The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 20 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth
Section 10 (part 1)
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53 SELECT SENTENCES OF SEXTUS THE PYTHAGOREAN 1.
To neglect things of the smallest consequence, is not the least thing in human life.
2.
The wise man, and the despiser of wealth, resemble God.
3.
Do not investigate the name of God, because you will not find it.
For every thing which is called by a name, receives p.
54 its appellation from that which is more worthy than itself, 1 so that it is one person that calls, and another that hears.
Who is it, therefore, that has given a name to God?
God, however, is not a name to God, but an indication of what we conceive of Him.
4.
God is a light incapable of receiving its contrary, darkness.
5.
You have in yourself some thing similar to God, and therefore use yourself as the temple of God, on account of that which in you resembles God.
6.
Honour God above all things, that He may rule over you.
7.
Whatever you honour above all things, that which you so honour will have dominion over you.
But if you give yourself to the domination of God, you will thus have dominion over all things.
8.
The greatest honour which can be paid to God, is to know and imitate Him.
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55 9.
There is not any thing, indeed, which wholly resembles God; nevertheless the imitation of Him as much as possible by an inferior nature is grateful to Him.
10.
God, indeed, is not in want of anything, but the wise man is in want of God alone.
He, therefore, who is in want but of few things, and those necessary, emulates him who is in want of nothing.
11.
Endeavour to be great in the estimation of Divinity, but among men avoid envy.
12.
The wise man whose estimation with men was but small while he was living, will be renowned when he is dead.
13.
Consider all the time to be lost to you in which you do not think of divinity.
14.
A good intellect is the choir of divinity.
15.
A bad intellect is the choir of evil dæmons.
16.
Honour that which is just, on this very account that it is just.
17.
You will not be concealed from divinity when you act unjustly, nor even when you think of doing so.
18.
The foundation of piety is continence; but the summit of piety is the love of God.
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56 19.
Wish that what is expedient and not what is pleasing may happen to you.
20.
Such as you wish your neighbour to be to you, such also be you to your neighbour.
21.
That which God gives you, no one can take away.
22.
Neither do nor even think of that which you are not willing God should know.
23.
Before you do anything think of God, that his light may precede your energies.
24.
The soul is illuminated by the recollection of deity.
25.
The use of all animals as food is Indifferent, but it is more rational to abstain from them.
26.
God is not the author of any evil.
27.
You should not possess more than the use, of the body requires.
28.
Possess those things which no one can take from you.
29.
Bear that which is necessary, as it is necessary.
30.
Ask those things of God which it is worthy of God to bestow.
31.
The reason which is in you, is the light of your life.
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57 32.
Ask those things of God which you cannot receive from man.
33.
Wish that those things which labour ought to precede, may be possessed by you after labour.
34.
Be not anxious to please the multitude.
35.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Active Contemplationpraxis
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
Verse 50 instructs to expel grief through reasoning, indicating an active cognitive spiritual practice.
All passages →Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
[auto] Verse 54 explicitly describes the body as a sepulchre where the soul is buried and conjoined through punishment.
All passages →Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
Verse 54 establishes a dualism between the soul and the body, while Verse 55 contrasts waking death with sleeping dreams.
All passages →Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The footnote and Verse 51 emphasize the wise man's independence from fortune and equanimity regarding material states.
All passages →Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
Verse 55 presents the paradoxical inversion that waking life is death and sleep is a dream.
All passages →Renunciation Of Wealthethics
The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.
Verses 49 and 51 warn against reliance on wealth and advocate bearing poverty with equanimity.
All passages →Self Examinationpraxis
Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice.
The instruction to manage the 'torpid soul' and spare one's life from sorrow implies introspection and self-regulation.
All passages →Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
Verse 54 describes the soul's conjunction to the body as a punishment, implying an exile from its true state.
All passages →Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
Verse 53 frames old age not as an end but as the beginning of a blessed life, suggesting a transition to a higher state.
All passages →Related passages · 15 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 127
“Section 5 5. It may be objected that the Intellectual-Principle possesses its content in an eternal conjunction so that the two make a perfect unity, and that thus there is no Matter there. But that argument would equally cancel the Matter…”
Shared concept: Cosmic Dualism — Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVI (part 8)
“188 So writes Schopenhauer in his Counsels and Maxims , and indeed it is very effectively expressed, but we have no foundation whatsoever for regarding man as the summit of that which nature has created.
This is only THE HIGHEST THAT WE KN…”
Shared concept: Cosmic Dualism — Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 47
“Mastery over the powers of perception and action comes through perfectly concentrated Meditation on their fivefold forms; namely, their power to grasp their distinctive nature, the element of self-consciousness in them, their inherence, and…”
Shared concept: Active Contemplation — A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness. (derived)
western_esoteric|Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune)|18. Methods Of Defence II-a
“THERE are two types of practical psychic work which may be used separately or in combination, the latter method, in my opinion, giving by far the best results, though the exponents of each are apt to decry the other.
The method which we wi…”
Shared concept: Active Contemplation — A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|PREFACE-a
““ Meister Eckhart ,” who has been called the “Father of German thought,” was a Dominican monk, and one of the most profound thinkers of the Middle Ages.
He was born about 1260 A.D.
in Thuringia, and died at Cologne 1327 A.D.
In 1295 he w…”
Shared concept: Detachment Gelassenheit — Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquity-g
“At the first gate the great crown is removed from her head, at the second gate the earrings from her ears, at the third gate the necklace from her neck, at the fourth gate the ornaments from her breast, at the fifth gate the girdle from her…”
Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 12)
“255:1 However gratifying it may be for the curious seeker in history to know whether or when such an event has actually occurred in the history of the Jewish nation, such a historical belief would be of little benefit to him if he could not…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV|Sutra 16
“Nor do material objects defend upon a single mind, for how could they remain objective to others, if that mind ceased to think of them? This is but a further development of the thought of the preceding Sutra, carrying on the thought that, w…”
Shared concept: Detachment Gelassenheit — Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIX (part 7)
“In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity.
But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration.
It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)
native_american|The Soul of the Indian|Chapter I-b
“Sometimes an old man, standing upon the brink of eternity, might reveal to a chosen few the oracle of his long-past youth.
The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity.
They forget…”
Shared concept: Renunciation Of Wealth — The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 11, Section 1c
“And the perfect Peace guards each several individuality unalloyed by Its providential gift of peace, keeping all things without internal or mutual discord or confusion, and establishing all things, in the power of unswerving stability, so a…”
Shared concept: Paradox As Teaching — Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight. (derived)
sufism|The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)|PROLOGUE-a
“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.
I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite)|Page 6 (part 1)
“PART I THE LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC Click to view THE SERPENT OF THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES.
From a Greek Vase Painting.
CHAPTER I The antiquity of Magical Rituals § 1.
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Shared concept: Paradox As Teaching — Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 9)
“279 free will already in the beginning (of a desire) destroys the desire, so that it does not become substantial, then is the physician (for the cure of that disease) already born, and there will not be needed such great earnestness as will…”
Shared concept: Renunciation Of Wealth — The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|VI-e
“Therefore sanctification is the best of all things, for it cleanses the soul, and illuminates the conscience, and kindles the heart, and wakens the spirit, and girds up the loins, and glorifies virtue and separates us from creatures, and un…”
Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)