Welcome to the fifth
weekly guest post
at A Night's Dream of Books,
on the tour for The Door Is Open,
sponsored by
Innovative Online Book Tours!!
Dr. Andrew Cort
Andrew Cort
Paperback, 186 pages
CreateSpace
May 19, 2012
Genre: Religion, Mythology, Spirituality
This is the fifth of several weekly guest posts by Dr. Cort, who is an authority on religion and spirituality, as well as mythology, politics, history, science, education, and healing. He has written several books on these topics. His most recent one, The Door Is Open, deals with the fascinating topic of the steps to spiritual awakening, as presented in world scriptures and mythologies. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Cort to A NIGHT'S DREAM OF BOOKS!
I hope you will find Dr. Cort's fifth post to be as fascinating as I did!
Just as we all have
many different appetites and emotions (which are usually in conflict, and which
can be interested in all sorts of healthy or unhealthy objects), we also have
many different, and often confusing, mental functions: we have random thoughts,
images, and memories; we have stored facts and data; we have logical processes;
we have practical knowledge about how to do various things; we have theories
and beliefs and opinions and all kinds of prejudices, etc. Where, in the midst
of all this mental clutter, is the True Ruler of the human soul?
Socrates believed that no one does evil consciously. Our thoughts and notions may certainly be irrational or even foolish, but we always believe that what we are doing in any given moment is the right and proper thing to do: if we knew that what we were doing was 'evil' we could not keep doing it. So the 'True Ruler' of the soul, that ought to be making decisions, would have to be that part of the mind which absolutely knows, beyond any mere opinion, the difference between good and evil − the part of our soul that is capable of unerringly discerning 'the Good'.
Socrates believed that no one does evil consciously. Our thoughts and notions may certainly be irrational or even foolish, but we always believe that what we are doing in any given moment is the right and proper thing to do: if we knew that what we were doing was 'evil' we could not keep doing it. So the 'True Ruler' of the soul, that ought to be making decisions, would have to be that part of the mind which absolutely knows, beyond any mere opinion, the difference between good and evil − the part of our soul that is capable of unerringly discerning 'the Good'.
Does such a place exist? Plato thought so. He called this part of the soul Nous.
Nous is that special place in our intellect - beyond the confines of imagination, belief, and even reason - that arrives at knowledge by sudden, uncontradictable, insight. Such an insight (we have all had them) may follow in the wake of a long and painstaking period of questioning and pondering, or it may appear inexplicably out of the blue, but when it arrives it arrives in a flash. In general, these are rare and involuntary events, for this is a potential human faculty that usually lies dormant. But Socrates believed that it is possible for this faculty to become conscious and deliberate. In fact, he said that 'awakening Nous'− not merely studying or thinking − is the highest task of anyone who wishes to perfect his or her soul. It is possible, even easy, to have a keen and clever mind, to know a great many facts, and to be filled with practical and theoretical knowledge, and yet to have no authentic Wisdom because one's Nous has never awakened. Such a soul is always like that ship whose captain has been narcotized, a ship which is either in a state of endless anarchy, or which has been taken over by one or another tyrannical usurper: some harsh or foolish passion, appetite, belief or prejudice, which 'rules' and ruins one's life.
For Socrates, then, Wisdom is not about knowing many things or understanding difficult ideas. It is always and only about awakening one's soul to wonder and insight.
Author Bio
Andrew Cort is an expert on the inner message of Spiritual Awakening that is always ready to be found in the wonderful stories of the Bible and Greek Mythology. To receive several FREE GIFTS from Dr. Cort (a copy of Chapter One, ‘Making the Decision’, from his new book, THE DOOR IS OPEN; a copy of his article on RECONCILING SCIENCE AND RELIGION; and a complete version of the Bible’s erotic masterpiece, SONG OF SONGS , adapted as a Poetic Dialogue to be read out loud by lovers; as well as a subscription to his SPIRITUAL GROWTH NEWSLETTER) click here http://www.andrewcort.com/Gifts . You can also learn more on his blog, Spirituality and Religion.
MORE LINKS FOR DR. CORT
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Thank you for hosting Andrew Cort today.
ReplyDeleteHi, Vickie!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! Thanks for commenting!! : )
More great commentary from Dr. Cort.
ReplyDeleteI love reading Plato as he reported upon Socrates beliefs. I totally agree with the statement:
"It is possible, even easy, to have a keen and clever mind, to know a great many facts, and to be filled with practical and theoretical knowledge, and yet to have no authentic Wisdom because one's Nous has never awakened."
However, based upon my life's observations, those who have gone through the effort to acquire this knowledge, are more likely, but not assured, to have gone to the next step and acquired true wisdom.
Hey, Brian!
ReplyDeleteI'm currently reading this book, and let me tell you, it's an absolutely fascinating, profound read! I love the way Dr. Cort ties mythology together with theology. It's a book that bears re-reading, too. Besides, it's full of very insightful exercises that facilitate spiritual awakening.
Plato, of course, wrote some brilliant books! Absolutely fascinating!! I need to dip into "The Republic" again, although I don't quite agree with the author's vision of the perfect society.
That's a great quote you chose from Cort's book! It's completely true. One needs to awaken "Nous" in order to acquire true wisdom! The mere accumulation of facts does not lead to the acquisition of this wisdom.
Thank you so much for such a terrific comment!! : )