Continuing on from our last book review post for The Science of Being Great, this is where Professor Wattles begins to get deep. Chapters 3 & 4 really “take it upstairs,” stirring the readers interest by getting even more sublime and metaphysical. If you haven’t already, check out the initial entry to familiarize yourself with what we’re about to break down.

Wattles quickly propels the reader forward, laying a foundation for understanding the essence of true greatness in only two pages.

“Wisdom is the essential basis of greatness,” Wattles proclaims. “…(It is) the power to perceive the best ends to aim at and the best means for reaching those ends. It is the power to perceive the right thing to do.” (Similarly, in today’s world, wisdom is considered the ability to act on what you know, your capacity to “do the knowledge.”)

Wattles then explains how wisdom is dependent on knowledge, because without knowledge and information to act upon, there can be no wise action to manifest. We are wise only according to that which we know; nothing further.

However, man’s knowledge is limited, and consequently, his wisdom will be limited until he gains connection with a mind greater than his own, and thereby draws from it.

Wattles’s conclusion: “Great wisdom is obtained by reading the mind of God, the source of all truth.
”

The Mind of God is:

Think about it like this: Just as you are not your body, but the spirit force (pure consciousness) which animates it, so there is an Original Spirit Force, or God, which animates all of Nature. However, unlike man, Nature’s spirit has been in existence since the beginning of all things, and therefore, Nature knows all things, “from the wreck of a planet or the passing of a comet to the fall of a sparrow.” (This is what the Native Americans understood.) While your awareness extracts wisdom from your personal experience only, Nature’s awareness extracts wisdom from all that was, all that is, and all that will ever be, past, present and future. Your experience covers only the affairs of your ephemeral lifespan; Nature’s experience covers all of creation.

Learning to gain inspiration from Nature’s consciousness – the mind of God – is the illumination that generates greatness.

The mind of God is an infinite field of consciousness permeating throughout all of reality. It is “the intelligence which is wrapped around us and enfolds us and presses upon us from every side.”

Again, just as you are not your body, but a spirit which gives life to that physical vessel, God is a spirit which gives life to all manifest reality. Unity with this pervasive, universal consciousness grants one access to inspiration, genius, higher understanding, wisdom in all affairs and deep insight into the nature of existence.

After quoting Christ numerous times to explain this, Wattles closes the chapter saying:

The following chapters explain how….

Peace,

+B

Do The Knowledge!——————————————————————–
*On your next lunch break, down time, or any period you know you’ll
have to yourself, spend some time relaxing in Nature. If you think
you can handle it, try climbing a tree! See if you come back
feeling more calm, re-energized, or positive-minded.
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