If the didactic explanations of this curious Emanuel Swedenborg proceed, I will not be accepted in heaven. I will not be, and I add: under no circumstances. If not heaven, then… But I reflect: do I necessarily have to be accepted somewhere? Am I forced to yearn for acceptance? Am I condemned from the start to beg for being accepted? If so, the possibility of complete rejection is excluded: someone will have to accept me—and I, naturally, will also have to accept those who accept me: all deprived of volition, condemned to forcibly join a group. Disappointing…
Tag: religion
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.
The Language of the Dhammapada
The language of the highest Dhammapada is the only language in which ethical precepts should be expounded in texts that purport to be called sacred. The Dhammapada does not resort to the regrettable route of orders and threats, where there are plenty of imperative verbs. It does not command, it does not demand, and although it is written in very simple language, it is impenetrable to those unaccustomed to reflection. It is a luminous and profound text, intended for superior creatures, which uses a respectful oratory, never intending to win servants, train evildoers, or impose itself through a moral imperative. It makes precepts available, justifies them patiently, and let follow them those who want to do it. In short, the language of the Dhammapada is that which an educated man uses when he respects the intelligence of his interlocutor.