A Calendar of Wisdom

March 1

The fear of death in man is the understanding of his sins.

The more spiritual a life a person leads, the less he is afraid of death. For a spiritual person death means setting the spirit free from the body. Such a person knows that the things with which he lives cannot be destroyed.

Only those who do not live are not afraid of death.

If as Socrates said, death is the state in which we abide during our sleep made permanent, we all know this state, and know there is nothing terrible in it. And if death is a transfer to a better life, as many people think, then death is not evil but a blessing.

We should get ready for death, because it will come, sooner or later. The best thing to do is to live a good life. If you live a good life, you should not be afraid of death.

March 2

The more closely a person unites with the will of God, the firmer this person becomes in his actions.

When a traveler starts on a trip along a road which is under the threat of robbers, he does not go alone. He waits for a friend, someone to be his escort, and then he follows him and so is protected from robbers. A wise man lives his life the same way. But there are so many troubles in this world. How can we stand all of them? What kind of a friend or escort will we find on our way, so that we may pass through our lives without fear? Where should we turn? There is only one answer, only one real friend. That is God.

If you follow God everywhere, you will steer clear of trouble. To follow God is to want what He wants, and not to want what He does not want. How to achieve this? You have to understand and follow His laws.

—After EPICTETUS

Do not wish for too much, nor think that the things you wish for are the only right or necessary things. You should wish only for those things for which God wishes.

—HENRI AMIEL

The right path in life is very narrow, but it is important to find it. You can understand it, as well as we can understand it, as a walkway of wood built across a swamp; if you step off it, you will plunge into the swamp of misunderstanding and evil. A wise man returns to the true path at once, but a weak man plunges further and further into the swamp, and it becomes more and more difficult for him to get out.

March 3

What reward should a good deed bring you? Only the joy you receive by performing it. And any other reward lessens the feeling of this joy.

He who does good to others makes the biggest gift to himself.

—LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

A saint prayed to God in the following way: “O God, please be kind to evil people as much as you are to kind people. Kind people already feel good, because they are kind.”

—MUSLIH-UD-DIN SAADI

If you do good and ask for a reward, you weaken the force of your goodness.

—From the BOOK OF DIVINE THOUGHTS

Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

—MATTHEW 6:3

What a joy it is to do a good deed! And this joy is strongest if no one knows that you have done it.

March 4

Eating to excess is a vice just as bad as many others. We often do not notice it in others, because most of us are subject to it.

There are sins against others, and sins against yourself. You commit sins against others when you do not respect God’s spirit in them; you commit sins against yourself when you do not respect God’s spirit in yourself. One of the most common sins against yourself is gluttony.

A person who overeats cannot fight laziness; and a lazy man cannot fight sexual dissipation. All spiritual teachings start with restrictions, with control of the appetite.

God gave food to people, and the devil gave cooks.

Socrates, a wise man, tried to abstain from all unnecessary things. He said that food should serve you in fighting your hunger, and not in developing sophisticated tastes, and he asked his students to follow his rule. He reminded his students about the wise Odysseus, whom Circe, an evil sorceress, could not subject to her magic, because he did not eat to excess. But the members of his crew, his friends, were turned into a herd of pigs by her as soon as they rushed to the abundance of sweet food.

Look at your mouth; through it, when you eat to excess, illnesses enter your body. Behave in such a way that when you finish your dinner, you want to eat a little more.

Eating to excess is not considered to be a sin by many, because it produces no noticeable harm. But there are sins which destroy human dignity, and eating to excess is one such sin.

March 5

Just as it’s folly to try to lift yourself into the air, you should not praise yourself too much. When you praise yourself, you produce the opposite effect in others, and appear lower in their eyes.

If you want other people to speak well of you, do not speak well of yourself.

—BLAISE PASCAL

A man who praises himself does not see anything except himself around him. It is better to be a blind man than to see only yourself and nobody else.

—MUSLIH-UD-DIN SAADI

He who always listens to what other people say about him will never find inner peace.

A flatterer speaks his flattery because he has a low opinion of himself and of others.

—JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE

If you want to preserve your good name, do not praise yourself and do not so much as allow others to praise you.

March 6

Love of God is love in itself; it is love for the sake of love. This kind of love is the highest blessing. It does not allow the slightest possibility of treating even a single creature without love; if there is even one person whom you do not love, then you lose God’s love and blessing.

Love of your neighbor without love of God is a plant without roots. You should love God—this love is a real and firm love. It does not become weaker, only stronger, and it gives good to those who have it.

Some say that you should be afraid of God. Not true; you have to love God. How can you love those whom you are afraid of? God is love, and how can you be afraid of love? No, you should not fear God, but love Him. And if you love God, then you will not be afraid of Him, or anything else in the world.

March 7

Physical work, physical exercise for your body, is a necessary condition of life. A man can force others to do things for him, but he cannot free himself from the necessity of his own physical work. And if a man does not work at necessary and good things, then he will work at unnecessary and stupid things.

Work, the process of work in itself, is the most important thing for us, and its reward should be of minor importance; if it is, you please your creator, God. If the reward is of major importance for you, and the work itself of minor importance, then you are the slave of the reward and its creator, the devil, and even the lowest and the least among all devils.

—JOHN RUSKIN

A European praised the advantages of mechanized labor to a Chinese man: “This invention relieves a man from the need for physical work.” But the Chinese man replied, “Physical work is good. Being relieved from physical work will be an enormous disaster.”

Every physical labor makes a man more noble. If you do not teach your son some physical skills, you teach him to rob others.

—After the TALMUD

Without exercise of their muscles, neither man nor animal can live.

So that this exercise may give you joy and satisfaction, do good physical work. This is also the best way to serve others.

March 8

Prayer is a time to remind yourself of your attitude to limitless things, to God.

Through prayer, you establish your attitude to the beginning of everything; you clarify your attitude toward people, your relationship with and your duties to them, and to the Father of all of us.

—After the TALMUD

It is good to pray at the same time each day. If you cannot collect your thoughts, better not to pray, because you should always pray with your heart, not simply repeat words with your tongue.

It is good and necessary to pray in solitude, but is also good to pray when you are in the crowd, when you are excited or irritated—to think about your soul and about God.

Do not think that you can please God with prayer. You will please God by submitting to Him. Prayer is just a reminder for you of who you are and what the purpose of your life is.

March 9

War and Christianity are not compatible.

War is one of the worst, most terrible things in this world.

War in this world can be stopped not by the ruling establishment, but by those who suffer from the war. They will do the most natural thing: stop obeying orders.

The armed world and the wars it wages will be destroyed one day, but not by the kings or the rulers of this world. War is profitable for them. War will stop the moment the people who suffer from war fully understand that it is evil.

March 10

That which gives life is the same in all things.

All living creatures fear pain and death. Try to understand yourself in every living creature: do not torture and do not kill. Stop suffering and death. All living creatures want what you want; all living creatures praise their lives.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

All living creatures have the same divine beginning, all are in unity. We are all members of one great body.

Nature created us related to each other, from the same material, for the same purpose. Because of this, somewhere within all of us is mutual love for each other.

—LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

There is only one right pathway of life. Sooner or later, we all will meet each other on this pathway. The understanding of it is very clearly inscribed in our hearts, and it is wide and easy to find. At the end of this way is God, and He calls us to Himself. It is so painful to watch people who miss this way of life and go along the other pathway, the way of death.

—After NIKOLAI GOGOL

Expunge from yourself anything which interferes with your feeling of a special connection between yourself and all living creatures.

March 11

Food is necessary for the life of an individual, and marriage is necessary for the life of humanity. If eating to excess is evil for an individual, then excess in marriage and sexuality creates evil both for individuals and for human society.

A marriage is a special obligation between two people, of opposite sexes, to have children only with each other. To break this pact is a lie, a deception, and a crime.

It is a great thing when two souls are united to support each other in their work, in their successes and misfortunes, until the last silent minutes of the last good-bye.

—GEORGE ELIOT

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

—MATTHEW 19:3-6

The unification of a man and a woman for the continuation of humankind is a great and important deed for every individual, as well as for all mankind. You cannot do it as it pleases you, or as you like it. You have to do it in the way which was thought and set out by the wise and holy people who have lived before us.

March 12

The deeds of a person become his life, become his fate. This is the law of our life.

The Persians have such a fable: After death, a soul flew into the sky, and met a terrible woman, a dirty and horrible apparition, with festered sores discharging pus, who was going in the opposite direction. “What are you doing here?” asked the soul. “Who are you?” The terrible woman answered, “I am your deeds.”

It is important not only to talk about the good life but to do good things.

—After the TALMUD

Never postpone a good deed which you can do now, because death does not choose whether you have or haven’t done the things you should have done. Death waits for nobody and nothing. It has neither enemies, nor friends.

—INDIAN WISDOM

When you appeared in this world, you cried, and all the people around you rejoiced. You have to live your life in such a way that when you leave this world, you will rejoice, and all the people around you will cry.

—INDIAN WISDOM

Your past deeds weigh heavily on the future direction of your life; but sometimes, you can change this direction through the effort of your spirit.

March 13

The condition of wisdom is purity; the consequence of wisdom is the peace of your soul.

A man who follows his wishes changes his attitude with time. Very soon he is not satisfied any more with the things he does.

Those people who have nothing to lose are very rich.

—CHINESE PROVERB

A wise person never considers himself to be wise. And a person never considers himself wise when he has the image of God before him.

Wisdom is limitless, and the closer you approach it, the more important it becomes for your life.

A person can always improve himself.

March 14

Love brings people to unification. The universal intellect, which is the same for everyone, supports this unification.

Look around. What do the world’s people think about it? They think about everything except what is most important. They think about dancing, music, and singing; they think about houses, wealth, and power; they are jealous about the wealth of rich people and kings; but they do not think at all about what it means to be human.

—After BLAISE PASCAL

One of the major responsibilities of a person is to make that intellectual spark which you have received from heaven illuminate the world around you.

—CHINESE WISDOM

Everything in this world is the manifestation of the divine intellect.

All that we know, we know through the intellect. Those who do not believe, people who say that you should not follow your intellect, remind me of those who suggest that you turn down the only lantern which shows you the way into the darkness.

March 15

Be filled with love for other people, including those who are unpleasant or hostile to you. A real trial to one’s love is to love your enemies.

If you love your enemies, you will have no enemies.

The most perfect among men is he who loves his neighbor without thinking about whether the person is good or bad.

—MOHAMMED

Be humble and oppose dissipation. Even a thin sword cannot cut soft silk. Using tender words and kindness, you can lead an elephant with a hair.

—MUSLIH-UD-DIN SAADI

Every time you are abused by someone and feel animosity toward him, remember that all people are children of God. Regardless of whether this person is unpleasant to you, you should not stop loving him as your brother, because, as much as you are, he is God’s son.

March 16

Modern science cannot study

everything

; without being supported by religion, science does not know what it should study.

Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.

—After JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU

A person who knows little likes to talk, and one who knows much mostly keeps silent.

This is because a person who knows little thinks that everything he knows is important, and wants to tell everyone. A person who knows much also knows that there is much more he doesn’t know. That’s why he speaks only when it is necessary to speak, and when he is not asked questions, he keeps his silence.

If all knowledge were good, then pursuit of every sort of knowledge would be useful. But many false meditations are disguised as good and useful knowledge; therefore, be strict in selecting the knowledge you want to acquire.

March 17

We can improve this world only by distributing the true faith among the world’s people.

—GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

A society cannot live without a united faith and purpose. All social activity cannot really improve our social life if it is not based on the foundations established by religion.

The apostles lived united, in such a way that they shared one heart and soul. If they had not, no one today would know about Christianity. When some pagans did not accept Christianity, it was because they did not see complete unification and love among Christians. We Christians are to blame when other people do not accept the Christian faith.

—After SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Christianity in its pure and sincere form works like dynamite: it blows up old mountains and opens up new, limitless horizons.

If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you can become better yourself.

March 18

Blaming other people is always wrong, because no one knows what has happened and happens in the soul of another person.

We often make judgments about other people. We call one person kind, the other stupid, the third evil, the fourth clever. But we should not do so. A man changes constantly; he flows like a river, and every new day he differs from what he was before. He was stupid and became clever; he was evil and became kind at heart; and so on. You cannot judge another person. The moment you blame him, he becomes someone different.

If you want to correct your failings, you do not have the time to waste in blaming other people.

Never blame your neighbor until you have been in his place.

—The TALMUD

Forgive other people for many things, but do not forgive yourself anything.

—PUBLILIUS SYRUS

I know of myself that I do not wish to do evil. If I do evil, it is because I cannot restrain myself. It is the same with other people: they usually do evil because they cannot restrain themselves from evil. Therefore, why do I think badly of other people? Why should I blame them?

March 19

The creation of the world would have been a very bad act were it right for rich people to live off the work of the poor, and yet think that they were the benefactors.

A stone falls on a pot—woe to the pot; a pot falls on a stone—woe to the pot; in every case, it is bad for the pot.

—The TALMUD

The pleasures of the rich are often acquired by the tears of the poor.

Wealth is created by the concentration of human labor; usually one people produce labor, and others concentrate it. This is called “the division of labor” by contemporary wise people.

There is something wrong with the creation of this world, because the rich people think that they are the benefactors of the poor, but in fact those rich are fed and dressed by the work of these poor and live in luxury created for them by the poor.

March 20

Those who live according to the will of God cannot be sensitive to the judgments of other people.

You should think in such a way that everybody could look into your soul and see what is transpiring there.

—LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

Live in the open.

—AUGUSTE COMTE

It is not good to hide your bad deeds, but it is even worse to flaunt them in the open and to be proud of them.

To feel shame in the company of other people is good, but it is even better to experience shame when you are alone with yourself.

Do not hide any thing from other people when they ask you, but do not boast about bad things if you are not asked about them.

You can hide some things from other people, but you cannot hide anything from God.

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come to light.

—LUKE 8:17

Live your life in such a way that you neither hide nor have a wish to display your life to people.

March 21

We know our life as it exists only here, in this world; therefore, if our life is to have any meaning, it should be here in this world.

Do not wish for death just because your life is hard. All the burdens on your shoulders will help you fulfill your destiny. The only way to get rid of your burdens is to live your life in such a way that you fulfill your destiny.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Real life is found only in the present. If people tell you that you should live your life preparing for the future, do not believe them. We live in this life, and we know this life only, and therefore all our efforts should be directed toward the improvement of this life. Not your life in general but every hour of this life should be lived in the best way you know how.

Life is neither suffering nor pleasure, but the business which we have to do, and which we have to finish honestly, up to our life’s end.

—ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE

This world, only this world, is the place of our work, and all our forces, all our efforts, should be directed toward this life.

March 22

If truth makes our life easier, then it is better to accept the truth than to hide from it. Our life can be changed, but the truth cannot be changed: it will always remain the truth, and it will expose us.

We should live our lives as if everyone could see us, as if the most secret corners of our soul were open to the sight of others. Why should we hide anything? You cannot hide anything from God. All divine and human learning can be summarized in one truth—that we are members of one big body. Nature united us in one big family, and we should live our lives together, helping each other.

—After LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

Seek the truth: it always shows us what we should do, what we should not do, and what we should stop doing.

March 23

The earth, the air, and the sun belong to all of us; they cannot be made objects of property.

We are all visitors in this world. Wherever you go in this world, to the north, to the south, to the west, or to the east, there will always be a man waiting to tell you, “This is my property. Get out of here!” When you visit other countries in the world and you come back, you will see that there is not a single piece of free land where your wife can give birth to your child, where you can stop and start working on the land, and where your children can find rest for your bones at life’s end.

—After F. ROBERT DE LAMENNAIS

If you leave a man on land which is someone else’s property and tell him that he is a completely free man and can work for himself, it’s as if you drop him in the middle of the Atlantic and tell him that he is free to go ashore.

—HENRY GEORGE

Those who own land in amounts larger than that which is needed to feed their own families can be treated as being guilty of causing the poverty of many other people.

March 24

Only the person who fulfills God’s law can understand God. The more closely he fulfills God’s law, the better he understands God.

There is not a single believer who from time to time has not had some hesitations about the existence of God. But these moments of hesitation are not harmful. On the contrary, they lead us to a better understanding of God.

Seeking God with your soul is a process that has limitless sides and aspects.

Moses said to God, “Where can I find you?” God said, “If you are looking for me, you have already found me.”

They asked a wise man, “How do you know that God exists?” He replied, “Is it necessary to have a torch in order to see the sun?” We do not have enough words to explain what God is, but we know without words that He exists.

—ARABIC WISDOM

Jews consider it a sin to state the name of God aloud. They are right: God is spirit, and every name is material and not spiritual.

March 25

During our lives we help each other: sometimes we help other people, sometimes we are helped by others. But the world is formed so that usually some people mostly help others, and some mostly receive their help.

As you acquire objects, and you use them, you should keep in mind that they are the products of people’s work. When you damage or destroy these objects, you damage or destroy the toil, and this part of the life, of other people.

Look at all of your knowledge as a gift, as a means of helping other people.

A strong and wise person uses his gifts to support other people.

—JOHN RUSKIN

Help should be mutual. Moreover, those who accept help and assistance from their brothers should pay them back, not only with money, but with love, respect, and gratitude.

March 26

The most important change that can occur in a person’s life is a change in his faith.

Individuals die, but the wisdom they have obtained in their lives does not die with them. Mankind keeps all this wisdom, and a person uses the wisdom of those who lived before him. The education of mankind reminds me of the creation of the ancient pyramids, in that everyone who lives puts another stone in the foundation.

We are temporary visitors in this world; after we are educated, we are called to different places, and we pass away. But the general education of mankind goes on, very slowly but without interruption.

—After GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

It is a big mistake to think that faith is immutable, that it does not change over generations. The longer mankind exists y its faith becomes simpler and stronger. And the simpler and stronger our faith becomes, the better we live.

If you believe that faith is the same for all times and that it cannot be changed, you might just as well believe that those fairy tales and proverbs and children’s stories which your grandmother told you when you were a small baby are real, and that you ought to believe in them all your life.

March 27

The more a person believes in God, the less he is afraid of other people.

Do not despair. Do not be disappointed if you see that you cannot accomplish all the good which you would like to accomplish. If you fall, try to stand up; try to overcome the obstacle before you. Get to the heart of the matter, to the essence of things.

—MARCUS AURELIUS

Those who fear people do not fear God; those who fear God do not fear people.

He who is not afraid of anything, and who is ready to give his life for a righteous cause, is much stronger than he whom other people fear and who has the lives of other people in his power.

Look for the better men among those who are despised.

Do what you think is necessary, and do not expect reward. Remember that a stupid person is a bad judge of clever deeds.

You want to save yourself from the power of other people—give yourself to the power of God. If you see yourself as being in the power of God, then people cannot do anything to you.

March 28

Wisdom can be achieved by inner work, through solitary communication with yourself; it also can be achieved when you communicate with other people.

Listen and be attentive, but do not speak too much; and when you are asked a question, answer briefly. Do not be ashamed to accept that sometimes you do not know an answer to what you were asked. Do not get into an argument just for the sake of argument; and do not boast.

—SUFI WISDOM

You can view your own drawbacks only through the eyes of other people.

—CHINESE PROVERB

I have learned many things from my teachers; I have learned many things from my friends; and I have learned even more from my students.

—The TALMUD

If you see a holy man, think: how could I become like him? If you see a dissipated man, think: don’t I have the same vices?

—CHINESE WISDOM

Real love is not in words but in deeds, and only love can give you real wisdom.

When you are in company, do not forget what you have found out when you were thinking in solitude; and when you are meditating in solitude, think about what you found out by communicating with other people.

March 29

If sometimes you feel that in spite of all your wishes to gain triumph over your passions, they gain victory over you, do not think that you cannot conquer them at all. You have only proven that you weren’t able to this one time. A good groom does not drop his reins when he cannot stop his horses at once but tries again to pull the reins, and eventually the horses stop. So if you could not resist the temptations once, continue your fight, and in the end not your passion but you will gain the victory.

Try to be the master over greed, sloth, lechery, and rage.

A victory over oneself is a bigger and a better victory than a victory over thousands of people in a score of battles. Those who have achieved victory over other people can be defeated in future battles, but those who have achieved victory over themselves become victors forever.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

A passion in a person’s heart is like a spider’s web. At the beginning it is an alien visitor; then it becomes a regular guest; then it becomes master of the house.

—After the TALMUD

He who has achieved victory over himself has real power.

—EASTERN WISDOM

Abstention cannot be achieved at once, but it should be a process, and a constant effort. The life of a person who makes this effort is directed not to the calming of his passions but to the mastery of them.

Time and persistence help you in these efforts.

March 30

The truth is not only a joy, it is an instrument in conflict much more powerful than violence.

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

—MATTHEW 18:21-22

If you want to demonstrate some truth to your listeners, do not be irritated, and do not say unkind or abusive words.

—After EPICTETUS

If you notice someone in error, then correct this person and his mistake in a humble way. If he does not listen to you, blame yourself only; or, even better, do not blame anybody, but continue to be humble.

—MARCUS AURELIUS

If you have parted from a person, and he was not satisfied with you, or did not agree with you when you were right, he is not to blame, but probably it is you who are to blame, because you were not kind enough with this man.

March 31

To repent means to show your vices and weaknesses to all. Repentance means taking responsibility for all of the bad things you have done, purifying your soul, and preparing to accept goodness.

When a kind man does not accept his mistakes and tries always to justify himself, he becomes an unkind man.

Do you have qualities which can be criticized and improved? Try to admit that this is so, and to find these qualities out by yourself.

Nothing can make a person’s soul softer than the understanding of his own blame, and nothing can make one harder than the desire always to be right.

—After the TALMUD

Those who cover their old sins with present-day good deeds remind me of the moonlight which illuminates this dark world on a cloudy night.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

A man will always understand his sins as well as his limits in this limitless world.