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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... light , if we only pay it tribute . In and around ancient Babylon , the tide of humanity moved across the desert from one settlement to the next in accordance with the rise and fall in popularity of one deity or the other . An , Bel and ...
... light in the darkness and came to symbolize , in its four stages , the waxing and waning of thought processes that occur when the senses are withdrawn from the light of the day . It was known as Sin and En - zu , the " lord of wisdom ...
... light and warmth to stimulate growth and harvest . Its rays reveal the deep recesses of the mind and unfurl the seeds that blossom into wheat and corn across the land of our visions , dreams and expectations . It is the revelation of ...
... it to flood and nourish the Nile Valley . The mind is traveling , then , from the land of the moon to the land of the sun . What you think must see the light of day . The twelve sons represent of course the twelve months . 40.
... light is shed on inspiration , and it deserves protection from contaminating thoughts . the Levites shall set it up : and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.211 Twelve divisions take up position in groups of three ...
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Live Now Die Later: A Book for the Sensitive Mind and Rugged Individualist David Alan Kraul No preview available - 2004 |