The First Question

It begins with a fundamental inquiry that hopefully would clarify for those who have been trying to pinpoint the right question to ask:

What paradoxes exist in the present moment that connect with eternal truths across time and space?"

You don't believe it is that simple? Let's take a look at the evidence by looking at the answers of various knowledge and understanding of this question:

1. The Dao: The symbolism of all mysteries. Its answer: Dao. Dao is the beginning, the way, the answer, and the only truth that cannot be the truth—the ultimate paradox that exists beyond ordinary boundaries while remaining present within them. As the Dao De Jing states: "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao."

2. Abraham's Covenant: His answer: My People, Israel. Israel embodies a paradox encompassing country, people, and lineage—existing simultaneously as a physical place and spiritual concept, as present reality and historical continuity. Israel becomes both a geographical location and an internal identity.

3. Hindu Sages: Their revelation: Brahman and Atman. The Upanishads declare, "Atman is Brahman,"—meaning the individual soul is identical to the universal soul. This creates a profound paradox where the deepest essence of your being is simultaneously the essence of all reality. As the Chandogya Upanishad states: "Tat tvam asi" (That thou art)—you are already what you seek.

4. Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama): His answer: Suffering. The Four Noble Truths reveal suffering as the paradox of now that persists throughout human experience while transcending individual moments. Suffering becomes both the problem sought to escape and the gateway to liberation from that very problem.

5. Jesus of Nazareth: His declaration: I Am. Both son of man performing miracles and son of God, Jesus embodies a paradox of being fully present in human history while existing beyond it, inhabiting physical form while transcending it, expressing individual identity while containing a universal being

6. The Great Prophet Muhammad: His revelation: Allah—the Being perfect in every way, possessing the noblest qualities in the highest degree. Allah represents the mystery of the known unknown, simultaneously beyond human comprehension yet intimately knowable through faith, present in all creation yet not contained by it.

7. Mathematicians: Their answer: Pi (π). It is observable everywhere around us, yet recursive without a fixed point we can identify. Pi exists as both concrete constant and infinite progression, governing physical reality while never fully revealing itself, physically present in every circle yet mathematically endless.

8. Astrophysicists: Their insight: The imaginary number i. Not truly imaginary but a plane of unobservability essential for our world's proper functioning. The imaginary number exists beyond direct observation yet makes the physics we observe. In quantum mechanics, this "imaginary" construct becomes absolutely necessary—the Schrödinger equation and wave functions that describe fundamental particles require complex numbers incorporating i. What's particularly paradoxical is that quantum physicists must use an "unreal" number to describe the most real aspects of physical reality.

9. Classical Physicists: Their discovery: The Electromagnetic Field. Electricity powers everything, yet it remains unobservable without explaining its ability to conduct energy in a vacuum. As James Clerk Maxwell formalized in his equations, the electromagnetic field surrounds us invisibly while making visible reality possible, present everywhere yet nowhere directly seen. Einstein was particularly struck by this paradox—how can "nothing" (the field) propagate "something" (energy) through empty space? This question ultimately led to revolutionary insights about space-time itself.

10. Psychologists: Their study of mind tells us: Self-Awareness. How can awareness of self exist, be named as self-awareness, and how has every human since the beginning of time possessed this capacity? The question we asks earlier, is what psychologists call the "homunculus problem"—if self-awareness requires an observer, who observes the observer? It creates an infinite regression that logic cannot resolve, yet we experience it directly as the foundation of our identity.

11. Philosophers: Their interim answer: I Think. What Descartes misunderstood was that the act of questioning itself, these two words, constitute the true paradox. When Descartes declared "cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am), he revealed a deeper paradox than he intended—the very act of doubting existence becomes proof of existence. The act of thinking creates both thinker and thought, existing within the moment of reflection while connecting to an eternal capacity for consciousness.