I don’t think anyone has all the answers to the most important questions of life: What is the meaning of life, if any? Are we more than mere organisms? Are we alone in the cosmos? What is it to be human? What is right and wrong? What is consciousness, where is it located, and what happens to it when the body dies? Is there a supreme being or some part of the greater universe that is conscious, and does it care about us or even know we are here? Is 42 the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything? Or is there no answer at all?
Most religions posit one or more higher beings, and assert that our task in life is to do the will of this entity, for which we will be rewarded in some way. Most philosophies elevate the exercise of human reason to discover inherent or relative meaning for ourselves as guides for our lives. Most atheists and agnostics reject fanciful concepts and promote ethical standards for the benefit of humanity. Many scientists reject things that cannot be proven, and use well established theories as their guides for life. All these approaches have value for their proponents.
The philosophy of Western Tantra arose from a scientific and interfaith perspective, the idea that all sincere efforts to discern answers to the ultimate questions will produce meaningful information that, when combined with the efforts of others, will provide more illumination of reality than having a narrow focus on only one school of thought. Western Tantra draws on many religions, philosophies, and science for its concepts (see References), but is open to new ideas and is willing to change. Western Tantra asserts that many differences between the various religions and philosophies (even within the same religion and philosophy) arise from the use of words to mean different things, not the underlying concepts which may be essentially the same. To avoid the appearance of disagreement where none exists, Western Tantra defines its use of words having multiple meanings in the Glossary of Terms, and capitalizes words defined by Western Tantric usage.
The aim of Western Tantra is not to replace anyone’s religion or philosophy, but rather to enhance and rejuvenate it by means of added practices and concepts. We call your current beliefs your Base religion or philosophy, and invite you to add Western Tantric practices to what you already have. Western Tantra has an interfaith focus.
Western Tantra is a branch of pragmatism (Western Tantra, the White Path of Ethics, p. 138) which asserts that the meanings of concepts are determined by their utility, the function of thought is to guide action, and truth is to be tested by the consequences of belief. In other words, check things out for yourself, and if they work as planned and lead to beneficial results, then keep those beliefs and practices. We can learn from others if we keep our minds open to new ideas, try to understand what they really mean, and accept things that lead to beneficial results. What do you think?