https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDCRS6WP/
What inspired you to write Essentia
and explore the idea of a personal path to God?
Religion is supposed to bring unity and love, but it commonly brings
division and hatred. It’s supposed to “melt” the primitive tribalism we all
have, but curiously, it only strengthens it. We usually fight for the minimum
we disagree with instead of uniting for the majority that we agree upon. We are
far from stopping being a belligerent species, but I think we can stop killing
in the name of God. Writing this book to me represents an attempt to achieve
unity and tolerance without necessarily changing any of our beliefs. It's
something I call "social consensualism" and
"meta-constructivism"; we have to live together in the best possible
constructive way. Much like my previous
work, "The Sovereign Perspective: Unity Solutions in Times of
Unprecedented Division," I am driven by a fervent desire to confront and
overcome the forces of division, tribalism, ignorance, and what German
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “stupidity”.
You mention that faith should come after reason and questioning. Can you
explain why?
I noticed that people processed religion cognitively differently than any
other subject. People subvert entirely the order of things. Faith is supposed
to be the last step after all the scientific and logical means are exhausted.
But people do the opposite; people believe first and then try to justify
everything to prove their faith, even terrible things like genocide.
How does Essentia challenge
traditional religious dogma or certainty?
Essentia provides practical tools to help you apply to your faith. There is no right or wrong as long as you draw conclusions using the method provided. You don't need to change any of your beliefs; simply test them through the five steps. It's ironic that religion is one of the least provable aspects of life, yet it often requires the least amount of evidence. Religion plays a significant role in our daily lives and even in politics. I strongly believe that if there is a God, He or She has endowed us with rational minds for our benefit. While faith is essential because we cannot explain everything through science and logic, it should be the final step in our understanding.
When it comes to certainty, moral certainty has led to some of the world's
worst crimes. It fosters the dangerous belief that "the end justifies the
means" and promotes stupidity, mankind's worst villain. Stupidity is not
ignorance. According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer stupidity is a moral and social
failure, not an intellectual one. It occurs when individuals surrender their
capacity for independent thought, allowing themselves to be overtaken by
slogans, groupthink, or ideological forces. In this state, a person becomes a
“mindless tool,” incapable of reason or self-reflection, and dangerously
resistant to facts or logic. Bonhoeffer saw this as more perilous than malice,
because stupidity cannot be countered with argument or evidence—it renders
people manipulable and complicit in evil without recognizing it as such.
Throughout history, some of the greatest minds have exhibited the least
amount of certainty. They understood that while they possessed knowledge, it
was minimal compared to the vast amount of information that exists. For
example, our current understanding of consciousness is like a single grain of
sand on an expansive beach. Additionally, this only accounts for what we know
we don't know. Imagine what we have yet to discover. We should be cautious of
religious leaders and masters who claim to have absolute certainty. It is
important for us to remain humble and recognize that we are all in the process
of figuring things out.
Can you tell us more about the method of balance or the "golden
mean" in your book?
Our minds tend to operate on extremes, often swinging between "feast or
famine." We rarely find a middle ground or "course correct."
Aristotle defined the Golden Mean as the idea that virtue exists in finding a
balanced path between two extremes—excess and deficiency. For instance, courage
represents the mean between recklessness (too much) and cowardice (too little).
It’s not merely about being average, but about choosing the right action in the
right amount and at the right time, guided by reason and practical wisdom.
Similarly, the Buddha's concept of the Middle Way advocates for balance,
avoiding the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. After
experiencing both the luxuries of his life as a prince and the harshness of
asceticism, the Buddha realized that neither approach led to true liberation.
Instead, he taught a way of life rooted in ethical conduct, mental discipline,
and wisdom, which became known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
These principles aren't merely about moderation for its own sake; they offer
profound insights into living with clarity, compassion, and freedom. This means
not clinging to pleasure or punishing oneself, but walking a path that
harmonizes body and mind, effort and ease, intention and action. This balance
applies to every aspect of life, and if I had to select one lesson from my
century of life, this would be it.
After applying the empirical scientific and logical tests to the religious
teaching, the next step is the balance one.
Why do you say that no religion or belief system has conclusively defined
God?
We have to understand that religion is our mere, primitive attempt to try to
understand the extraordinary (God) from our ordinary human minds. Hence, all
the misinterpretations, confusions, misjudgments, and fights. All religions are
right and also wrong. You may find God in all of them, but at the same time,
God is a lot greater than our small minds can conceive, meaning that if I can
realize what God really is, it's a limited definition and, therefore, just part
of the truth.
How does your own background influence your view of faith and
spirituality?
Somehow, fate made me an amalgamation of the great majority of the world's
religions. A Christian Arab father from the world's oldest Christian royal
lineage still active, and a recently discovered royal Sephardic Jewish ancestor
from my mother's side, complementing an Italian, French, British, Portuguese,
Spanish, and Scandinavian background. I was born and raised Roman Catholic, and
from a very young age, I began to learn about Asian culture, first through
martial arts and later through Japanese Shinto and Zen, and then, more deeply,
Tibetan Buddhism. All of that was combined with deep philosophical and esoteric
studies. I was diagnosed with a gifted brain that is only present in two
percent of the world's population when I was six years old. By the time I was
eleven, studying in a Catholic Franciscan school, I noticed that a lot of what
I was learning didn't make sense to me. I started asking questions to the
theologians, which culminated in being forbidden to talk in class a couple of
years later.
By the time I was fifteen, I was debating theologians on TV as a kind of
circus freak. Because of my mental condition, which cannot be romanticized
since it also brought me a lot of suffering and bullying throughout my whole
life, I have extreme traits: critical thinking, empathy, a sense of justice,
etc. Those "superpowers" that come with a "side order of mild
autism" make me constantly think "outside the box”; actually, it’s
very rare for me to think “inside the box”.
What role does critical thinking play in your idea of spiritual growth?
Critical thinking should be our indispensable compass for everything in
every second of our lives. Emotion should be the "seasoning" of our
decisions, not the primary catalyst. If that applies to everything, why should
it be different when the subject is religion? I'm starting a campaign against
stupidity, and I'm considering creating a red cap written "Make Critical
Thinking Great Again"!
Can you explain how prayer and meditation fit into the journey toward the
divine?
Regardless of what anyone may think, it has been scientifically proven to be
beneficial to our health, psyche, and overall well-being. I also add
contemplation to meditation and prayer. Contemplation enables you to see
conflicts and situations from different perspectives that are not your own,
thereby developing another important and scarce quality in today's world:
compassion. Cleaning your mind, developing compassion, and connecting your
sense of belonging to every single being in the universe will definitely unveil
the face of God.
How does Essentia approach the
relationship between science and faith?
The Essentian method bridges the gap between science and faith. A faith that
is in conflict with science is misguided. God is present in nature, and so is
enlightenment. Why would God contradict science? Just as religion cannot prove
the existence of God, science cannot disprove it. Therefore, we should remain
humble and recognize that we are all seekers in this vast field of knowledge
and faith.
For instance, if quantum physics were an encyclopedia, our current
understanding would fill only the first few letters—let's say, A to D. These
sections would cover the known principles: wave-particle duality, quantum
entanglement, uncertainty, and the Standard Model. These concepts are complex,
detailed, and remarkably predictive.
However, from E to Z, the shelves remain mostly empty. We know that many
volumes should exist because we observe hints of them in phenomena like dark
matter, quantum gravity, vacuum fluctuations, and the unresolved measurement
problem. Yet, the content of these volumes remains unknown to us. It’s as if we
have mastered the grammar and a few chapters of a vast cosmic language, but the
rest is still sealed, waiting for the right key. Science and religion should
walk together.
What would you say to readers who feel unsure or doubtful about their
spiritual path?
I truly
believe that "Essentia" is the perfect book for you. I invite you to
wholeheartedly embrace its teachings within the context of your own beliefs,
with sincerity and an open heart. You might discover one of two incredible
outcomes: either a profound deepening of your existing faith or a
transformative journey that liberates you from superstitions, unnecessary
guilt, and the weight of beliefs that no longer serve you. Both paths can lead
to success and a fulfilling and meaningful life. I encourage you to focus on
what truly matters—the essence—and to let go of everything else.