LEARNT FROM WISE MEN DISCOVERING MY FOOLISHNESS
Current day political considerations and looking at past ancient wisdom and trying to focus on the importance of gained wisdom
I have a friend who cannot read the small font of my images of the acrostic verse. So From now on I’ll post it below for easier reading.
LEARNT FROM WISE MEN DISCOVERING MY FOOLISHNESS
Likely someone you know have talked about just how old Biden is,
Everyone of us understand the concerns, but Lordy what about wisdom,
And Biden spent his life acquiring wisdom, with Trump it’s only cunning,
Republicans of old seemed to recognize wisdom; not so much now,
Now Reagan and Bush I both seemed to have some of this quality,
Trump followers are superficially minded people easily entertained.
For Biden is 81 and he’s been around the block and he gained wisdom,
Regarding Trump he’s spent his life learning to exploit weaknesses,
Oh yes, Trump’s guru was a self hating gay man who hated everyone,
Maybe Trump might think this all is wisdom - but it’s only rottenness.
With dementia knocking on Trump’s front door, he is not about to change,
In Trump we have a gnarly, old, rabid dog who will never learn a new trick,
So Trump hasn’t had the capacity of gaining intellect; his people like this,
Every satiated hunger for shocking common decencies is all that matters.
Making a case to be remembered only with vileness is this guy Trump,
Evidently Biden understands his legacy as an actual wise man would,
Now the average Democrat can’t worship their leader, wisdom at play.
Democracy only holds fast under the guidance of true wisdom,
Indeed it takes wisdom to act in give and take, as democracy so demands,
So in the far right worldview only brute strength matters in it all,
Conservatism, actual conservatism relies upon old wisdom to guide,
Of the current US Supreme Court, the actual wisdom of these folks is nil,
Voices from supreme judges demand to be wise in their job description,
Each of us labeling some of them as holding any true wisdom is doubtful,
Republicans bend all their bodies to the whims of certain billionaires,
In this case, one can only note all the out-of-step views of these folks,
Nothing will save us from such pathological people but our own reason,
Given the pure malevolence of the far right wisdom might seem only trite.
Maybe the power of wisdom found in Joe Biden will hold the line,
Yet the power of all the American peoples’ wisdom might do it for us.
For as for me I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by Joe Biden,
Of his old school look at the political parties their is a certain wisdom,
Only time will determine if his wishful thinking is still in actual play,
Life now is different, Limbaugh, Fox ‘News’, Trump has corrupted us,
Indeed the internet has been turned into weapon by malevolent actors,
So the disinformation age has questioned age old American wisdom,
How we are able to readjust to this environment will tell it all,
Now we have ‘Putinphiles’ in our congress, will wisdom win out,
Everyone is not aware of where we are right now, will wisdom win out,
So we carry on in the most responsible way we can muster in these times,
So I hope that this verse has touched a little on where our wisdom lies.
“When I was possessed of a small amount of knowledge, my mind was filled with pride, even as an elephant is blinded by passion, and I thought within myself that I knew everything. When I had learnt many things from wise men, I discovered my foolishness, and my mad excitement left me.”
— THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARL
The Śatakatraya (‘The Three Satakas'), (also known as subhāṣita triśati, 'The Three Hundred Poems of Moral Values') refers to three Indian collections of Sanskrit poetry, containing a hundred verses each. The three śataka's are known as the Nītiśataka, Śṛṅgāraśataka, and Vairāgyaśataka, and are attributed to Bhartṛhari c. 5th century CE. Bhartṛhari (Devanagari: also romanised as Bhartrihari; fl. c. 5th century CE) was a Hindu linguistic philosopher to whom are normally ascribed two influential Sanskrit texts.
As is my habit, another almost - sonnet. I don’t really want to proclaim it as a true sonnet as the rhythm is completely ignored.
Do we choose wisdom?
Trump’s a man who can never keep his mouth shut,
Wisdom is only counter to this surely,
Some see Trump as a savior, manly, burly,
E. Jean Carroll has shown him as an odd nut,
Most of us only feel a fool in our gut,
This sad man only appears immaturely,
The guy is the epitome of insecurity,
A superficial man who's always in a strut.
So we all have the freedom to choose which one,
Wisdom is soon on the ballot in this choice,
Do we choose to listen to the wise voices,
Or try to make heads or tails of the loose gun,
Yes, Joe Biden has most surly earned my vote,
He is wise and humble - never does he gloat.
I wished to bring to the reader’s attention the Sataka which I ran across today. The book was quite jam packed with wisdom. I’ve included quite a few verses which appealed to me, and have a place in 2024 America. Or at least it seemed so reading them.
REV. B. HALE WORTHAM, B.A. M.RA.S.
RECTOR OF EGGESFORD, NORTH DEVON.
LONDON:
TRUBNEK & CO., LUDGATE HILL.
1886
Age and wisdom writings from the Satakas
Wisdom, indeed, is the highest ornament that a man possesses. It is a valuable to be carefully guarded, for wisdom gains food, glory, and blessing. It is the lord of lords. Wisdom is as a friend to a man traveling in a distant land. Wisdom is honorable among kings even more than wealth. The man devoid of wisdom is but an animal.
The heart of the wise is soft as a lotus flower in prosperity, but in adversity it is as firm as a mountain rock.
Fate brings forth an excellent man a very mine of virtue and in a moment works his ruin. Alas! how unreasoning is the action of fate!
Wisdom has not been gained free from spot*; wealth has not been acquired; reverence towards our elders has not been practiced by us; we have not even dreamt of love. If this has been our existence, then have we lived a life even like the life of a crow, which hungers for the food of others.
*A taint on character or reputation: FAULT
Sometimes there is music and song, sometimes lamentations; sometimes we may listen to the conversation of the wise, sometimes only the disputes of drunken men; sometimes we may enjoy all pleasures, sometimes our bodies may be running over with disease: so the life of man is made up partly of ambrosia, partly of poison.
Old age menaces the body like a tiger; diseases carry it off like enemies; life slips away like water out of a broken jar; and yet man lives an evil life in the world. Truly this is marvelous.
The Creator makes a jewel of a man, a mine of virtues, an ornament to the earth and then in one moment destroys him. Alas ! what want of knowledge does the Creator display!
Every living thing is subject to death. Youth passes into old age; contentment is destroyed by covetousness after riches; peace of mind by the glances of beautiful women; the just are slandered by envious men; forests are infested by serpents; kings are ruined by evil counselors. Even the divine virtues themselves are unstable; so everything in the world suffers loss and damage.
The health of men is undermined by sicknesses of various kinds: when fortune has departed, then disasters come in as if by the open door. Death truly brings all things under his sway. Destiny has made nothing abide* firmly.
*accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation).
Men have dwelt in the narrow womb of their mother, suffering pain; youth, with its separations from one we love, is full of sorrow; old age, exposing men to the contempt of women, is an evil thing. Alas! when one reckons it up, what pleasure is there to be found in the world?
The life of man endures a hundred years; half is spent in night; of the remainder, half is spent in childhood and in old age. Servitude, pain, separation, sickness, fill up that which is left. What pleasure then can there be in the life of man, which is as uncertain as the bubbles on the stream?
The body is bent with age, the steps fail, the teeth are broken, the sight becomes dim, deafness grows on one, the mouth dribbles, servants cease to obey one's orders, one's wife is not submissive, one's son is even one's enemy such are the evils of old age.
For a moment one is a child for a moment a youth full of love: in one minute wealth is abundant; in the next it has all vanished. A man comes to the end of life, and then, with his limbs worn by age and covered with wrinkles, as an actor disappears behind the curtain, so he enters the abode of death.
Miscellaneous writings I found interesting and perhaps pertinent today from the Satakas.
The Ganges falls from heaven on the head of Siva; from the head of Siva on the mountain; from the top of the mountain to the earth, always falling lower and lower: even in so many ways is the fall of one whose judgment has departed from him.
Abstinence from destroying life, keeping one's hands off another's wealth, speaking the truth, reasonable liberality according to one's power, not conversing with the wives of other men, checking the stream of covetousness, reverence towards spiritual fathers, compassion towards all creatures this is the path of happiness, violating no ordinances, taught in all the Sastras.
Righteousness must be loved; evil must be avoided, even at the risk of death; wicked men must not be spoken to; a poor man, even though he be a friend, must not be asked for alms: even in adversity the foot must be constant, and the vow taught by good and great men must be conformed to, even if it be as difficult as to stand on the edge of a sword!
In health there is the fear of disease; in pride of family the fear of a fall; in wealth the fear of the king; in honour the fear of abasement; in power the fear of enemies; in beauty the fear of old age; in the scriptures the fear of controversy; in virtue the fear of evil; in the body the fear of death. Everything on earth is beset by fear; the only freedom from fear is in the renunciation of desire.
A man who is famishing longs for a handful of grain; but when he has revived, he looks on the whole earth as a mere handful of grass. So objects seem great or small according to the condition of the men who possess them: it is the change in men's fortune which makes things seem greater or smaller.
The behaviour of kings is as uncertain as the way of a courtesan. Now it is false, now true now with harsh, now with agreeable words now cruel, now merciful at one time liberal, at another covetous either always squandering money or heaping it together.
The friendships formed between good and evil men differ. The friendship of the good, at first faint like the morning light, continually increases; the friendship of the evil at the very beginning is great, like the light of midday, and dies away like the light of evening.
Deer, fish, and virtuous men, who only require grass. What need has water, and peace in the world, are wantonly pursued by huntsmen, fishermen, and envious people.
Water will not remain on hot iron, but standing on a lotus leaf it shines with the beauty of a pearl ; and if a drop of water fall under a favourable star into the middle of an oyster in the sea, it straightway becomes a pearl. So is the disposition of men, good, tolerable, or bad, according to the society in which they live.
Those who are ennobled by humility: those who display their own virtues by relating the virtues of other men: those who in their own business always consider the interests of others: those who hate the evil speaker, and the mouth that continually utters harsh and impatient words — good men whose admirable behaviour is shown in virtues like these are always held in reverence. Who would not respect them?
Those men are good men who study the good of others without regarding themselves. Those men are ordinary men who, while they benefit others, do not neglect their own interests. Those men are demons who destroy another's good for their own profit. What shall we call those who aimlessly destroy that which is another's?
Restrain desire, cultivate patience, conquer illusion, do not lust after evil, speak the truth, follow that which is good, seek the company of the virtuous, honour the wise, be reconciled even with enemies, conceal your own virtues, guard your good name, show pity for the unfortunate these are the acts of the good.
Desire is like a river. Its waters are men's wishes, agitated by the waves of desire; love takes the place of crocodiles; the birds that fly about are the doubts which haunt the mind. The tree of firmness growing on the bank is washed away by the flood; the whirlpools of error are very difficult to cross: the lofty banks are the cares of life. The ascetics who, pure in heart, have succeeded in crossing it successfully, are filled with joy.
I am satisfied with bark clothing; thou takest pleasure in thy magnificence: there is no difference between the contentment of both of us. The man whose desires are unlimited is poor indeed; who that is satisfied with what he has can be either rich or poor?
Masters are difficult to please; kings change from one thing to another in their minds with the swiftness of horses; our desires are great, and our minds aim at high things. Old age consumes our bodies; death puts an end to our lives. my friends! There is no glory in this world for a wise man but that which he gains by penance.*
*voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.,
Low-minded men are occupied solely with their own affairs, but noble-minded men take special interest in the affairs of others. The submarine fire drinks up the ocean to fill its own insatiable interior; the rain-cloud, that it may relieve the drought of the earth, burnt up by the hot season.
A good man may fall, but he falls as a ball; an ignoble man falls like a lump of clay.
The joy of those whose minds are alive to the happiness of content is perfect, but the desire of those who are disturbed by the lust after riches never ceases. For whose sake was Meru* created by fate full of wealth as it is? Meru pleases me not, though it is filled with an abundance of gold and silver, since it is satisfied with itself alone.
*The word Meru used as the name of the highest mountain in Hinduism and Buddhism teachings. The mount is believed to be the core and main buffer of the whole universe surrounded with the planets and stars.
Girls with glances of admiration, a house filled with magnificence, prosperity attended with outward signs of royalty these are a man's portion as long as fortune attends him; but if that fails, all these things disappear, like the pearls on a necklace whose string has been broken in play.
The great ascetics declare that a life passed as a mendicant is not miserable for the mendicant* has no fear; of loss; he has no envy, pride, or arrogance; he is free from the mass of evils which beset mankind; he gains his food day by day without difficulty. The mendicant life is a means of purification beloved by the gods; it lays up treasure that will last forever it increases devotion to; Siva.**
*a beggar.
**Shiva (lit. 'The Auspicious One', Śiva), also known as Mahadeva ( lit. 'The Great God', Mahādevaḥ) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.
I have wandered over lands crossed with difficulty, but I have gained no fruit; I have put away from me my pride of family; I have performed services that have
profited me nothing; I have cast off my self-respect, and have eaten like a crow in a stranger's house. But yet, desire! thou dost still increase, ever given to evil, and art never satisfied.
My friend! fortunate are those who have cast off the many bonds of this world, and from within whose minds desire for earthly objects, like the poison of a serpent, has departed. They spend the night, bright with the clear shining of the autumn moon, in the border of the forest, thinking on nothing but the greatness of their good fortune.
When the mouth is dry, a man drinks water which is sweet to him; when pained with hunger, he eats rice and other vegetables. But he is mistaken if he imagines that the removal of the pain caused by hunger and thirst is a pleasure.
Blessed are those who dwell in the mountain caves meditating on the glory of the Supreme. In their laps the birds perch fearlessly, and drink the tears of joy flowing from their eyes. As for us, our life passes away while we enjoy ourselves in the groves or on the river-banks, building castles in the air.
Pure-minded men, possessed of right judgment, through their union with the Supreme Spirit perform things hard of performance; for they entirely cast off worldly riches, which are the source of all pleasure. As for us, neither what we had formerly nor that which we have now is really in our own power. That which we have only in wish we cannot abandon.
Several quotes on age which seem to apply in my overall subject today. Biden’s age is what brought me to this place. In Biden one has a very wise man who is old. Most of my research and excerpts today I found with Biden in mind. Some of the Sataka excerpts seemed quite applicable to Trump. I hope you agree.
“In an aged man appears ripeness of wisdom: it is the oldest sandal - tree which emits the most fragrance.”
- Sataka.
“Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.”
- Joubert.
Joseph Joubert (6 May 1754 in Montignac, Périgord – 4 May 1824 in Paris) was a French moralist and essayist, remembered today largely for his Pensées (Thoughts), which were published posthumously. Joubert published nothing during his lifetime, but he wrote a copious number of letters and filled sheets of paper and small notebooks with thoughts about the nature of human existence, literature, Christianity and spiritual life, and other topics, in a poignant, often aphoristic style.
“The vine produces more grapes when it is young, but better grapes for wine when it is old, because its juices are more perfectly concocted.”
- Bacon.
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban PC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), known as Lord Verulam between 1618 and 1621, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method, and his works remained influential even in the late stages of the Scientific Revolution. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. He believed that science could be achieved by the use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves.
“True wisdom, indeed, springs from the wide brain which is fed from the deep heart; and it is only when age warms its withering conceptions at the memory of its youthful fire, when it makes experience serve aspiration, and knowledge illumine the difficult paths through which thoughts thread their way into facts, -it is only then that age becomes broadly and nobly wise.”
— Whipple.
Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and critic. Whipple was also a public lecturer. In 1850, he defended the intelligence of George Washington and compared him to other brilliant men of his time in a speech which later became known as "The Genius of Washington".
In mid nineteenth-century Boston, essayist Edwin Percy Whipple was hailed as the most discerning literary critic of his generation, lauded for his humor, eloquence, and piercing intellect. By 1908, thirty years after his death, the Boston Daily Globe was describing Whipple as “a great Boston critic and scarcely recalled essayist”, and little has occurred in the intervening century to revitalize the renown he once enjoyed. A critic’s fame seldom outlasts that of his subjects, and so it is altogether predictable that E.P. Whipple has been forgotten, even as his friends and peers Oliver Wendell Holmes and Nathaniel Hawthorne have become household names. Whipple was a proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum from 1855 until his death, and portrait of Whipple can be viewed on the stair landing between the fourth and fifth floors, where many visitors to the library have undoubtedly paused and wondered as they catch their breath, ‘just who was E.P Whipple?’
This is what I came up with this weekend on the general theme of age and wisdom. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed learning of works from the past which still have a place in the modern world.
178th Posting, March 10, 2024.