• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Who is the Sagest One of All? WISEST OF ALL MEMBERS AND MORE!

Forum Forum on the Flat Screen, whose the Sagest One of All?

This is a little fun thing we can play, justified by the thread which was created recently about "who is the best debater" but with a different overall purpose.

What I'm wondering first of all (barely, but it leads to the next parts), is which user(s) you think are the very wisest, sage-like, smartest people full of truest wisdom on this website? If you vote for me, please also select the "second" best at least (because of the next parts of this question or exercise). Also, if you select no longer active members as those you found to be the wisest of all, if you could link to some examples or talk about them a little, and also include after those some exemplar, top-notch sage active members too please, and even " @" them if possible so they might be notified and come here.

Now, for those of you who were selected, please also select who you think are the wisest and sagest and best of all in their wisdom and knowledge and practices.

Alright, step 2 or 3 now, is that for those of you who were selected and thought of as the wisest, can you please discuss your beliefs in detail and daily practices (even if you're non-religious or atheists). It seems to be pretty difficult to get people to directly talk about themselves or their beliefs and practices, and many people try to be humble, but if other people think you are wise, it would be much appreciated if you could basically tell us all what exactly is your "Way" in beliefs and practices in detail please. That is the Way of a Wise Sage (according to those who selected you).

Now, the next part of this little fun exercise (likely to fail bombastically because of people not really contributing with much thought or honesty, but I hope it might be alright), is to list who among all the people you've ever met or heard of or heard from, are the very wisest of all, what their beliefs and statements were that impressed you, and what their "way" and practices were, or religions or whatever.

This can be included in the above or its own separate answer, but here you can list from among all the historic figures and writers and sages, even those still living or just deceased (like James Randi even), who you feel were the very wisest of all in their writings and sayings and life histories (you can list multiple for each from the very greatest in your opinion to the next best and so on and why). So like, lots of people admire Jesus and Muhammed, or Confucius, etc, even if the characters are mythological or people aren't sure they existed but they have lots of writings or acts attributed to them that you think showcase them as truly wise people who have lifestyles that should be followed or correct beliefs, please write them out here, how you came to discover them, what you like about them. This will be especially interesting to see from those who get selected as active members on this forum who are considered sage-like who then select some figure who might be an inspiration or role-model for them.

See? Isn't it sort of cool how this builds up?

Alright, it doesn't end there. Now the final one I want to include here is what literature, what book, what scriptures, novels, instruction manuals, websites, blogs, whatever, what writing that you've seen do you find the best and most sage-like, the wisest of all, and representing or teaching the very best way of life that you believe is greatest and hope to emulate and follow? You can pick multiple things which you think are best in this regard as well!

So that is:
1. Most Sage Like User(s) in your Opinion
2. What is the Way of these Online Sages
3. Who are the Greatest Sages you've ever encountered anywhere at all? What were they like, what did they say and do and live like? What impacted you and impressed you about them?
4. Select Your Very Favorite and Best of All Historic Sages or Celebrity Sages
5. Select The Most Sage and Wisest of Writings You've Ever Encountered from Greatest to Next Greatest and so on

Alright? It isn't so hard! Lets see what you come up with and how it goes! Lots of cool things should ideally be mentioned here. I'm eager to find out what ends up being the consensus if at all about what sort of "Way of Life" and statements and teachings and beliefs seem to be the very wisest, truest, best of all to people.

I will mention also, I don't personally consider "Muhammed" a wise person at all or a sage, but that is also because I don't consider the Qur'an to be really from his conscious mind or credit it to him. Some people do consider Muhammed, even regardless of the Qur'an, to actually be a Wise Man though. I similarly do not consider Moses to be Wise or a Sage, all these men I consider to be ignorant people who were not "smart" necessarily or "being smart" at all.

Confucius I do consider a Sage, a Wise Man, and someone who was recognized as such as well, I consider him a Thinker, someone who was actually trying to be smart and thinking about things. Same with Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, but don't let that restrict you at all from mentioning certain people like Muhammed, Moses, or Abraham if you view them as sages or wise men who wrote wisely and had wisdom and a good and wise way of life and were very much in line the truth, pragmatic, with beneficial ways of thinking and living, acting and deciding.

Ok! Lets see how it goes! I hope it goes well!

Also, this is not a debate, you don't need to dispute each other's choices, I won't dispute anything you choose, I just want to get lists of sage people and those sage people's beliefs and ways of life.

Also, I of course select myself as one of the Sagest of the Sagest anywhere online, but that doesn't help me much! I already know what I think and do!

Also, you can list separately, if you wish, those you think are the best hearted, noblest (they may be the same, or they may be someone you don't consider necessarily especially wise or sage-like, or with the best way of life, but just genuinely good people). In that regard, I'd probably select Trailblazer as one of the noblest or best hearted people, for their care of animals, and thus most Muhammed-like perhaps.

Oh! A sixth question can be, which Sage if any do you personally think you might relate to or resemble most? I'm a lot like Socrates and a bunch of those "Crazy Wisdom" teachers in Buddhism probably, all the people with bellies who were pretty ridiculous or absurd.

I think the wisest will be anyone who is most similar to myself in their beliefs and "way", so that is most likely going to be SeekerOnThePath, firedragon, Link, Tony Bristow, etc, though I'm impressed by anyone who is very logical and informed seeming and want to know all about how they live and their Way and Way of life and beliefs in detail too!

So this thread provides lots of opportunities to share your love for all those people you think are the biggest Sages and why you think so as well, what they seem to think, say, and do!
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
Forum Forum on the Flat Screen, whose the Sagest One of All?

This is a little fun thing we can play, justified by the thread which was created recently about "who is the best debater" but with a different overall purpose.

What I'm wondering first of all (barely, but it leads to the next parts), is which user(s) you think are the very wisest, sage-like, smartest people full of truest wisdom on this website? If you vote for me, please also select the "second" best at least (because of the next parts of this question or exercise). Also, if you select no longer active members as those you found to be the wisest of all, if you could link to some examples or talk about them a little, and also include after those some exemplar, top-notch sage active members too please, and even " @" them if possible so they might be notified and come here.

Now, for those of you who were selected, please also select who you think are the wisest and sagest and best of all in their wisdom and knowledge and practices.

Alright, step 2 or 3 now, is that for those of you who were selected and thought of as the wisest, can you please discuss your beliefs in detail and daily practices (even if you're non-religious or atheists). It seems to be pretty difficult to get people to directly talk about themselves or their beliefs and practices, and many people try to be humble, but if other people think you are wise, it would be much appreciated if you could basically tell us all what exactly is your "Way" in beliefs and practices in detail please. That is the Way of a Wise Sage (according to those who selected you).

Now, the next part of this little fun exercise (likely to fail bombastically because of people not really contributing with much thought or honesty, but I hope it might be alright), is to list who among all the people you've ever met or heard of or heard from, are the very wisest of all, what their beliefs and statements were that impressed you, and what their "way" and practices were, or religions or whatever.

This can be included in the above or its own separate answer, but here you can list from among all the historic figures and writers and sages, even those still living or just deceased (like James Randi even), who you feel were the very wisest of all in their writings and sayings and life histories (you can list multiple for each from the very greatest in your opinion to the next best and so on and why). So like, lots of people admire Jesus and Muhammed, or Confucius, etc, even if the characters are mythological or people aren't sure they existed but they have lots of writings or acts attributed to them that you think showcase them as truly wise people who have lifestyles that should be followed or correct beliefs, please write them out here, how you came to discover them, what you like about them. This will be especially interesting to see from those who get selected as active members on this forum who are considered sage-like who then select some figure who might be an inspiration or role-model for them.

See? Isn't it sort of cool how this builds up?

Alright, it doesn't end there. Now the final one I want to include here is what literature, what book, what scriptures, novels, instruction manuals, websites, blogs, whatever, what writing that you've seen do you find the best and most sage-like, the wisest of all, and representing or teaching the very best way of life that you believe is greatest and hope to emulate and follow? You can pick multiple things which you think are best in this regard as well!

So that is:
1. Most Sage Like User(s) in your Opinion
2. What is the Way of these Online Sages
3. Who are the Greatest Sages you've ever encountered anywhere at all? What were they like, what did they say and do and live like? What impacted you and impressed you about them?
4. Select Your Very Favorite and Best of All Historic Sages or Celebrity Sages
5. Select The Most Sage and Wisest of Writings You've Ever Encountered from Greatest to Next Greatest and so on

Alright? It isn't so hard! Lets see what you come up with and how it goes! Lots of cool things should ideally be mentioned here. I'm eager to find out what ends up being the consensus if at all about what sort of "Way of Life" and statements and teachings and beliefs seem to be the very wisest, truest, best of all to people.

I will mention also, I don't personally consider "Muhammed" a wise person at all or a sage, but that is also because I don't consider the Qur'an to be really from his conscious mind or credit it to him. Some people do consider Muhammed, even regardless of the Qur'an, to actually be a Wise Man though. I similarly do not consider Moses to be Wise or a Sage, all these men I consider to be ignorant people who were not "smart" necessarily or "being smart" at all.

Confucius I do consider a Sage, a Wise Man, and someone who was recognized as such as well, I consider him a Thinker, someone who was actually trying to be smart and thinking about things. Same with Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, but don't let that restrict you at all from mentioning certain people like Muhammed, Moses, or Abraham if you view them as sages or wise men who wrote wisely and had wisdom and a good and wise way of life and were very much in line the truth, pragmatic, with beneficial ways of thinking and living, acting and deciding.

Ok! Lets see how it goes! I hope it goes well!

Also, this is not a debate, you don't need to dispute each other's choices, I won't dispute anything you choose, I just want to get lists of sage people and those sage people's beliefs and ways of life.

Also, I of course select myself as one of the Sagest of the Sagest anywhere online, but that doesn't help me much! I already know what I think and do!

Also, you can list separately, if you wish, those you think are the best hearted, noblest (they may be the same, or they may be someone you don't consider necessarily especially wise or sage-like, or with the best way of life, but just genuinely good people). In that regard, I'd probably select Trailblazer as one of the noblest or best hearted people, for their care of animals, and thus most Muhammed-like perhaps.

Oh! A sixth question can be, which Sage if any do you personally think you might relate to or resemble most? I'm a lot like Socrates and a bunch of those "Crazy Wisdom" teachers in Buddhism probably, all the people with bellies who were pretty ridiculous or absurd.

I think the wisest will be anyone who is most similar to myself in their beliefs and "way", so that is most likely going to be SeekerOnThePath, firedragon, Link, Tony Bristow, etc, though I'm impressed by anyone who is very logical and informed seeming and want to know all about how they live and their Way and Way of life and beliefs in detail too!

So this thread provides lots of opportunities to share your love for all those people you think are the biggest Sages and why you think so as well, what they seem to think, say, and do!
I haven't identified any sages on RF, but its impossible to know who might be. We've some good personalities, some people with a lot of education, some very moral people, some clever people. We have unlucky people, poor, not so poor, rare, etc. A sage is such a high bar. Its the kind of thing where long after you die people know for sure you were a sage. Suppose you could predict accurately the next phase of the globe. We wouldn't know until later. I guess we could slide the word and come up with almost-sage people.
 
Yeah, I think that this forum has probably the best personalities that I've encountered anywhere online yet.

If no one meets your standards of a Sage, maybe it could give us something if the standards of what a Sage would be or what sort of sayings and Way of life would qualify one as Sage-like, and then we could also see (or maybe people could chime in) if they actually are somewhat like that, in what ways they are or aren't, how they meet up to it near or don't at all.

I have a pretty low bar for who qualifies as a Sage in my view, its basically anyone at all who is very intelligent, very witty, very perceptive, very thoughtful, with a piercing sort of eye, penetrating insight and knowledge, a great strategist, someone who can maneuver through information and dilemmas with a kind of quick and dancing wit, virtue, and honesty (I'm making myself blush), and also has a way of life that is very good, they know a lot about a lot of things, or can figure out a lot of things, and do things pragmatically or improve on things, have the mind of an engineer even, to figure out solutions to problems that are realistic and work well, who then also have a religion or belief system or practices or way of life that is also reflective of their nature, and so they are happy, well, in a good state, with all the good things, a sufficient and better than sufficient comfort and shelter and diet and regimen or whatever, and so that in their sharing this or in any of you sharing this about them, we might be able to adopt parts or the entire Way, and improve ourselves even!

So! Any "near" sages that could fill in for all the requested answers? Or what you think a Sage or even a "near" Sage might be like, say, think, and do?
 

SeekerOnThePath

On a mountain between Nietzsche and Islam
This can be included in the above or its own separate answer, but here you can list from among all the historic figures and writers and sages, even those still living or just deceased (like James Randi even), who you feel were the very wisest of all in their writings and sayings and life histories (you can list multiple for each from the very greatest in your opinion to the next best and so on and why). So like, lots of people admire Jesus and Muhammed, or Confucius, etc, even if the characters are mythological or people aren't sure they existed but they have lots of writings or acts attributed to them that you think showcase them as truly wise people who have lifestyles that should be followed or correct beliefs, please write them out here, how you came to discover them, what you like about them. This will be especially interesting to see from those who get selected as active members on this forum who are considered sage-like who then select some figure who might be an inspiration or role-model for them.
.................................................
.................................................
I will mention also, I don't personally consider "Muhammed" a wise person at all or a sage, but that is also because I don't consider the Qur'an to be really from his conscious mind or credit it to him. Some people do consider Muhammed, even regardless of the Qur'an, to actually be a Wise Man though. I similarly do not consider Moses to be Wise or a Sage, all these men I consider to be ignorant people who were not "smart" necessarily or "being smart" at all.

Confucius I do consider a Sage, a Wise Man, and someone who was recognized as such as well, I consider him a Thinker, someone who was actually trying to be smart and thinking about things. Same with Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, but don't let that restrict you at all from mentioning certain people like Muhammed, Moses, or Abraham if you view them as sages or wise men who wrote wisely and had wisdom and a good and wise way of life and were very much in line the truth, pragmatic, with beneficial ways of thinking and living, acting and deciding.

Well apart from You and @firedragon maybe also @Link (I remember reading some of his posts), there aren't many RF users that I'm acquainted enough with.

Apart from Prophet Muhammad (who is a logical default for someone like me), I'd place Imam Ali and Imam al-Sadiq very high up there as strong possessors of knowledge and wisdom, both as primary sources of Muslim esotericism and philosophy (aside from the Holy Qur'an itself).
I'd also put Prophet Solomon pretty high up (and even in his controversial Biblical depiction, because it holds some interesting insights), Prophet Enoch/Idris too. Hermes Trismegistus (also identified with Enoch).
Pythagoras, Nagarjuna, Nasir Khusraw, Hasan Sabbah, Padmasambhava, Ibn Arabi, Mulla Sadra, Sabbatai Zevi, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai, The Bab, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, P.D. Ouspensky, Austin Osman Spare, Antonin Artaud, Georges Bataille, Phillip K Dick, Chogyam Trungpa, John Zorn, Robert Anton Wilson, Martin Heidegger, maybe even Baudrillard. Maybe Frithjof Schuon.
For filmmakers, definitely David Lynch :cool:
 

Salty Booger

Royal Crown Cola (RC)
I don't believe I can elevate anyone here onto the pedestal of "Greatest Sage," though I appreciate your online company. Externally, Elmo seems like a happy character. He must have the answer to life and spirituality.:)

 
I nominate Crustymucus as top sage on RF.
Haven't seen him in years though.

Lol, is that seriously their name? Like Salty Booger? What is it with people interested in Religion and fluids from orifices and passages like the tear ducts and the nostrils? Freaking gross! If this was an actual user, what did they talk about and tell about themselves or their way of life?
 
I don't believe I can elevate anyone here onto the pedestal of "Greatest Sage," though I appreciate your online company. Externally, Elmo seems like a happy character. He must have the answer to life and spirituality.:)


Haha, that is sort of weird, because just before making this post and when I was thinking of making it, I was in the shower, and also thinking about a joke where I discuss how I talk and act like elmo in real life and that it might be causing some extra difficulties turning on my wife.
 
Well apart from You and @firedragon maybe also @Link (I remember reading some of his posts), there aren't many RF users that I'm acquainted enough with.

Apart from Prophet Muhammad (who is a logical default for someone like me), I'd place Imam Ali and Imam al-Sadiq very high up there as strong possessors of knowledge and wisdom, both as primary sources of Muslim esotericism and philosophy (aside from the Holy Qur'an itself).
I'd also put Prophet Solomon pretty high up (and even in his controversial Biblical depiction, because it holds some interesting insights), Prophet Enoch/Idris too. Hermes Trismegistus (also identified with Enoch).
Pythagoras, Nagarjuna, Nasir Khusraw, Hasan Sabbah, Padmasambhava, Ibn Arabi, Mulla Sadra, Sabbatai Zevi, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai, The Bab, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, P.D. Ouspensky, Austin Osman Spare, Antonin Artaud, Georges Bataille, Phillip K Dick, Chogyam Trungpa, John Zorn, Robert Anton Wilson, Martin Heidegger, maybe even Baudrillard. Maybe Frithjof Schuon.
For filmmakers, definitely David Lynch :cool:
Haha, I have a whole collection of David Lynch stuff at home! All fantastic choices!

Do you have links for the entire corpus of writings (in English) attributed to Imam Ali and Imam al-Sadiq? Also any of the others you mentioned who might have their writings or works available for free in a complete or near complete form in English? I was just looking up the Najhul Balagha which I may (unlikely though, seeing as how that thread is going maybe) reach and put in the Islam section for the scripture quotes thread I just made a little before this one.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Lol, is that seriously their name? Like Salty Booger? What is it with people interested in Religion and fluids from orifices and passages like the tear ducts and the nostrils? Freaking gross! If this was an actual user, what did they talk about and tell about themselves or their way of life?
That was his moniker.
Great guy who really knew where his towel was.
 

SeekerOnThePath

On a mountain between Nietzsche and Islam
....speaking of Elmo

iu


iu
 

SeekerOnThePath

On a mountain between Nietzsche and Islam
Haha, I have a whole collection of David Lynch stuff at home! All fantastic choices!

Do you have links for the entire corpus of writings (in English) attributed to Imam Ali and Imam al-Sadiq? Also any of the others you mentioned who might have their writings or works available for free in a complete or near complete form in English? I was just looking up the Najhul Balagha which I may (unlikely though, seeing as how that thread is going maybe) reach and put in the Islam section for the scripture quotes thread I just made a little before this one.

I can try to get something together.........
 

Salty Booger

Royal Crown Cola (RC)
Haha, that is sort of weird, because just before making this post and when I was thinking of making it, I was in the shower, and also thinking about a joke where I discuss how I talk and act like elmo in real life and that it might be causing some extra difficulties turning on my wife.
Hmm, Did the Cookie Monster work his way into your day?

 

SeekerOnThePath

On a mountain between Nietzsche and Islam
Haha, I have a whole collection of David Lynch stuff at home! All fantastic choices!

Do you have links for the entire corpus of writings (in English) attributed to Imam Ali and Imam al-Sadiq? Also any of the others you mentioned who might have their writings or works available for free in a complete or near complete form in English? I was just looking up the Najhul Balagha which I may (unlikely though, seeing as how that thread is going maybe) reach and put in the Islam section for the scripture quotes thread I just made a little before this one.

Imam al-Sadiq provides a more difficult issue to convenience (as in there are no big collections of just him, even though he features predominantly in a lot of collections..) than Imam Ali. Aside from the Nahjul Balagha, which is an incredible collection, there is also Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim. Both are available in english.
In general, it tends to take a bit of digging around different collections, like Kitab al-Kafi, Bihar al-Anwar or Mizan al-Hikmah. I will find you some english links though.......
 

danieldemol

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I would vote for the same people i voted for in best debaters thread, their sagacity is part of what makes them great debaters
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
I would vote for the same people i voted for in best debaters thread, their sagacity is part of what makes them great debaters

You graciously tagged me in that debater's thread. And now you want to repeat and compound your mistake? Dan, you're an incurable optimist, but we love you.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
I agree that this forum has a goodly sprinkling of thinkers, and a variety of individuals having interesting but differing views, which attracted me too, but I don't do sages - I prefer respect - as to what knowledge they might have or what they have to say. And this would come from any perspective, such that I wouldn't necessarily be looking towards those who are likely to share the same beliefs as myself (but is likely - given for example, that many of us do tend to fall into that left-lower box in another thread), since this might be the thing that reinforces any of my own biases and that is not my aim in life. Having the fewest beliefs and being more open would be two aims, rather than settling on something that I could neither prove nor disprove. Which is often why I cannot accept the personal claims of so many even where they often expect one to do so.
 
Top