“For what is the
advantage of the wise over the fool? What [less] has the poor man who knows how
to go along with the living? Better is what he sees with his eyes than that
which goes to satiate his appetite; this too is vanity and frustration.” (Ecclesiastes 6:8-9)
In the fields of ego’s fantasies and illusions
there is no difference between wise or fool, for both of them toil for the same
vanities.
The lesson we learn in those fields is to open the eyes and embrace
goodness as the real purpose of life, and abandon the vanities that bring
frustration.
“What was, its
name was already called, and it is known that he is a man, and he will not be
able to strive with him who is stronger than he. For [if] there are many things
that increase vanity, what will remain for a man?” (6:10:11)
The more we feed the object of our desire, lust,
coveting, envy, wrath, haughtiness, indifference and indolence, the stronger
they become along with their oppression, frustration, vexation, depression and
impotence to pursue the freedom than only goodness provides.
If these are our
rulers and masters, what is that remains in us? Hence we have to hold on
goodness as our essence and true identity.
“For who knows
what is good for man in his lifetime, the number of the days of his life of vanity,
that he does them like a shadow? For who will tell man what will be after him
under the sun?” (6:12)
As long as we live in vanity as the shadow of
ego’s fantasies and illusions, goodness is not recognized as the cause and
purpose of life. If we don’t recognize goodness, what or who will?
Here King
Solomon brings us a mirror to see who we really are, or to realize who we are
not, for we are meant to conduct our lives according to who we are and what we
believe in, which brings us to our name as our identity.
“A good name is
better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is
better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for that
is the end of every man, and the living shall lay it to his heart. Vexation is
better than laughter, for with a stern countenance the heart will rejoice.” (7:1-3)
Having a “good name” means having goodness as
who we are, have and do. This is better than the ephemeral scent of perfumed
oils. In this awareness death is welcomed when goodness has been the purpose of
the living.
Thus we realize that birth is the uncertain beginning of a life of
toiling, either in the fields of God’s ways and attributes or in the fields of
ego’s fantasies and illusions.
We also realize that in our afflictions (“the
house of mourning”) we learn more than in our joys, particularly if that joy
derives from the temporary pleasures of materialistic desires. In this same
context we understand the upcoming verses.
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