The folklore associated with this quote is cool, imho ofc.

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One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

Jazz_Thing, this was an interesting quotation: “Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.” - Buddha

In a way a lot of people think that Buddhism is about achieving freedom through your own strength and that Christianity is about finding Heaven through the will of God; I think that both ways of seeing things are tied more closely than that, and your quotation is an example that can be interpreted in this way. The liberation of Buddhism, depending on whether it's mahayana, theravada, or vajrayana Buddhism, is really about Enlightenment. And Buddhist Enlightenment is a kind of coming to peace, working toward Nirvana. There's that same sort of quest toward peace, although the metaphors are different with Christianity. Buddhism also follows the example of Siddhartha Gautama, whereas Christianity follows the example of Jesus.

lilmanguy24's first post is interesting in this context, because while it's God that gives power and strength, people still receive it. My idea here is that if it's Buddha who is telling people to be their own light, and if God is granting people power, it's really like two sides of the same coin. It's a great comparative quotation. The idea is that people need guidance, especially if they are in times of trouble or feeling weak. And if they feel a willingness to believe in an outside source of wisdom and strength, the effect is that they become imbued with strength they didn't feel before. And in my mind, that's a big part of the path of religion

Damn it feels good to be a gangster.




She has a man's sort of way of viewing social situations, which is hot in my opinion.

I knew about the folklore, that's why I liked it. I was going to cast my own silver ring with that same inscription.

this one i like alot to.

I'm sorry I couldn't address your post earlier, but I find that quote which you selected to be one of the most profoundly inspiring quotations I have heard.

I agree holistically with your assertion that Peace, Nirvana, Enlightenment, and Heaven are metaphors which intertwine upon the notion of liberty and freedom. There is an underlying quest towards peace, and I posted Hamlet's soliloquy because it underlines that oxymoronic freedom and peace in death. It is the most poignant assessment of humanity's own desire to include a sense of encouragement towards action, and those who ignore its continuous innervation, will fall into the inviting chasm of despair.

I am actually irreligious, I choose not to partake in any religion yet I am fervently involved with equal representation and spiritual respect for anyone's ideas regarding the supernatural or inexplicable etiology of our universe.

My "source" of wisdom if you will, is the notion expressed by Socrates, he who feels himself wiser, is not the wiser man, for the first step into the rapture of wisdom is acknowledging that we possess very little of it. It is that forging of a true sense of wisdom, which will take some time is what will fundamentally guide my journey in life.

I found the most inspiration from Immanuel Kant, Martin Luther King, Buddha, and Ghandi.

Now, in the famous immortal words of Immanuel Kant and all Prussians Achtung!!, Rew great post .

This post was edited by Jazz_Thing on Dec 11 2009 06:51pm