People often say that such experiences "really put things in perspective." And indeed, in such moments our perspective expands to encompass the Whole – the whole of our selves, our lives, the universe, and our place in it.

It is perhaps not uncommon, in such moments – when we are able to consider our everyday lives from this all-embracing perspective – to feel that we have been wasting much of our time on trivialities, neglecting the things that really matter to us, and, in short, sleepwalking through our lives rather than really living them. We may feel that if we could only retain this clarity and breadth of vision, it would give us the conviction and courage to fulfill the promise of our lives. But often – perhaps, more often than not – the glimpse is only a fleeting one, and soon the veil descends once more.

Is it in any way possible to retain such a perspective over the long term – to make it a constant, guiding force in our lives – rather than merely glimpsing it briefly in the wake of some intense experience? And if so, how?

To have a "metaphysical perspective" means to regard every particular in the light of the universal. It means to be informed and motivated, in one's everyday thoughts and actions, by the entire sum of one's experience and knowledge – ultimately, by those abstractions which embrace the whole of reality: metaphysical abstractions.

Such a perspective can be retained indefinitely. How can this be done? The answer to that question is the subject of this work.

Naturally, the first step in planning a journey is to establish one's destination – to decide both where one wants to go, and why one wants to go there. In this introduction I have given a brief description of what a metaphysical perspective is, and made a brief case for why it is a desirable thing to achieve. But in order to develop a thorough prescription for how to achieve it, these issues must be fully fleshed out. The first part of this work, then, will be dedicated to fully identifying the nature and life-sustaining value of a metaphysical perspective; and from this foundation we will proceed, in the second part, to a detailed discussion of the practices necessary for its establishment and maintenance.

There are two introductory notes I would like to make, by way of clarification:

Today, the term "metaphysical" is popularly associated with new-age mysticism. Its true origins, however, lie in the philosophy of the Father of Logic – Aristotle. In this writing, I use the term in its classical, Aristotelian meaning; a full discussion of what the classical meaning is, and how it applies here, will be found in chapter one.

Secondly, it should be noted at the outset that a "metaphysical perspective" is not the same thing as a Weltanschauung ("world-veiw") or a "sense of life," although all three are concerned in some way with the individual's fundamental philosophic convictions. The difference is that the concept of "metaphysical perspective" is not, per se, concerned with the content of those convictions, but rather with the form in which they are held. For example, if we describe an individual's sense of life as "tragic," or "heroic," etc., we are identifying the underlying philosophic convictions that are manifested in his personality. On the other hand, if we describe an individual's perspective as "metaphysical," we are identifying the degree to which his daily thoughts and actions are influenced by his philosophic convictions – whatever they may be – as against the degree to which he lives merely by the range of the moment, oblivious to the full context of his knowledge. This distinction will be made increasingly clear as we proceed.

(That's the introduction...I plan to post an outline or Table of Contents as well, as soon as it's ready.)