Socrates’ Tricky Question
Comment: Many ancient Greeks were afraid of Socrates’ question, which he often asked: “Aren’t you ashamed to take care of money, fame, honors, and not take care of your soul and not think about it, so that it is as good as possible?”
Alcibiades, a politician and strategist of that time, hated Socrates and said: “Socrates made me feel a sense of shame. And how often I wished that he was no longer among living people.”
Answer: That’s right; with a normal egoistic view of the world, if someone points out my flaws to me, I first want him to disappear, and the flaws, if possible, let them disappear too.
Question: From this explanation, it would seem to be a despicable thing to engage in fame, money, and power?
Answer: It should at least be secondary. We need it for existence.
Question: So we are dealing with this out of necessity? But only just out of necessity.
Answer: Yes.
Question: And in principle, all our studies should be to engage in matters of the soul. Why then don’t we engage in them?
Answer: Ask all people and they will tell you: “I do not know what a soul is. I do not know how to do it. I don’t want to…it’s difficult; it’s complicated. It’s against my egoistic nature. I don’t want to…”
Question: Then why are there so many spiritual practices in the world?
Answer: Because people invent things all the time, and they want to trick the Creator around their finger. That is, I will do this or do that, and in this way I will conquer egoism and nature, and the Creator.
Question: So this is all an attempt by a person to somehow bypass the main thing. Because the main thing is difficult to do?
Answer: The main thing is against our nature, and therefore we cannot advance like this.
Question: How can a person determine that he has found exactly that?
Answer: He begins to feel the meaning of life, the real meaning of life, the meaning of existence. He feels that he has found the root of life.
Question: Where do I feel it? Where is the feeling in me that I have found this?
Answer: It is a merging of heart and mind.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/6/23
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