Of course, we live by words. We all know that. We commit songs to memory with no effort. We let jargon feed us. The omnipresent word "like" was never heard several decades ago. Now it is a jackhammer speech wise. "Take care" had little play until Cat Stevens sang about a bad world. That was before most who will read these words were born.

Triadic Philosophy is based on a cluster of words which are, in essence, the entire philosophy. They are organized with some care, but they all have a reason for being where they are. And I would argue that with the following words you can construct a means of living a Good Life.

Here are the words

Reality.

Ethics. Aesthetics. Tolerance, helpfulness, democracy. Beauty and truth. Freedom. Love. Justice. Non-idolatry. Action. Expression.

There you have them. The first three are the root triad. They are like faith, hope, and love (St. Paul). Thesis, antithesis, and synthesis (Hegel, Marx). Id, ego, and superego (Freud). In Triadic Philosophy, reality is anything that comes up for you as the basis for a consideration, a bit of thinking. Ethics are the three values noted above, tolerance helpfulness and democracy. These bump up against the reality and cause a few sparks of thought.

Colloquy

Following that dialog, which is internal, there is a transition to what I call a colloquy or a conversation. It is internal too.

It can be with yourself or your higher self. In preparation, I suggest repeating slowly to yourself the line from Keats which is "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." Then the words slowly: Freedom. Love. Justice. Finally the word non-idolatry.

The closing words action and expression are not stated. They mean your thought has led you to an act or expression, whatever results there might be.

The term non-idolatry is actually the fourth cardinal value, after tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy. It means you worship nothing, save whatever you take to be reality -- it's a way of affirming your dignity and place in the scheme of things. Your right to live and move and have your being along with all others.

No idols

Following the word non-idolatry, there may be a wrapping up when you are in conversation with or listening to whoever you take as your inner friend.

I see my conversation as being with Abba -- the friendly one Jesus suggested we pray to.

I count 14 actual keywords in my philosophy. I include The "Lord's Prayer" as a separate part of my daily routine and have mentioned that here. I don't know the words here are a Gateway to a good life. But I suspect they are.
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