Food for Thought 1

If you want to grow, be content to be foolish and stupid. No man is yet wise and until he seeks wisdom, he cannot become foolish. The one who has searched for wisdom is neither wise nor ignorant and the man considered as the wisest is not yet wise or foolish. Only the foolish and obdurate despise learning. Wisdom in a simple word is learning. Knowledge is that which is gained outside. Thought without learning is perilous. You should only learn without thinking of distractions. You only get wisdom first, and with all your getting, get understanding. Wisdom is the priority. Morality is the priority. It is the principal thing. It is the difference between right and wrong. It is what your heart speaks and what makes you to be you. It is you. It is your intuition. People have lots of thoughts which makes them believe this is a difficult thing. 

You ought to realize, you take up very little space in the world as a whole your body, that is; in reasons, however, you yield to no one, not even to the gods, because reason is not measured in size, but sense. So why not care for that side of you where you and the gods are equals?

- Epictetus

Yes, more questions pop up when you reason. But true knowledge is knowing that which you know and that which you do not know. It is constantly being able to see things that you do not know or perceive exist that even another may begin to see this as lack of confidence when you also know that which can counter that which you know. Do you understand? So it is better to keep quiet about that which you are unaware of to be more aware. And that is an important part of intelligence. Do not point to another's mistakes but focus on you and work on yours. Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. Ignorance is thinking you know all already and quit learning. True intelligence is realizing that you do not know and then being willing to learn more. The difference between one who seeks wisdom and one who sees himself as a know it all is ignorance. How won't you think you are the smartest in the universe, when you do not know that which you are ignorant of. Such person is that whom we now term as the 'society' because he or she becomes part of the society, relying on common knowledge. Someone who isn't ready for knowledge or evolvement will eventually collapse, making the willing feel guilty. The worst set of people in life are the ones deserving of the position, 'foolish', which means, they have no idea how so they are.

The man who knows nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

- Thomas Jefferson

There is something referred to as correct belief. It is not false and yet it is not truth but only considered as fact. It is neither knowledge nor ignorance. Correct belief, I think is also a result of ignorance because that is simply what the 'society' thinks. Ignorance is not far from simplicity or amorality. The weak and idle mind cannot create powerful thoughts. The bible urges you to leave simpleness, live and walk in the way of insight. You are what you think. So what do you think? Your thought determines your emotions and make up your personality. The distrustful one thinks everyone is against him and hides. The optimist sees the good in all and has faith. 

I think that all things in their ways, reflect heavenly truth, the imagination not least

- C. S. Lewis 

Imagine. There is truth in your imagination. There is God. Don't think or look. By the principle of cause and effect in creation, nothing just happens. It has once existed or the unseen is the cause and effect is unseen. The imagination is reflection of heavenly truth and life is a sketchy imitation of reality. Who'd find harm in truth? Not the one who is willing to continue in self-deception? Imagination is the beginning of knowledge. Just because you never did something before, you doubt its existence and never even try to understand. Rationalization stops worrying but self deception is also a result of rationalization. It starts with your own opinions, assumptions and staying glued to that and then you are like, 'this is how I am'. You won't move forward if you lay back or never listen. You will be easily fooled going with the flow and that is the beginning of ignorance. 

Get curious. Questions arise from imagination. The unevolved are the ones who still stick to thought and emotions and have not encountered a thing different than these. Some people prefer to stick to reality because they are only fixed to reality. If what happens in day to day life of yourself and others is reality, then do you not think there is something stronger than that, something deeper? that takes you places? Think and have faith like little children. Get curious. Your limit is the horizon and what's left is your imagination. 

Some men see things as they are, and say, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were, and say, 'Why not?

- George Bernard Shaw

That quote from Shaw, is an insight to dreams, imagination, recreating, transformation and probably invention and tadaaa reality, who knows. Not everything is meant to have a meaning so when you look for a meaning you find right for a particular circumstance, you might be engaging in self-deception, not different from cognitive dissonance as regards those who sleep or dislike the truth. They engage in repression and later get depressed and say they have mental issues. How will you relate when you believe only in what you are determined to believe, which only makes things more difficult for you because you think you have known all while putting things to believe into your head while forgetting that time is only an illusion and we are infinity and facts do not even exist sometimes.The mind is where you make things up, a very dangerous place to be. Truth is not here on earth. You do not have to find it because it is within you. Just believe it with faith that there are greater things. 

You don't have to get everything. Believe and question but don't stop questioning. The moment you stop is the moment you stopped living. See through reality and take your questions even to the most obvious places. The beginning of wisdom is finding who you are. If you do not know God, then you cannot understand who you are and what your life is about. Quit talking about the unknown because you do not know. Hasty judgment leads to wrong opinion. Ponder. Don't assume. Listen. Question. You know your creator by self knowledge. Going in search of wisdom is just like looking for a lie to satisfy your curiosity. You do not go in search of wisdom because it is within you. Do not go with the flow, be the flow.

Listening is the first step to success and way to understanding. Listen and learn. Learning is another way to question and doubt your intelligence. Listening is the way to God's heart because your two ears joined together, forms a heart. Feel, don't think. Trust your instinct. All in all, wisdom has its own limits. Do not be a fool with discontent. You use words to think, where do you think words come from? Are you thinking now? Words are little in comparison to what you do not even know or have not seen. Believe in the unseen. Not all has to do with facts and evidences. It's how you know things which are both earthly and heavenly. This is when you have only you and just have to look within. Once you do not trust your God-given intelligence, then you choose evil to be precise. You start being irrational as opposed to your rational self. There is no courage, only fear and you hide yourself. You do not need to think too hard, the answer is right there within you only if you'd listen, to your inner voice. You could feel it in your body, it's your intuition.

It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery everyday. Never lose a holy curiosity. 

- Albert Einstein

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. Have in mind, I do not want to become this thing, I just want to experience it. I am not it. True wisdom is awareness. You know you are. You know you are spirit just experiencing life in human form so you live it. You experience, willingly and knowingly. That's the awareness. When you possess wisdom, things will not surprise you, neither will you get easily confused. Life is like drama. If you understand the plot, there is great happiness. It's like reading a book in chronological order. Things get smooth. You are not surprised but expect new things to happen. 

A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace

- Confucius

This could be about making a difference. The common man could be like every other person. The one considered as wise sees what the others cannot see in the same place everyone else sees things. 'Commonplace' means the common man is involved now. Everyone sees it but the wise or uncommon man is the one who gets the new ideas, brings out the original from the commonplace and that is his excellence. He knows his limits and the uncommon has become even a reality for him. When you are taught in school, do you pass the limits of your syllabus? That is only if you read ahead and move out of the box. This is why wisdom is found within. Knowledge is impacted to you in school and when it comes to understanding, you listen. This is being broad-minded. Understanding, knowledge and wisdom, are those not what you pray for in school. Being the best student does not make you an intelligent one though. So there is only knowledge. Education is not the key to success until you know how to use it.

The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.

-Confucius

Sometimes your mind sometimes will bring you to wrong conclusions but people of narrowminded ignorance are those with opinions but without questions because they simply are unaware of what they do not know. They always insist on 'I'm right', to save their faces even when they know they are wrong. When you know what you do not know, you should be confident (just in yourself) about knowing. Ignorance is a sin in itself. It is the worst evil. Sometimes the ignorant does the worse than those men behind bars. Remember I told you wisdom is the principal thing in the last blog. Ignorance has dire consequences and it gets worse being unaware of such consequences. 

The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about, yet refuse to investigate.

- Dr. Wayne Dyer

Ignorance is the root of all evil. It starts from lack of knowledge of dangers and repercussions, self-deceit, lies and more lies, habit and then shame alas and then crime. When the young ones are taught morality now, they'd never depart from it when old.  Sometimes we are not always right. Knowledge itself is imperfect and that is the point. It is an unhappy business to seek wisdom, especially for those who dislike truth or those who slumber. It is not for the lazy because your curiosity keeps expanding. To seek wisdom is to seek beyond what is done under heaven. The wealth of a rich man can be stolen or burnt, but the happiness and wisdom of the wise remain. If wisdom is true wealth, then ask yourself, "How wealthy am I?" Wisdom is described as the 'true wealth' in the new testament.

There is no wisdom without understanding and this is why I always emphasize on listening. You have to be understanding to gain wisdom. There existed the heavens before God decided to make earth, which makes it all one because there can not be one without the other, it is a ying-yang thing, and by reason and compassion, He made the rain drop. It is one's understanding which stands in the middle of all these, that becomes your knowledge and determines your intelligence. So I'm telling you what I understand. Knowledge does not just come, you work for it. Faith without works is dead.

All in all, wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. You cannot love God without loving man. You know someone to love someone. When you know yourself, you know another and when you love another, you love God. The limit of wisdom is knowing yourself on earth and the remaining is within you, just switch your light and look within. I have told you that one is not ignorant when he knows that he knows not all. Just imagine. If you seek too much, you will sin against God because He is the only all-knowing. Do not be a fool with discontent or like the Babel builders. 

There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking.

-Mortimer Alder

The fool is never satisfied while the wise man finds wealth in contentment. Be content with your food and clothing. But in wisdom, do not. Seek to find. God made the poor humble. When you desire to be rich, mere desires, more than how you presently are, you will do evil. That is because you have no faith and all your hopes are on riches. Man's love for money is the root of all evil. Some will be satisfied with fables, listen only to whomever deviates from truth because they simply are not ready for it, while in today's world, people just get stubborn in the most absurd ways possible. I hope you get the importance of reason.

If you want to advance in life, make sure that your wants do not advance. Wise people are in want of nothing; and yet need many things. On the other hand, nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but are in want of everything. 

-Chrysippus

The former and greatest world leaders who are considered as wise and have greatly impacted on the society, do not seek to be like them or follow in their footsteps. Only seek what they sought. The world keeps revolving. The vision of future reality exists in a reality beyond the senses. Vision is the power of the mind and spirit. There is always a revolution and things change. In every revolution, there is always one man with a vision. They all had dreams. They were guided by intuition and did what they did with regard to the world situation during their time. They believed in what they couldn't see. This is the power of imagination. They had been motivated by imagination. Whatever you can imagine, you can achieve. Mahatma Gandhi practicalised his own dreams. Imagination is an experience itself. They all turned their imaginations into reality. Practicalising your dreams is wisdom. Think and act greater than your present circumstances. Start now. Think and act like the man you dream of becoming. So when you do new things your way and become God's instrument of peace in the way you can, you can have a different and better impact. 

By three methods, we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest, and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

-Confucius

The first is through your own self when you become self aware, the second is by imitation of good character of another and the third is experience, when you learn a lesson and this involves being taught through experience, like a lesson of life and then you gain understanding and, become self aware and even turn those wounds into wisdom. So do you understand? This is what I know for now.

I sum up intelligence as the evidence of motivation and 'willingness' to learn. Without empathy, which of course is a word for the many other things associated with intelligence, it is not okay to brag about your intelligence. It does not matter at all. The important thing is what you do. It's the sum of what you know and who you are. It's all about what you do and your manner of doing.

Knowledge puffeth up but charity endureth. Without love, there is no wisdom. Remember, quality over quantity. By acquiring much worldly knowledge, you could develop arrogance; with spiritual study, there is greater and greater humility, I tell you. Heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty and insincerity. Listening is a step to faith. Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those who do. The intelligent men and women are more easily annoyed by people in general in fact. There is a difference between grasping infinity and getting rational. We all are both extroverts and introverts in many ways. We can be both knowledgeable and experienced. 

Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.

-Confucius

The moment we grow to be adults, our brains get affected with our growth too that we no longer have faith and that is why we should listen now as children. So it gets late. Each person has a set level of intelligence that they cannot pass. Until you reach the highest level you can achieve, you can be so smart. That is known as your IQ. So it's your choice to listen and learn now. Let us question reality and reach infinity. Seek what is beyond human comprehension, seek beyond earthly mystery. Seek beyond the reasons the kamikaze pilots wore helmets. Do not confuse your brain the way Confucius almost confused mine, I am open to new ideas from you regarding anything here. Remember, ignorance is of the mind, awareness is only of the spirit and dreams are fruits of the mind. Start getting visions. Only God knows the mystery so he shows us in dreams. Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Let silence take you to the core of life. 

If you think that you are perfect, you can never understand the nonsense of others and what makes the greatest leaders? Not those nonsense unrealistic thoughts? So have you ever questioned yourself? Is your skepticism broader than your inquisition? Have you even ever reached out to touch infinity?