The 20 Synthophic Precepts, Why?

Recently I received this letter from a reader regarding my 20 Synthophic Precepts:

Mr. Strain,
...I finally checked out your site/blog, and the thing that stuck out most was your Twenty Synthophic Precepts. I enjoyed the syncretic aspect alot, but what I liked most was the stark rationality and reason underlying it.
So my question and reason for emailing you was, for what reason in particular did you write these?

Thanks much for your interest in my writing! Most of the work on my sites and blogs is, first and foremost, for my own benefit. I have always been interested in philosophy, but actively exploring philosophy and applying it to my life has become somewhat of a spiritual practice for me. Rather than accept any one philosophy/religion/tradition as one insuperable whole, however, I prefer to examine each aspect of it, whether it makes sense, works, etc. As such, I have found that many streams of thought have approached the same overlapping concepts. So, figuring out how these might fit together into a cohesive and consistent framework is much of what I do. My blogs and sites serve as a journal of sorts, that I can refer back to later and that assist me in my studies. I'd recommend any explorer of philosophy keep a journal of some sort, whether it be online or not.

After a few years of study on the synchronicity between Stoicism, Buddhism, and modern Humanism (including scientific discoveries and naturalistic worldview), the 20 Synthophic Precepts was one of my first steps in outlining how the core concepts of each might work together cohesively, to lead from the ground up - starting with basic observations about the world, culminating in lifestyle and ethical prescriptives. I have found it was very useful to me in gelling my thoughts. From there, I have somewhat proceeded to "fill out" the precepts - meaning the rest is seen as elaboration on each of those to some degree - thus the 20 are like a skeleton.

In the meantime, if any of my work, including the 20 Synthophic Precepts, is found useful or even merely interesting by others - then so much the better. I also have gained from hearing the responses of others regarding them (and have modified them a bit in light of their input).

Hope that answers your question :)