Meditations on Wisdom

[Nicholas]

12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her.
13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14 He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates.
15 To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, 16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.
17 The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her, 18 and love of her is the keeping of her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality, 19 and immortality brings one near to God; 20 so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.

Wisdom of Solomon chapter 6

 

[Nicholas]

22 For in Wisdom there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, 23 beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.
24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
25 For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
26 For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
27 Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; 28 for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.
29 For she is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, 30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.

Wisdom of Solomon chapter 7

 

[Nicholas]

1 All wisdom comes from the Lord
and is with him for ever.
2 The sand of the sea, the drops of rain,
and the days of eternity—who can count them?
3 The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth,
the abyss, and wisdom—who can search them out?
4 Wisdom was created before all things,
and prudent understanding from eternity.
6 The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed?
Her clever devices—who knows them?
8 There is One who is wise, greatly to be feared,
sitting upon his throne.
9 The Lord himself created wisdom;
he saw her and apportioned her,
he poured her out upon all his works.
10 She dwells with all flesh according to his gift,
and he supplied her to those who love him.

Sirach chapter 1

 

[Nicholas]

5. Let us now propound a question about experiences to these men who feel love for incorporeal beauties. What do you feel in presence of the noble occupations, the good morals, the habits of temperance, and in general of virtuous acts and sentiments, and of all that constitutes the beauty of souls? What do you feel when you contemplate your inner beauty? What is the source of your ecstasies, or your enthusiasms? Whence come your desires to unite yourselves to your real selves, and to refresh yourselves by retirement from your bodies? Such indeed are the experiences of those who love genuinely. What then is the object which causes these, your emotions? It is neither a figure, nor a color, nor any size; it is that (colorless) invisible soul, which possesses a wisdom equally invisible; this soul in which may be seen shining the splendor of all the virtues, when one discovers in oneself, or contemplates in others, the greatness of character, the justice of the heart, the pure temperance, the imposing countenance of valor, dignity and modesty, proceeding alone firmly, calmly, and imperturbably; and above all, intelligence, resembling the divinity, by its brilliant light.

From: Plotinus, Enneads 1.6

 

[Nicholas]

11 Wisdom exalts her sons
and gives help to those who seek her.
12 Whoever loves her loves life,
and those who seek her early will be filled with joy.
13 Whoever holds her fast will obtain glory,
and the Lord will bless the place she enters.
14 Those who serve her will minister to the Holy One;
the Lord loves those who love her.
15 He who obeys her will judge the nations,
and whoever gives heed to her will dwell secure.
16 If he has faith in her he will obtain her;
and his descendants will remain in possession of her.
17 For at first she will walk with him on tortuous paths,
she will bring fear and cowardice upon him,
and will torment him by her discipline
until she trusts him,
and she will test him with her ordinances.
18 Then she will come straight back to him and gladden him,
and will reveal her secrets to him.
19 If he goes astray she will forsake him,
and hand him over to his ruin.

Sirach chapter 4

 

[Nicholas]

53. The state of prayer is one of dispassion, which by virtue of the most intense love transports to the noetic realm the intellect that longs for wisdom.

From: Evagrios the Solitary, On Prayer

 

[Nicholas]

Humans themselves are makers of themselves - by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; for mind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance.

James Allen

 

[Nicholas]

Epictetus says:

Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflection the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should not be any part of your concern.

 

[Nicholas]

Let not your feeble eyes expect to sleep
Until you have rehearsed each of the day's deeds three times:
'Where have I transgressed? what have I done? what duty not fulfilled?'

Beginning from the first go through them in detail, and then
Rebuke yourself for the mean things you have done, but delight in the good.

Golden Verses of Pythagoras, HS Schibli trans. in his Hierocles of Alexandria, p. 267

 

[Nicholas]

The gods are immortal mortals and men are mortal immortals.

Heraclitus

 

[jeanie]

These are quite nice, although the vocabulary is a little advanced for most (myself included, LOL!)

 

[Nicholas]

These are quite nice, although the vocabulary is a little advanced for most (myself included, LOL!)

Glad you find some value or inspiration Jeanie. Divine Wisdom as defined by St. James (3:13-17) for example, is not that popular nowadays, or in the past for that matter.

 

[Nicholas]

The theorems of philosophy are to be enjoyed as much as possible, as if they were
ambrosia and nectar. For the pleasure from them is genuine, incorruptible and
divine. They are also capable of producing magnanimity, and though they cannot
make us eternal beings, yet they enable us to obtain a scientific knowledge of eternal natures.

Iamblichus Exhortation to Philosophy

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well it certainly is poetic .

 

[Nicholas]

Well it certainly is poetic .

The translator was the famous English Platonist Thomas Taylor, who wrote his own prayers & invocations to Greek gods.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The translator was the famous English Platonist Thomas Taylor, who wrote his own prayers & invocations to Greek gods.

It's always fascinating when you look back in history like that.

Wisdom is like a diamond I think. There are many facets to it, not limited on how wisdom is approached, given our modernist perspectives on wisdom as they exist today.

It's kind of nice in its own way.

From what I gather he was a Neoplatonist.

 

[Nicholas]

24. Ever grows the glory of him who is energetic,
mindful and pure in conduct, discerning and
self-controlled, righteous and heedful.
25. By effort and heedfulness, discipline and selfmastery,
let the wise one make for himself an
island which no flood can overwhelm.
26. The foolish and ignorant indulge in
heedlessness, but the wise one keeps his
heedfulness as his best treasure.
27. Do not give way to heedlessness. Do not
indulge in sensual pleasures. Only the heedful
and meditative attain great happiness.

Buddha, his Dhammapada

 

[Nicholas]

When a noble disciple contemplates upon the Enlightened
One, at that time his mind is not enwrapped in lust, nor in
hatred, nor in delusion. At such a time his mind is rightly
directed towards the Perfect One (Tathāgata). And with a
rightly directed mind the noble disciple gains enthusiasm
for the goal, enthusiasm for the Dhamma, gains the delight
derived from the Dhamma. In him thus delighted, joy arises;
to one who is joyful, body and mind become calm; calmed in
body and mind, he feels at ease; and if at ease, the mind fi nds
concentration. Such a one is called a noble disciple who among
humanity gone wrong, has attained to what is right; who
among a humanity beset by troubles, dwells free of troubles.

Buddha in AN 6:10

 

[Nicholas]

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C. S. Lewis

 

[Nicholas]

People who cultivate the Way need first off to not be selfish. This matter isn't one which should be undertaken solely for the sake of insuring one's own security, but rather it should be out of the need to benefit the entire world. It's necessary to let go of one's self. It's not that one thinks, "In this respect and in that respect I'm really incomparably great!" Rather one must act out of concern for preserving the larger state of affairs.

Master Hsuan Hua, from Lotuses in the Spring Sun (Chwun-er Lyan-hwa)