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Ancient Wisdom Posts
The Proposed Monthly Focus of the Daily Posts
An explanation of how these ancient wisdom posts work
We, humans, are forgetting machines. Our ancient wisdom has always taught us how to quiet our minds so that we can remember who we truly are. Instead, our minds seem to be getting busier and busier, stressed and ruing the past and fearing the future. Technology has metamorphosised our world, but the ancient wisdom still applies. This wisdom is found in any of our great religions or philosophies --for theists, atheists, or agnostics.
I would invite you to take five minutes each day with me in a morning contemplation of an inspiring quote from a well-known text or philosopher that sets up the day's awareness challenge. I will post a different one by midnight (Australia/Sydney time) for the next day's contemplation.
Sample daily posts are found below Benjamin Franklin's Chart of 13 Virtues to give you a sense of what these are all about, shown for the first seven days In October. In October, the focus is Benjamin Franklin's virtues throughout the month.
We will then focus on a particular text, religion, philosophy or writer each month. My intention is to cover all kinds of thought from across the world, time and purpose (theism atheism, and agnosticism included). The "wisdom" would not always be classified as "ancient," but I've chosen the source for its enduring insight. Also, I do not always feature the words of the particular source each day, although the day's quote is directly about the source we are covering. For example, you can see below that I am covering Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues in October, but I use different people's quotes to cover each of these virtues.
October 2020: Focus on Benjamin Franklin 13 Virtues
The daily practice of Benjamin Franklin* and my current practices in meditation and contemplation inspire me to set an intention each day of an aspect of awareness I would like to grow. Each morning, Benjamin Franklin would review his intentions for the day, concentrating on one of his 13 virtues. Each night, he would review how the day went on this particular virtue as well as aspects of the other 12 virtues. He concentrated on one virtue for each four-week period of the fifty-two weeks of the year. See this link for an article providing more background.
The Schedule for August is:
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October 1-6: Temperance
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October 7-8 Silence
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October 9-10: Order
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October 11-12: Resolution
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October 13-14: Frugality
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October 15-16: Industry
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October 17-18: Sincerity
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October 19-20: Justice
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October 21-22: Moderation
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October 23-24: Cleanliness
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October 25-26: Tranquility
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October 27-28: Chastity
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October 29-30: Humility
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October 31: Overall Reflections