Process Thought and Philosophy is a constellation of ideas sharing the common assertions that;

The world and God are expressions of continuous, dynamic relational change. We label that process as creativity. The mutual commitment to that process is faithfulness/emunah, which rises above any faith (doctrine or creed).We and the world are not solid substances, but rather recurrent patterns of energy, occasions, which change with each new instant|iation but also maintain continuity from moment to moment.

We are interconnected, each to each and each to all. Therefore all creation – not just humanity or a subset of humanity – has value and dignity.

Every occasion has an interiority (first person mode, subjective) appropriate to its nature as well as an outer (third person, objective) way of related interaction and becoming, that is to say that we are all selves-in-relation.

Therefore we and every occasion relates to each and all creation instantaneously and intuitively. We respond to the determinations of each other and of the totality, as we ourselves are re-created each instant.

God is the One who makes this relating possible, who creates the openness of a future of real novelty and the variety of its possibilities, and who relates to each of us in our particular individuality.

God is the One who invites us (and empowers us) in our particularity to select the optimal choice for our own flourishing (optimal in terms of maximizing experience, justice, compassion, and love) and for our mutual flourishing; to exist is to be self-determining, inter-connected, and creative to some degree.

We and everything in the cosmos become co-creators with God in fashioning the present (which has primacy) out of the possibilities offered by the future and the constraints received from the past. God’s primary mode of power is persuasive, not coercive. That goes for us too.

Once the present becomes actual, it is known eternally by God and cherished forever. 

These convictions can seem unsettling at first glance, even though I will try to show that they actually reflect what you really know to be true about yourself, all life, and the cosmos. We take for granted what it means to be conventionally religious, and those traditional­ist assumptions make it difficult to open ourselves to an engaging and explanatory way to articulate what we intuit and to connect to each other, the world, and the Divine with an embracing faithfulness. 

Much of what Process Thought offers as an alternative may sound initially shocking, perhaps even irreligious, if this is your first encounter with Process Thought. Much of what we were told we should believe when we were younger (or even by many preachers today) forces us to choose between our spirit and our intellect, between science and religion, between morality and dogma. In such a split, any decent human being would – with reluctance – choose intellect, science, and morality. 

But the gift of Process Thought is to realize that this dichotomy, this choice of either A or B, is a false choice. There is a way to understand the world, God, and religion in such a way that we don’t have to make that choice at all. Indeed, armed with Process insights and tools, we can affirm that our religiosity, our spirit, our minds and our ethics all strengthen and refine each other. 

As you persist, you may discover as many others have, that you need not put up a wall between what you know and what you believe, that science and religion need not remain locked in a winner-take-all battle, that there is a way to affirm the poetry and wisdom of ancient faiths without having to make morally or intellectually compromised positions, that one can be religious without leaving one’s education or morality outside.

בברכת שלום

*
​
过程思想与哲学思想共享的内容是：

 l世界与上帝是持续、动态和相互关联的变化的表现形式。我们把过程归类为创造力。共同的认识是过程是一种虔诚的表现形式，并超越了任何坚定的信念

 l我们和世界不是一成不变的物质，而是能量和情况不断表现的形式，这些形式都是瞬间发生的变化但是还保持着连贯性。

 l我们每个人之间、每个人与整体之间都是互相联系的。因此所有的——不仅仅是人类或者人类的不同群体——都具有价值和尊严

 l每个情景都有内在的东西（第一人称视角、主观的），这与其本质特点相辅相成，同时与其外在的（第三人称视角，客观的）的东西有着联系，也就是说我们都有自我内在联系。

 l因此我们和每个情景都有着瞬间直观的互相联系。我们对彼此和整体决定作出反应，因为我们自己在每次瞬间发生变化的时候都让自己重新来过。

 l上帝让这些联系成为可能，上帝为现实中新奇的事物开辟了广阔的未来并提供了各种各样的可能性，上帝让我们在自己的个性中彼此联系在一起。

 l上帝让我们根据自身的不同情况邀请我们（给我们能力）来为自己的富足做出最理想的选择（最理想指的是让我们的经历、公正、热情与爱进入最大状态），也为了我们共同的富足；存在就是自我决定、互相联系在某种程度上富有创造力。

 l我们和宇宙中的所有物质一起变成与上帝合作的创造者，我们共同在展望未来和总结过去的基础上规划现在。上帝首要的能力就是劝服，不是强制。

 l一旦现在变成了真实的，上帝就会永远知晓并永远珍视。

 这些说法一开始看上去似乎是混乱的，即使我努力展示出他们实际上反映了你所熟知的关于自己、生活和宇宙的问题是真实的。我们认为这肯定是带着传统的宗教色彩，那些传统见解让我们自己很难打开自己来用参与和辨别的方式诠释我们的思想和彼此之间、与世界的联系，用坚定的信念与神联系在一起。

 如果你是第一次与过程思想打交道的话，过程思想所提供给我们的大部分内容是一种选择最初可能听起来让人感到震惊，甚至与宗教毫无关系。我们当初学到的要相信的大部分内容迫使我们在精神与智力之间、在科学与宗教之间、在道德与教义之间做出选择。在这种分裂的形势下，所有正统的人都带着不情愿选择了智力、科学与道德。

 但是过程思想所带给我们的是意识到这种完全对立的思想，在A和B之间必须选择一者是虚假的选择方式。也可以不做出任何选择来理解世界、上帝和宗教。事实上，如果具备过程洞察力和过程工具的话，我们可以断言自己的宗教观、精神、思想和伦理会让彼此增强并且变得更加完美。

 在你坚持的过程中，你可能像很多人一样发现不用在自己所知道的和所相信的两者之间建立起一堵墙，发现不需要把科学与宗教封闭在一场“赢者通吃”的战争中，发现不需要用道德和智力来衡量古代信仰所关联的诗篇和智慧，发现一个人可以是宗教人士但是并不抛弃自己的教育与道德观。Translated by Han Sun: International Institute of Education and Culture & Department of  International Cooperation and Exchanges,Heilongjiang  University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, P.R.China 150080