Western European-based civilization is young.
We inherited The Bible and Plato without understanding them.
We learned Christianity by rote, as a child civilization.
Then we set out to learn wisdom.
We rejected rough, unguided emotion.
Developed reason.
Took pure science as far as it could go.
And as most of us became swept up in scientific scepticism, some people in Germany were not satisfied.
Searched for something more meaningful than plain science.
And, finally, one of them showed us how to break down our preconceptions, how to begin to search for real true wisdom.
He did not know wisdom. But he knew how we could search for it.
Starting with breaking down our preconceptions.
His name was Friedrich Nietzsche.
Nietzsche had taken the first baby steps beyond the cradle.
But there are civilizations who had come before.
Who had taken those baby steps long before Nietzsche.
Who had then gone on a long, long search for wisdom.
And these civilizations had given us The Buddha.
Had given us Lao-tzu and Confucius.
Had given us the Upanishads and Adi Shankara.
And had given us the same Plato and Christ that we in western Europe took up as part of our own civilization's childhood, without really understanding it.
If we follow what Nietzsche started long enough, it will lead us to our own version of the same universal truths that Plato, The Buddha, Confucius and Lao-tzu all teach.
Our own unique description of the same universal truths.
But we do not have to do this.
We can open our mind, move beyond our preconceptions- and read Plato, The Buddha, Lao-tzu and Confucius.
The Buddha is a very good place to start as a civilization used to scientific reason.
The only difference between our reason and his is that his reason is less concerned with what is real out there and is more concerned with how we feel, whether we are in pain or not.
But The Buddha and his followers require us to have faith in no more than our skeptical science asks us to have faith in.
Just to pay less attention to what is real out there, and more attention to how we feel and whether we are in pain.
A good place to start. It does not have to end. Read all of them if you wish. The Buddha was not opposed to Plato. Christ was not opposed to Lao-tzu.
Seek the light and enjoy life!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson