Live Now Die Later: A Book for the Sensitive Mind and Rugged IndividualistThe sensitive mind and the rugged individualist are portrayed in the literature of antiquity by two brothers, the first-born and the second-born. The mind is the father of two sons. One side of us is conservative, cautious; the other side is radical and adventurous. A part of us is content with the status quo; another part of us seeks change and improvement. The mind perceives first with the outer five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. Those perceptions are recorded and processed for future use, and thus the mind has five inner senses, the second-born son. In the Old and New Testaments this concept is expressed through several pairs of brothers. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin, Aaron and Moses, John and Jesus are all characters created to illustrate the mind's journey. The eastern Mediterranean became a marketplace for the exchange of ideas that had their provenance not just in Athens or Alexandria, but made their way westward from India and China well over 2,000 years ago. The lunar calendar and the appearance of the full moon was not just vital to agriculture in Mesopotamia; it spawned metaphors that illustrated the mind at its brightest. Abraham, for example, Hebrew for "father is high," was a moon god who symbolized the full moon, i. e., the moon straight up or high. "Father" is high because the mind is the father of two sons. Obviously, many concepts evolved independently, but migration and commerce exported and imported more than just figs and wine. Adam and Eve, the male and female of Genesis, are reflected in the yang and the yin of Taoism in ancient China. Elizabeth, Mary and Jesus are a variation of Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus. Thinkers over the ages have struggled to come to terms with the rough and tumble of daily life. Some have even suggested that life begins in some faraway place after death. Others have tried to find the way to live now and die later. |
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... hath made me forget all my toil ; and the name of the second called he Ephraim : For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.119 Nature obeys man as man obeys nature . From the soil of a healthy mind spring forth ...
... hath made me a father to Pharaoh , and Lord of all his house , and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.123 The god of vegetation has returned and is now face to face with spring and the abundance of crops and the " glory in Egypt ...
... hath sent me unto you.144 There is nothing mysterious or esoteric about the statement , " I AM . " It is not the voice of some supreme being or deity descending out of the ether , but very simply the voice within you , declaring your ...
... hath sent me unto you : this is my name forever , and this is my memorial unto all generations.145 Moses is the mind or the awareness or the thought that leads us to where we want to be in life . This is a dynamic perspective that ...
... hath a blemish in his eye , " 204 not to mention " he that hath a flat nose , " 205 from approaching the altar . The length and breadth of the entire prescription is nothing less than a way of saying purify your thoughts . Refine your ...
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Live Now Die Later: A Book for the Sensitive Mind and Rugged Individualist David Alan Kraul No preview available - 2004 |