dad on thought

Deep Thoughts on a foggy and rainy Sunday Night.

In my studio I have a reproduction of a royal jade "Ruyi Scepter". Honestly I don't know much about it, except that Confucius is often pictured carrying one, the last Emperor of China had one on his study desk (we saw it when touring the "Forbidden City") and when I purchased it the sales clerk said "It's to remind you, that its ALL IN YOUR MIND". Now that last comment I've been trying to figure-out for a decade now, i.e.: is this world the Matrix and nothing is real, OR does this represent how we deal with our problems OR is it…? etc.

I have finally decided what the sales clerk's comments meant and what my scepter represents for me (caveat: except, of course, in the case of disease, injury or death):

"Knowledge (education: formal or experiential) is the one possession which can never be lost or taken away from us, because every individual has sovereignty* over their mind, it's knowledge and learned abilities / skills (*thus the scepter).

Through knowledge - our investment in our brain - we can:
1) Logically Plan for the Future and work to create it.
2) Logically Review the Past and avoid repeating mistakes.
3) Quickly Respond and React to Circumstances in the Present.
4) Produce New and Creative Ideas. Through quiet contemplation - allowing the mind to relax and free associate in order to produce an internal conversation between our unconscious and our conscious thoughts. The result of these thoughts are completely NEW, never considered before, IDEAS and SOLUTIONS. This keeps the world evolving, with progress going forward.

I guess this means we don't really need a scepter. The scepter is only a reminder that our success is connected to our knowledge, skills and actions. Everybody's brain has the capacity to hold as much knowledge as we can install through books, teachers, mentors and experience. Keeping in mind we must also possess gratitude and humility, because there is an infinite amount of knowledge surrounding us today and waiting in the future - to delight, surprise and challenge us.