Paving the Way
Right Now to
the Perception
of Eternal Time
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
How much better is to acquire wisdom than
gold; to acquire understanding is preferable to silver.
(Kethuvim, Proverbs, 16: 16.) [1]
The idea of interruption means a break in continuity. One’s actions and perceptions are supposed to be stable along the line of time and to suffer occasional interruptions.
What can we say of the situations where interruption is continuous?
A thoughtless mind results from permanent interruption. Whenever one’s ideas or emotions are subject to a constant change of substance and direction, they remain dependent on meaningless superficialities and obey to the lower instinctive mind.
One basic characteristic of our spiritual ignorance nowadays is the unbalanced use of electronic technology. The phenomenon provokes a needless, ceaseless, hostile interference with the thought waves of millions of individuals.
Mechanisms of propaganda and communication should have respect for the minds of citizens. There is no need to foolishly interrupt people all the time. The Jewish Bible says:
“The fool does not desire understanding, but only to air his thoughts.” [2]
Yet, what happens if the silly interference with other people’s minds produces political and financial profit for some?
From the point of view of collective mind manipulation, a constant and unintelligent interruption is most important. Due to it, the minds of citizens get to be weak, fragmented, having no clear direction and becoming an easy prey to electronic hypnotism.
Subtle propaganda strategies often try to control the minds of citizens and keep them limited to their role as consumers, or use them as tools in a campaign based on organized political hatred. They “guide” the citizen by stimulating various kinds of blind automatic impulses in his emotional world, including fear from some political bogeyman, and a childish hatred for this or that public personage used as a scapegoat.
A thoughtful citizen identifies and avoids such subconscious suggestions. He avoids superficial habits associated with haste. He transcends the illusion which induces many to think that “time is scarce”.
True philosophy teaches self-control. It tells us how to abandon emotional anxiety, avoid mental dispersion, and listen to the voice of our inner conscience. One’s whole life can be a prayer, and the Jewish term Kavanah refers to the concentrated and elevated mindset necessary for an efficient prayer.
A citizen of good-will can stop the process of constant interruption and become the director of his own thoughts. As he works for the long-term project of his spiritual soul, he learns to control the rhythm of his life.
Every citizen has the moral duty to think by himself. He can observe his feelings and calmly evaluate his actions. It is up to him to develop the attention necessary to take practical lessons from daily events. And this may be more important than material circumstances, for a proverb clarifies:
“Gold is plentiful, jewels abundant, but wise speech is a precious object.” [3]
Mental speech is the same as thought. As we think, we talk to ourselves. And wise thoughts depend on having a sacred central goal and working for it.
Once this is granted, if the task ahead is to reduce our waste of time, then renunciation, humbleness, and voluntary simplicity may become necessary. By being free from attachment to outward circumstances, creativity emerges. A growing efficiency in the use of time results from a higher and undivided attention.
NOTES:
[1] “Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures”, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia-Jerusalem, copyright 1985, p. 1311.
[2] Kethuvim, Proverbs, 18: 2, in “Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures”, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia-Jerusalem, p. 1313.
[3] Kethuvim, Proverbs, 20:15, in “Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures”, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia-Jerusalem, p. 1317.
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An initial version of the above article was published at the July 2016 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 14-15, with no indication as to the name of the author. The text is also available at the blog of Carlos Cardoso Aveline in “The Times of Israel”.
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