An honorable man, aware of his own dignity, if convinced politely and respectfully that a certain action is good and just, will willingly perform it, and be grateful for the advice. If, on the other hand, this same honorable man is ordered to perform a certain action under threat of punishment, he will react by instinct, driven by his own honor, in a manner contrary to the disrespectful one who threatened him. From this the natural conclusion: orders and threats are offenses to anyone who has a sense of dignity.
Category: Notes
Old Age, Disease and Death…
Old age, disease, and death; old age, disease, and death: the obsessions that paved the Buddha’s path to “enlightenment.” More than open eyes, it takes courage to confront them. Buddha understood that thought is worth nothing if it does not incur in action: from reasoning, he drew philosophy, and philosophy guided his conduct. Old age, disease, and death: everything that lives is condemned to torment, exhaustion, and suppression. The mind always wants to deceive itself; so let it suffer, let it daily embitter the conclusions of its judgment, until it has all to the last illusion torn from it! And thus, teaches the shrewd and enlightened psychologist, one escapes from the evil cycle that always results in suffering and destruction.
Buddhism Is a Religion for the Wise
Buddhism is a religion for the wise, which is exactly why it cannot be followed—or even understood—by the masses: it was not shaped for them. To become a Buddhist, one must first think, then be able to choose, to take a path on one’s own initiative. The virtues of a Buddhist are absolutely unpalatable to ordinary human beings, who not only do not understand them, but despise them in their most intimate essence. To detach oneself from worldly pleasures and ties, to root out desire, to take refuge in silence, to purge the mind, to annul the gregarious instinct… all this is repugnant to creatures incapable of thinking and averse to individual effort.
Thomas Carlyle on Mohammed
Thomas Carlyle’s essay on Mohammed is remarkable. First, for the superior prose: how impressive to follow him handling the English language! It is a vivid prose, full of expressive images, intelligent and syntactically varied. Then, for Carlyle’s ability to see what others cannot see, for his courage to confront the current, rejecting blind logic and seeking to understand what lies behind and beyond the lines of Mohammed. Very beautiful, very beautiful… it is a pleasant essay to read. In any case, I think I still prefer to sit at Voltaire’s table.