11. Vanity
329 Words
"Ha Vanity, Vanity, everything is vanity.
What does a man gain from all his labor beneath the sun?"
The biblical book of Ecclesiastes begins with a statement and a question.
It is worth noting that in this brief work, the wise Solomon solely addresses the topic of 'vanity'.
"Generations keep changing.
There is nothing new under the sun.
As it was, it is today."
"There is no particular gain in acquiring knowledge and wisdom.
That, too, is a futile effort.
In abundance of wisdom, there is abundance of suffering.
Whoever increases knowledge also increases sorrow. As light is better than darkness, so is wisdom better than folly."
"The wise man has eyes in his head; folly walks in darkness.
But the fates are the same for a wise man and a fool.
And why acquire more wisdom?
This, too, is vanity!
All vanity and vain effort!
It happens to animals just as it happens to humans.
As it dies, so does he.
Both have the same breath; everything is vanity."
"I've observed that all effort and powerful venture generate from one man's envy of another; this, too, is vanity and a futile effort. A handful of repose is preferable to two hands full of toil and wasted effort.
A rich man is never satisfied, no matter how much money he has.
A selfish person is never pleased, regardless of how much money he makes; this, too, is vanity!"
In his scripture, the wise Solomon describes with examples that everything that exists in this world is vanity, everything will end in vanity, and finally the soul will return to God who gave it.
As we described in previous chapters, when we look down from the height of a transcendental awareness known as 'Turia', we see that the universe and life experiences we believe are real are simply a dream.
In his scripture, the wise Solomon repeats: All of this worldly life and experience is just an illusion! Just vanity!
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