Intelligence Piracy

When you quote someone, as if to give further strength to a certain point of view, you are in effect deceiving yourselves first, and others second. The wise beings of the past have the vision to see far into the future and deep into the timeless. In quoting a wise being you are saying that you share the master’s vision with respect to some particular issue: you see what the master sees. You see as far as the master sees, and hence everybody better listen to you for your utterances are comprised of both clarity and importance.

There is a catch-22 when backing up your point of view with quotes from the sages. If you see as far as a sage then you are a learned one, and hence do not need to quote someone else. You alone stand tall and your words are ingrained with depth and truth. People will listen to your words, though perhaps in time distant from now. If you don’t see as far as a sage then you are unfortunately clueless as to the wisdom that the shell of words so contain. You are not up to the task of understanding wisdom and hence your parallels in apparent understanding are in fact mimicry. Make your own utterances, write your own truths, and live your own life.

Though lotus flowers and rose bushes are the envy of all, the desert wild flower shall dance vibrantly and wither not until its time has come to yield into the silence vast expanse of the endless undulating dunes.

It is true that beings who have attained yet are of less stature than a Buddha, a Jesus, or an Osho, point to these great beings as a means of reaching people who stand tall but shall fall far. If you were to meet a simple buddha who lives in a little hut by the way, and you had multiple university papers in hand, you shall laugh at the idiocy of the simple buddha. However the only thing that a sage knows is the same only thing that a simple buddha knows. The simple buddha is connected to the source, the very same source that has created the oral and written truths that inspire and uplift nations. The simple buddha knows that the sage’s beautiful message is still only a finger pointing to the moon; no problem in borrowing fingers if you are yourself the moon.

Rather than live your life according to another’s quotes, make your life a flowering worthy of being quoted.