Live Now Die Later: A Book for the Sensitive Mind and Rugged IndividualistDavidAlanKraul, 2004 - 344 pages The sensitive mind and the rugged individualist are portrayed in the literature of antiquity by two brothers, the first-born and the second-born. The mind is the father of two sons. One side of us is conservative, cautious; the other side is radical and adventurous. A part of us is content with the status quo; another part of us seeks change and improvement. The mind perceives first with the outer five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. Those perceptions are recorded and processed for future use, and thus the mind has five inner senses, the second-born son. In the Old and New Testaments this concept is expressed through several pairs of brothers. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin, Aaron and Moses, John and Jesus are all characters created to illustrate the mind's journey. The eastern Mediterranean became a marketplace for the exchange of ideas that had their provenance not just in Athens or Alexandria, but made their way westward from India and China well over 2,000 years ago. The lunar calendar and the appearance of the full moon was not just vital to agriculture in Mesopotamia; it spawned metaphors that illustrated the mind at its brightest. Abraham, for example, Hebrew for "father is high," was a moon god who symbolized the full moon, i. e., the moon straight up or high. "Father" is high because the mind is the father of two sons. Obviously, many concepts evolved independently, but migration and commerce exported and imported more than just figs and wine. Adam and Eve, the male and female of Genesis, are reflected in the yang and the yin of Taoism in ancient China. Elizabeth, Mary and Jesus are a variation of Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus. Thinkers over the ages have struggled to come to terms with the rough and tumble of daily life. Some have even suggested that life begins in some faraway place after death. Others have tried to find the way to live now and die later. |
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... speak of a " king of the forest , " and of a tall olive tree to the worship of which Satan seduced the people . In Latin myths , the fig tree plays an important part . Held sacred to Bacchus , it was employed in religious ceremonies ...
... speaking , Cain is slaying Abel every moment of our lives . There is always something we want to do or say , an ambition or goal , a project we want to accomplish , but the voices of discouragement are always there , pointing to the ...
... speaking , we must spend an equal number of hours thinking and acting in order to create a balance between night and day , so that insights gained in reflection are not lost with the return of the sun . The Lord or law of life calls ...
... speak up , to express what you think . Do not dismiss your feelings or invalidate them in the face of adverse circumstances . The Pharaoh represents the world of external circumstances . Abraham here illustrates the mind that fears the ...
... speak , when to seek more information and when to make a final decision or your life will become stagnant . The oath which he sware to our father Abraham . That he would grant unto us , that we being 64 Luke 9:24 delivered out of the ...
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Live Now Die Later: A Book for the Sensitive Mind and Rugged Individualist David Alan Kraul No preview available - 2004 |