Ancient Egyptian
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Egyptian Proverbs were
a very important part of the Ancient religion of Egypt, one of the main
religious concepts the Egyptians had was "know thyself." Their
spiritual aspect of this concept held that within man is the divine essence of
the Creator and the Heavens. And this finds expression in their teaching:
"The kingdom of heaven is within you; and whosoever shall know himself
shall find it.". Proverbs were held as a teaching method for a man to understand
the universe, thus they were inscribed in temples and tombs of Egypt, these
inscriptions might be the first "Holy Book" known by man.
Below are some of the
powerful teachings proverbs found in the temples of Luxor.
- The best and shortest
road towards knowledge of truth is Nature.
- For every joy there
is a price to be paid.
- If his heart rules
him, his conscience will soon take the place of the rod.
- What you are doing
does not matter so much as what you are learning from doing it. · It is better
not to know and to know that one does not know, than presumptuously to
attribute some random meaning to symbols.
- If you search for the
laws of harmony, you will find knowledge.
- If you are searching
for a Neter, observe Nature!
Exuberance is a good
stimulus towards action, but the inner light grows in silence and
concentration.
- Not the greatest
Master can go even one step for his disciple; in himself he must experience
each stage of developing consciousness. Therefore he will know nothing for
which he is not ripe.
- The body is the house
of God. That is why it is said, "Man know thyself."
- True teaching is not
an accumulation of knowledge; it is an awaking of consciousness which goes
through successive stages.
- The man who knows how
to lead one of his brothers towards what he has known may one day be saved by
that very brother.
- People bring about
their own undoing through their tongues.
- If one tries to
navigate unknown waters one runs the risk of shipwreck.
- Leave him in error
who loves his error.
- Every man is rich in
excuses to safeguard his prejudices, his instincts, and his opinions.
- To know means to
record in one's memory; but to understand means to blend with the thing and to
assimilate it oneself.
- There are two kinds
of error: blind credulity and piecemeal criticism. Never believe a word without
putting its truth to the test; discernment does not grow in laziness; and this
faculty of discernment is indispensable to the Seeker. Sound skepticism is the
necessary condition for good discernment; but piecemeal criticism is an error.
- Love is one thing,
knowledge is another.
- True sages are those
who give what they have, without meanness and without secret!
- An answer brings no
illumination unless the question has matured to a point where it gives rise to
this answer which thus becomes its fruit. Therefore learn how to put a
question.
- What reveals itself
to me ceases to be mysterious—for me alone: if I unveil it to anyone else, he
hears mere words which betray the living sense: Profanation, but never
revelation.
- The first concerning
the 'secrets': all cognition comes from inside; we are therefore initiated only
by ourselves, but the Master gives the keys.
- The second concerning
the 'way': the seeker has need of a Master to guide him and lift him up when he
falls, to lead him back to the right way when he strays.
- Understanding
develops by degrees.
- As to deserving, know
that the gift of Heaven is free; this gift of Knowledge is so great that no
effort whatever could hope to 'deserve' it.
- If the Master teaches
what is error, the disciple's submission is slavery; if he teaches truth, this
submission is ennoblement.
- There grows no wheat
where there is no grain.
- The only thing that
is humiliating is helplessness.
- An answer if
profitable in proportion to the intensity of the quest.
- Listen to your
conviction, even if they seem absurd to your reason.
- Know the world in
yourself. Never look for yourself in the world, for this would be to project
your illusion
To teach one must know
the nature of those whom one is teaching.
- In every vital
activity it is the path that matters.
- The way of knowledge
is narrow.
- Each truth you learn
will be, for you, as new as if it had never been written.
- The only active force
that arises out of possession is fear of losing the object of possession.
- If you defy an enemy
by doubting his courage you double it.
- The nut doesn't
reveal the tree it contains.
- For knowledge ... you
should know that peace is an indispensable condition of getting it.
- The first thing
necessary in teaching is a master; the second is a pupil capable of carrying on
the tradition.
- Peace is the fruit of
activity, not of sleep.
- Envious greed must
govern to possess and ambition must possess to govern.
- When the governing
class isn't chosen for quality it is chosen for material wealth: this always
means decadence, the lowest stage a society can reach.
- One foot isn't enough
to walk with.
- Our senses serve to
affirm, not to know.
- We mustn't confuse
mastery with mimicry, knowledge with superstitious ignorance.
- Physical
consciousness is indispensable for the achievement of knowledge.
- A man can't be judge
of his neighbor' intelligence. His own vital experience is never his
neighbor's.
- No discussion can
throw light if it wanders from the real point.
- Your body is the
temple of knowledge.
- Experience will show
you, a Master can only point the way.
- A house has the
character of the man who lives in it.
- All organs work
together in the functioning of the whole.
- A man's heart is his
own Neter.
- A pupil may show you
by his own efforts how much he deserves to learn from you.
- Routine and prejudice
distort vision. Each man thinks his own horizon is the limit of the world.
- You will free
yourself when you learn to be neutral and follow the instructions of your heart
without letting things perturb you. This is the way of Maat.
- Judge by cause, not
by effect.
- Growth in consciousness
doesn't depend on the will of the intellect or its possibilities but on the
intensity of the inner urge.
- Every man must act in
the rhythm of his time ... such is wisdom.
- Men need images.
Lacking them they invent idols. Better then to found the images on realities
that lead the true seeker to the source.
- Maat, who links
universal to terrestrial, the divine with the human is incomprehensible to the
cerebral intelligence.
- Have the wisdom to
abandon the values of a time that has passed and pick out the constituents of
the future. An environment must be suited to the age and men to their
environment.
- Everyone finds
himself in the world where he belongs. The essential thing is to have a fixed
point from which to check its reality now and then.
- Always watch and
follow nature.
- A phenomenon always
arises from the interaction of complementaries. If you want something look for
the complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus redeems Set.
- All seed answer
light, but the color is different.
- The plant reveals
what is in the seed.
- Popular beliefs on
essential matters must be examined in order to discover the original thought.
- It is the passive
resistance from the helm that steers the boat.
- The key to all
problems is the problem of consciousness.
- Man must learn to
increase his sense of responsibility and of the fact that everything he does
will have its consequences.
- If you would build
something solid, don't work with wind: always look for a fixed point, something
you know that is stable ... yourself.
- If you would know
yourself, take yourself as starting point and go back to its source; your
beginning will disclose your end.
- Images are nearer
reality than cold definitions.
- Seek peacefully, you
will find.
- Organization is
impossible unless those who know the laws of harmony lay the foundation.
- It is no use whatever
preaching Wisdom to men: you must inject it into their blood.
- Knowledge is
consciousness of reality. Reality is the sum of the laws that govern nature and
of the causes from which they flow.
- Social good is what
brings peace to family and society.
- Knowledge is not
necessarily wisdom.
- By knowing one
reaches belief. By doing one gains conviction. When you know, dare.
- Altruism is the mark
of a superior being.
- All is within
yourself. Know your most inward self and look for what corresponds with it in
nature.
- The seed cannot
sprout upwards without simultaneously sending roots into the ground.
- The seed includes all
the possibilities of the tree. ... The seed will develop these possibilities,
however, only if it receives corresponding energies from the sky.
- Grain must return to
the earth, die, and decompose for new growth to begin.
- Man, know thyself ...
and thou shalt know the gods.
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