Sudden enlightenment in Christianity, Buddhism and Communism

[manolo]

Folks,

There is something in the ideologies of Christianity, Buddhism and Communism which bears comparison. This is the notion of 'sudden enlightenment'.
Superficially this would seem like a simple shortcut, just dropping the hard effort of good works or meditation and going direct to the source, like lightning to earth. I think this would be to misunderstand the concept.

In sudden enlightenment something different is going on: this is death to the self. Crucially, the abandonment of ego is 'The Way'. For the Christian, we give ourselves to Jesus - entirely. To achieve grace we must die to ourselves and trust implicity in the other. It is a Kierkegaardian leap of faith and nothing less will do.

In Buddhism a similar death to the self occurs. "Enlightenment in this case means a letting go of this unrealistic self concept or 'self aggrandized-ness' by awakening to the fact that it is a delusion."

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awa ... grad2.html

In both cases the barrier to sudden enlightenment is the sense of self, what some Christians call 'pride' or 'haughtiness'; what Buddhists call 'attachment'.

In communism, a political process of death to the self involves the dropping of individuality in favour of the commune. There is no self, only the realisation of the commune to which we have given ourselves totally. Alone, we are nothing. All three of these ideologies seem to share this common factor, for good or ill, and the demands of membership are not insignificant.

What's not to like?

Alex.

[noddy]

What's not to like?

someone elses definition of selfless.

[Nonc Hilaire]

If something is of God it tends to show up in many forms and in many places. God does love variety.

The best description of this spiritual development I have found is in Thomas à Kempis', Imitation of Christ..

It is a small book, easily read in an hour or two but better read in small bites. It is best to take a single thought or observation and just ruminate on it for a day. The same way you put a pebble in your mouth during a hike and find you rarely get thirsty.

It is 14th century but very readable today. Christian, but fully relevant to any spiritual discipline. An excellent description of the interior life of a religious Christian without the exterior trappings or denominational polemics that can be so distracting.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.i.html

[manolo]

If something is of God it tends to show up in many forms and in many places. God does love variety.

The best description of this spiritual development I have found is in Thomas à Kempis', Imitation of Christ..

It is a small book, easily read in an hour or two but better read in small bites. It is best to take a single thought or observation and just ruminate on it for a day. The same way you put a pebble in your mouth during a hike and find you rarely get thirsty.

It is 14th century but very readable today. Christian, but fully relevant to any spiritual discipline. An excellent description of the interior life of a religious Christian without the exterior trappings or denominational polemics that can be so distracting.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.i.html

Nonc,

The idea that one should "Love to be unknown" does seem to chime with points made in the OP on this thread and reminds me of the Buddhist dictum "If you meet the Buddha; kill him."

I don't think that we need religious or political ideologies to realise that wisdom is not the property of an individual, but for the masses these ideologies do seem to have been influential.

Alex.

[manolo]

What's not to like?

someone elses definition of selfless.

noddy,

I share your view.

Alex.

[Simple Minded]

What's not to like?

someone elses definition of selfless.

Wow, I hereby dub thee Sir Noddy the thread killer!

That.... and someone's else definition of selfish.

Parents strike me as some of the most selfish creatures I have ever met, but if you ask them, they are being selfless.

I get a great sense of self-esteem from conquering my sense of self and imposing my sense of selflessness on the unwashed.

No pride or vanity is involved. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm on a mission from God ( or maybe at least my god).

Adults, regarding religion or ideology (especially selflessness) are like the little kids on the playground who say "My daddy can beat up your daddy."

"My sense of selflessness is superior to your sense of selflessness."

tis walking a fine line..........

[Simple Minded]

The best description of this spiritual development I have found is in Thomas à Kempis', Imitation of Christ..

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.i.html

AMEN Nonc! One of the greatest books of all time, IMSMO. Other than you, and probably Marcus, I have never met a Christian (assuming my labels are correct) who has read it.

It seems very similar to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

I recall finding that book and thinking "What a great title! How revealing that so many choose to worship Christ rather than imitate him! The difference between "religion" for personal improvement and "RELIGION" for public display."

The least rewarding path of least resistance seems preferable to many.

[Simple Minded]

Folks,

There is something in the ideologies of Christianity, Buddhism and Communism which bears comparison. This is the notion of 'sudden enlightenment'.
Superficially this would seem like a simple shortcut, just dropping the hard effort of good works or meditation and going direct to the source, like lightning to earth. I think this would be to misunderstand the concept.

In sudden enlightenment something different is going on: this is death to the self. Crucially, the abandonment of ego is 'The Way'. For the Christian, we give ourselves to Jesus - entirely. To achieve grace we must die to ourselves and trust implicity in the other. It is a Kierkegaardian leap of faith and nothing less will do.

In Buddhism a similar death to the self occurs. "Enlightenment in this case means a letting go of this unrealistic self concept or 'self aggrandized-ness' by awakening to the fact that it is a delusion."

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awa ... grad2.html

In both cases the barrier to sudden enlightenment is the sense of self, what some Christians call 'pride' or 'haughtiness'; what Buddhists call 'attachment'.

In communism, a political process of death to the self involves the dropping of individuality in favour of the commune. There is no self, only the realisation of the commune to which we have given ourselves totally. Alone, we are nothing. All three of these ideologies seem to share this common factor, for good or ill, and the demands of membership are not insignificant.

What's not to like?

Alex.

good post Alex. I have often noted the similarities myself.

Now, how to get Fred to abandon his sense of self, either for his own good because he is self-destructive, or for the good of society because he drags us all down is the sticky wicket.

The 30%er who will steal from the 20%er for the good of the 40%ers...., and my buddy who loved to quote Marx yet refused my suggestion to whisper in his infant daughter's ear "From Niah according to her abilities, to Uncle Ed according to his needs" whenever he put her down to sleep...... come to my mind.

Program the next generation to be less selfish than our generation for our own good, er, uh, I mean for the good of the whole?

[Simple Minded]

selling the concept of selflessness to others is kinda like when the flight attendant tells you if the oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, put your own mask on first before helping others.

me: hey noddy! this morning at 10 am I attained selflessness and it is great. I am really happy! you should try it!
noddy: you first!
me: what?
noddy: gimme your shoes.
me: you can't have my shoes. their mine!
noddy: my point exactly.

[Typhoon]

The best description of this spiritual development I have found is in Thomas à Kempis', Imitation of Christ..

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.i.html

AMEN Nonc! One of the greatest books of all time, IMSMO. Other than you, and probably Marcus, I have never met a Christian (assuming my labels are correct) who has read it.

It seems very similar to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

I recall finding that book and thinking "What a great title! How revealing that so many choose to worship Christ rather than imitate him! The difference between "religion" for personal improvement and "RELIGION" for public display."

The least rewarding path of least resistance seems preferable to many.

For me, a key part of the appeal of Meditations (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, Ta eis heauton, literally "thoughts/writings addressed to himself") is that the only person the author was trying to convince was himself.

[kmich]

Selflessness can be a scam, an illusory vanity we create for ourselves. Or perhaps created by clerics wanting you to empty your pockets into their own coffers in a “selfless” display so they can buy fancy vestments, pay off lawsuits, or for assorted bullshit. Spiritual life is about maturing and fulfilling the self in its true nature as known by God, it is not about becoming “selfless” as such.

Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.

This is the person that I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God—because Truth, Light—knows nothing about him. And to be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy.

My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God’s will and God’s love— outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion.

We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish most about ourselves—the ones we are born and raised with and which feed the roots of sin. For most of the people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A life devoted to maintaining and expanding this false self, this shadow, is what is called a life of sin.

All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life around which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge, feeling loved, in order to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to myself and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.

To be a saint means to be my true self. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I truly am and of discovering my true self, my essence or core.

Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied.

With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like.

We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face.

But we cannot make these choices with impunity.

Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them.

If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it and that confusion reigns.

- Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation“

[manolo]

Spiritual life is about maturing and fulfilling the self in its true nature as known by God, it is not about becoming “selfless” as such.

kmich,

I suspect that it may be possible to be "maturing and fulfilling the self in it's true nature" in a Godless universe.

Alex.

[Marcus]

I suspect that it may be possible to be "maturing and fulfilling the self in it's true nature" in a Godless universe.

Alex.

Not even . .

There is no such thing as "true nature" in a Godless universe . . there is only what is and what might be . .

Lead us, Evolution, lead us
Up the future's endless stair;
Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

—Clives Staples Lewis

[manolo]

. . there is only what is . .

Marcus,

I think that this may well be correct.

Alex.

[Marcus]

. . there is only what is . .

Marcus,

I think that this may well be correct.

Alex.

Your choice, Alex . . best wishes . . we'll all know (or not) one day . .

[kmich]

Spiritual life is about maturing and fulfilling the self in its true nature as known by God, it is not about becoming “selfless” as such.

kmich,

I suspect that it may be possible to be "maturing and fulfilling the self in it's true nature" in a Godless universe.

Alex.

How, Alex?

Based on what?

[Marcus]

. . Based on what?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." —the author of the epistle to the Hebrews

[Simple Minded]

For me, a key part of the appeal of Meditations (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, Ta eis heauton, literally "thoughts/writings addressed to himself") is that the only person the author was trying to convince was himself.

For me, it was the sense of personal responsibility. No one but you is responsible for your focus, interpretation, and response. Very, very similar, in my simple mind to the Buddhist concept of the self creating our preferred illusions and attaining element (weird typo?) enlightenment or happiness by cutting thru the illusions we create.

I was raised Catholic, so I encountered that denomination of Christianity first. Then various philosophers (including Ayn Rand & Viktor Frankl), Bhuddism, Thomas a Kempis, and Marcus Aurelius in which order I don't recall.

To me, the similarities are striking, even though the very mention that Rand is similar to Christianity or Buddhism seems to drive some "Christians" or the "Buddhists" to apoplexy.

The information is external, the interpretation is internal. Who knows why some interpret as they do.

Yet again.... "Between stimulus and response man has the ability to choose."

[Marcus]

. . the similarities are striking, . .

To forestall the inevitable tedium of repeating what should be a well known idea among all literate men, allow me to quote some examples of what philosopher’s call Natural Law, or Objective Morality.

The examples here are not being used to prove the maxims given. It is not being argued, for example, that merely because all literate races of man extol generosity and excoriate adultery that generosity is good and adultery is bad.

The examples are merely offered to establish the phenomenon to be explained, namely, that men of every culture and age agree on the moral principles, even if they disagree on how those principles are to be applied.

If morality were manmade, as positive law is, or as writing systems are, then they were differ as positive law codes differ, or differ as much as cuneiform differs from runes or hieroglyphs or ideographs or alphabets. But what we have here is a collection of statements, some originally written in runes or alphabets or hieroglyphs or ideograms, which all express the same few moral imperatives in different words. That indicates that this part of the moral law of man is not manmade but natural. Hence it is called Natural Law.

Myself, I would argue that the moral laws exists in the human heart due to the intention of the supernatural creator of man, who also has the authority to command obedience to them, and the power to disseminate these laws instantaneously at creation into every rational spirit. However, other theories can be argued as well. What cannot be argued is that there is no phenomenon to be explained by any theory, no agreement on the natural moral code.

The words below are those of CS Lewis.

Illustrations of the Tao
The following illustrations of the Natural Law are collected from such sources as come readily to the hand of one who is not a professional historian. The list makes no pretence of completeness. It will be noticed that writers such as Locke and Hooker, who wrote within the Christian tradition, are quoted side by side with the New Testament. This would, of course, be absurd if I were trying to collect independent testimonies to the Tao. But (1) I am not trying to prove its validity by the argument from common consent. Its validity cannot be deduced. For those who do not perceive its rationality, even universal consent could not prove it. (2) The idea of collecting independent testimonies presupposes that ‘civilizations’ have arisen in the world independently of one another; or even that humanity has had several independent emergences on this planet. The biology and anthropology involved in such an assumption are extremely doubtful. It is by no means certain that there has ever (in the sense required) been more than one civilization in all history. It is at least arguable that every civilization we find has been derived from another civilization and, in the last resort, from a single centre—’carried’ like an infectious disease or like the Apostolical succession.

I. The Law of General Beneficence
(a) NEGATIVE
‘I have not slain men.’ (Ancient Egyptian. From the Confession of the Righteous Soul, ‘Book of the Dead’, v. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics [= ERE], vol. v, p. 478)

‘Do not murder.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:13)

‘Terrify not men or God will terrify thee.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Precepts of Ptahhetep. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. i3}n)

‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw… murderers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)

‘I have not brought misery upon my fellows. I have not made the beginning of every day laborious in the sight of him who worked for me.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘I have not been grasping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Ibid.) ‘Who meditates oppression, his dwelling is overturned.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.’ (Hindu. Laws of Manu. Janet, Histoire de la Science Politique, vol. i, p. 6)

‘Slander not.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)

‘Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded.’ (Hindu. Janet, p. 7)

‘Has he … driven an honest man from his family? broken up a well cemented clan?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins from incantation tablets. ERE v. 446)

‘I have not caused hunger. I have not caused weeping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 478)

‘Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects of Confucius, trans. A. Waley, xv. 23; cf. xii. 2)

‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:17)

‘He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon goodness will dislike no one.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, iv. 4)

(b) POSITIVE
‘Nature urges that a man should wish human society to exist and should wish to enter it.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Officiis, i. iv)

‘By the fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be preserved as much as possible.’ (Locke, Treatises of Civil Govt. ii. 3)

‘When the people have multiplied, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Enrich them. Jan Ch’iu said, When one has enriched them, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Instruct them.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)

‘Speak kindness … show good will.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘Men were brought into existence for the sake of men that they might do one another good.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. vii)

‘Man is man’s delight.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 47)

‘He who is asked for alms should always give.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 7)

‘What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of his?’ (Roman. Juvenal xv. 140)

‘I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.’ (Roman. Terence, Heaut. Tim.)

‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:18)

‘Love the stranger as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)

‘Do to men what you wish men to do to you.’ (Christian. Matthew 7:12)

2. The Law of Special Beneficence
‘It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to parents and elder brothers is the trunk of goodness.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 2)

‘Brothers shall fight and be each others’ bane.’ (Old Norse. Account of the Evil Age before the World’s end, Volospá 45)

‘Has he insulted his elder sister?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘You will see them take care of their kindred [and] the children of their friends … never reproaching them in the least.’ (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)

‘Love thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy life long.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)

‘Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right thinking man.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2600)

‘Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free man and as one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on our friendship?’ (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24)

‘Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.’ (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)

‘I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but should fulfil both my natural and artificial relations, as a worshipper, a son, a brother, a father, and a citizen.’ (Greek. Ibid. 111. ii)

‘This first I rede thee: be blameless to thy kindred. Take no vengeance even though they do thee wrong.’ (Old Norse. Sigdrifumál, 22)

‘Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their wives? For every good man, who is right-minded, loves and cherishes his own.’ (Greek. Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)

‘The union and fellowship of men will be best preserved if each receives from us the more kindness in proportion as he is more closely connected with us.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xvi)

‘Part of us is claimed by our country, part by our parents, part by our friends.’ (Roman. Ibid. i. vii)

‘If a ruler … compassed the salvation of the whole state, surely you would call him Good? The Master said, It would no longer be a matter of “Good”. He would without doubt be a Divine Sage.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, vi. 28)

‘Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your mother and father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer to its anger than to a father’s anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to a war where you may get wounds or death?’ (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)

‘If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.’ (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)

‘Put them in mind to obey magistrates.’… ‘I exhort that prayers be made for kings and all that are in authority.’ (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)

3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
‘Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is the first duty.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)

‘Has he despised Father and Mother?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘I was a staff by my Father’s side … I went in and out at his command.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)

‘Honour thy Father and thy Mother.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:12)

‘To care for parents.’ (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus, in. vii)

‘Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)

‘I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)

‘You will see them take care … of old men.’ (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)

‘I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after they are far away, the moral force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)

4. Duties to Children and Posterity
‘Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘To marry and to beget children.’ (Greek. List of duties. Epictetus, in. vii)

‘Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth? . . . What will happen? Whence is the population to be kept up? Who will educate them? Who will be Director of Adolescents? Who will be Director of Physical Training? What will be taught?’ (Greek. Ibid.)

‘Nature produces a special love of offspring’ and ‘To live according to Nature is the supreme good.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)

‘The second of these achievements is no less glorious than the first; for while the first did good on one occasion, the second will continue to benefit the state for ever.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)

‘Great reverence is owed to a child.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)

‘The Master said, Respect the young.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)

‘The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part… and we feel it very sorely.’ (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)

5. The Law of Justice
(a) SEXUAL JUSTICE
‘Has he approached his neighbour’s wife?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:14)

‘I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)… beguilers of others’ wives.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)

(b) HONESTY
‘Has he drawn false boundaries?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.’ (Babylonian. Ibid.)

‘I have not stolen.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘Thou shalt not steal.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)

‘Choose loss rather than shameful gains.’ (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)

‘Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.’ (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, I. i)

‘If the native made a “find” of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)

‘The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another unless he has first been attacked by the other’s wrongdoing. The second is that a man should treat common property as common property, and private property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature, but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement, or stipulation, or casting lots.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

(c) JUSTICE IN COURT, &C.
‘Whoso takes no bribe … well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)

‘I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)

‘Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)

‘Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)

6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
‘A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 6)

‘Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their utterance.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay? (Babylonian. ERE v. 446)

‘I have not spoken falsehood.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)

‘The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith.’ (Ancient

Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)

‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 39)

‘Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart.’ (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)

‘The foundation of justice is good faith.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i.vii)

‘[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep promises.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)

‘Anything is better than treachery.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 124)

7. The Law of Mercy
‘The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)

‘Has he failed to set a prisoner free?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ferry boat to the boatless.’

(Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)

‘One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.’ (Old Norse. Hárbarthsljóth 38)

‘In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.’… ‘They never desert the sick.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)

‘You will see them take care of… widows, orphans, and old men, never reproaching them.’ (Redskin. ERE v. 439)

‘Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131)

‘They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)

‘When thou cuttest down thine harvest… and hast forgot a sheaf… thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.’ (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)

8. The Law of Magnanimity
(a)
‘There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

‘Men always knew that when force and injury was offered they might be defenders of themselves; they knew that howsoever men may seek their own commodity, yet if this were done with injury unto others it was not to be suffered, but by all men and by all good means to be withstood.’ (English. Hooker, Laws of Eccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)

‘To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.’ (Ancient Egyptian. The Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. 161)

‘They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of the Fortunate Woods and the dwellings of the Blessed . . . here was the company of those who had suffered wounds fighting for their fatherland.’ (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi. 638-9, 660)

‘Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter, spirit the sterner, as our strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut to pieces, out best man in the dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this battle, he can howl forever.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Maldon, 312)

‘Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death is not grievous.’ (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)

‘The Master said, Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for the Good Way.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)

(b)
‘Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii)

‘Death is better for every man than life with shame.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890)

‘Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)

‘We must not listen to those who advise us “being men to think human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts,” but must put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its power and honour surpasses all else.’ (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B)

‘The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our minds the soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest power of the mind requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.’ (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)

‘Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time … let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.’ (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98)

‘He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses … is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.’ (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90)

(c)
‘Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?’ (Ancient Greek. Plato, Phadeo, 81 A)

‘I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights, wounded with the spear as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to Myself.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál, I. 10 in Corpus Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand’s Lieder der Älteren Edda. 1922)

‘Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.’ (Christian. John 12:24,25)

[kmich]

Keep it simple, do not concern yourself with your own thoughts, reasons, knowledge, study, and aspirations, and just listen with your whole heart...

The soul has a hidden abyss,
untouched by time and space,
which is far superior to anything
that gives life and movement to the body.
So you must be silent...

Then God will be born in you,
utter his word in you and you shall hear it;
but be very sure that if
you speak the word will have to be silent.
If you go out, he will most surely come in;
as much as you go out for him
He will come in to you; no more, no less…

- Johannes Tauler

[Marcus]

Keep it simple, do not concern yourself with your own thoughts, reasons, knowledge, study, and aspirations, and just listen with your whole heart...

The soul has a hidden abyss,
untouched by time and space,
which is far superior to anything
that gives life and movement to the body.
So you must be silent...

Then God will be born in you,
utter his word in you and you shall hear it;
but be very sure that if
you speak the word will have to be silent.
If you go out, he will most surely come in;
as much as you go out for him
He will come in to you; no more, no less…

- Johannes Tauler

Respectfully . . I can't figure out whether that's Gnosticism or Nihilism . .

[kmich]

Keep it simple, do not concern yourself with your own thoughts, reasons, knowledge, study, and aspirations, and just listen with your whole heart...

The soul has a hidden abyss,
untouched by time and space,
which is far superior to anything
that gives life and movement to the body.
So you must be silent...

Then God will be born in you,
utter his word in you and you shall hear it;
but be very sure that if
you speak the word will have to be silent.
If you go out, he will most surely come in;
as much as you go out for him
He will come in to you; no more, no less…

- Johannes Tauler

Respectfully . . I can't figure out whether that's Gnosticism or Nihilism . .

The vigilant clerical authorities of Tauler’s time apparently did not accuse him of such heresies, nor the reformers who followed him and found Tauler’s sermons praiseworthy. Martin Luther described Tauler's work as "the Christian tradition in its purest form. "

Johannes Tauler was a 14th century Domincan who spent his life as a mendicant preacher within the Order of Preachers. These orders were charged to combat errors in doctrine such as Gnosticism, and were under constant scrutiny by the Inquisition. He was an orthodox mystic. Tauler’s teachings follow the doctrine of the visio essentiœ Dei, the blessed contemplation or knowledge of the Divine nature, which he acquired from Aquinas, but took it to new, devotional levels. Divine knowledge and presence are attainable in this world and should be sought by every means.

[Marcus]

The vigilant clerical authorities of Tauler’s time apparently did not accuse him of such heresies, nor the reformers who followed him and found Tauler’s sermons praiseworthy. Martin Luther described Tauler's work as "the Christian tradition in its purest form. "

Johannes Tauler was a 14th century Domincan who spent his life as a mendicant preacher within the Order of Preachers. These orders were charged to combat errors in doctrine such as Gnosticism, and were under constant scrutiny by the Inquisition. He was an orthodox mystic. Tauler’s teachings follow the doctrine of the visio essentiœ Dei, the blessed contemplation or knowledge of the Divine nature, which he acquired from Aquinas, but took it to new, devotional levels. Divine knowledge and presence are attainable in this world and should be sought by every means.

Ah, that helps . . thanks. Placing the man and his quote in context changes everything . . reading the quote in a contextual vacuum leaves one wondering . . so much of what passes for spirituality today is vacuous nonsense.

Can't say I'm partial to much of anything from St. Tom. Am just finishing Rosenstock-Huessy's Fruit of Lips in which Eugen contemplates the Divine nature in his own inimitable style . . highly recommended if you're so inclined . .

Best wishes . .

[Simple Minded]

Illustrations of the Tao
The following illustrations of the Natural Law are collected from such sources as come readily to the hand of one who is not a professional historian. The list makes no pretence of completeness. It will be noticed that writers such as Locke and Hooker, who wrote within the Christian tradition, are quoted side by side with the New Testament. This would, of course, be absurd if I were trying to collect independent testimonies to the Tao. But (1) I am not trying to prove its validity by the argument from common consent. Its validity cannot be deduced. For those who do not perceive its rationality, even universal consent could not prove it. (2) The idea of collecting independent testimonies presupposes that ‘civilizations’ have arisen in the world independently of one another; or even that humanity has had several independent emergences on this planet. The biology and anthropology involved in such an assumption are extremely doubtful. It is by no means certain that there has ever (in the sense required) been more than one civilization in all history. It is at least arguable that every civilization we find has been derived from another civilization and, in the last resort, from a single centre—’carried’ like an infectious disease or like the Apostolical succession.

I. The Law of General Beneficence
(a) NEGATIVE
‘I have not slain men.’ (Ancient Egyptian. From the Confession of the Righteous Soul, ‘Book of the Dead’, v. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics [= ERE], vol. v, p. 478)

‘Do not murder.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:13)

‘Terrify not men or God will terrify thee.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Precepts of Ptahhetep. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. i3}n)

‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw… murderers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)

‘I have not brought misery upon my fellows. I have not made the beginning of every day laborious in the sight of him who worked for me.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘I have not been grasping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Ibid.) ‘Who meditates oppression, his dwelling is overturned.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.’ (Hindu. Laws of Manu. Janet, Histoire de la Science Politique, vol. i, p. 6)

‘Slander not.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)

‘Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded.’ (Hindu. Janet, p. 7)

‘Has he … driven an honest man from his family? broken up a well cemented clan?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins from incantation tablets. ERE v. 446)

‘I have not caused hunger. I have not caused weeping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 478)

‘Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects of Confucius, trans. A. Waley, xv. 23; cf. xii. 2)

‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:17)

‘He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon goodness will dislike no one.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, iv. 4)

(b) POSITIVE
‘Nature urges that a man should wish human society to exist and should wish to enter it.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Officiis, i. iv)

‘By the fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be preserved as much as possible.’ (Locke, Treatises of Civil Govt. ii. 3)

‘When the people have multiplied, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Enrich them. Jan Ch’iu said, When one has enriched them, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Instruct them.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)

‘Speak kindness … show good will.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘Men were brought into existence for the sake of men that they might do one another good.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. vii)

‘Man is man’s delight.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 47)

‘He who is asked for alms should always give.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 7)

‘What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of his?’ (Roman. Juvenal xv. 140)

‘I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.’ (Roman. Terence, Heaut. Tim.)

‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:18)

‘Love the stranger as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)

‘Do to men what you wish men to do to you.’ (Christian. Matthew 7:12)

2. The Law of Special Beneficence
‘It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to parents and elder brothers is the trunk of goodness.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 2)

‘Brothers shall fight and be each others’ bane.’ (Old Norse. Account of the Evil Age before the World’s end, Volospá 45)

‘Has he insulted his elder sister?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘You will see them take care of their kindred [and] the children of their friends … never reproaching them in the least.’ (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)

‘Love thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy life long.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)

‘Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right thinking man.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2600)

‘Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free man and as one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on our friendship?’ (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24)

‘Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.’ (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)

‘I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but should fulfil both my natural and artificial relations, as a worshipper, a son, a brother, a father, and a citizen.’ (Greek. Ibid. 111. ii)

‘This first I rede thee: be blameless to thy kindred. Take no vengeance even though they do thee wrong.’ (Old Norse. Sigdrifumál, 22)

‘Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their wives? For every good man, who is right-minded, loves and cherishes his own.’ (Greek. Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)

‘The union and fellowship of men will be best preserved if each receives from us the more kindness in proportion as he is more closely connected with us.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xvi)

‘Part of us is claimed by our country, part by our parents, part by our friends.’ (Roman. Ibid. i. vii)

‘If a ruler … compassed the salvation of the whole state, surely you would call him Good? The Master said, It would no longer be a matter of “Good”. He would without doubt be a Divine Sage.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, vi. 28)

‘Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your mother and father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer to its anger than to a father’s anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to a war where you may get wounds or death?’ (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)

‘If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.’ (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)

‘Put them in mind to obey magistrates.’… ‘I exhort that prayers be made for kings and all that are in authority.’ (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)

3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
‘Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is the first duty.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)

‘Has he despised Father and Mother?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘I was a staff by my Father’s side … I went in and out at his command.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)

‘Honour thy Father and thy Mother.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:12)

‘To care for parents.’ (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus, in. vii)

‘Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)

‘I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)

‘You will see them take care … of old men.’ (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)

‘I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after they are far away, the moral force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)

4. Duties to Children and Posterity
‘Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘To marry and to beget children.’ (Greek. List of duties. Epictetus, in. vii)

‘Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth? . . . What will happen? Whence is the population to be kept up? Who will educate them? Who will be Director of Adolescents? Who will be Director of Physical Training? What will be taught?’ (Greek. Ibid.)

‘Nature produces a special love of offspring’ and ‘To live according to Nature is the supreme good.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)

‘The second of these achievements is no less glorious than the first; for while the first did good on one occasion, the second will continue to benefit the state for ever.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)

‘Great reverence is owed to a child.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)

‘The Master said, Respect the young.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)

‘The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part… and we feel it very sorely.’ (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)

5. The Law of Justice
(a) SEXUAL JUSTICE
‘Has he approached his neighbour’s wife?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:14)

‘I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)… beguilers of others’ wives.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)

(b) HONESTY
‘Has he drawn false boundaries?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.’ (Babylonian. Ibid.)

‘I have not stolen.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘Thou shalt not steal.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)

‘Choose loss rather than shameful gains.’ (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)

‘Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.’ (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, I. i)

‘If the native made a “find” of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)

‘The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another unless he has first been attacked by the other’s wrongdoing. The second is that a man should treat common property as common property, and private property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature, but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement, or stipulation, or casting lots.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

(c) JUSTICE IN COURT, &C.
‘Whoso takes no bribe … well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)

‘I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)

‘Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)

‘Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)

6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
‘A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 6)

‘Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their utterance.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)

‘With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay? (Babylonian. ERE v. 446)

‘I have not spoken falsehood.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)

‘I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)

‘The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith.’ (Ancient

Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)

‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 39)

‘Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart.’ (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)

‘The foundation of justice is good faith.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i.vii)

‘[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep promises.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)

‘Anything is better than treachery.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 124)

7. The Law of Mercy
‘The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)

‘Has he failed to set a prisoner free?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)

‘I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ferry boat to the boatless.’

(Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)

‘One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)

‘There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.’ (Old Norse. Hárbarthsljóth 38)

‘In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.’… ‘They never desert the sick.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)

‘You will see them take care of… widows, orphans, and old men, never reproaching them.’ (Redskin. ERE v. 439)

‘Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131)

‘They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)

‘When thou cuttest down thine harvest… and hast forgot a sheaf… thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.’ (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)

8. The Law of Magnanimity
(a)
‘There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

‘Men always knew that when force and injury was offered they might be defenders of themselves; they knew that howsoever men may seek their own commodity, yet if this were done with injury unto others it was not to be suffered, but by all men and by all good means to be withstood.’ (English. Hooker, Laws of Eccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)

‘To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.’ (Ancient Egyptian. The Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. 161)

‘They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of the Fortunate Woods and the dwellings of the Blessed . . . here was the company of those who had suffered wounds fighting for their fatherland.’ (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi. 638-9, 660)

‘Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter, spirit the sterner, as our strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut to pieces, out best man in the dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this battle, he can howl forever.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Maldon, 312)

‘Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death is not grievous.’ (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)

‘The Master said, Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for the Good Way.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)

(b)
‘Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii)

‘Death is better for every man than life with shame.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890)

‘Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)

‘We must not listen to those who advise us “being men to think human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts,” but must put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its power and honour surpasses all else.’ (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B)

‘The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our minds the soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest power of the mind requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.’ (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)

‘Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time … let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.’ (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98)

‘He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses … is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.’ (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90)

(c)
‘Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?’ (Ancient Greek. Plato, Phadeo, 81 A)

‘I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights, wounded with the spear as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to Myself.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál, I. 10 in Corpus Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand’s Lieder der Älteren Edda. 1922)

‘Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.’ (Christian. John 12:24,25)

Marcus,

Thanks. A worthy collection. Human nature does not seem to change much.

I have long valued the opinions and advice of those who make it their mission to correct their own flaws over those who make it their mission to correct the flaws of others or of "society."

Oddly enough, the former path seems more fruitful, and those who take it seem more successful/happy/well-adjusted/serene and uh, what's that word, oh yeah, tolerant. It is almost like vanity and arrogance are both self-defeating and voluntarily choosen forms of self-torment. It seems just.

Imagine that...

Somebody should have warned us....

[monster_gardener]

Selflessness can be a scam, an illusory vanity we create for ourselves. Or perhaps created by clerics wanting you to empty your pockets into their own coffers in a “selfless” display so they can buy fancy vestments, pay off lawsuits, or for assorted bullshit. Spiritual life is about maturing and fulfilling the self in its true nature as known by God, it is not about becoming “selfless” as such.

Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.

This is the person that I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God—because Truth, Light—knows nothing about him. And to be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy.

My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God’s will and God’s love— outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion.

We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish most about ourselves—the ones we are born and raised with and which feed the roots of sin. For most of the people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A life devoted to maintaining and expanding this false self, this shadow, is what is called a life of sin.

All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life around which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge, feeling loved, in order to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to myself and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.

To be a saint means to be my true self. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I truly am and of discovering my true self, my essence or core.

Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied.

With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like.

We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face.

But we cannot make these choices with impunity.

Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them.

If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it and that confusion reigns.

- Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation“

Thank You Very Much for your post, kmich.

Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied.

FALSE!

IMNSHO this is at best careless ignorant nonsense that Merton pulled out of his ASSumptions without doing any research, observation or much thought....

Merton Seems Not to have Been a Biologist or even much of a Gardener, Farmer or Pet Owner....

If Merton ever gardened or observed a forest with plants trying to grow over each other closely, he should have noticed that even for plants, life is usually a struggle often against other plants as well as animals: a struggle for light, water, nutrients and space.....

One example.......

A native of Eurasia, field bindweed was probably introduced to the United States in the 1700s by the early colonists of Virginia. By 1900 it had spread throughout the West and is now considered a noxious weed in forty-five states.

In the United States, field bindweed is a principal weed in com, sugar beets, wheat, and vineyards. In temperate countries, it infests these and dozens of other crops. Field bindweed is a serious problem in dry regions, since its roots can reduce soil moisture below the wilting point of many crop plants. In fact, it prefers dry soil and is rarely a problem in wet land or heavily irrigated crops. It grows best in rich fertile soil but adapts well to poor, gravelly ground, especially noncultivated land and waste areas.

Besides competing for nutrients and water, field bindweed can pull plants to the ground and smother them completely. Vines often become tangled in harvesting equipment.

Field bindweed is also called combine, lesser bindweed, barbine, creeping jenny, and devil's guts. Convolvulus is a Latin word meaning "to turn around," and the species name arvensis means "field."
Control

Field bindweed is sensitive to shade. Therefore, fast growing crops that establish an early canopy help suppress its growth. Control by shading is especially effective during the first year of a bindweed infestation, before the root system becomes well established. Once established, field bindweed is difficult to control because its roots contain enough stored energy to sustain the top growth through long periods of stress.

http://extension.psu.edu/pests/weeds/we ... d-bindweed

Plants even do chemical warfare against each other as seen with the Black Walnut Tree

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_nigra#Toxicity


As far as animals being perfectly satisfied, I rather doubt that prey animals are happy to be caught by a predator as my cat friends do with mice and similar... The mice, birds, moles etc. try to get away from the cats.....

For that matter, one cat friend was meowing to me this morning to let me know that he was NOT perfectly satisfied because I had not yet fed him....