Thoughts

Wise words for thought

We have heard of the “wisdom of the ancients” – the words of sages that relate to the human consciousness and which provide insights that cause us to think.

We can imagine the disciples at the feet of the master. And Socrates saying, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”

And then he continues: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

This seems to be the humility we need to cultivate, to approach subjects we think we know and take for granted. How much do we know really, except what we have been taught? And is what we have been taught 100 percent foolproof?

In everyday life we are confronted with situations we know so little about and decisions we must make in spite of that: What action should one take next? Is abortion wrong? Etc.

Profound spiritual aspirants seem to be better balanced in their grasp of issues.

I mentioned Dada Sumitananda, senior Ananda Marga monk, in my book. Today I still remember his wise, pithy responses in those old days when taking questions from members of the public:

Q: How does one know right from wrong?

Dada S: Not knowing right from wrong is the result of confusion.

Q: Is abortion an evil?

Dada S: Morally it’s an evil. Socially it’s a necessity.

Q: Does one have to believe in God?

Dada S: No, you don’t have to believe. When you know, you know.

Ah, those inspirational answers must spring from a spiritual well! No long-drawn dialectical arguments here.

Throw in one more by Socrates: “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” The mind begins to boggle. That statement does need some unravelling.

Clearly, wise minds give us words for thought, to make us think more deeply about our human condition – in relation to things that really matter, and our place as rational human beings in the universe.

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom” – Socrates

Our shared home address

On a clear night when we look at the heavens, we see the countless stars shimmering above us. We certainly cannot see the billions of galaxies and sextillion stars stretching infinitely beyond. They are made more comprehensible in our imagination only when we view astronomical pictures.

Is there no other life out there but us in the vast universe?

When we are asked for our address, we write the
1. no. of the place and the street
2. unit no. if applicable
3. city/ town
4. state/ province
5. zip/ postal code
6. country

We are not asked for
7. planet

In the far distant future, should beings out there be brought closer to us because our technology has massively advanced, our final entry for our address would be:
Earth

That we are living on this planet buoyed up in space is something we take for granted.

Gravity

“We know that our Earth spins 360 degrees in 24 hours. At the end of 1 hour, why are we not keeling 15 degrees to one side? With every 4 minutes that I type this, I should be keeling 1 degree. Yet I am upright.
Indeed, all around us we see stability in Nature, so different from the horrors created by warring men. The trees, the cars, everything else, are all glued to the ground and not thrown about in total confusion and chaos. The oceans are not spilling over, especially when they are rotating and are positioned below and not above. Gravity we are told, gravity is the force that holds us to the ground. That is an answer many of us learn to be satisfied with. But what gives rise to gravity?
Can there be a Supreme Force that holds everything together, that creates?”

Excerpt from Chapter 11 Living in Two Worlds: Receiving messages and healing from within

What is real is beyond what we see

A deeply spiritual person once said to me, “Our world is imaginary; it is merely a projection of God.”

“How could that be?” I thought. After all, we can readily feel the fundamental solid and liquid factors when we touch the table or drink tea from our cup.

But more and more, as one senses the subtleties, one begins to see beyond the veil of Maya, beyond illusion.

One begins to understand that, indeed, what is real is beyond what we see.

We realise that this does not only apply to our physical world, which is divine thought vibrationally made manifest.

It also applies to a person – beyond form, beyond the perhaps unattractive personality, is the divine soul within, which has its origin in the Spirit of God.