The Mind

In the mind,…our intellect and knowledge perform like a teeter-totter and in effect the mind orders up an evaluation and applies what appears to us as our sound judgement.

Sound judgement, then renders a decision based upon our experience and from there the mind initiates the chosen action to be performed.

The application of sound judgement to our decisions comes from our acquired knowledge, and again these act together as a sagacious scale for our discerning characters to apply our individual mind’s assertions.

These fundamentals in processing what is being sought after (decision), is what culminates into what can be appreciated as making wise decisions or otherwise.

Otherwise,…hum? Maybe there is just a little more to that word?

So…knowledge is merely just our mindful awareness or familiarity that has been gained by our individual experience from a series of varying situations.

We may often regard these experiences as factual although it is through our discerning mindful characters that we credit these as truthfully believable or discredit them as untruthful while being absent any real facts at all!

The mind can apply it’s intellectual capacity to substantiate to dubious authenticity or having factual relevance to whenever it chooses, and depending upon the situation it can exempt it’s self from any real benefit from gained wisdom.

It is from the mind’s internal choices that we authenticate our doubtfulness or believability, not necessarily factual accounting.

It is from our individual interpretations or perceptions that we apply what is called the wisdom of our experiences.

When I think of wisdom and the mind’s discernment’s, I think of King Solomon the son of David (970 to 931 BC).

According to The Bible, The Qur’an and The Talmud, King Solomon is one of the 48 prophets, and therefore a recognized source of mankind’s evaluation for seeking and presumably acquiring wisdom.

King Solomon; the Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem and portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power!

One of the most ascribed qualities to King Solomon was his wisdom. The book of 1 Kings recounts for how Solomon prayed to God for wisdom:

“And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? (1 Kings 3:4–9)

In this passage, it is clear that King Solomon is attempting to negotiate with God by offering up his humility and servitude for being bestowed the gift of wisdom.

This approach has many parallels in the Bible but, none so obvious as the bate and switch tactic Lucifer used in suggesting that the forbidden fruit would offer up the hidden treasures that were;

“pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom”

So God said to him;

“Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked”(1 Kings 3:11–12)

The Hebrew Bible also states that;

“The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.”(1 Kings 10:24)

So, King Solomon is noted as one of many authors of wisdom’s literature. The apocryphal / deuterocanonical and the events of Israel’s history combined with much of this literature is attributed to King Solomon.

King Solomon apocrypha, are statements or claims that are of dubious authenticity and therefore these are commonly applied in Christian religious contexts involving certain disagreements about biblical canonicity.

Deuterocanonical books, are a term used since the 16th century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible.

This term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible.

This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be classified as canonical texts.

Getting to the point…

The apocryphal / deuterocanonical Wisdom of Solomon along with the Book of Sirach offer familiar personality profiles and the events of Israel’s history combined with the traditions of wisdom.

Much of this literature however, is attributed to King Solomon and King Solomon became a favorite author and contributor of different kinds of wisdom literature including not only the collections of Proverbs, but also of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon and the later apocryphal book the Wisdom of Solomon.

Unfortunately, as a king whose sins including idolatry and turning away from Yahweh he ultimately led the kingdom’s into being torn in two, during the reign of his son Rehoboam.

Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends, most notably in the 1st-century apocryphal work known as the Testament of Solomon.

In later years Solomon also came to be known as a magician and an exorcist with numerous amulets and medallion seals dating from the Hellenistic period invoking his name.

So, in having acquired the wealth of wisdom what happen? What failed King Solomon in discovering the meaning of life?

Could it have been too many distraction and too many temptations that also came along as part of the package of wisdom?

According to the Bible, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Just what is the right number…hum?

The wives are described as foreign princesses including Pharaoh’s daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. These wives are depicted as leading Solomon away from Yahweh toward idolatry.

One would think (if thinking with sound mind) that after having acquired the gift of God’s divine wisdom that one would be able to see clearly good from evil?

The Mind plays tricks…

The attributes that can be forged from knowledge and wisdom are elusively obscured until an understanding can be gained for how to defeat and overpower the temptations of evil.

A first step is to recognize the mechanism which is our vulnerability to succumb to our desires and The Seven Capitol Sins.

The second, is our propensity to be influenced by whatever we choose to be tempted by in the first place!

This of course requires contemplation for acquiring the results in making the bad choices prior to actually engaging such activity.

King Solomon’s wise words are powerful intellectual tools but, the paradoxical examples in him living his own life also offers a transparently clear view for where anyone of us can be fooled!

King Solomon self-contradictions effectively nullified the potential benefits of his God given wisdom, as he failed to employ (in some cases) his own intellectual weapons.

In defeating evil, we must recognize how self-contradictions and self-deceit appears, in our individual mind?

Equally important, we must intuitively understand the power of the mind and it’s ability to create a widescreen HD imagery for seduction, of course with a little help from some foes.

The key notes here are;

  • a.) Taking responsibility for the blessing of any wisdom
  • b.) Mindfully realizing that bad choices only exhibit insolence
  • c.) The obligations of receiving such gifts from God requires living a life that pays it forward.

Many of us fail ourselves, for even King Solomon’s wisdom fell prey to the whimsical corruption in his own decisions in making free choices?

Imagine, being given King Solomon’s power to order living creatures of the world to dance before him (Rabbinical accounts say that Solomon had been given control over all living things by Yahweh) yet, King Solomon’s ruling wisdom according to the story failed to obtain the mountain-cock’s (hoopoe) mandated attendance.

As the story goes, he summoned the mountain-cock again to his court, and the bird told him that his absence was due to him searching for somewhere new…hum?

So, King Solomon subordinates to the distraction of the bird’s discovery, which was a land in the east that was claimed to be exceedingly rich in gold, silver, and plants.

Realize that King Solomon had already acquired from God what was expressed as being most valued to him, wisdom!

So what defeated his weapon of intellect to become enticed by the requisitioning of greater earthly treasure…hum? Was it the seduction of the mind’s desire?

The new land was called Kitor, whose ruler was the Queen of Sheba and the bird, on its own advice…hum, was sent by Solomon to request the queen’s immediate attendance at Solomon’s court…hum?

Now, we know what evolved from this decision and where King Solomon’s choices became further corrupted by the distraction of the mindful desires of beauty.

As beauty is a great seducer of men and here in this story the mind’s desires were quite capable of over powering even the mind of an otherwise great king.

The absolute mind…

How would unlimited power begin to be contemplated and exercised in the mind? How would the possession of such power begin to become a rationalized mindfulness in the possession of such ownership?

As the saying goes, when men assume a right to absolute power an insatiable appetite for more power ensues to the point where one loses sight of the ability to rationalize fair balance.

It is in this “absolute” way of thinking that we create a “singular” mindfulness that pardons us from blame, guilt, or responsibility!

In this state of mind we deny ourselves any reckoning to what could be seen as fair balance and in this “absolute” state of mind the overwhelming hunger of power corrupts the mind, absolutely!

The Power of the Mind…

The mind is merely the thread for the block and tackle, as these devices lift the heavy loads on the cables of our thoughts.

Wisdom teeters in the apex of decision and this is where the true balance between good and evil is formed within the mind.

In increasing or decreasing the load being placed upon the assemblies of the pulleys the heavy load of weighed consequence can be more easily accommodated.

In the internal exchange of thoughts that resides within the mind’s folds the mind’s sheets are connected to a kind of block and tackle, which relieves the stresses upon the mast and sails.

This allows the vessel of life to travel faster or slower upon the surface of an imaginary sea.

The tonnage of life’s vessel under ideal conditions could seem to quite literately obscure the risk of a ladened load of evil and the impending consequences to what may appear as a deeper drafting hull!

As the wind speed picks up and carries a ship of fools on tacking alignment with the uncharted island coast, a way-point heading falsely exchanges illusionary desires with the disastrous consequences of the shallow rocky shoreline.

In taking ownership of a sound mind, one could perform an evaluation for good and evil, right and wrong, rewards and consequences.

In doing so, one may be able to override the insatiable appetite for the euphoric desires being projected on the mind’s widescreen.

In allowing decisions to arrive at the pivotal teeter of fair balance within a mindful decision, sailing uncharted waters could become exposed for the risk. The greater potential for impending doom could be realized!

The other option is to subordinate to our desires just like King Solomon and become overwhelmed by our mind’s desire for the conquest of a new land and the seduction of beautiful maidens.

These are our individual choices and the mind’s desires are anchored in it’s vanity!

Vanity, the mind’s seduction…

“As I said in my heart, as it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me, and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.”

King Solomon

Thus, we should all come to appreciate the reward that can come from humility in the Socratic paradox. As this is the anchor to any hope.

“I know that I know nothing” or “I know one thing: that I know nothing”

Thus, once again “vanity” captures the MIND and offers conclusion based upon Thyself perspective;

“I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.”

2 thoughts on “The Mind”

  1. How many combinations and permutations might there be for the contradictions within a wise man with 700 wives and 300 concubines who then …. ?

    The mark of a wise man is not what he knows but if he knows where to find what he does not know.

    1. Well said Mr. Schmidt!…Although it may be derived from this that the wise King may have had too much influence in seeking what he did not know…hum?
      Therefore, I believe that I understand you to be saying that one would also need to be able to recognize what is unwise in the advice received in seeking out what is not known…?

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Writing with the Veiled…