[www.keralites.net] Philosophy

 

 

 

 

 

Greek Philosophy --- As pertinent today as 399 BC!! 

 

Keep this in mind the next time you are about to repeat a rumour or spread gossip. 

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied, "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
'Triple filter?" asked the acquaintance.

"That's right," Socrates continued, "Before you talk to me about Diogenes let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "Actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates, "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.. Socrates continued, "You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me or anyone at all?"
The man was bewildered and ashamed. This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem. 

Al-Khwarizmi, one of the renowned Arab mathematicians, once was asked to describe the value of a human being. He said If a human being is of good character he equals 1 If he/she is beautiful he/she equals 10 If he/she is rich he/she equals 100 If he/she is with a pedigree, he/she equals 1000 But if you delete the number one only zeros remain. Ageisha girl was going for a very important programme, decked up in her best attire. On the road to her venue, there was a big puddle, and she was afraid that her dress would get soiled. Suddenly, she saw two monks coming that way, but since the Buddhist vows do not permit them to even look towards women, she did not expect anyhelp from those ascetics. To her great surprise, the elder of the twocelibate men came over to her. Without talking a single word, he picked her up and carried her across that water obstacle. His younger colleague was shocked beyond words, but since they had taken a vow of silence for ten days, he said nothing. In due course, when their 'silence period' ended, the younger disciple went to his senior, and gave vent to his anguish and dismay at the incident which seemed to bother him night and day. What the older monk said in reply is of great importance: "Yes, I did touch her, but I dropped her as soon as possible. You seem to be still carrying her!" Ensconced in this parable is a great deal of wisdom. The older monk had taught two lessons to his younger friend: One, 'if a rule prevents you from doing a good turn, its violation is not a sin' and two, 'it is good todeliberatelyforget whatever is not worthy of remembering' My prayer and wish for all my friends is : "May the Lord give you the sagacity to forget all the evil thoughts which may have accumulated in your memory over the years. Don't carry any baggage which clutters your soul"

Beautiful Thought by Lord Buddha

Once Buddha was travelling with a few of his followers. While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Do get me some water from the lake."

The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink."

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. 

The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own -- and you have clear water.

Your mind is like that too ! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless."

Having 'Peace of Mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process

SENT BY B B GHAI

TSEWA 1212

 

 

​Circulated by:

K.Raman​

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Posted by: Raman K <kraman_4@yahoo.com>

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