B"H
WHY WE LOST GUSH KATIF
Someone on www.safed.co.il wrote:
Is hair Orvah or is it not? And should one hear Torah from someone who denies Torah ve-Halacha?
Todah Rabba!
I answered:
Would that people were nearly so scrupulous about the keeping of Hilkhot Mammonot as they are about judging others who do not cover their hair. Who causes more Human misery? The woman who does not cover her hair or the banks and the Ministry of Finance? Yet there are those who rail at the former because they do not have the courage to take on those who are the real destroyers of our People. Perhaps it is immodest to go without a head covering, but it is not cruel. Why don't you speak out against cruelties? What is your order of priorities.
No one is perfect and no one serves HaShem perfectly. If we were only to learn Torah from those who keep all of the תרי"ג Mitzvot we would learn from no one.
Are you sure that every woman who covers her hair is as scrupulous about giving tzaddakah as every woman who does not?
Doesn't anyone understand why we lost Gush Katif? Doesn't anyone understand that it was not so much because of the not keeping of some mitzvot, but of the keeping of a distortion of Torah - and that with judgement and bitterness toward the next one?
The people in Yesh"a paid the price for those who distort the Torah because they are those who are closest to the true Way. They are the ones who have the most hope of returning to the true Way. And so, HaShem shook them to their very foundations in order that they may think: "If we did everything right and everything turned out all wrong what happened?"
If they are willing to let go of the misconceptions that we have taken on during the galut and return to the true Way they will be shown the Old Way and will become a model for all of us.
They had to lose their homes and all that was precious to them for those who judge those who do not cover their hair, and who concern themselves with all matters picayune, even as they remain silent while our People are impoverished and downtrodden by the rich, powerful and cruel.
There are some who will counter my arguments, saying "מצוה גוררת מצוה". That is, if I do not cover my hair, then I do not do other mitzvot and if I did cover my hair then I would do other mitzvot.
To them I say: מצוה גוררת מצוה is not a generality, but a מצוה גוררת מצוה of the same kind.
At this point in my life the part of my character that I want to work on is compassion, courage and Wisdom. I try to do as many mitzvot of as I can that will lead me in those directions in the hope of doing more. From the question posed, and it was obviously posed by a woman who does cover her hair, then covering one's hair does not lead to Wisdom, compassion, courage to fight cruel organizations, giving others the benefit of the doubt, deep insight into another or being considerate of another's feelings. I'm quite sure that someone who was genuinely modest would not have written such a post either. Ergo, covering one's hair does not necessarily bring about even true modesty. Since all of the character traits I listed above are what I feel I need most at this point and I have not seen in my life that women who cover their hair achieve these characteristics on the basis of them covering their hair (although they may achieve those characteristics as a result of doing other mitzvot), I can confidently put covering my hair on a lower priority at this time in my development and work on what is most critical to me now.
P.S. The word is 'ervah'. Orvah is a female crow. Perhaps if you learn Torah and learn the Torah in לשון קדש it might change how you see things. I am not saying this "al srak". As a person reads Hebrew so they see everything. If you do not discern between ervah and "orvah" you will see the phenomenon in a distorted way as well.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
Thursday, August 25, 2005
THE UNIVERSE IS OUT TO GET ME
The universe is out to get me. I know it is. It's all one huge, involved plot intended to intimidate and harass me.
I can hear what you're thinking. You think I'm being irrational. You think I'm being overly sensitive. You think I'm exaggerating. You think I'm being the 'p' word. You think I'm wrong. Well, I'm not. I know it's true and I can prove it.
How's this for proof? Sometimes my belongings are moved out of place. They simply aren't where I know I left them last. Somebody is obviously moving them, trying to pull a gaslight, trying to make me doubt my sanity. That's not the worst of it though. The universe is colluding with them. Facts: Whatever has been removed elsewhere is just exactly what I need most at that very instant and if and when I do find what has been hidden from me it is always, but always, in the very last place that I look for it. Now what are the chances of that happening in a universe that has been lined up fair and square? Huh?
I have more proof still that the universe has been designed to drive me to distraction by frustration. Supposedly, I'll get my way half of the time. Right? Nooooo. It never, but never, ever happens that things go my way 50% of the time because that only happens in an infinite number of trials. I'm never gonna get my infinite number of trials because I'm gonna be dead long before that.
Rigged, I tell you, rigged. It's been built to be maddening.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
The universe is out to get me. I know it is. It's all one huge, involved plot intended to intimidate and harass me.
I can hear what you're thinking. You think I'm being irrational. You think I'm being overly sensitive. You think I'm exaggerating. You think I'm being the 'p' word. You think I'm wrong. Well, I'm not. I know it's true and I can prove it.
How's this for proof? Sometimes my belongings are moved out of place. They simply aren't where I know I left them last. Somebody is obviously moving them, trying to pull a gaslight, trying to make me doubt my sanity. That's not the worst of it though. The universe is colluding with them. Facts: Whatever has been removed elsewhere is just exactly what I need most at that very instant and if and when I do find what has been hidden from me it is always, but always, in the very last place that I look for it. Now what are the chances of that happening in a universe that has been lined up fair and square? Huh?
I have more proof still that the universe has been designed to drive me to distraction by frustration. Supposedly, I'll get my way half of the time. Right? Nooooo. It never, but never, ever happens that things go my way 50% of the time because that only happens in an infinite number of trials. I'm never gonna get my infinite number of trials because I'm gonna be dead long before that.
Rigged, I tell you, rigged. It's been built to be maddening.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
ב"ה
HEBREW ALPHANUMERICS ׁ(גימטריא)
VS. NUMEROLOGY
I asked the following of someone whose intelligence I respect a great deal:
Question: I'd like to know if the following makes any sense to you. I'm asking you specifically for a number of reasons. You're both linguistically and mathematically gifted. You're not Jewish and you don't speak Hebrew fluently, but you are not disinclined toward Jews and do not dismiss Jewish learning out-of-hand. Finally, though you are prepared to consider matters that are considered "spiritual", rather than purely rational, you do not go so far off the beam as to become some sort of New Age kook. You understand the difference between the super-rational and the irrational, even though at first hearing they often sound very much the same to those steeped in rationalism and the former often degenerates into the latter in the minds and hearts of those not prepared morally to deal with the super-rational.
As background let me say that the Hebrew preposition כמו (pronounced c'mo) means 'as', 'like'' 'such as', 'as though'. It is shortened to the letter כ' (caf) when used as a conjunctive prefix, but the meaning is retained. Now, an ambiguity occurs when the letter כ' is the first letter in a radical. Is it merely functioning as a consonant that is the first letter in a radical? Is it functioning as a prefix? Is it functioning as an abbreviation of the word כמו, which is both a conjunctive and a preposition? I contend that we cannot know which function it serves, because it is serving all these functions concomitantly, but we can choose to relate to it as one or more or all of these functions.
The word for 'dog' in Hebrew is כלב, pronounced celev (I am wont to transliterate כּ' as a hard 'c', and not a 'k', as this letter better corresponds to the Hebrew כּ', which, as you can clearly see it is a mirror image of. I reserve the letter 'k' for transliteration of Hebrew letter ק'). The Hebrew word for 'heart' is לב, pronounced 'lev', (that this is the etymon of the word 'love' should be eminently clear). It has been said that the word כלב (celev) should be understood as meaning 'like a heart', a description of a dog's nature.
More background: In the passage below, which is an excerpt from a communication with an etymologist; I have employed the age old method of calculating Hebrew values called מספר קטן מספרי (Integral Reduced Value), as explicated on this site: http://www.inner.org/gematria/fourways.htm
Quoting myself: "You are clearly correct that כ(מו)לב, ce(mo)lev, is the etymon of the word lupus and its variant lobo. And yes, it is now commonly agreed upon that canis lupus, the grey wolf, is the primeval wild dog. But, why did the כ' drop off altogether? Why the 'b' to 'p' shift in the case of lupus? And where did the ס' sound in lupus come from?
I wondered if there was a way of deriving the word dog from כלב (celev) directly arithmetically.
Here it is: the letter כ' (caf), equaling 20, is 2 X 10. The letter ב', beit, of course is two. The letters כ' and ב' share the same reduced value (מספר קטן), i.e., two. The letter ל' (pronounced lamed), equaling 30, is 3 X 10. Therefore, its reduced value is 3. So, 2 [the גימטריא (gematria) of ב']+2 (the reduced value of כ')=4. That gives us the ד' (dalet) sound in dog. The reduced value of ל' (lamed) is three, as I said. That gives is the ל' (gimmel) sound in dog. The word dog transliterated into Hebrew has the same value, seven, as the integral reduced value of the word כלב (celev), the reduced values of the כ' and the ל' being 2 and 3 respectively and the actual value of ב' being 2.
I am not attempting to treat the vowel sounds in either the word dog or כלב. I do not think the vowels should be ignored. I just don't know what to do about them at this juncture, as the 'ô' dog does not correspond exactly to any of the vowels in Hebrew.
In order to educe the noun 'dog' from 'כלב' I had to employ מספר קטן מספרי (integral reduced value), which is necessarily dependent upon מספר קטן (modulus 9 or reduced value). Most assuredly, there is the need to employ מספר הכרחי (absolute value) and מספר סדורי (ordinal value) when analyzing the etymology of other words as well and, in all probability, a combination of them.
How do you respond to this? Does it seem to make sense? Is it intelligible? Does anything in it make you say: "Yes!" or at least "Maybe"? Be honest.
D2
The response I received was:
I'm no expert on any of this. But I have never encountered a form of 'numerology' which made sense to me. You asked me to be honest.
My explanation:
Numerology comes from other cultures' attempts to mimic the study of גימטריא (Hebrew alphanumerics) using their own alphabets and classical mathematics. It never worked. It couldn't work for more reasons than I can list and elucidate, even in brief, in the space of an e-mail. I have discussed many of these reasons in the bodies of a number of my works. Only using Hebrew techniques of reckoning numbers to analyze the Hebrew alphabet flies. Did you notice the fact that when computing integral reduced values the same value will be arrived at regardless of whether it is the absolute values, the ordinal values, or the reduced values that are being counted, as stated on the site I cited above? This is true for all of the letters including the אותיות סופיות (the final forms of those letters that have final forms, to wit: ך', ם', ן', ף', ץ'). This in itself is fantastic.
The word "numerology" should never have been applied to גימטריא (Hebrew alphanumerical analysis). It is one of the banes of my existence, as someone from the (very) old school of Hebrew alphanumerics that this has occurred. The appellation "numerology" was applied to attract wide public attention to the study when the New Agey stuff started to catch on like wildfire and the greenbacks started to get tossed around big time. Hebrew alphanumerics was never meant for the masses and most assuredly never intended to be used for commercial purposes. It is not a commodity. The making it into a commodity by watering it down to the point that it sounds just esoteric enough for the masses to revel in it, to my profoundest sorrow, has occurred on a widespread basis in recent times and the inevitable has occurred - those who might otherwise be able to do the real thing are turned off to it because it looks like snake oil.
If it were not called "numerology" would it smell any sweeter?
At this point I really do not know whether to take comfort in all those sayings about truth not being accepted initially being de rigueur and all those occurrences of people who shifted paradigms being taken for nut jobs or whether I really am just a half-crazy, and rather pathetic, fool wasting my time. It sure looks like it could fall either way at this point. Luckily for me, my ego has been battered to the point where I don't care all that much if I am deluded and I plod on anyway. If what I'm doing has value, others will enjoy it some day. If it is just my own delusion, then it is as good a way as any to keep myself busy and out of peoples' way. Considering these matters is as good a way to spend an incarnation as any I suppose.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
HEBREW ALPHANUMERICS ׁ(גימטריא)
VS. NUMEROLOGY
I asked the following of someone whose intelligence I respect a great deal:
Question: I'd like to know if the following makes any sense to you. I'm asking you specifically for a number of reasons. You're both linguistically and mathematically gifted. You're not Jewish and you don't speak Hebrew fluently, but you are not disinclined toward Jews and do not dismiss Jewish learning out-of-hand. Finally, though you are prepared to consider matters that are considered "spiritual", rather than purely rational, you do not go so far off the beam as to become some sort of New Age kook. You understand the difference between the super-rational and the irrational, even though at first hearing they often sound very much the same to those steeped in rationalism and the former often degenerates into the latter in the minds and hearts of those not prepared morally to deal with the super-rational.
As background let me say that the Hebrew preposition כמו (pronounced c'mo) means 'as', 'like'' 'such as', 'as though'. It is shortened to the letter כ' (caf) when used as a conjunctive prefix, but the meaning is retained. Now, an ambiguity occurs when the letter כ' is the first letter in a radical. Is it merely functioning as a consonant that is the first letter in a radical? Is it functioning as a prefix? Is it functioning as an abbreviation of the word כמו, which is both a conjunctive and a preposition? I contend that we cannot know which function it serves, because it is serving all these functions concomitantly, but we can choose to relate to it as one or more or all of these functions.
The word for 'dog' in Hebrew is כלב, pronounced celev (I am wont to transliterate כּ' as a hard 'c', and not a 'k', as this letter better corresponds to the Hebrew כּ', which, as you can clearly see it is a mirror image of. I reserve the letter 'k' for transliteration of Hebrew letter ק'). The Hebrew word for 'heart' is לב, pronounced 'lev', (that this is the etymon of the word 'love' should be eminently clear). It has been said that the word כלב (celev) should be understood as meaning 'like a heart', a description of a dog's nature.
More background: In the passage below, which is an excerpt from a communication with an etymologist; I have employed the age old method of calculating Hebrew values called מספר קטן מספרי (Integral Reduced Value), as explicated on this site: http://www.inner.org/gematria/fourways.htm
Quoting myself: "You are clearly correct that כ(מו)לב, ce(mo)lev, is the etymon of the word lupus and its variant lobo. And yes, it is now commonly agreed upon that canis lupus, the grey wolf, is the primeval wild dog. But, why did the כ' drop off altogether? Why the 'b' to 'p' shift in the case of lupus? And where did the ס' sound in lupus come from?
I wondered if there was a way of deriving the word dog from כלב (celev) directly arithmetically.
Here it is: the letter כ' (caf), equaling 20, is 2 X 10. The letter ב', beit, of course is two. The letters כ' and ב' share the same reduced value (מספר קטן), i.e., two. The letter ל' (pronounced lamed), equaling 30, is 3 X 10. Therefore, its reduced value is 3. So, 2 [the גימטריא (gematria) of ב']+2 (the reduced value of כ')=4. That gives us the ד' (dalet) sound in dog. The reduced value of ל' (lamed) is three, as I said. That gives is the ל' (gimmel) sound in dog. The word dog transliterated into Hebrew has the same value, seven, as the integral reduced value of the word כלב (celev), the reduced values of the כ' and the ל' being 2 and 3 respectively and the actual value of ב' being 2.
I am not attempting to treat the vowel sounds in either the word dog or כלב. I do not think the vowels should be ignored. I just don't know what to do about them at this juncture, as the 'ô' dog does not correspond exactly to any of the vowels in Hebrew.
In order to educe the noun 'dog' from 'כלב' I had to employ מספר קטן מספרי (integral reduced value), which is necessarily dependent upon מספר קטן (modulus 9 or reduced value). Most assuredly, there is the need to employ מספר הכרחי (absolute value) and מספר סדורי (ordinal value) when analyzing the etymology of other words as well and, in all probability, a combination of them.
How do you respond to this? Does it seem to make sense? Is it intelligible? Does anything in it make you say: "Yes!" or at least "Maybe"? Be honest.
D2
The response I received was:
I'm no expert on any of this. But I have never encountered a form of 'numerology' which made sense to me. You asked me to be honest.
My explanation:
Numerology comes from other cultures' attempts to mimic the study of גימטריא (Hebrew alphanumerics) using their own alphabets and classical mathematics. It never worked. It couldn't work for more reasons than I can list and elucidate, even in brief, in the space of an e-mail. I have discussed many of these reasons in the bodies of a number of my works. Only using Hebrew techniques of reckoning numbers to analyze the Hebrew alphabet flies. Did you notice the fact that when computing integral reduced values the same value will be arrived at regardless of whether it is the absolute values, the ordinal values, or the reduced values that are being counted, as stated on the site I cited above? This is true for all of the letters including the אותיות סופיות (the final forms of those letters that have final forms, to wit: ך', ם', ן', ף', ץ'). This in itself is fantastic.
The word "numerology" should never have been applied to גימטריא (Hebrew alphanumerical analysis). It is one of the banes of my existence, as someone from the (very) old school of Hebrew alphanumerics that this has occurred. The appellation "numerology" was applied to attract wide public attention to the study when the New Agey stuff started to catch on like wildfire and the greenbacks started to get tossed around big time. Hebrew alphanumerics was never meant for the masses and most assuredly never intended to be used for commercial purposes. It is not a commodity. The making it into a commodity by watering it down to the point that it sounds just esoteric enough for the masses to revel in it, to my profoundest sorrow, has occurred on a widespread basis in recent times and the inevitable has occurred - those who might otherwise be able to do the real thing are turned off to it because it looks like snake oil.
If it were not called "numerology" would it smell any sweeter?
At this point I really do not know whether to take comfort in all those sayings about truth not being accepted initially being de rigueur and all those occurrences of people who shifted paradigms being taken for nut jobs or whether I really am just a half-crazy, and rather pathetic, fool wasting my time. It sure looks like it could fall either way at this point. Luckily for me, my ego has been battered to the point where I don't care all that much if I am deluded and I plod on anyway. If what I'm doing has value, others will enjoy it some day. If it is just my own delusion, then it is as good a way as any to keep myself busy and out of peoples' way. Considering these matters is as good a way to spend an incarnation as any I suppose.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
I've Created Two New Sites and Will Create a New Etymology Blog
One of the sites is devoted to a unique approach to etymology - etymology utilizing the unique alphanumeric properties of Hebrew to educe the Hebrew etymon from words. The site can be found on:
http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/EtymFromAlphanumerics.html
The second site is called "Doreen Dotan's Miscellaneous Meanderings" and it is just exactly that.
It can be found on: http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/MiscellaneousMeanderings.html
Some of the stuff there is serious, some isn't.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
One of the sites is devoted to a unique approach to etymology - etymology utilizing the unique alphanumeric properties of Hebrew to educe the Hebrew etymon from words. The site can be found on:
http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/EtymFromAlphanumerics.html
The second site is called "Doreen Dotan's Miscellaneous Meanderings" and it is just exactly that.
It can be found on: http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/MiscellaneousMeanderings.html
Some of the stuff there is serious, some isn't.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Since you didn't ask....
Nobody bothered to ask how I am today, but had someone I just might have told the truth. My health is failing. My stamina is so low that it lies as a stagnant pool around my swollen ankles. My self-respect is probably buried somewhere under the floor tiles, but I have neither the strength nor the will to conduct an extensive dig for it. My sense of humor is in a coma. My libido is in an advanced state of rigor mortis.
Oh, and did I neglect to mention that my wit is dimming?
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Nobody bothered to ask how I am today, but had someone I just might have told the truth. My health is failing. My stamina is so low that it lies as a stagnant pool around my swollen ankles. My self-respect is probably buried somewhere under the floor tiles, but I have neither the strength nor the will to conduct an extensive dig for it. My sense of humor is in a coma. My libido is in an advanced state of rigor mortis.
Oh, and did I neglect to mention that my wit is dimming?
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Sunday, August 14, 2005
MAD WORLD
Someone recently wrote a lament about how the world has gone mad on a message board.
In actuality, this is not cause to lament, but rather to celebrate.
The mad world "out there" only exists in order to drive us within, wherein the Truth lies, wherein Life resides.
It is really a reason to celebrate when the world we see is totally mad, when there is no respite and no satisfaction to be had "out there".
The mind creates everything we see and experience. Those images are created for our ultimate best interest and that of every other Being in creation. When our minds are creating that which causes us intense sorrow, fear and hopelessness outwardly it is only because it is calling us Home, back within.
When we see pretty, enchanting and tempting images that is the time when the Soul is leading us down into the physical world further. This is one of the types of experiences that is called the descent for the sake of the ascent.
When the the images we see with our eyes turn ugly, though visceral emotions are aroused, in fact this is the time when we are being led out of our enchantment with illusion to a higher level of awareness and Being.
The outside world is breaking up not just for a few individuals but for our generation as a whole. It is rapidly becoming uninhabitable. I just read that an area the size of Germany and France together in Siberia is melting. Greenhouse gases will be released that will increase the warming trend (see: http://tinyurl.com/bs5v7).
Only those who know how to take refuge within are going to have where to go when the outer crust breaks up, when the tidal waves come, which is both imminent and inexorable.
It does not matter at all what the politicians are doing. It is of no moment whatsoever that the industrialists are corrupt. That is all for only one purpose - to make us realize that there is no hope and no salvation whatsoever in the "outside" world and to get us to turn within where the only refuge lies.
Don't concern yourselves at all with the images that your mind is generating. Be neither fascinated by, nor repelled, by them.
Look within. Now is the time for turning within, soon there will be no without and only those who have a world within will have where to set foot.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
Someone recently wrote a lament about how the world has gone mad on a message board.
In actuality, this is not cause to lament, but rather to celebrate.
The mad world "out there" only exists in order to drive us within, wherein the Truth lies, wherein Life resides.
It is really a reason to celebrate when the world we see is totally mad, when there is no respite and no satisfaction to be had "out there".
The mind creates everything we see and experience. Those images are created for our ultimate best interest and that of every other Being in creation. When our minds are creating that which causes us intense sorrow, fear and hopelessness outwardly it is only because it is calling us Home, back within.
When we see pretty, enchanting and tempting images that is the time when the Soul is leading us down into the physical world further. This is one of the types of experiences that is called the descent for the sake of the ascent.
When the the images we see with our eyes turn ugly, though visceral emotions are aroused, in fact this is the time when we are being led out of our enchantment with illusion to a higher level of awareness and Being.
The outside world is breaking up not just for a few individuals but for our generation as a whole. It is rapidly becoming uninhabitable. I just read that an area the size of Germany and France together in Siberia is melting. Greenhouse gases will be released that will increase the warming trend (see: http://tinyurl.com/bs5v7).
Only those who know how to take refuge within are going to have where to go when the outer crust breaks up, when the tidal waves come, which is both imminent and inexorable.
It does not matter at all what the politicians are doing. It is of no moment whatsoever that the industrialists are corrupt. That is all for only one purpose - to make us realize that there is no hope and no salvation whatsoever in the "outside" world and to get us to turn within where the only refuge lies.
Don't concern yourselves at all with the images that your mind is generating. Be neither fascinated by, nor repelled, by them.
Look within. Now is the time for turning within, soon there will be no without and only those who have a world within will have where to set foot.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
Friday, August 12, 2005
The Ignoble Origins of Science
Scientists delight in disparaging mystics and those on spiritual quests. Though they may concern themselves with ethics as individuals and in an ad hoc manner, few scientists will allow that one's moral and/or spiritual orientation or level of development will affect the outcome of one's experimentation or theoretical calculations. Most scientists will tell you that the saint and the scoundrel will produce the exact same results in a laboratory if both keep to exactly the same algorithms.
This and more, most scientists are of the opinion that those who are spiritually inclined are those who are not capable of rigorous "scientific method" and/or "higher mathematics".
I will demonstrate that the very inverse is the case. Science is none other than degraded mysticism. Science was created for those who were not able to perceive or appreciate the depths of existence with awe by those who had this ability and wished to protect their Wisdom from non-initiates who would attempt to plunder their spiritual riches and use them for debased purposes. Science is, and was, created expressly for those who do not possess the ability to look into the Soul of matter. Science was a device for keeping the attention of those who could not be initiates into the secrets of Truth busy with what they imagined were very esoteric matters, but which were, in truth, meaningless activities.
It is commonly agreed that alchemy is the progenitor of science.
Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy
As we can see alchemy is called "protoscience" and alchemists "pseudo-scientists".
But what was alchemy? From whence came alchemy?
The answer lies here: "But it (Hermetic Philosophy) is not found in books, to any great extent. It has been passed along from Master to Student; from Initiate to Hierophant; from lip to ear. When it was written down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology so that only those possessing the key could read it aright. This was made necessary in order to avoid the persecutions of the theologians of the Middle Ages, who fought the Secret Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet and cross…As we have stated, the Hermetists were the original alchemists, astrologers, and psychologists, Hermes having been the founder of these schools of thought. From astrology has grown modern astronomy; from alchemy has grown modern chemistry; from the mystic psychology has grown the modern psychology of the schools. But it must not be supposed that the ancients were ignorant of that which the modern schools suppose to be their exclusive and special property. The records engraved on the stones of Ancient Egypt show conclusively that the ancients had a full comprehensive knowledge of astronomy, the very building of the Pyramids showing the connection between their design and the study of astronomical science. Nor were they ignorant of Chemistry, for the fragments of the ancient writings show that they were acquainted with the chemical properties of things; in fact, the ancient theories regarding physics are being slowly verified by the latest discoveries of modern science, notably those relating to the constitution of matter. Nor must it be supposed that they were ignorant of the so-called modern discoveries in psychology--on the contrary, the Egyptians were especially skilled in the science of Psychology, particularly in the branches that the modern schools ignore, but which, nevertheless, are being uncovered under the name of "psychic science" which is perplexing the psychologists of to-day, and making them reluctantly admit that "there may be something in it after all."
The truth is, that beneath the material chemistry, astronomy and psychology (that is, the psychology in its phase of "brain action") the ancients possessed a knowledge of transcendental astronomy, called astrology; of transcendental chemistry, called alchemy; of transcendental psychology, called mystic psychology. They possessed the Inner Knowledge as well as the Outer Knowledge, the latter alone being possessed by modern scientists." Source: http://kybalion.home.att.net/kybalion.html
Now we see that alchemy was the result of people who did not understand the allegories of mystical principles of mental states trying to put into practice the allegories that the principles were written it.
Alchemy was a wild goose chase that those who could never be initiated into higher truths but wished to use Wisdom for debased purposes were sent on. And science it alchemy's child!
To this very day it is true that most scientists are people who are incapable of peering beyond the physical into the moral and the spiritual. They are people who not only cannot see the Soul of matter, they disdain those who can and say that those who claim that they can see inner dimensions of reality are deluded or lying for cynical reasons.
Science is for those who can only see with their physical eyes. Science from its inception was, and is, for those whose eye of the Soul is blind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life." - Immanuel Kant
I am not against science or scientific method. I am against science and scientific method in the hands of people who do not recognize the superiority of super-rational Wisdom over rational knowledge.
I accede that to most people the super-rational and the irrational sound very much the same.
It is up to the individual to arrive at a level wherein she or he may discern and know the difference between that which is above grammar, syntax and mathematical systems and that which is twaddle.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Scientists delight in disparaging mystics and those on spiritual quests. Though they may concern themselves with ethics as individuals and in an ad hoc manner, few scientists will allow that one's moral and/or spiritual orientation or level of development will affect the outcome of one's experimentation or theoretical calculations. Most scientists will tell you that the saint and the scoundrel will produce the exact same results in a laboratory if both keep to exactly the same algorithms.
This and more, most scientists are of the opinion that those who are spiritually inclined are those who are not capable of rigorous "scientific method" and/or "higher mathematics".
I will demonstrate that the very inverse is the case. Science is none other than degraded mysticism. Science was created for those who were not able to perceive or appreciate the depths of existence with awe by those who had this ability and wished to protect their Wisdom from non-initiates who would attempt to plunder their spiritual riches and use them for debased purposes. Science is, and was, created expressly for those who do not possess the ability to look into the Soul of matter. Science was a device for keeping the attention of those who could not be initiates into the secrets of Truth busy with what they imagined were very esoteric matters, but which were, in truth, meaningless activities.
It is commonly agreed that alchemy is the progenitor of science.
Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy
As we can see alchemy is called "protoscience" and alchemists "pseudo-scientists".
But what was alchemy? From whence came alchemy?
The answer lies here: "But it (Hermetic Philosophy) is not found in books, to any great extent. It has been passed along from Master to Student; from Initiate to Hierophant; from lip to ear. When it was written down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology so that only those possessing the key could read it aright. This was made necessary in order to avoid the persecutions of the theologians of the Middle Ages, who fought the Secret Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet and cross…As we have stated, the Hermetists were the original alchemists, astrologers, and psychologists, Hermes having been the founder of these schools of thought. From astrology has grown modern astronomy; from alchemy has grown modern chemistry; from the mystic psychology has grown the modern psychology of the schools. But it must not be supposed that the ancients were ignorant of that which the modern schools suppose to be their exclusive and special property. The records engraved on the stones of Ancient Egypt show conclusively that the ancients had a full comprehensive knowledge of astronomy, the very building of the Pyramids showing the connection between their design and the study of astronomical science. Nor were they ignorant of Chemistry, for the fragments of the ancient writings show that they were acquainted with the chemical properties of things; in fact, the ancient theories regarding physics are being slowly verified by the latest discoveries of modern science, notably those relating to the constitution of matter. Nor must it be supposed that they were ignorant of the so-called modern discoveries in psychology--on the contrary, the Egyptians were especially skilled in the science of Psychology, particularly in the branches that the modern schools ignore, but which, nevertheless, are being uncovered under the name of "psychic science" which is perplexing the psychologists of to-day, and making them reluctantly admit that "there may be something in it after all."
The truth is, that beneath the material chemistry, astronomy and psychology (that is, the psychology in its phase of "brain action") the ancients possessed a knowledge of transcendental astronomy, called astrology; of transcendental chemistry, called alchemy; of transcendental psychology, called mystic psychology. They possessed the Inner Knowledge as well as the Outer Knowledge, the latter alone being possessed by modern scientists." Source: http://kybalion.home.att.net/kybalion.html
Now we see that alchemy was the result of people who did not understand the allegories of mystical principles of mental states trying to put into practice the allegories that the principles were written it.
Alchemy was a wild goose chase that those who could never be initiated into higher truths but wished to use Wisdom for debased purposes were sent on. And science it alchemy's child!
To this very day it is true that most scientists are people who are incapable of peering beyond the physical into the moral and the spiritual. They are people who not only cannot see the Soul of matter, they disdain those who can and say that those who claim that they can see inner dimensions of reality are deluded or lying for cynical reasons.
Science is for those who can only see with their physical eyes. Science from its inception was, and is, for those whose eye of the Soul is blind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life." - Immanuel Kant
I am not against science or scientific method. I am against science and scientific method in the hands of people who do not recognize the superiority of super-rational Wisdom over rational knowledge.
I accede that to most people the super-rational and the irrational sound very much the same.
It is up to the individual to arrive at a level wherein she or he may discern and know the difference between that which is above grammar, syntax and mathematical systems and that which is twaddle.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Moral Giftedness
A quick review of the Seven Types of Intelligence as defined by Harvard Guru Howard Gardner as background can be found on the following URL:
http://tinyurl.com/axvkn
Note that none of those categories of intelligence pose any particular challenge (to be read 'threat') to society, and so there was no reason for the scientific and mental health mafias to reject them. They're eminently useful categories for defining what the ideal person in non-anarchic societies, structured variously as they are at this point in history, should be.
I posit that there is another type of intelligence: Moral Intelligence. I further posit that there are and always have been people who are gifted in Moral Intelligence to the point of being preternaturally so gifted.
It is dismaying to me that despite the fact that there are, and always have been, gifted and hyper-gifted geniuses of morality throughout history, this type of intelligence is not so much as recognized in the list as existing. It is subsumed under the more manageable and affable Interpersonal and Intrapersonal categories of ability. We know, however, that the morally gifted usually don't, and didn't historically, get along well either with others, or themselves.
It is the people who are exquisitely aware of distortions of morality and ethics and who are fearless about speaking out about the injustice and describing it articulately who are the most likely to be the ones who are given the medicines that artificially induce "desirable" traits like complacency, malleability, indifference in the face of suffering, the inability to pinpoint who the perpetrators of moral wrongs are, etc. In fact, psychotropic drugs have been formulated to do just this; these are not the side effects of the drugs, these are the target effects. Psychotropic drugs are not considered to having taken effect, or be administered in sufficient doses, until the recipient of them evinces these traits (i.e, becomes a zombie like your average workday citizen). This demonstrates that despite the fact that moral giftedness is ignored by the scientific and mental health communities, i.e., they do not want the public-at-large to be aware that it exists or to validate it in any way, they themselves are very much aware of the fact that it exists and that it has the potential to bring about change in the status quo. Vast sums of money and effort have been invested in keeping moral intelligence under control. Thus, we can be certain that those whose hands are on the money levers know they have a great deal to lose if moral intelligence were to express itself freely. The research goes on.
The severely morally gifted are those most likely to be institutionalized and/or to die an early and often brutal death as a direct result of their gift. Their suffering is generally in direct proportion to the greatness of their gift.
In addition to the traditional societal methods of suppressing the expression of the morally gifted and inhibiting their courage to express themselves, a new method has been devised for the world-wide internet community. The moniker "rant" (as in what the mad do) is applied to impassioned posts on subjects of morality and ethics. A person who has posted on a moral or ethical topic is expected to partake in a sin offering ceremony. She or he must keep the post as short as possible, apologize for having written the post and end with the mealy-mouthed cliché "getting off the soapbox now."
The state does not generally have to intervene when one of its citizens hyper-moralizes and becomes obstreperous, not anymore, not since the late 1960s or early 1970s. Most people have been programmed by the media so well (TV and radio shows are called 'programs', after all) that they themselves will attack the miscreant on the ground and they usually succeed in beating him or her emotionally into submission sooner or later.
Geschwind's Syndrome, considered to be the interictal behavior of those sufferers of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who demonstrate the "Epileptic Personality", is now believed to be the reason why some individuals demonstrate behaviors such as:
Emotionality
Mania
Depression
Guilt
Humorlessness
Altered sexual interest
Aggression
Anger and hostility
Hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Religiosity
Philosophical interest
Sense of personal destiny
Hyper-moralism
Dependency
Paranoia
Obsessionalism
Circumstantiality
Viscosity (the quality of being socially "sticky")
Hyper-philosophical
Emotionally volatile
Obsessively detail-oriented
As we can see from the list above, the traits of the hyper-morally gifted are described not only in uncomplimentary terms, but in pathological terms, as the effects of brain damage.
We must ask very basic questions in order not to be drawn in by the assumptions inherent in some of the terms describing the "symptoms" of Geschwind's Syndrome. What is "hyper-moralism"? At what point does a person become too moral for comfort in non-anarchic society? The same might be asked about being philosophical. At what point is someone considered pathologically philosophical in non-anarchic society? We must assume that to be moral and/or philosophical is considered desirable only up to a limited degree in non-anarchic society. We do not hear about individuals being hyper-beautiful or hyper-handsome. Even if adjectives like these were to be coined and applied to individuals, they would not signify and sort of aberration or symptom of disease. Quite the contrary, they would be considered supreme compliments.
Professor Eric Altschuler, a neuroscientist at the University of California in San Diego, has "diagnosed" the prophet Yechezkel as having been a sufferer of Geschwind's Syndrome. He bases his "diagnosis" of a man who lived about 2,600 years ago, inter alia, on the fact that the Book of Yechezkel is the longest Book in Torah. Thus, the prophet, in Dr. Altshuler's opinion, demonstrates the hypergraphia symptomatic of Geschwind's Syndrome. Moreover, the Book of Yechezkel is concerned with moral excellence and the lack thereof. This, in Dr. Altschuler's opinion, reveals that the prophet demonstrated the symptom of hyper-morality as well. Dr. Altschuler goes on to describe the prophet Yechezkel as pedantic (probably because he described the perfected Temple in the minutest detail), aggressive and suffering from delusions. And so it becomes clear in the good Dr. Altschuler's mind that the prophet was ill with Geschwind's Syndrome. "Scientific" conclusion: a person who tenaciously ("viscously" in neuroscientific jargon) clings to the moral principles that are apparent to him or her as being the basis of healthy society, and who takes up the pen because he or she knows it to be mightier than the sword is demented.
Other famous figures in history that have been retrospectively "diagnosed" as having suffered from Geschwind's Syndrome or TLE-related hypergraphia include Van Gogh, Dostoevsky, Virginia Woolfe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Franz Kafka, Lord Tennyson, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron and Petrarch. One can only imagine how much poorer the world would have been had psychotropic drugs been in existence in their time and had they been administered to them.
Hyper-morality, then, is the result of encephalopathy and thus can, and should, be "treated" in the opinion of neuroscientists like the good Professor Altschuler. The severely moral should be relieved of their suffering. Likewise, society-at-large should be relieved of their viscous aggressiveness and incessant harping on that annoying subject.
People who go mad in the face of injustice and steadfastly, persistently and undauntedly voice their moral outrage, particularly those who do so in the form of writing treatises and books on the subject, are doing nothing more than exhibiting the symptoms of the neurological illness from which they suffer.
By grouping being hyper-moral with symptoms that are accepted as being symptomatic of various anti-social personality and psychological disorders, as they are defined in non-anarchic societies, the mega-message is clear to the public-at-large: Only those who concern themselves overmuch with morality are demented, suffering as they are from a pitiful disease of the brain.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Yisra'el
A quick review of the Seven Types of Intelligence as defined by Harvard Guru Howard Gardner as background can be found on the following URL:
http://tinyurl.com/axvkn
Note that none of those categories of intelligence pose any particular challenge (to be read 'threat') to society, and so there was no reason for the scientific and mental health mafias to reject them. They're eminently useful categories for defining what the ideal person in non-anarchic societies, structured variously as they are at this point in history, should be.
I posit that there is another type of intelligence: Moral Intelligence. I further posit that there are and always have been people who are gifted in Moral Intelligence to the point of being preternaturally so gifted.
It is dismaying to me that despite the fact that there are, and always have been, gifted and hyper-gifted geniuses of morality throughout history, this type of intelligence is not so much as recognized in the list as existing. It is subsumed under the more manageable and affable Interpersonal and Intrapersonal categories of ability. We know, however, that the morally gifted usually don't, and didn't historically, get along well either with others, or themselves.
It is the people who are exquisitely aware of distortions of morality and ethics and who are fearless about speaking out about the injustice and describing it articulately who are the most likely to be the ones who are given the medicines that artificially induce "desirable" traits like complacency, malleability, indifference in the face of suffering, the inability to pinpoint who the perpetrators of moral wrongs are, etc. In fact, psychotropic drugs have been formulated to do just this; these are not the side effects of the drugs, these are the target effects. Psychotropic drugs are not considered to having taken effect, or be administered in sufficient doses, until the recipient of them evinces these traits (i.e, becomes a zombie like your average workday citizen). This demonstrates that despite the fact that moral giftedness is ignored by the scientific and mental health communities, i.e., they do not want the public-at-large to be aware that it exists or to validate it in any way, they themselves are very much aware of the fact that it exists and that it has the potential to bring about change in the status quo. Vast sums of money and effort have been invested in keeping moral intelligence under control. Thus, we can be certain that those whose hands are on the money levers know they have a great deal to lose if moral intelligence were to express itself freely. The research goes on.
The severely morally gifted are those most likely to be institutionalized and/or to die an early and often brutal death as a direct result of their gift. Their suffering is generally in direct proportion to the greatness of their gift.
In addition to the traditional societal methods of suppressing the expression of the morally gifted and inhibiting their courage to express themselves, a new method has been devised for the world-wide internet community. The moniker "rant" (as in what the mad do) is applied to impassioned posts on subjects of morality and ethics. A person who has posted on a moral or ethical topic is expected to partake in a sin offering ceremony. She or he must keep the post as short as possible, apologize for having written the post and end with the mealy-mouthed cliché "getting off the soapbox now."
The state does not generally have to intervene when one of its citizens hyper-moralizes and becomes obstreperous, not anymore, not since the late 1960s or early 1970s. Most people have been programmed by the media so well (TV and radio shows are called 'programs', after all) that they themselves will attack the miscreant on the ground and they usually succeed in beating him or her emotionally into submission sooner or later.
Geschwind's Syndrome, considered to be the interictal behavior of those sufferers of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who demonstrate the "Epileptic Personality", is now believed to be the reason why some individuals demonstrate behaviors such as:
Emotionality
Mania
Depression
Guilt
Humorlessness
Altered sexual interest
Aggression
Anger and hostility
Hypergraphia (excessive writing)
Religiosity
Philosophical interest
Sense of personal destiny
Hyper-moralism
Dependency
Paranoia
Obsessionalism
Circumstantiality
Viscosity (the quality of being socially "sticky")
Hyper-philosophical
Emotionally volatile
Obsessively detail-oriented
As we can see from the list above, the traits of the hyper-morally gifted are described not only in uncomplimentary terms, but in pathological terms, as the effects of brain damage.
We must ask very basic questions in order not to be drawn in by the assumptions inherent in some of the terms describing the "symptoms" of Geschwind's Syndrome. What is "hyper-moralism"? At what point does a person become too moral for comfort in non-anarchic society? The same might be asked about being philosophical. At what point is someone considered pathologically philosophical in non-anarchic society? We must assume that to be moral and/or philosophical is considered desirable only up to a limited degree in non-anarchic society. We do not hear about individuals being hyper-beautiful or hyper-handsome. Even if adjectives like these were to be coined and applied to individuals, they would not signify and sort of aberration or symptom of disease. Quite the contrary, they would be considered supreme compliments.
Professor Eric Altschuler, a neuroscientist at the University of California in San Diego, has "diagnosed" the prophet Yechezkel as having been a sufferer of Geschwind's Syndrome. He bases his "diagnosis" of a man who lived about 2,600 years ago, inter alia, on the fact that the Book of Yechezkel is the longest Book in Torah. Thus, the prophet, in Dr. Altshuler's opinion, demonstrates the hypergraphia symptomatic of Geschwind's Syndrome. Moreover, the Book of Yechezkel is concerned with moral excellence and the lack thereof. This, in Dr. Altschuler's opinion, reveals that the prophet demonstrated the symptom of hyper-morality as well. Dr. Altschuler goes on to describe the prophet Yechezkel as pedantic (probably because he described the perfected Temple in the minutest detail), aggressive and suffering from delusions. And so it becomes clear in the good Dr. Altschuler's mind that the prophet was ill with Geschwind's Syndrome. "Scientific" conclusion: a person who tenaciously ("viscously" in neuroscientific jargon) clings to the moral principles that are apparent to him or her as being the basis of healthy society, and who takes up the pen because he or she knows it to be mightier than the sword is demented.
Other famous figures in history that have been retrospectively "diagnosed" as having suffered from Geschwind's Syndrome or TLE-related hypergraphia include Van Gogh, Dostoevsky, Virginia Woolfe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Franz Kafka, Lord Tennyson, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron and Petrarch. One can only imagine how much poorer the world would have been had psychotropic drugs been in existence in their time and had they been administered to them.
Hyper-morality, then, is the result of encephalopathy and thus can, and should, be "treated" in the opinion of neuroscientists like the good Professor Altschuler. The severely moral should be relieved of their suffering. Likewise, society-at-large should be relieved of their viscous aggressiveness and incessant harping on that annoying subject.
People who go mad in the face of injustice and steadfastly, persistently and undauntedly voice their moral outrage, particularly those who do so in the form of writing treatises and books on the subject, are doing nothing more than exhibiting the symptoms of the neurological illness from which they suffer.
By grouping being hyper-moral with symptoms that are accepted as being symptomatic of various anti-social personality and psychological disorders, as they are defined in non-anarchic societies, the mega-message is clear to the public-at-large: Only those who concern themselves overmuch with morality are demented, suffering as they are from a pitiful disease of the brain.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Yisra'el
B"H
My Quotes
They asked me if I exercise. Hell no! I don't believe in exorcism. I don't believe for one single, solitary minute that putting myself through a regular ordeal is going to rid me of my demons.
They asked me if I play an instrument. And how I do! I play the strumpet. Quite the virtuosita I am too!
The root of evil lies not in the committing of base acts, but rather in the attempt to apprehend the sublime on the part of those not morally prepared to do so.
When people ask me what I do for a living I tell them that I'm a vampire. When they look at me oddly or laugh I ask: "If I told you that I'm a banker, lawyer or psychiatrist would I be a more respectable sort of a bloodsucker in your estimation?
Nobody bothered to ask how I am today, but had someone I just might have told the truth. My health is failing. My stamina is so low that it lies as a stagnant pool around my swollen ankles. My self-respect is probably buried somewhere under the floor tiles, but I have neither the strength nor the will to conduct an extensive dig for it. My sense of humor is in a coma. My libido is in an advanced state of rigor mortis.
Oh, and did I mention that my wit is dimming?
You're only as good as the last book you've written.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzat, Israel
My Quotes
They asked me if I exercise. Hell no! I don't believe in exorcism. I don't believe for one single, solitary minute that putting myself through a regular ordeal is going to rid me of my demons.
They asked me if I play an instrument. And how I do! I play the strumpet. Quite the virtuosita I am too!
The root of evil lies not in the committing of base acts, but rather in the attempt to apprehend the sublime on the part of those not morally prepared to do so.
When people ask me what I do for a living I tell them that I'm a vampire. When they look at me oddly or laugh I ask: "If I told you that I'm a banker, lawyer or psychiatrist would I be a more respectable sort of a bloodsucker in your estimation?
Nobody bothered to ask how I am today, but had someone I just might have told the truth. My health is failing. My stamina is so low that it lies as a stagnant pool around my swollen ankles. My self-respect is probably buried somewhere under the floor tiles, but I have neither the strength nor the will to conduct an extensive dig for it. My sense of humor is in a coma. My libido is in an advanced state of rigor mortis.
Oh, and did I mention that my wit is dimming?
You're only as good as the last book you've written.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzat, Israel
Learn to Learn
If you do nothing else with your life, learn to learn.
You have been taught how not to learn. You have been taught how to compile data, but you have not learned how to learn.
There are three descending levels of Knowledge:
Wisdom
Understanding
General Knowledge or Know-How
The level of general knowledge is the level of know-how and technical knowledge. It can be as simple as knowing how to tie one's shoes or as complicated as rocket science, but it is no more than the compiling, collating and disseminating of data.
The second level is higher. Here one understands the meaning of the data that one has compiled, understands the moment of it, appreciates the value of it, considers it with awe and knows how to apply it for the good.
Wisdom is the ability to see into the Soul of matter. There is not much to say about this level of Knowledge because it is the substrate from which all mathematics and linguistics proceed, therefore it does not avail itself of description. It is That which is caught, not taught.
I have said that the levels of Knowledge above are in descending order. They also encompass and contain one another. When one has Wisdom, one has Understanding and knows the basis of General Knowledge. It does not work in reverse. One may be a rocket scientist, a physicist, a physician, but not understand the data at all and be a wholly unwise person.
Most scientists are stuck on the lowest level of General Knowledge. Do not be fooled by their claims to being committed to verification by empirical proofs and their loyalty to "science". No matter how high-falutin' this sounds, it exists on the lowest rung of cognition. They understand very little and are not wise people.
Learn from those who have dedicated their lives to acquiring Wisdom, not hoarding data.
When you meet a person like this, if there is Wisdom within you, you will know them. You will resonate with them. They will reach you on the deepest levels of your being. They will not attempt to teach you by browbeating or by insults or by appeals to authority. They will be gentle in touching your mind and your Spirit. They will not trample on your Humanity and your dignity. They will teach by example, and not demand that you believe them and accept everything they say. They will be so subtle in teaching that you may not even realize that it is their intention to guide you. You will simply be riveted by how they relate to other beings and how they comport themselves.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
If you do nothing else with your life, learn to learn.
You have been taught how not to learn. You have been taught how to compile data, but you have not learned how to learn.
There are three descending levels of Knowledge:
Wisdom
Understanding
General Knowledge or Know-How
The level of general knowledge is the level of know-how and technical knowledge. It can be as simple as knowing how to tie one's shoes or as complicated as rocket science, but it is no more than the compiling, collating and disseminating of data.
The second level is higher. Here one understands the meaning of the data that one has compiled, understands the moment of it, appreciates the value of it, considers it with awe and knows how to apply it for the good.
Wisdom is the ability to see into the Soul of matter. There is not much to say about this level of Knowledge because it is the substrate from which all mathematics and linguistics proceed, therefore it does not avail itself of description. It is That which is caught, not taught.
I have said that the levels of Knowledge above are in descending order. They also encompass and contain one another. When one has Wisdom, one has Understanding and knows the basis of General Knowledge. It does not work in reverse. One may be a rocket scientist, a physicist, a physician, but not understand the data at all and be a wholly unwise person.
Most scientists are stuck on the lowest level of General Knowledge. Do not be fooled by their claims to being committed to verification by empirical proofs and their loyalty to "science". No matter how high-falutin' this sounds, it exists on the lowest rung of cognition. They understand very little and are not wise people.
Learn from those who have dedicated their lives to acquiring Wisdom, not hoarding data.
When you meet a person like this, if there is Wisdom within you, you will know them. You will resonate with them. They will reach you on the deepest levels of your being. They will not attempt to teach you by browbeating or by insults or by appeals to authority. They will be gentle in touching your mind and your Spirit. They will not trample on your Humanity and your dignity. They will teach by example, and not demand that you believe them and accept everything they say. They will be so subtle in teaching that you may not even realize that it is their intention to guide you. You will simply be riveted by how they relate to other beings and how they comport themselves.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
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