when your life and actions align with the Way the Universe Operates?

If you answered yes to any of the previous questions and would like to do more to forward this new philosophic iteration of the Way of the Universe, please email us at [email protected] and tell us about what you would like to do and what your current skills are. We currently need a variety of volunteer help, including teachers, web developers, administrators, social media specialists, and more.

About the Massive Updating and Knowledge Transfer Still Taking Place from the Old Universe Spirit Website to this new Way of the Universe, Universe Spirit Website

The above description of the Way of the Universe is designed to show how the Universe Spirit nonprofit organization is evolving. We are far from done with this evolution.

It may take at least another 6-12 months to transfer and upgrade 24 years of work (about 1,000 pages) from our old Universe Spirit website to this new one. During this massive transfer process, every page is under construction and updating.

We have to fix broken links, add new insights and updated language, and delete and edit grammar and spelling to bring our older materials up to date and align with our new Way of the Universe philosophical framing. 

Some links on this site during construction will still take you to our old website until we complete the massive transfer. If the home page of our old site displays a random error message and you can't view the entire website, click the refresh button, and the old website will appear.

To return to our new website from the old one, click the Back button or the Way of the Universe link at the top of the old home page. (The disappearing old website bug is very random, and we're still working on finding the cause and fixing it.)