As I continue to laud these wise men of ancient times, I share with you an inspiring post that support my claims that ancient philsosophy can do much to help your self-development in all areas of modern life.
Read the following excerpt from the post ‘Ancient Philosophy and Modern Personal Development’ written by Stephen Cox:
Row (Busts) of Ancient Greek Philosophers: Socrates; Antisthenes; Chrysippus; Epicurus (Picture taken at the British Museum by Lawrence OP)
I hereby issue a plea to everyone to embrace the wise thinkers of ancient times, and for posterity not to ever forget these men we like to call philosophers.
Let’s pay homage to these ancient philosophers who are inexplicably forgotten by the modern generations who live in a realm of superficiality, conflict, celebrity worship, technological dependency and general ignorance of themselves.
The wisdom to be found from reading the philosophical works of these men could, if we wished, serve an important function in guiding us all towards peace, unity and common sense which can make this world a paradise of joy and reason – but as things stand today, maybe that is a dream only Utopia can conjure up.
Most importantly, we must not forget the teachings that these philosophers provided, as they dived head first into the deep oceans of thought and attentiveness towards observing themselves, humanity and nature. Through their own self-learning they ceaselessly sought Truth so to provide us with the foundations to build a impregnable wall of wisdom for ourselves.
For some reason this particular post makes me want to break out with a bit of a sing-song…
“…And then a hero comes along,
With the strength to carry on,
And you cast your fears aside and you know you can survive,
So when you feel like hope is gone,
Look inside you and be strong,
And you’ll finally see the truth that a hero lies in you.”
I think that’s enough of the Mariah Carey imitation – thank you very much.
Now watch the following thought-provoking videos from Stefan Molyneux to get the gist of what lies behind the lyrics.
Read part 1 of the series: ‘Manly P. Hall’s Lessons of Self-Unfoldment (Part 1): Personal Growth’.
I wish to share with you selected passages from the book ‘Self-unfoldment by Disciplines of Realization’
This book contains many wise lessons and practical instructions on how we can penetrate deep within ourselves so to understand the Truth of who we are, and how we fit into this universal existence.
The ultimate aim is to attain the self-knowledge for us to grow effortlessly towards wisdom and a blessed life.
I am still in the process of reading this fascinating book, and will endeavor to post more enlightening and insightful passages as I go along.
I wish to share with you selected passages from the book ‘Self-unfoldment by Disciplines of Realization’
This book contains many wise lessons and practical instructions on how we can penetrate deep within ourselves so to understand the Truth of who we are, and how we fit into this universal existence.
The ultimate aim is to attain the self-knowledge for us to grow effortlessly towards wisdom and a blessed life.
I am still in the process of reading this fascinating book, and will endeavor to post more enlightening and insightful passages as I go along.
American writer, historian, and philosopher Will Durant describes wisdom in his own intelligent and eloquent way.
Read the following excerpt of ‘What is Wisdom?’ by Durant:
“What is wisdom? I feel like a droplet of spray which proudly poised for a moment on the crest of a wave, undertakes to analyze the sea.
Ideally, wisdom is total perspective — seeing an object, event, or idea in all its pertinent relationships. Spinoza defined wisdom as seeing things sub specie eternitatis, in view of eternity; I suggest defining it as seeing things sub specie totius, in view of the whole.
Obviously we can only approach such total perspective; to possess it would be to be God. The first lesson of philosophy is that philosophy is the study of any part of experience in the light of our whole experience; the second lesson is that the philosopher is a very small part in a very large whole. Just as philosopher means not a “possessor” but a “lover” of wisdom, so we can only seek wisdom devotedly, like a lover fated, as on Keats’ Grecian urn, never to possess, but only to desire. Perhaps it is more blessed to desire than to possess.
Shall we have examples? Rain falls; you mourn that your tennis games must be postponed; you are not a philosopher. But you console yourself with the thought, “How grateful the parched earth will be for the rain!” You have seen the event in a larger perspective, and you are beginning to approach wisdom.”
Please read the rest of this fascinating article here.
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