This post is mostly inspired by a dream I don't understand.
Then I read in Daniela Abravanel's book about how the Greeks were so intimidated by the "Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge" of the Noahide movement that they tried to invade Israel. I have not read about the Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge but I plan on picking up a book on that subject very soon. As it's an other system of seven that I did not know about I will, of course, cover it in my series on 7's which will go well into next year. All I do know is that Daniela Abravanel said that these teachers were of the heart and not of the mind and that is what enraged the Greeks. That a heart based belief system was influencing their country was not acceptable. I had no idea that the entire story behind the Menorah was actually in celebration of the defiance of the Greeks. The Greeks had tainted the oil of the Hebrew Temple but one flask remained which should have only lasted a day. When the Greeks used that flask to keep the sacred menorah in the temple alight it lasted an entire week...in defiance of the Greek reliance on the Intellect and not Faith. At the same time that the Temple continued worship as usual thanks to that one flask the army of Israel that was tiny compared to the Greeks...triumphed over them. Where is the movie of this story? I think it's far better then the 300. The Folly Of Sophia Where do we start in Philosophy 101 classes? We always start with Greece and Thales of Miletus...then we go on to to Plato and Socarates. The entire concept of Philosophy comes from Greece. Philosophy is based on the Goddess Sophia who symbolizes wisdom or the intellect. The very word Philosophy means, "The love of Sophia." Really, thought, it's not Wisdom that they worship...but the intellect and logic. The Romans adopted the concept into Christianity by using the term Haiga Sophia which means Holy Wisdom as another name for the Holy Spirit. The problem is that the Greeks say they worshiped Wisdom but in my study of Philosophy I came to the firm conclusion that Philosophy is mostly about the intellect. Philosophy, as it has come to be known and was represented by what I have studied...is about elaborate logic and thinking above all else. Yet, logic and memorization does not truly represent wisdom. For all intents and purposes the 'lovers of Sophia' tend to sit in their lofty ivory towers of thought and do not mingle with the common people. They are so much in their version of reality that a lot of philosophy- especially the modern stuff- just sounds like someone babbling to me. The stuff is nonsense and non-applicable to the average every day life. The things they waste their time pondering and thinking about are so minute in detail and their books...don't affect anyone. Maybe at one time intellectual academic philosophy had some impact on the life of the average person...but these days if you go up to a random person at a grocery store and ask them to quote or even name a modern philosopher...they probably can't. I know I can't...the last philosopher that I really had a appreciation for was Descartes (I think therefore I am). Modern philosophers are just not quoted or write anything helpful to the average person today. Most people are more likely familiar with popular self-help books which might be erroneously associated with philosophy. Modern Worship Of Sophia The idea that the intellect alone represents wisdom has plagued Western society for centuries. Just look how we supposedly determine a person's IQ today...we test their memory. That's the only thing that an IQ test really does...it doesn't test a person's ability to critically think...just memory and the ability to recall that information in a short period of time. Those who have studied the results of IQ tests admit that they are inadequate and have no correlation with the ability of a person to solve problems. This one of the reasons the IQ test fell out of favor when it comes to College entrance exams. Studies have also indicated the IQ tests fail to indicate if a person will perform well as an employee. The even stranger thing is that employers are starting to realize that a college degree is no longer an indicator of whether or not a person will be a good employee. Goldman Sachs has announced about a year ago that they will no longer require degrees because they found employees without degrees were more motivated. Clearly, if it becomes a trend to not require a college education to earn a well paying job it indicates the merit and value of a college education is over rated. In many ways colleges enforce Group Think and conformity instead of creativity. While these are valuable traits on a factory assembly line these traits are detrimental to anyone entering a management or creative field that requires thinking 'outside of the box.' After all, the most recent brilliant mind that has transformed the Western Landscape is Bill Gates...a college drop out. Clearly, a rebellious spirit helped him to inspire and create one of the most innovative technological companies of our time. Yet, we continue to use the statement, "Knowledge is power." There is the possibility, because a college education has become so common, that it will soon be looked upon as equivalent to a high school diploma. Not very long ago it was more common that people dropped out in high school and so a high school diploma was valued. Yet, that's no longer the case. Our current education system, instead of helping people to develop into fully capable human beings focuses on creating 'Robots' out of people. This emphasis on comformity completely stamps out creativity. Just look at how all of the creative programs in school have been 'eliminated due to budget'...Art, Music, Autoshop, Woodshop and even Home Economics. Only the classes where a person is required to memorize and spit back the information remain in our educational system...which is why it is so inadequate. Part of this is in response to tests. George Bush Jr. decided that tests, despite evidence to the contrary, was the way to evaluate a student and schools rate of success when it comes to teaching. This backwards point of view has lead to schools catering tests to secure funds and completely eliminating all Critical Thinking skills and creativity from the curriculum. The result is that we went from having one of the top educational system in the world to number 17...officially middle of the pack. We're not the worst but we are far from being the best. Lawmakers, of course, and people in the education field want to blame the amount of money spent on education as the reason...but the truth is as the world changes education has failed to change. Instead, they just produce the same, "Bricks," that inspired the song, "Another Brick in the Wall," by Pink Floyd in 1979. That's almost forty years with no significant change even as the work force and the landscape of the United States economy has completely transformed. Emotional Intelligence Since workplaces are constantly striving to find a way to have an edge over competitors and to hire better employees it's not suprising they identified Emotional Intelligence as factor. Emotional intelligence is not easily tested. Here, for once, the subconscious minds and it's emotions have been identified but this area is completely foreign territory for most intellectuals. Psychology has stagnated in that last sixty years becoming very political correct and ineffective. For the most part, this is because intellectuals have reduced consciousness to being a mere chemical formula produced by the brain and, even though our knowledge of the chemicals and parts of the brain remain stupendously low, the acceptable treatment is to try to artificially change the brain chemicals to affect behavior. With behavior and emotions arising from chemicals how can one reasonably determine emotional intelligence? The very thinking that produces this system of ideas creates an almost impossible situation for companies to identify Emotional Intelligence. Since it is difficult to determine emotional intelligence with the current model we have of consciousness educational systems haven't been able to create a class to teach this skill. In the future there is no doubt that emotional intelligence will be an important factor employees will try to identify in the future workforce. True Wisdom Honors The Heart In the West, when we think of Wisdom traditionally we completely separate it from the heart. We think of knowledge and intellect. Not very long ago, in a group that I used to belong to, someone asked, "What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?" My answer was simple but received a lot of likes, "Knowledge is memorization and wisdom is born of experience of applying that knowledge in every day life." You can memorize all of the Spiritual Teachings on this planet and still be a rotten person. The key thing isn't being able to recite facts on cue, like contestants on an episode of Jeopardy...but apply that information in your daily life. Applying the information has to come from a pure intent to want to change born from admitting that the old models and frameworks we have operated our lives on our inadequate. Usually, these paradigms are inherited from parents or society....and because of peer pressure and Group Think it's very hard to change them. Pure intention can only come from the Heart which is the seat of will power. Without pure intention any endeavor we attempt is doomed to failure because we will not give it the attention needed to achieve our goals. A half attempt is a full failure. Having access to and possessing memorized information but failing to apply it is worse the ignorance because it indicates a willful intent not to do what is right. On A Personal Note In my blog, "The Spiritual Test I Failed," (I ill attach a link at the end of this section) I explained how the healer I went to told me that I had "escaped" through my intellect but that, "Wasn't supposed to work." I've always been heart centered in this life. I would go so far to say that I was at the mercy of my emotions instead of accepting them as the tools that they are...and as a result I tried to repress and deny them. My problem in this life has been the complete opposite of the majority of society. I was too sensitive...to heart based. In my recent studies I've discovered that have to have a good amount of Earthiness (Intellect) and Water (subconscious) to function properly. Having an over abundance in either direction requires a person to work on their balance. That is why I found a way to 'escape' through my intellect. What did she mean by escape? Well, I didn't ask her directly at the session because of that dream. I really already knew what she meant. I can, with the right balance of my intellect and emotions, navigate through life far more effectively and manifest abundance for myself in all of it's forms. The most important form, of course, being Bashar's identification of, "Doing what you want when you want to do it." I'm still working on maintaining that balance between the emotions and intellect. Too much intellect leads to overthinking which becomes a stumbling block. Too much emotion leads to fear and stagnation. Maintaing that balance can be considered the Middle Way of Buddhism and the center path of Mildness (or the Path of the Arrow as Dion Fortune called it) upon the Kabbalah Tree of Life. I think it's because of the over abundance of inutitive emotion that I hold that I had to work my way Down the Chakras....when most people have to work their way up. I teach the Ascending Path because that is the most commonly needed path in society...but I am a little bit of the opposite of most people in this world. The Spiritual Test I Failed Blog: https://bridgetkorns.weebly.com/blog/the-spiritual-test-i-failed Conclusion I find it funny that we don't realize this tendency to deny the value of emotions and subconscious in preference to the Intellect comes straight from the Greeks. The Greek legacy on the world and how they shaped Western culture tends to be understated in the history books. The Greeks were simply wrong to have worshiped the intellect at the expense of the emotions. The end product of their obsession with the intellect has lead to a Western World where people try to be robots obsessed with the material world. The intellect also insists on competitiveness and rivalry...justifying immoral, "The ends justify the means," type of thinking and back stabbing in the political or corporate worlds. Worshiping the intellect comes at the expense of not developing the soul...which, from all of my studies, is the purpose of humankind. Knowledge does not mean that we have to turn our back on having an emotionally fulfilling spiritual life. One does not have to exclude the other. The way forward for humankind is to find a balance between the intellect and emotions. When we try to intellectualize emotional needs we end up with totalitarian governments that stifles creativity and promotes censorship. Only the symptoms of the deeply rooted problems that are plaguing our society can be treated by the intellect. To treat the source of the disease people need to go to the root of the problem and enter the fluid realms of the emotions and subconscious. There they will recover the ability to comprehend what happens to the least of us on Earth affects all of us...and we can start to help the people who are suffering most by teaching them how to be whole and complete beings by accepting and working with their subconscious emotions...which will end the need for addictions of all kinds. A well rounded educational system needs to inspire students to be creative and teach them emotional coping skills. Those emotional coping skills will give rise to the interpersonal skills that the student will need to work well as a group with others. This will benefit all of humanity. Statue of Sophia Image Retrieved From: Wikipedia Haig Sophia from Istanbul Church Retrieved From: https://www.turkeyhomes.com
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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