First, imagine a cubical box. On the box is inscribed "So long as it harms none, do what you will." That's the only real Commandment for living in this world. If you keep the part about harming none you may not be part of any solutions, but at least you won't be as much a part of the various problems as you might otherwise be.

Beyond the injunction to avoid doing harm, you have the chance to decide what to try to make of your life. It's up to you to choose a path. Fate may derail your plans, but then it's up to you to pick a detour. You may wish to follow the path of some trusted Guide through this world and into the next, or you may prefer to blaze your own trail. It's your decision, so do as you will.

But that's only the first level. Open the box and find therein a tetrahedron, with one of the following four pieces of advice for further progress inscribed on each face:

"Learn to Love Others (so you will want to make the world a better place)."

"Learn to Know Others (lest your ignorance cause harm)."

"Learn to Love Yourself (so your internal forces will all work with you, none against you)."

"Learn to Know Yourself (because knowledge is power)."

Since these instructions are written on the faces of a tetrahedron they cannot be said to really be in any order, even though I have had to put them in some order to write about them. Rather, each has the other three as neighbors.

You can take the tetrahedron out of the box and hold it in your hands and meditate on it.

You can look at a face, and meditate on what is written there.

You can look at an edge, and meditate on the two instructions written on the faces that meet at that edge. How does either affect the way you carry out the other?

You can look at a point where three faces meet without the fourth. How would ignoring the fourth face affect your life and those around you?

And you can look at the tetrahedron as a whole.

Many, such as humanistic atheists, would stop there. Others would have, inside the tetrahedron, some other object with additional rules or suggestions written on it. What those would be would depend on your particular spiritual path. Mine would probably say something about knowing and loving the Spirit, and perhaps also knowing and loving the physical universe as a gift from that Spirit (Some might say "the world" or "the Earth" instead of "the Universe", but I prefer the broader view).

There are those who would say that love of the world or the Universe should not be a rule in itself because it follows from the first rule about harming none. After all, too much wanton destruction of the environment would diminish the general quality of life. And those who believe the physical plane of being was created by someone other than the divine True Creator might not consider it worthy of love at all. There are also those who would give a particular name and face to the Spirit, or say the Spirit should be approached or addressed or thought of in a particular way. That is why this set of writings will be different for different people.

Finally, inside all the nested objects you have seen up to now, is the bag that unfolds to hold the box you started with. It bears a message to the effect that life is complex, and its rules cannot be reduced to a few simple words. The written rules are merely reminders of that which takes at least a lifetime, and perhaps eternity, to fully learn.