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Manly P. Hall’s Lessons of Self-Unfoldment (Part 1): Personal Growth

Jason Cooper — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:29:29 +0000

I wish to share with you selected passages from the book ‘Self-unfoldment by Disciplines of Realization’ written by Manly P. Hall.

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.

From ‘Chapter 1 – Theory of Disciplines’:

I

Growth is natural to man. No one thinks of a flower trying to bloom, or of a tree trying to grow. The blossoming of the flower is a manifestation of universal law flowering through the plant; it is the will of the Infinite made manifest in the finite. Illumination is the blossoming of the soul in man; it is just as natural, simple, and inevitable as the flowing of the rose. The wise man does not try to be wise; wisdom is as natural to him as folly is common to ordinary mortals. Man does not have to try to be himself.

Effort is evidence of inconsistency in the individual. Most religious organizations impose strict rules and regulations upon their members. These rules and regulations consist principally of “thou shalt nots, ” the purpose being to force man into a state of grace by inhibiting and limiting him. Any individual who tries to crush out with brute force of will the vices within himself, achieves only inhibition and neurosis.

What can we learn from the previous passage:

You cannot force growth, or more-so, no person or religious organisation (or any other type of ideological organisation for that matter) can teach you how to grow through discipline – in fact, they will instead constrict or stunt your opportunity for growth in life.

You must be absolutely independent, free and rational to plant the seed of wisdom within so that you can then, for yourself, sprinkle the invigorating water of self-knowledge, which is most needed for the seed to burst forth.

How does one then break into blossom? To encourage continuous growth, you must try to learn from every encounter and every experience in life – good or bad. Also, I highly recommend you to heighten your awareness and attentiveness to everything around you as much as possible. The illuminating lessons that can be learnt from this exercise of gaining self-understanding and elevating consciousness will be most rewarding.

This all will ultimately help to strengthen the roots of your mind and spirit in preparation for whatever the unpredictable winds of change brings.

Use your personal growth in a positive way towards:

learning to understand yourself so that you have better insight and can become a little more wiser
developing maturity of mind
improving relationships and connecting with others and nature
being able to deal with trials and tribulations in a positive way
discovering total contentment and joy

What Does Wisdom Mean To Will Durant

Jason Cooper — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:11:04 +0000

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.

Let me also turn your attention to a few recommended books authored by Will Durant, which will give you a good grounding in the history of philosophy and the great thinkers:

Words Of Wisdom: The Simple And Humble Aphorisms Of Marty Rubin

Jason Cooper — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:24:55 +0000

The great American poet Walt Whitman was a shining influence for Marty Rubin, who now produces great wisdom of his own in the form of aphorisms

My like-minded friend, Marty Rubin who is also known as nothingprofound on BlogCatalog, is a man of pure wisdom and creator of thought-provoking aphorisms which are, despite his alias, nothing but profound.

So without further ado, here I shall present you with a select few of Marty’s words of wisdom:

Whenever I do nothing I feel I’ve accomplished a lot.

What variety is to life, contradiction is to the mind.

The flea that doubts doesn’t jump nearly as high.

Water flows because it’s willing.

Looking in the mirror is seeing what other people see.

If it’s work you’re trying too hard.

To hate everything is to be wounded by everything.

The old philosophers knew so little; that’s why they were so wise.

The air lets the arrow pass right through.

In the wind, more leaves tremble than any theory can account for.

If the light’s not in you, you’re in the dark.

Someone told me the world is round, but I’m checking it out for myself.

Please take the time to visit Marty’s blogs Out Of Context: pieces of a life and Aphorism of the Day to sample more of his delightful aphorisms.

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 6) – Friedrich Nietzsche

Jason Cooper — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:18:40 +0000

Nietzcshe suggested for us to become like 'Supermen' by using hardship in life to strengthen our 'Will'

Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates

This is the 6th and final post featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.

This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.

Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:

Socrates
Epicurus
Seneca
Michel de Montaigne
Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Nietzsche

Episode 6 of 6: Nietzsche on Hardship

British philosopher Alain De Botton explores Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) dictum that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship. For him, any existence that is too comfortable is worthless, as are the twin refugees of drink or religion.

You may be also interested to know that this particular series was derived from the book The Consolations of Philosophy, which is a very good read, and was part responsible for encouraging me to pursue philosophy so that I could apply it to my life.

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 5) – Arthur Schopenhauer

Jason Cooper — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:50:15 +0000

Arthur Schopenhauer was forever the pessimist, as he strikes a familiar pose whilst contemplating human suffering and misery

Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates

Continuing onto the fifth part of six posts featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.

This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.

Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:

Socrates
Epicurus
Seneca
Michel de Montaigne
Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Nietzsche

Episode 5 of 6: Schopenhauer on Love

Alain de Botton surveys the 19th Century German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who believed that love was the most important thing in life because of its powerful impulse towards ‘the will-to-life’.

Watch the sixth and final part of the series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 6) – Friedrich Nietzsche

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 4) – Michel de Montaigne

Jason Cooper — Sun, 23 May 2010 09:15:49 +0000

A mecurial looking Montaigne who offered us, in the form of his essays, wisdom and solutions for the maladies of the mind

Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates

Continuing onto the forth part of six posts featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.

This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.

Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:

Socrates
Epicurus
Seneca
Michel de Montaigne
Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Nietzsche

Episode 4 of 6: Montaigne on Self-Esteem

The French philosopher singled out three main reasons for feeling bad about oneself – sexual inadequecy, failure to live up to social norms, and intellectual inferiority – and then offered practical solutions for overcoming them.

Watch the fifth video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 5) – Arthur Schopenhauer