The 'Outer Court' Plato

There is a Wiki quote (which is incorrect) about Aristotle having said: 'It is the mark of an educated mind (or man) to entertain a thought without having to accept it (or without accepting it).'

Okay, Aristotle never said that.

In a text attributed to Aristotle however - The Nicomachean Ethics - is written something much longer and more complicated, about it being 'the mark of an educated mind to search for the same kind of clarity in each topic to the extent that the nature of the matter accepts it (direct translation of the Greek).' I'm not even sure what that exactly means.

It sort of can be taken to be the same thing... ...I guess.

Aramaco - owned by
Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar;
world's richest king. Bit of a violent tyrant,
on occasions.

Anyway, my point is - Aristotle is 'outer court Plato.' Aristotle is some important things which are necessary to know, but none of which consists of the precise things imparted within the secret school of Plato.

But I am going to endeavor to explain what about it is nevertheless very important.

And for that we are going to go back to Daniel.

Daniel the prophet who wasn't a prophet.

Most - most - of you who come and read here, are very experienced, mature, astute, minds. You've done many things, experimented, risked, invested - some investments went well, some not so well.

So I am going to put it to you to ask yourselves, whether what I'm about to say seems true to you or not true.

Daniel was a kid, taken from his parents at a young age, and sent to a formal Chaldean astrology and magic school. He had not yet studied his own Jewish religion formally, but he certainly had some foundations from his early upbringing at home as a young child.

He next went to the Chaldean school of magic and sorcery, set up by Nebuchadnezzar, and became very successful at all of that. He was regarded by the leaders of the place there as a premier student (of theirs).

He knew some Jewish lore and he certainly knew the Torah, and he knew some (a lot of) Chaldean magic.

The Jews, however, do not include him in their list of prophets.

The Chaldeans are long since all dead and buried - they are gone.

'Letterbox cocktails.'
Stop spending money, dammit!
I am trying to post up pics of things
that you won't buy!!

Daniel - the prophet who was not a prophet, according to the Jews - would have had a fairly naive perception of the religious ideas of the Jews; especially when it came to ideas about the Divine as such. He knew that Abraham met with God personally. But he may not have completely understood that the era of Jewish leaders in their group at the time, could no longer say convincingly that any of them actually met with God since after all, they were not doing too well, and no 'Angel of the Lord' was fighting on their side to liberate them from the yoke of anyone, far less from the yoke of king Cyrus the Great or Nebuchadnezzar or any one of those absolute rulers.

So the Jews invent this invisible 'ruach ha kodesh' and get on with their religious life. 'Ruach ha kodesh' is not really a person - it's a kind of vigor, according to the Jews.

Sakina or Ruh al-Qudus in Islam is also not a being, not a person. If it were we could all open up businesses in Dubai called 'Allah & Partners.' And we would do vigorous business.

LOL

...Can't do that.

Jewish religion is wrong, Islamic religion is wrong, Chaldean magical thinking is wrong.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't know about them.

Something you can't buy,
thank god.

Doesn't mean you cannot learn the ideas, study them, know all about them.

Because - and I put it to you - one day, a figure will descend on top of the river on the other side, and you will see the person as a person, an ordinary human person.

Maybe, as in the case of Daniel, you will see two figures - one on this side of the river with you, and one on the other side.

But the only time any such thing will happen (to you/for you) is if you have acquired enough 'at-arm's-length' knowledge, to be able to discern truly what is going on, and what your reaction ought then to be.

Because if you are still prey to one line of propaganda or another, you can easily just do what everyone else mostly all does do - which is to say 'I am not sure,' and 'I saw but I did not believe' and/or 'I'm not even sure that I saw, actually.'

And then worst of all - 'how do I fit what I saw, into what I believe.' 

So what do you believe?

You should believe nothing. But you should know enough about lots of things to be able to know what is reliable.

Now there is not much point me telling you when Justin Trudeau will fall.

There is not much point telling you when the next slip by Old Joe will be a fatal one.

'Justin Trudeau' is just the lead figure of a lot of other similar characters all possessed of a particular mindset. Nebuchadnezzar went mad and ate grass like an animal - at one point.

'Scholars say that the Book of Daniel is fiction.'

I say that the Book of Daniel is one of the only substantially factual books of the Bible. 

Nebuchadnezzar was actually an earlier figure, Nabonidus, who also had the title of 'Nebuchadnezzar' (Nabu-kudduri-usur... notice: 'al-qudduri'). 

The Bible is false if you try to take it as strict historical fact. Moses could not have existed at the time in question, nor at the places where any Jews ran away from any Pharaoh.

The Greek Historian Xenophon met the son of Nabonidus, Belshazzar. Nabonidus is a real historical person with much historical attestation, albeit none of it is particularly consistent about the key details of his life, especially his later life.

Nabonidus was a tyrant, and he was pretty ruthless or at least violent - but he was no Trudeau. Nabonidus (Nebuchadnezzar) received instruction and learning via the troubles in his life, from the God of Wisdom, Nabu.

Trudeau has no such fate awaiting him.

Sylvia Tosun

Belshazzar sees the writing on the wall...

'You have been weighed finely, and have been found wanting.'

Trudeau sees nothing.

The CSIS sees nothing.

Even the FBI sees nothing.

And I am not saying anything.

But you, Daniel - for you, all of you, are the Daniels of your time - stand in your place and wait. And you must see.

In the 'outer court' you become acquainted with many things.

In the inner court, you will see God. Or his messengers, anyway. I put it to you - do you have enough knowledge yet on the left hand side, and the right hand side, all of which is wrong?

*

Sylvia Tosun is an opera singer who has shifted over to trance music and EDM. This kind of piece here is only for experienced listeners - it is not that accessible to the average person.

Lyrics:

In the kingdom of illusion
In the crown's mirage
Defying all our gravity
As we embrace the love...
I believe in the thought of us
It's a noble truth
I believe we can part the sea
And we can split the moon...
I believe in everything...
We light the stars