Beliefnet Circle of Reason's blog listings. Parables, Aphorisms, Modern, Secular Zend_Feed_Writer 1.10.8 (http://framework.zend.com) http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason Secular Parable & Aphorism of the Week Aphorism of the Week

Reason is the lens through which emotion must be focused.

Dedicated to the women of the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. Congress who seek to eliminate rape in the military, and in admonishment of commanders and congressmen unwilling to acknowledge the depth of the problem by removing sexual assault prosecution from a still-misogynistic and dismissive chain of command.

Parable of the Week

The Bacchanalian, The Stoic
In an ancient archipelago of city-states lived two philosophers.
One philosopher was a Bacchanalian, who encouraged all to follow their emotions wherever they led.
He proclaimed, "Your past and your future are a fiction! Yesterday is dust, and tomorrow may never come -- so revel today!"
Yet, one day, when an invading armada had the run of his city-state, he lost his head from his neck -- after he was found, by invading soldiers, passed out drunk and naked in his villa, wine dribbling from his slack lips.
The other philosopher was a Stoic, who encouraged all to govern their emotions so that only the mind led.
He proclaimed, "Your past and your future are a biography! Yesterday happened indeed, and tomorrow will certainly come -- so think today!"
And, on that day when the invading armada tried to overrun his city-state, they were repelled by a well-set ring of traps and fires, and by a well-trained group of young warriors from his villa -- while he stood in command of all.
Thus, be the master of your emotions -- or the master of ruins.

June 15, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 3, "Emotion's Mastery"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:02:51 -0500 http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/17/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/17/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week Aphorism of the Week

Reason is the lens through which emotion must be focused.

Dedicated to the women of the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. Congress who seek to eliminate rape in the military, and in admonishment of commanders and congressmen unwilling to acknowledge the depth of the problem by removing sexual assault prosecution from a still-misogynistic and dismissive chain of command.

Parable of the Week

The Bacchanalian, The Stoic
In an ancient archipelago of city-states lived two philosophers.
One philosopher was a Bacchanalian, who encouraged all to follow their emotions wherever they led.
He proclaimed, "Your past and your future are a fiction! Yesterday is dust, and tomorrow may never come -- so revel today!"
Yet, one day, when an invading armada had the run of his city-state, he lost his head from his neck -- after he was found, by invading soldiers, passed out drunk and naked in his villa, wine dribbling from his slack lips.
The other philosopher was a Stoic, who encouraged all to govern their emotions so that only the mind led.
He proclaimed, "Your past and your future are a biography! Yesterday happened indeed, and tomorrow will certainly come -- so think today!"
And, on that day when the invading armada tried to overrun his city-state, they were repelled by a well-set ring of traps and fires, and by a well-trained group of young warriors from his villa -- while he stood in command of all.
Thus, be the master of your emotions -- or the master of ruins.

June 15, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 3, "Emotion's Mastery"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> 0 Secular Parables & Aphorisms of the Week Aphorism of the Week

Life is the intersection of purpose and randomness.

Dedicated to the microventure philanthropy of the lenders, loanees and middlemen whose confluence of ambitions created Grameen Bank, Grameen America, Kiva and Kiva Zip.

Parable of the Week

The Spattered Paint, The Mandala
From the West an artist visited an ancient monastery in the East.
The monastery's head monk asked him, "May we see an example of your art?"
The artist obliged. Opening his steamer trunk and unrolling a bare white canvas, he laid it out flat on the stone floor, and unscrewed tubes of different colored paints.
Then, dipping his brush into them, he closed his eyes tightly shut, flicked his wrists and spattered the paint all over the canvas.
The monks bent over and stared a long while at the random colors and shapes, murmuring and nodding their heads. Then the most aged among them smiled and said, "Lovely! We too, have a very similar form of art! Come see!"
The artist and monks all filed into a small temple room behind the aged monk, who stepped aside and pointed to another monk on the floor, putting the final touches on an intricate, multi-hued mandala, made of individual grains of colored sand.
The Western artist stared down at the mandala, a work of near unimaginable labor, complexity and rigorous geometric order, and looked up at the old monk with confusion in his face.
"Old man, this work is nothing like mine!"
The old monk exchanged glances with the monk on the floor, who, just having finished the mandala, bowed deeply to it, then to the artist, and then reached out his hand and scattered the sand image with swirling arcs of his arm and robe.
The wise old monk then turned, beaming, to the artist and said, "It is now!"
Thus, within seeming chaos, purpose can lie buried.

June 8, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> Mon, 10 Jun 2013 03:05:21 -0500 http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/10/secular_parables__aphorisms_of_the_week http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/10/secular_parables__aphorisms_of_the_week Aphorism of the Week

Life is the intersection of purpose and randomness.

Dedicated to the microventure philanthropy of the lenders, loanees and middlemen whose confluence of ambitions created Grameen Bank, Grameen America, Kiva and Kiva Zip.

Parable of the Week

The Spattered Paint, The Mandala
From the West an artist visited an ancient monastery in the East.
The monastery's head monk asked him, "May we see an example of your art?"
The artist obliged. Opening his steamer trunk and unrolling a bare white canvas, he laid it out flat on the stone floor, and unscrewed tubes of different colored paints.
Then, dipping his brush into them, he closed his eyes tightly shut, flicked his wrists and spattered the paint all over the canvas.
The monks bent over and stared a long while at the random colors and shapes, murmuring and nodding their heads. Then the most aged among them smiled and said, "Lovely! We too, have a very similar form of art! Come see!"
The artist and monks all filed into a small temple room behind the aged monk, who stepped aside and pointed to another monk on the floor, putting the final touches on an intricate, multi-hued mandala, made of individual grains of colored sand.
The Western artist stared down at the mandala, a work of near unimaginable labor, complexity and rigorous geometric order, and looked up at the old monk with confusion in his face.
"Old man, this work is nothing like mine!"
The old monk exchanged glances with the monk on the floor, who, just having finished the mandala, bowed deeply to it, then to the artist, and then reached out his hand and scattered the sand image with swirling arcs of his arm and robe.
The wise old monk then turned, beaming, to the artist and said, "It is now!"
Thus, within seeming chaos, purpose can lie buried.

June 8, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> 0 Secular Parable & Aphorism of the Week Aphorism of the Week: The scoliosis of civilization calls us to stand.

Dedicated in admonishment of Opus Development Company's intention to profit from building multistory "condo hotel" style off-campus housing for wealthy University of Minnesota students -- by demolishing part of their historic "Dinkytown."

Parable of the Week: The Flies, The Cowbird
Dappled black and white, the huge cow was the most prized of all a farmer's small herd for her rich milk and gentle ways.
Come summer, the monsoon rains swarmed, and with them came swarms of insects.
The poor heifer was tormented by biting flies, who sucked so much of her blood that her milk became thin, and her disposition angry and plaintive.
The farmer cried in his dismay.
But the flies still came.
Then, one afternoon, arrived a dull little bird.
It alighted in the meadow before the huge cow and stared up at the cow's pained face, while she stared back angrily at its tiny brown head and black eyes.
Then, to the cow's amazement, the bird hopped up onto the top of her nose!
The cow mooed in anger, but then the bird plucked away and gulped down a fly that had been itchily sucking on the cow's forehead, and then continued plucking off flies wherever they had alighted on the cow's hide.
In gratitude, the cow contentedly settled down, to days filled with healthy repasts of hay and grain -- while the cowbird settled down, on her back, to days filled with healthy repasts of flies.
Thus, seek symbiosis -- not parasitism.

June 1, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> Mon, 10 Jun 2013 03:03:18 -0500 http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/10/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/06/10/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week Aphorism of the Week: The scoliosis of civilization calls us to stand.

Dedicated in admonishment of Opus Development Company's intention to profit from building multistory "condo hotel" style off-campus housing for wealthy University of Minnesota students -- by demolishing part of their historic "Dinkytown."

Parable of the Week: The Flies, The Cowbird
Dappled black and white, the huge cow was the most prized of all a farmer's small herd for her rich milk and gentle ways.
Come summer, the monsoon rains swarmed, and with them came swarms of insects.
The poor heifer was tormented by biting flies, who sucked so much of her blood that her milk became thin, and her disposition angry and plaintive.
The farmer cried in his dismay.
But the flies still came.
Then, one afternoon, arrived a dull little bird.
It alighted in the meadow before the huge cow and stared up at the cow's pained face, while she stared back angrily at its tiny brown head and black eyes.
Then, to the cow's amazement, the bird hopped up onto the top of her nose!
The cow mooed in anger, but then the bird plucked away and gulped down a fly that had been itchily sucking on the cow's forehead, and then continued plucking off flies wherever they had alighted on the cow's hide.
In gratitude, the cow contentedly settled down, to days filled with healthy repasts of hay and grain -- while the cowbird settled down, on her back, to days filled with healthy repasts of flies.
Thus, seek symbiosis -- not parasitism.

June 1, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> 0 Secular Parable & Aphorism of the Week Aphorism of the Week

To be a leader you must act like a leader.

Dedicated in combined congratulation and admonishment of the Boy Scouts of America's acceptance of gay scouts, but continued bans on gay scout leaders and on atheist scouts and scout leaders.

Parable of the Week

The Surefooted, The Halt
Legs flailing, a child was born.
The child slowly learned to walk, his first steps halting and wavering.
As the child grew into a proud man, his steps became surefooted and straight. The man quickly pushed through all obstacles in every path he took.
But the ticking of years rushed forward like an accelerando metronome.
The man grew older and more infirm. He walked again as a child, his steps retreating and swerving as he maneuvered around the obstacles in his path.
After a spring morning's rainstorm, the old man haltingly walked to the store, avoiding puddles and fallen tree branches.
He asked himself sadly, "Does my gait differ, now, from that of the infant I once was?"
As a child he had lurched about like a baby bird, with little thought to what surrounded him. As an old man, he saw, his steps were similar, but with a hawk's awareness.
But then the old man realized something new.
Even as a powerful young man in the prime of his life, he had not possessed the wisdom of creaky bones.
He looked down at the puddles of slippery mud and the brittle, sharp branches at his feet.
"As a young man, I splashed through these puddles and crashed through these branches in my straight lines and unquestioned paths -- I never even considered their dangers as I barreled right through!"
The old man laughed.
"Even as a man, I was a child!"
Thus, the correct steps may well be halting and wavering -- not surefooted and straight.

May 25, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 2, "Assumption's Denial"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> Sat, 25 May 2013 17:23:07 -0500 http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/05/25/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/05/25/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week Aphorism of the Week

To be a leader you must act like a leader.

Dedicated in combined congratulation and admonishment of the Boy Scouts of America's acceptance of gay scouts, but continued bans on gay scout leaders and on atheist scouts and scout leaders.

Parable of the Week

The Surefooted, The Halt
Legs flailing, a child was born.
The child slowly learned to walk, his first steps halting and wavering.
As the child grew into a proud man, his steps became surefooted and straight. The man quickly pushed through all obstacles in every path he took.
But the ticking of years rushed forward like an accelerando metronome.
The man grew older and more infirm. He walked again as a child, his steps retreating and swerving as he maneuvered around the obstacles in his path.
After a spring morning's rainstorm, the old man haltingly walked to the store, avoiding puddles and fallen tree branches.
He asked himself sadly, "Does my gait differ, now, from that of the infant I once was?"
As a child he had lurched about like a baby bird, with little thought to what surrounded him. As an old man, he saw, his steps were similar, but with a hawk's awareness.
But then the old man realized something new.
Even as a powerful young man in the prime of his life, he had not possessed the wisdom of creaky bones.
He looked down at the puddles of slippery mud and the brittle, sharp branches at his feet.
"As a young man, I splashed through these puddles and crashed through these branches in my straight lines and unquestioned paths -- I never even considered their dangers as I barreled right through!"
The old man laughed.
"Even as a man, I was a child!"
Thus, the correct steps may well be halting and wavering -- not surefooted and straight.

May 25, 2013, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 2, "Assumption's Denial"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> 0 Secular Parable & Aphorism of the Week Aphorism of the Week

We have conquered that which is without -- now we must conquer that which is within.

Dedicated in admonishment of the Obama and past administrations' oversight of its Veterans Affairs Disability Claims Office, which unfairly delayed injured veterans' disability compensation claims; its Internal Revenue Service Determinations Unit, which unfairly investigated the tax exempt status of conservative political non-profits; and its Justice Department, which unfairly investigated the phone records of the Associated Press.

Parable of the Week

The Dishonorable, The Honorable
Poverty and integrity was the cursed gift of their parents' fallible guidance and infallible love.
Yet the brothers' gift was soon broken.
A clumsy merchant on a high balcony spilled a pot of silver coins over their very heads.
One brother chased down most of the coins, battling off as many grabbing thieves as he could, and, hailing the frantic merchant from below, returned to him all that he'd collected.
The merchant gave him in return his effusive thanks, but no more.
Yet this brother's integrity remained of one piece that day.
What stood unbroken in him reflected the light of others who came his way, and so did his integrity spread forth among men.
Yet the other brother, on that fateful day, also saw the silver coins fall like rain from the balcony, and also dove to collect them, but returned not a single one.
Instead, with a muffled gasp of pain, he turned from the gathering crowd, from the merchant and from his own brother -- and slipped the pile of silver coins he had scooped up into his coat pocket. Then, with the quickest of the thieves, the second brother stole away, never glancing back into his brother's or the merchant's eyes.
This brother's integrity fractured in two that day.
Later, lying about the source of his new horses and saddles, then of his new young bull, then of his stocks of cured meats and fine wines, his integrity fractured into a thousand shards.
He found himself not one person whole, but become hundreds of persons -- each mirroring a false expectation, a fabricated past, a risen-again excuse, to each new traveler who'd heard and wondered about the source of his sudden wealth.
So did the dishonest brother lose, with his integrity, his soul -- as its fragmented shards were ground to dust beneath the feet of all other men.
Thus, integrity is the soul's mirror of reality -- do not break it.

May 18, 2008, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 19:58:41 -0500 http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/05/19/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week http://community.beliefnet.com/beliefnet_circle_of_reason/blog/2013/05/19/secular_parable__aphorism_of_the_week Aphorism of the Week

We have conquered that which is without -- now we must conquer that which is within.

Dedicated in admonishment of the Obama and past administrations' oversight of its Veterans Affairs Disability Claims Office, which unfairly delayed injured veterans' disability compensation claims; its Internal Revenue Service Determinations Unit, which unfairly investigated the tax exempt status of conservative political non-profits; and its Justice Department, which unfairly investigated the phone records of the Associated Press.

Parable of the Week

The Dishonorable, The Honorable
Poverty and integrity was the cursed gift of their parents' fallible guidance and infallible love.
Yet the brothers' gift was soon broken.
A clumsy merchant on a high balcony spilled a pot of silver coins over their very heads.
One brother chased down most of the coins, battling off as many grabbing thieves as he could, and, hailing the frantic merchant from below, returned to him all that he'd collected.
The merchant gave him in return his effusive thanks, but no more.
Yet this brother's integrity remained of one piece that day.
What stood unbroken in him reflected the light of others who came his way, and so did his integrity spread forth among men.
Yet the other brother, on that fateful day, also saw the silver coins fall like rain from the balcony, and also dove to collect them, but returned not a single one.
Instead, with a muffled gasp of pain, he turned from the gathering crowd, from the merchant and from his own brother -- and slipped the pile of silver coins he had scooped up into his coat pocket. Then, with the quickest of the thieves, the second brother stole away, never glancing back into his brother's or the merchant's eyes.
This brother's integrity fractured in two that day.
Later, lying about the source of his new horses and saddles, then of his new young bull, then of his stocks of cured meats and fine wines, his integrity fractured into a thousand shards.
He found himself not one person whole, but become hundreds of persons -- each mirroring a false expectation, a fabricated past, a risen-again excuse, to each new traveler who'd heard and wondered about the source of his sudden wealth.
So did the dishonest brother lose, with his integrity, his soul -- as its fragmented shards were ground to dust beneath the feet of all other men.
Thus, integrity is the soul's mirror of reality -- do not break it.

May 18, 2008, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2013 (Chapter 1, "Reality's Acceptance"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.

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