Uncontaminated reasoning is the essence of enlightenment. Apparently differing attributes in mankind are unremarkably indifferent and can be easily categorized with little understanding. Gautama the Buddha, Osho, Albert Einstein and Ayn Rand have wondrous agreement in their statements. These ambassadors of uncommon individualism, science, technology and agnosticism shared the same class. I call this class- a class of the monks: fearless, thoughtful, true and alone.
There are majorly two kinds of men: one who can reason and one who cannot. History has been categorizing men with reasoning as leaders, philosophers and gurus. With technological advancement the face has changed and creative energies are better streamlined into multiple defined faculties. But the class remains the same: of authenticity and intelligence. Ayn Rand is the twentieth century monk in the form of a writer.
Her works bear an unparallel resemblance with ideologies of Buddha, Osho and Zen monks. Self recognition, objectivism, individualism and a heroic self vision are in one form of the other pillars of Buddhism and Zen. Where Buddha relates it to human mind, Rand focuses more on manifestation of intelligence i.e creativity. But both restrict their approach to individual growth. Both lay extreme importance to clear reasoning. A thorough dedication to honest work and effort and, reclusion from collectivism again forms the base of any spiritual pursuit.
Rand’s emphasis on conscious efforts rather than emotional judgments is in complete accord with Buddha’s rational approach. Completely driven by logic and intentions both disregard psychological weakness of any sort.
Contemporaries and conservatives have always differed in discerning rationalization. Ayn Rand evolved as contemporary visionary of 20th century. She knew something that Russians didn’t. She saw this world coming, the convenient capitalist world we see today. This is also the world Buddha saw: a world of individualism and freedom. Similar vision indicates parallel grounds. Both must have shared their grounds somewhere.
Notable quotes
“And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. This god, this one word: 'I.'”-Ayn Rand
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” –Buddha
“Crowd has no soul”-Osho
“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.”-Ayn Rand
I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.
Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it.
That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will' is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character.
The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.
“From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man -- the function of his reasoning mind.”
“The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.”
“The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.”
“To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'”
“Why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world--to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage. I mean, what we really want.”
“Achieving life is not the equivalent of avoiding death.”
Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves – or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.
The most depraved type of human being is the man without a purpose.
Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identification
Love is our response to our highest values.
Through centuries of scourges and disasters, brought about by your code of morality, you have cried that your code had been broken, that the scourges were punishment for breaking it, that men were too weak and too selfish to spill all the blood it required. You damned men, you damned existence, you damned this earth, but never dared to question your code. Your victims took the blame and struggled on, with your curses as reward for their martyrdom - while you went on crying that your code was noble, but human nature was not good enough to practice it. And no one rose to ask the question: Good? - by what standard?
Rationality is the recognition of the fact that existence exists, that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it, which is thinking...
All work is an act of philosophy.
Man cannot survive except by gaining knowledge, and reason is his only means to gain it. Reason is the faculty that perceives, identifies and integrates the material provided by his senses. The task of his senses is to give him the evidence of existence, but the task of identifying it belongs to his reason, his senses tell him only that something is, but what it is must be learned by his mind.
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
Only by accepting total compulsion can we achieve total freedom
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received--hatred. The great creators--the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors--stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The first airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
Every Loneliness is a pinnacle.
In the temple of his spirit, each man is alone.
Do you believe in God, Andrei? No. Neither do I. But that's a favorite question of mine. An upside-down question, you know. What do you mean? Well, if I asked people whether they believed in life, they'd never understand what I meant. It's a bad question. It can mean so much that it really means nothing. So I ask them if they believe in God. And if they say they do—then, I know they don't believe in life. Why? Because, you see, God—whatever anyone chooses to call God—is one's highest conception of the highest possible. And whoever places his highest conception above his own possibility thinks very little of himself and his life. It's a rare gift, you know, to feel reverence for your own life and to want the best, the greatest, the highest possible, here, now, for your very own.
Quotes from Buddha
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
He is able who thinks he is able.
No one saves us but ourselves, no one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path but Buddhas clearly show the way.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.”-Buddha
“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”- Buddha
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”
