Almost everyone knows the quote: “In the beginning was the word.” My assertion as to what that quote means is that reality is essentially linguistic in nature. In other words, the nature of reality or whatever is determined to be “really real” has its beginning or origins in language or words. Reality is created linguistically.

The dictionary of any given language has a very interesting quality. Every entry in the dictionary refers only to other entries in the dictionary. The words of a dictionary are defined by other words in the same dictionary. And so a dictionary is a closed, self-referential system. Reality or ‘realities’ are also closed, self-referential systems. Everything in a given reality is perceived, understood and talked about in terms of other things inside the same reality.

Specific words in a language are used by virtue of people agreeing to use them. These language agreements slowly change over time and so the words slowly change over time but the dictionary is always a closed system. Similarly, realities slowly change over time but a reality is always a closed system.

What all of this means is that any reality exists by virtue of people agreeing as to what is real and what is not.

To take a simple example here are three phrases. 1) Terrorism. 2) Capital Punishment and 3) Meritorious conduct in war. In all cases there is most likely the life of a human being ended by another human. Simply stated, "a killing." In this case the reality agreements would be about good and bad endings to a human life. You can see that “what is a good or bad killing” is vastly different depending on who is agreeing with whom. And, “what is real,” the killing itself, is fairly simple.

If we were to next ask the question “When is a person really dead?” The reality of death is not so simple. And this problem led to the invention of the phrase “brain dead.” Is “brain dead” the same as “dead?” When is a person dead and when is a body dead?

Courts and judicial systems serve a wonderful and not so well appreciated purpose by defining words and therefore defining realities with the force of law. Lawyers fight with one another to actually “determine and test” what is real!

Wars do the same thing and so lawyers are actually warriors. In both, a fight with words and a fight with guns, the winner says what is real. The resulting associated effects are “real enough” as entire lives, fortunes, social systems and countries can come into existence or go out of existence depending who says what is real and who agrees with it!

With this understanding we could now redefine "force" as coerced agreement for the purpose of forcing a particular reality to preveil. And we could redefine coercion or being coerced as choosing one reality over another based on consequences or events rather than perceptions of relationship! But then we could ask, “Are relationships based on events and consequences or are relationships based something else?” And this would lead us into defining value systems.

An attempt to force a particular reality to prevail through coerced agreement is what makes propaganda, disinformation and outright lies all viable couses of action. Anone who is in a hostile fight with words be they children, partners, lawers, writers or governments will not hesitate to use these courses of action if their reality is felt to be sufficiently threatened.

If your head allows you to stay with the pressure and tension of this kind of inquiry you will wind up asking yourself some very powerful questions about who or what is determining the content and quality of the reality of your own life.

And, one of the purposes of "Greg's Dictionary" is to support that kind of inquiry. In doing so, agreed upon definitions of words will change and as a consequence reality will change also.

As any given single "reality" exists by virtue of agreement and the words of a language exist by virtue of agreement and the one, i.e. reality, is determined by the other, i.e. language, what we are actually endeavoring to do is to slowly change reality by invitation to ‘speak differently’ rather than change reality by force!

This dictionary is offered with the invitation to agree or not. And the level of agreement will determine whether a reality exists or not.

The specific reality that I am suggesting we bring into existence is a reality of a more integrated and closer relationship between spiritual life and physical life. "Greg's Dictionary" proposes to support an understanding of human physical reality that allows for a far greater experience of human spiritual reality. The two realities come closer together by simply agreeing what things like love, spirit, transformation, truth and 'enlightenment that lasts forever' really are!