Posts filed under 'People & Places'

Socrates’ Test

From the Divinesahajayoga Blog

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high
esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and
said,

“Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your best friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything
I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter
Test.”

“Triple filter?”

“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about
my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter
what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you
made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s
true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of
Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend
something good?”

“No, on the contrary…”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad
about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass
the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of
Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to
be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is
neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such
high esteem.

3167 comments November 28th, 2005 Edit

Ayer’s Rock: ULURU

Some months ago the death of one of Uluru’s (Ayers Rock’s) senior traditional owners, led to a national embarrassment for the Northern Territory Chief Minister, Mr. Denis Burke. It showed the true colours of those who are intent on making money out of Uluru regardless of its spiritual significance or respect for those who value it for its true nature.

Mr. Denis Burke personally flew to Alice Springs to urge traditional owners to allow tourists to climb the rock even though it was closed as a sign of respect for the passing of a great man, a man who had encouraged the two cultures to work together for the benefit of all. The man, who cannot be named for cultural reasons, was also a strong supporter of the compromise that allowed visitors to climb Uluru – but only after being told they did so against the wishes of the traditional owners.

Read the complete KoR article: ULURU: A Cathedral in the Desert

This begs the question: “Is the government purely interested in profits, or do they want to enrich the experience of the tourists by helping them appreciate the glory of this ancient and sacred site which is held dear by the traditional owners?”

As with many spiritual beliefs of the creation, the Pitjinjara and Yankajara people known as Anangu believe in 2 levels of the universe, heaven and earth. In the celestial world of Ilkara or heaven reside heroic ancestors. During the creation time Tjurkurpa these heroes lived on earth. They found the spirit or essence in all life.

In the beginning the earth was flat and there were no marks on the land, as the Tjurkurpa people travelled the land they performed great deeds of creation and destruction. This was still the creation time and as the waters receded the Mother earth gave forth a huge rock singular and complete. For thousands of years this rock stood alone in the heart of Australia, as if protecting the Mother earth which had given it life. Gaining its strength and powers from her, vibrating the atmosphere with innocence and peace.

2271 comments November 28th, 2005 Edit


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