Truth and wisdom are found primarily through virtue instead of intellect

[Cannon]

I have come to the conclusion that the Intellect is not as important as one's virtues are when it comes to the pursuit of Truth and Wisdom. My use of the term 'Intellect' here that of one's ability to work with more and more complicated information. It is my understanding that it is through the cultivation of certain character-virtues which leads one to Truth and Wisdom, not necessarily a reliance on one's Intellect alone. It is also my understanding that the knowledge I write here can significantly empower the reader and improve their life by providing a guide to Truth and Wisdom, both of which aid one in the aligning both together within their life their preference and experience.


Now in my experience it is often the case that people believe that if two individuals had an debate, the more intelligent of the two must have been correct entirely because of their superior intellect, as if one's intellect is the sole determining factor concerning one's position concerning any topic. Strongly intelligent people completely disagree with each other on every conceivable topic at all times however and, if the intellect alone were enough for the truth, such a multitude of different beliefs would not be the case. Instead I've found that having great smarts may actually get in the way of one's truth seeking as it can can distract and mislead one into more and more complicated arguments in favor of their particular falsehoods, as well as, perhaps, egotistically leading one into believing one are of no need to question their own beliefs as they are too intelligent to be so incorrect in the first place. It is a sad, frightening truth that the mind can rationalize a lie just as well as it can deduce one as such and it will not know the difference.


After some time considering these things I'd come to the conclusion that it is due to the presense or absense of certain character virtues that lead so many people to so many different beliefs, as well as being what lead people out of ignorance and into genuine Knowledge and Wisdom. By the term 'virtue' here I am referring to virtues such as 'patience' as opposed to those of 'generosity'. These virtues are neither moral nor immoral, and can be found within people regardless of their Service-to-Others or Service-to-Self polarity. The cultivation of these virtues will also subsequently empower one throughout their life, and subsequently improve their life. After some time I have come to the conclusion that there are at least ten of these virtues.


On an unrelated note however, I have previously made another thread on here asking for aid concerning a prolonged psychic attack by a negative entity. He has tried to terrify me, confuse me, deceive me, manipulate me, and cause me physical harm. He has in the past controlled my body to some extent and is likely the cause or partly the cause of a recent seizure I experienced. The reason I am bringing this up is because he threatens he'll take over my body and then castrate me if I post this list, as he apparently agrees with me that it will improve the lives of those who take to information to heart. This list may perhaps improve life on Earth as more people use it to achieve genuine and cultivate Truth and Wisdom. Here it is:




INTEGRITY
By 'integrity' here I mean the assured protection of one's beliefs from false causes for their being changed. For one to have 'integrity' is for one not to assume or discard ideas/beliefs they come across due to things such as peer pressure and logical fallacies. In my experience, you must be able to keep hold of your beliefs and guard your mind from the belief-imposing habits that others in your life may have acquired. Some people can be very persuasive without being correct. If you lack this steadying virtue of integrity you might as well be a feather floating in the wind without agency as to your flying in shadow or sunlight.


HUMILITY
The capacity to question one's own ideas as well as to consider the ideas of those you consider to be without authority on a subject are both welcome, practical aids for those who, like myself, are not omniscient. Humility is also absolutely necessary in order to recognize when one is lacking in any other of these virtues. You cannot be too humble.


SELF-AWARENESS
Consciously cultivated self-awareness is very beneficial in order to recognize when you are lacking somewhere in this collection of virtues, when you are gaining these virtues, when you are or are not keeping them in use, and in order to know what your beliefs actually are, and where they're coming from. I believe a healthy dose of self-awareness is required for the pursuit of spiritual knowledge.


COURAGE
To truly question strongly held beliefs requires courage. The questioning of those of whom you believe to have justified authority also requires courage. To consider ideas that say the world may be a more frightening place requires courage.


ENDURANCE
Endurance is necessary in order to consistently undergo the exausting process of questioning one's own belief's while also considering new, possibly distressing possibilities. It is also difficult and perhaps at times exausting to be isolated from others ideologically, which can happen quickly when one begins to doubt the beliefs of those around them.


DISCIPLINE
One must consciously cultivate as a habit the questioning of old ideas and the considering of new ideas whenever they are encountered.


RATIONALITY
While most people are generally rational, not all have taken the steps necessary to not remain rational in infuriating, frightening, or other extreme situations. It should be a cultivated skill to remain rational even in very stressful situations, for example, such as if one's most cherished beliefs are being directly and insultingly questioned, or if one is being forced to consider a horrific possibility which changes how one perceives the entirety of the world.


OPEN-MINDED SKEPTICISM
It is important to balance one's consideration of ideas. One must take the pains necessary to be open-minded, but not to the point of gullible. Also, one must remember to be skeptical but not to the point of becoming close-minded.


NON-PROJECTION
One must be able to receive information without filtering and interpreting it through one's previously held beliefs, in order to best have the ability to ascertain whether something is true or false, wise or foolish.


CARE
It is possible to not care about Truth and Wisdom enough. It is very possible to cultivate such care. Without care for what is Wise and True, one leaves themselves up for the suffering caused by foolishness and deception. I believe it is a safe bet for me to make that the reader of what I'm writing right here right now has their fair share amount of painful memories of prior behavior that would not be plaguing them now, were they wiser way back when.




Thank you for reading this list of mine. I made it with the intention to improve the lives of who do, as I believe truth and wisdom always do. Also, the world benefits as its denizens grow wiser and more knowing. If you have any thoughts concerning this topic I would be very interested in reading them.

[Spaced]

The problem with intellect is that it cannot see beyond it's own limits and there is the temptation to alter the truth to fit within them.
The problem with virtue is that one can become attached to the idea of being virtuous and be unable to see the truth in that which is without virtue.
The problem with truth is that it is an empty vessel, empty but able to contain all things.

Intellect is useful when it's limitations are acknowledged.
Virtue is useful when there is no attachment.
Truth is useful as a veiled mystery that we are drawn to uncover.

Just some thoughts, hope you are doing well Cannon.

[Cannon]

Thanks for the input, Spaced. I'm fine.

My use of the word virtue here however was not that of any moral or immoral characteristic an individual may or may not have, but was used for mundane things that are relatively concrete and which can be cultivated, such as patience, and concentration. I find this important because the cultivation of these every-day things is free and available for anyone to begin working on while providing the rich, universal treasures that higher spiritual experiences may provide.

[MonadicSpectrum]

Great list of universal virtues that lead to truth and wisdom. Thank you for sharing.

I just want to add that I recommend one search for and identify truth and wisdom through experience rather than second hand accounts and explanations. Not only do we live in an environment wrought with mistaken assumptions but also purposeful deception. If one relies on finding truth through reading words, listening to words, or watching images, one will only spin around in a circle of symbols and intellectual puzzles which are often constructed for purposes of preventing people from finding truth by trapping intellectual people in their own minds. One may use the words and symbols as a source for obtaining new ideas but one cannot know the truth value of those ideas until one tests them with personal experience, in my opinion.

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" - Jesus. 

An intelligent person who believes they have knowledge from universities and books is unlikely to explore and validate that knowledge in the real world while the little child who knows they don't know relies on experience for learning producing a more accurate perception of the world over time. Perhaps this is one reason why children learn so quickly. Moving from lack of knowledge to knowledge is relatively easy if one pays attention and analyzes experience. Moving from false knowledge not derived from experience to true knowledge derived from experience is much more difficult because the false knowledge distorts the perception of all experience. Learning is just as much about unlearning for those born in a society that values falsity.

This might be the land of confusion, but at least these men of power are losing control by the hour...

[Cannon]

MonadicSpectrum you're absolutely right.

[Diana]

Intellect is useful when it's limitations are acknowledged
Virtue is useful when there is no attachment.

I think this can also be reversed. The bottom line, for me, is no attachment—that way one stays open to change, additional input, and a widening perspective, whether it's intellect or feelings (which I prefer to say over "virtue" since that is a societal/cultural judgment).

Truth is useful as a veiled mystery that we are drawn to uncover.

So true. Evidence of this permeates this existence, from evolution of species to human development to an ever-changing universe. There is always change and evolution and expansion, and change cannot be pigeonholed into the idea of entropy alone.

[flofrog]

Such an interesting thread, thank you Cannon. I, too, hope you are doing well. Great read.

[unity100]

Mind, what you call intellect, is required for even existing, leave aside having experiences and learning and progressing. If you dont even understand what is happening, you cannot react in any meaningful manner, and there is no kind of experience, less polarization, even less, progress.

Virtue is not anything related to wisdom. Being virtuous does not give anyone understanding of other people's behaviors, their interactions. It does not provide any understanding of the larger existence and the universe at all.

I dont think there is any need to tell that virtue has nothing to do with truth. By being virtuous, you wont seek anything, leave aside actually find the truth.

[Cannon]

By my stating the Intellect to not be where Wisdom and Truth are found can be quickly summarized as the idea that simply being smart does not necessarily make you right. When I refer to virtues I mentioned that I was not actually referring to "being a good person", but was instead referring to amoral qualities such as, for example, patience. None of the virtues I listed require one to be 'good', or require an individual to be of either service-to-others or service-to-self, but they will aid one in seeking what is true and what is wise. Because of this confusion, I admit that I chose the wrong word in my post.

[flofrog]

I do think Cannon that what you listed, whether they could be named virtues, or qualities, or named another word, are in fact very effective tools…