There Are No Shortcuts to Wisdom

Could there actually be something to the philosophy of the caduceus? Oh, I have no doubt there is. When one opens themselves to malevolent forces, they get used. Such practices can, and probably will, bring fame and/or fortune, but not happiness. Most celebrities feel taken advantage of and abused by the end of their careers for a reason.

Some stood at the crossroads and made their choice. Others, tragically, had their parents make the decision for them. And then there are those who stumble into it purely by accident. But many believe in this stuff, or at least partially know about it. Some even speak about it in public.

And of course there are those who simply have some pieces of the puzzle, just enough breadcrumbs to get by.

But they are successful. And their leaders hold most of the power in this world. Despite their talk of self-control, they have an unquenchable lust for power. And they do self-gratify, if not through deviant sex, then through luxuries. That’s what’s meant by “As above, so below.” They want Heaven on Earth, and they think they can achieve it by keeping secrets, knowing things others can’t easily know. And those among them who think they’re happy, are in denial. Deep down, they want the Philosopher’s Stone. They want to cheat death. If they can help it, they don’t ever wish to meet their maker.

(All the following quotes are [sic], spelling errors and all.)

I mentioned Muhammad Ali earlier. The following was said of him: “There’s a kid just come down here named Cassius Clay. If you bet on him every time he fights, you’ll be a rich man, ‘cause he won’t lose a single fight. I believe his thing is sexual control. And he’s got it. Any kid who can control his sex can win the title. I believe it.”

But who else believed in this phenomenon? It’s more widespread than many know.

How about another boxer? Mike Tyson said, “I never knew that conquering so many women takes so much from you more than adds so much to you. I always read that the great fighters never had sex before fights and I was a young kid and I wanted to be the youngest heavyweight champion in the world, so I restrained myself from sex for around five years.”

World heavyweight champion David Haye and division eight world champion Manny Pacquiao have been quoted saying similar things.

(It’s possible these boxers didn’t know what they were doing might be esoteric, but some of the upcoming testimonies are much more forward about the occult nature of this practice.)

Chastity, at the very least, seems to help boxers. But who else?

Nikola Tesla said, “celibacy spurred on the brain.” He also said, “My brain is only a receiver. In the universe, there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration.” Kenneth Swezey, a close friend of his said, “Tesla’s only marriage has been to his work and to the world. He believes that the most enduring works of achievement have come from childless men. I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.”

Michelangelo Buonarroti’s contemporary, Ascanio Condivi ascribed to him a “monk-like chastity.” The artist was famously detached from physical wants and needs, and even became known as “the divine one”.

Sigmund Freud believed that “sexual activity was incompatible with any great work”. Note the careful wording. “Great Work” is the exact translation for “Magnum Opus”, covertly revealing that he was after the Philosopher’s Stone. He even went as far as telling his wife at the age of forty that they could no longer engage in sexual relations so he could pursue his life’s work. Freud stayed celibate for the rest of his life to “sublimate the libido for creative purposes”.

Sir Isaac Newton died a virgin. Writing to famous philosopher John Locke, he penned, “The way to chastity is not to struggle with incontinent thoughts, but to avert the thoughts by some employment, or by reading, or by meditating on other things.”

John Locke recorded similar beliefs.

Muhatma Ghandi obviously was a believer. He wrote, “If all men always followed the rules of health, and observed unbroken celibacy, the chapters of this book that follow would not be necessary because such men cannot possibly suffer any physical or mental illness.”

The philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras founded his own school which demanded all students remain celibate. The student philosophers from his school later taught that celibacy, detachment, and equilibrium were conducive with the philosopher’s calling. “Sex … was harmful to male health in every season because the loss of semen was dangerous, hard to control and both physically and spiritually exhausting.”

Plato preached of the intellect over the physical to avoid a “slavish dependence on desire”. He wrote that while some are “pregnant in body”, others are “pregnant in soul”, giving birth to “great works” through celibacy and the pursuit of “spiritual beauty”. These works of the mind can become “immortal”. And he even went as far as saying, “Everyone would rather have such children than human ones,” a sentiment with which I heartily disagree.

Socrates, Greek philosopher, always recommended abstinence and prescribed it first. He wrote, “Though sex may be a pleasure, it makes you a slave.”

The Dalai Lama said, “Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually, I think is short-period satisfaction and, often, that leads to more complication.”

Steve Jobs’ former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan said this of him: “Our birth control method up to that point was Steve’s coitus interruptus, also called the pull-out method, which for him was about his conserving his energy for work.” He didn’t want to climax so he could build, “power and wealth by conserving one’s vital energies.”

Saigo Takamori, the last samurai, “prided himself on avoiding women entirely. He saw abstinence as empowering rather than constraining. In his youth, Saigo saw sex not as pleasurable dissipation or intimacy but as an impediment to happiness and loyalty.”

Rickson Gracie, MMA Jujitsu fighter said, “No sex. Yeah, because you know, by having sex you waste a lot of energy. I mean, the vital energy in your body goes away. I mean, it’s normal, it’s something we normally do, and it’s no problem at all, but if you want to accumulate energy, if you want to get full energy, you cannot waste…So I try to keep myself away from sex at least two weeks before the fight.”

Jazz legend Miles Davis said, “I do not come and play. Ask Muhammad Ali. If he comes, he can’t fight two minutes. [expletive] He couldn’t even whip me. You’re [expletive] right I’d fight him. But he’s got to promise to [expletive] first. If he ain’t going to [expletive], I ain’t going to fight. You give up all your energy when you come. I mean, you give up all of it!”

Kanye West said, “People ask me a lot about my drive. I think it comes from, like, having a sexual addiction at a really young age. Look at the drive that people have to get sex—to dress like this and get a haircut and be in the club in the freezing cold at 3 A.M., the places they go to pick up a girl. If you can focus the energy into something valuable, put that into work ethic.” Kanye even refers to it as “dragon energy”. In ancient texts, the lizard, the snake, and the dragon are often equated or interchangeable. Many classical depictions of slaying dragons are meant to represent humans overcoming their inner lust. According to these beliefs, conquering the dragon (or conquering lust, or conquering Pan, etc.) is how one elevates their mind to the heavens.

50 Cent tweeted: “Masturbation is a sin you stop right now fool!!! lol God is watching you” Then he Tweeted: “Steps to stop masturbating: 1. To avoid the urge to masturbate stop going to porn sites, 2. Make a conscious decision not to turn your head after people walk to you, 3. Do not go to strip clubs, 4. Do not look at lust filled magazines.”

Mark Wahlberg said, “I don’t get down with jerking off, dude. Sex is not the most important thing to me, being horny all the time, spanking the—I mean, it’s not against the law. You can do whatever you want. And it’s not like, ‘I shouldn’t do it because of my faith. I’m just not really into it that much anyway.”

Countless other famous people have said similar things: Leonardo da Vinci, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plotinus, Benedict Spinoza, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, Abdul Kalam, Leo Tolstoy, and nearly every medieval Christian theologian. The people in this list were all either celibate and/or believed in this power.

And this list is by no means exhaustive. Turn on the television. Just about everyone you see is part of the cult.

Want more contemporaries? How about Terrence Howard, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Lenny Kravitz, Ciara, Lisa Kudrow, and Nicki Minaj? Justin Bieber said he had a “legitimate problem with sex” and saved himself for marriage to “feel closer to God.” As much as I loathe contemporary “celebs”, many of them seem to be at least tangentially aware of the secret we’ve been talking about.

This is doubly true for most people who have risen to the top of the worlds of literature, art, industry, architecture, and other professions. Many seem to believe they have figured out a way to “transmute” their sexual desire into physical achievement. Some describe it as a “creative energy”. Others call it a state of “spiritual bliss”. It is true that there are few motivational drivers powerful as sex, and some believe that this transmutation can elevate an average person to the level of “genius”.

How did they all find out about this “power”, let alone how it works? Did they figure it out on their own? Well, Mike Tyson was lucky enough to stumble upon the right interviews from other boxers, and decided to give it a try to see what would happen. He also had the willpower to pull it off, which is certainly key. Did these others somehow stumble upon this “sixth sense” by accident as well, or is someone passing this information down while somehow keeping it a secret to the general masses? They don’t seem to be shy mentioning it in interviews (without going into too much detail, of course). But not everyone has the willpower to see this experiment through, and the people who do tend to look down on the rest of us like we’re animals, giving into base carnal urges.

Seeing all these success stories, one can’t help but wonder if practicing some abstinence (without embracing evil) could help someone with a bad case of writer’s block. Fortunately, trying it doesn’t require lifelong chastity. There are ways to practice what’s being talked about without becoming Sigmund Freud.

For instance, there’s a group that practices this very kind of thing without tying it to esoteric beliefs. I’m sure you’ve at least heard of the #nofap movement. Saying no to pornography is empowering and creates success stories every day. More people need to turn the pornography off.

Proceed cautiously, though. The people who are making this magical (trying to transmute, activate chakras, etc.) have opened themselves up to a world they don’t understand. Their body is a temple, but they’ve thrown the gates wide open. As a result, I have no doubt many on the list discussed today have been possessed by demons.

But here’s something else that works and can bring fame and fortune without selling your soul: Hard work. So many people have worked hard and achieved without making any deals with the serpent. It can be done.

Trying to elevate oneself to God’s level, stealing knowledge from the heavens without waiting for your time to ascend, is the same mistake Nimrod made with the Tower of Babel. Don’t do it.

So I ask: How does one actually gain wisdom?

You must live life and learn from it. There are no shortcuts to wisdom. The idea that one can achieve wisdom by sitting down for hours and clearing your mind while letting snakes crawl up your spinal column … is preposterous. It’s the opposite of wisdom. Opening yourself to powers no human can understand is both foolish and reckless. And what’s scary is that if you’ve made a habit out of doing this, it blinds you from developing true wisdom, such as the ability to realize–case-in-point–that there are no shortcuts to wisdom.

And be careful. If you should ever climb high enough on the power ladder, someone will inevitably approach you with a deal that will cost you your soul. Saying no requires arming yourself with true wisdom, the kind of wisdom that only comes with age. That’s why they like ’em young.