Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts

20 Dec 2023

The Quest for Wisdom

 

The quest for information, knowledge understanding and wisdom


Yes, we were born without any of these. Shall we remain so, or shall we strive for wisdom – our ultimate quest?

It is said that a fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Shall we have all the information there is in this world or even the universe, and remain fools?

It seems to me that most of us do not even get out of the starting blocks and are not interested in information at all. We feed on what was good for yesterday and for our ancestors.

1 Nov 2023

God is a utilitarian par excellence

 God is a utilitarian par excellence.

One of the best qualities I like and attribute to God is His utilitarianism, and by extension our utilitarianism which is a spin off of our free will. Similarly, it is also a spin off of God's free will.

In essence, utilitarianism is the act of doing the best for yourself or for groups on whose behalf you may act or choose.

7 Jul 2023

The Root of all Evil - Part 2

 The Root of all Evil – Part 2 – by P.K. Odendaal July 2023

My previous article on the root of all evil is pure drivel.

Will I delete that article or will I keep it here on my repertoire as a lesson in folly? Yes, I will keep it here, as the endeavour and accomplishment of humankind is fraught with error, omission, folly and evil. I make no excuse.

What this exercise in folly really taught me, is that an idea which has slumbered in my soul for too long - the idea that expressing an opinion is useless, fruitless, superficial and egoistic, has been let loose.

16 Sept 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 8 – Becoming a Friend of God.

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 8 – Becoming a Friend of God.

We have now come to the end of this series, not that the subject is exhausted, but rather that this part is the ultimate happiness and joy any human can live for and even die for; the incredible opportunity to be a friend of God, or more specifically, to be a friend of Jesus Christ, the human side of God. Scripture says 'for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily'.

4 Aug 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 5 – Genesis to Revelations

Part 5 - Genesis to Revelations

It is not necessary to have or read the Bible to get to know God and communicate with Him.

Millions of people have found Him by searching for Him and He is always ready to reveal and even partially expose himself to those who search for Him, whatever the form or shape of that path may be.

24 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 4 – Embrace the Nietzsche Moment

Part 4 – Embrace the Nietzsche Moment

Now that we are at peace with our decisions, we do not care about the past or the future, we have shunned negative people from our lives and we have made peace with those whom we have wronged and those who have wronged us, we can sit back and enjoy every moment that we are alive and blessed to partake in the wondrous universe and people around us.

23 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 3 – Inspire or shun negative people

 Part 3 – Inspire or shun negative people.

You get a breed of people who can never be happy. They are never satisfied with their lives, with what they have and with people around them. They can never embrace life or accept responsibility for their actions. They have no idea what their mission in life is and can never accept their destiny. Despair, prejudice and bitterness darken their inner being. They have no faith, no hope and no love.

19 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness Part 2 – The joy of forgiving and forgetting.

Part 2 – The joy of forgiving and forgetting.

In the first part we learned how to be free to choose anything from all possibilities, regardless of what the outcome of the choice may be, and that the past and future has no meaning for us.

We thus progress on this road to become free, to delete the past, and for that matter also the future’s pain that the past may have caused us.

17 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness - Part 1 – Goodbye Convention and Compromise

Foreword.

Happiness is within our grasp. I know that, as I am the happiest person in the universe, I think, and I have not even explored half of the possibilities of these seven principles yet. I also know some people around me who feel exactly the same, probably without even realizing what the principles of happiness are. But I also know that the majority of people around me are unhappy, frustrated and miserable.

17 Jun 2022

The joy of doing penance

 The joy of doing penance.

 There is such a disconnect between our thoughts, actions, sufferings and joy, that we feel lost and unable to find meaning and purpose in life, and for us, or at least for me, meaning and purpose is all I want from life -  well - speaking only on an emotional and intellectual level.

There are riches and pain on a spiritual level as well, but that is not my subject today, whilst I concede our emotional and spiritual wellbeing are intimately connected. And then there are the physical necessities, which I also do not write about today.

28 Apr 2021

Please remember to forget

You might have gotten used to me teaching the opposite of the teaching of convention and conventional wisdom; maybe it's the way I try to forget convention which takes me into this domain where senses must be reinterpreted and tested.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote that the madman is not one who has lost his senses, but one who has lost everything except his senses.

Pent up love will explode in your heart

Love is in your heart ... let it fly ...

What we all have in abundance, is love stashed away somewhere in the deep chasms of our inner being and it will on the least provocation open its eyes and rear its beautiful head, making itself ready to explode into something beautiful, long before we realise it.

No, this statement is not from a science fiction film, a western thriller, a Hollywood soapie or a new fashion.

15 Feb 2021

The Invulnerability of Weakness

No, it is not a contradiction in terms. It is a truth that is hidden. 

We normally, conventionally and socially revere the opposite. We are so quick in pushing the weakling aside, ignore and pity him or her and move on. For us weakness is a shame - in others and in us. It just does not make sense to praise or tolerate weakness, much less revere it.

5 Jul 2020

The Age of Unreason


The Age of Unreason – July 2020

Of course my title chosen above is an aberration of the name of the book by Thomas Paine, whose last name was in reality Pain … and the amount of pain he inflicted on mankind is incalculable. His book was only meant to be for a reason or a season or an age, but it became the foundation of unreason for millennia.

On the face of it, we will all say: what!? Could there have been a time when unreason reigned supreme?

13 Jun 2020

Corporations and Governments – a satire


Corporations and Governments – a satire – June 2020

This does not apply to any corporate or government body with which I have not dealt, and my comments are restricted only to those I have dealt with.
This is about intelligence and intellect, and maybe about life and sanity as well. All four of these are under serious threat as intelligence and wisdom have disappeared from the planet. They are quite lethal characteristics for humans to have and to hold, if you ask me. That is why we have to get acquainted with and adept at playing dumb, playing dead and playing sane.

7 Jun 2020

Be a Child of the Universe


Be a Child of the Universe – June 2020

Most of us have this impaired vision. Even highly learned people have it too, and maybe even more so. We have no peripheral vision, perspective and farsightedness. It is as if someone gave us near-sighted glasses and eye blows.
Of course I mean vision in a broader sense than  seeing – vision almost as an epiphany. We cannot train our eyes to see farther, but we can train our brains and minds to see into infinity.

22 May 2020

Considerata


Considerata – May 2020.

The first thing we should accept in this world is that there is a God who created, owns, manages and rules this universe. Nobody can prove it or disprove it, because He has willed it so.
If we do not accept this, then we must also accept that we do not exist – a much greater possibility, because neither can anyone prove or disprove that we do. Philosophers have thought about it for millennia and the best they could come up with was what Descartes said: ‘I think, therefore I am’. To this I reply ‘I am, therefore I think’. Both two hollow excuses proving nothing.

16 May 2020

A letter to God


Dearest God,

You are omniscient, omnipotent, majestic, humble, loving, innovative, creative, incredible - and that to an infinite degree.
I adore you with my mind, body, soul and spirit. With all that is within me.
On the other hand, I am not even worth it that you cast a glance to my side, yet you walk the extra million miles with me.

10 Apr 2020

Oneness and Holism

Oneness and Holism

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.(John 17:21)

It is Easter weekend 2020, and this weekend always inspires me to think deeper into things than our physical existence. My most notable writing, and one of my ten most read articles is ‘The Lamb of God’, appearing elsewhere in this blog, which details the activities almost two thousand years ago, on this weekend. But ... I am cutting it much wider this time.
See http://pkodendaal.blogspot.com/2012/10/adult-sunday-school-part-15-lamb-of-god.html

1 Apr 2020

Doubt and Delusion

Doubt and Delusion – the story of Adam and Eve

The fate of man started out with doubt and delusion, planted by the enemy of God into the minds of mankind. Satan was and still is the progenitor and protagonist of doubt and delusion having been the first to delude himself into thinking he is God, and he still lives under that delusion.
Our story, which is about Adam and Eve, is so detailed, plausible and human as it encompasses the full path a human walks to become delusional, evil and disconnected from God.