Thursday, September 27, 2007

Mankind....a beast or an illuminated mind


"...Man's status in cosmos is determined, therefore, by the quality of his thinking. Quality, as applied to mental processes, is not necessarily intensity but rather refinement and delicacy. The trained scientist may reach a very high degree of intellectuality and yet lack that beautifying element which is indispensable to true understanding. Unless the inner nature transcends the limitations of both the flesh and the mind, the self can never attain to a full measure of expression. Whether a man be a beast or a god does not depend upon his outward appearance but rather upon the clarity of his inner perceptions. Many of the most respected citizens of every community are actually ravaging beasts concealing their primitive instincts under a thin veneer of culture. On the other hand, some whom the world regards as failures possess an innate beauty which elevates them far above the level of their fellows."

Manly P. Hall, Lectures on Ancient Philosophy.

1 comment:

Mike Green said...

When this man went through the rubble of the dead and found this mutilated child, do you think he thought like a god or a beast? I am sure that his inner mind was quite clear and focused. Something that is lost to the world is the idea that a person should care more for their own children then they do their own lives. We, as a people, as a culture, as a unified world hate our offspring so much that we are motivated and obsessed with the idea of destroying implicitalely all those who exist that do! Mankind has gone beyond the point of simply being a degenerate and unholy creature, we have become the destroyer of those things which are pure and sacred. We have become the perverter of all truths and replaced it with whatever logic we need in order to continue living as "ravaging beasts... under a thin vaneer of culture." The world is not "backsliden" or in a "moral regression," the world has become the enemy, and the innocent are the target!