I have read once that master Samael said one should not read too much newspapers otherwise one would become an intellectual prostitute. Does this mean one shouldn’t read too much? Does this mean that using the intellect is detrimental to one’s spirituality?
Accepted Answer
The quote you're referring to is from The Major Mysteries, and Samael was actually quoting another source--John Swinton.
Here is the full quote, with the part Samael quoted put in bold:
Samael followed this by saying, "Therefore, it is not convenient to read too many newspapers, unless we want to prostitute our minds."
So you can see from the context he was not saying that reading newspapers necessarily makes one an "intellectual prostitute." Rather, the original speaker of the quote, John Swinton, was observing that journalists "prostitute their intellects," that is to say, lie and pervert the truth in exchange for money.
So Samael pointed out that if journalists are doing that, consuming too much material they produce will not be healthy for the mind. (And this should be obvious to anyone who takes a cursory glance at the modern world, and sees how negative emotions and skewed perceptions of reality are prevailing among many members of society as a result of the type of media they are consuming.)
That does not mean that all reading is bad, or that the use of the intellect is necessarily detrimental to spirituality. It is obvious from his books that Samael was a prolific reader. In the Three Mountains, he even describes reading the entire Rosicrucian Library:
M and Blavatsky, two other famous masters, also show evidence in their writing of dazzling intellects and being extremely well-read.
So it does not follow that reading alone is detrimental to our spiritual growth. But, as Igneous pointed out above, we must have balance. To overdevelop the intellect at the expense of our other centers leads to a variety of negative consequences, and not just on the spiritual path.
On the other hand, it is a mistake to assume that true Self-realization can be approached through the mind. Just like the physical body, the mind is a tool we must use to walk on the Path. But we ultimately have to learn how to move beyond the intellectual mind, to use the mind in the proper way, and in the proper context, but not become trapped in ways of subjective reasoning.
Here is the full quote, with the part Samael quoted put in bold:
There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.
- John Swinton
Samael followed this by saying, "Therefore, it is not convenient to read too many newspapers, unless we want to prostitute our minds."
So you can see from the context he was not saying that reading newspapers necessarily makes one an "intellectual prostitute." Rather, the original speaker of the quote, John Swinton, was observing that journalists "prostitute their intellects," that is to say, lie and pervert the truth in exchange for money.
So Samael pointed out that if journalists are doing that, consuming too much material they produce will not be healthy for the mind. (And this should be obvious to anyone who takes a cursory glance at the modern world, and sees how negative emotions and skewed perceptions of reality are prevailing among many members of society as a result of the type of media they are consuming.)
That does not mean that all reading is bad, or that the use of the intellect is necessarily detrimental to spirituality. It is obvious from his books that Samael was a prolific reader. In the Three Mountains, he even describes reading the entire Rosicrucian Library:
I joyfully found an inexhaustible, wealthy spring of exquisite splendors in the books of Krumm-Heller, Hartmann, Eliphas Levi, Steiner, Max Heindel, etc.
Without excessive verbosity, I emphatically, seriously, and sincerely declare that in such an epoch of my current existence I methodically studied the whole Rosicrucian library. - The Three Mountains, "The Rosicrucian Fraternity"
M and Blavatsky, two other famous masters, also show evidence in their writing of dazzling intellects and being extremely well-read.
So it does not follow that reading alone is detrimental to our spiritual growth. But, as Igneous pointed out above, we must have balance. To overdevelop the intellect at the expense of our other centers leads to a variety of negative consequences, and not just on the spiritual path.
On the other hand, it is a mistake to assume that true Self-realization can be approached through the mind. Just like the physical body, the mind is a tool we must use to walk on the Path. But we ultimately have to learn how to move beyond the intellectual mind, to use the mind in the proper way, and in the proper context, but not become trapped in ways of subjective reasoning.
The terrestrial, great triple-powered Self-willed has its own intellection. It is easy to mistake the light of this intellection with the Light that comes from the Treasury of the Light.
Moreover, this intellection even feels that it is very capable of stealing the light of the Great Treasury and thereout fashion for itself light-Aeons or Genii. Thus, sequentially, it hallucinates of reaching the power that permits it to reach the Light of lights, which is in the Height of heights.
Therefore, we must make a clear differentiation between Sophia and the subjective reasoning of the intellectual mammal, mistakenly called a human being.
It is better to think about objective reasoning. Yet, for this, we must know the three existing minds.
The first is the Sensual Mind.
The second is the Intermediate Mind.
The third is the Inner Mind.
The first mind elaborates its concepts with its contents, by way of the data obtained with external sensorial perceptive senses. Therefore, it cannot know anything about That which is the Reality.
The second mind is the deposit of religious beliefs.
The third mind functions only with the data of the awakened consciousness.
The leaven of the materialistic and incredulous Sadducees is in the first mind.
The leaven of the hypocritical Pharisees, who do not work on themselves, is in the second mind.
In the third mind is Sophia, Divine Wisdom, who is based on the direct and lively experience of That which is not of time.
- Samael Aun Weor, Pistis Sophia Unveiled, Book 1, Chapter 31
Accepted Answer
The quote you're referring to is from The Major Mysteries, and Samael was actually quoting another source--John Swinton.
Here is the full quote, with the part Samael quoted put in bold:
Samael followed this by saying, "Therefore, it is not convenient to read too many newspapers, unless we want to prostitute our minds."
So you can see from the context he was not saying that reading newspapers necessarily makes one an "intellectual prostitute." Rather, the original speaker of the quote, John Swinton, was observing that journalists "prostitute their intellects," that is to say, lie and pervert the truth in exchange for money.
So Samael pointed out that if journalists are doing that, consuming too much material they produce will not be healthy for the mind. (And this should be obvious to anyone who takes a cursory glance at the modern world, and sees how negative emotions and skewed perceptions of reality are prevailing among many members of society as a result of the type of media they are consuming.)
That does not mean that all reading is bad, or that the use of the intellect is necessarily detrimental to spirituality. It is obvious from his books that Samael was a prolific reader. In the Three Mountains, he even describes reading the entire Rosicrucian Library:
M and Blavatsky, two other famous masters, also show evidence in their writing of dazzling intellects and being extremely well-read.
So it does not follow that reading alone is detrimental to our spiritual growth. But, as Igneous pointed out above, we must have balance. To overdevelop the intellect at the expense of our other centers leads to a variety of negative consequences, and not just on the spiritual path.
On the other hand, it is a mistake to assume that true Self-realization can be approached through the mind. Just like the physical body, the mind is a tool we must use to walk on the Path. But we ultimately have to learn how to move beyond the intellectual mind, to use the mind in the proper way, and in the proper context, but not become trapped in ways of subjective reasoning.
Here is the full quote, with the part Samael quoted put in bold:
There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.
- John Swinton
Samael followed this by saying, "Therefore, it is not convenient to read too many newspapers, unless we want to prostitute our minds."
So you can see from the context he was not saying that reading newspapers necessarily makes one an "intellectual prostitute." Rather, the original speaker of the quote, John Swinton, was observing that journalists "prostitute their intellects," that is to say, lie and pervert the truth in exchange for money.
So Samael pointed out that if journalists are doing that, consuming too much material they produce will not be healthy for the mind. (And this should be obvious to anyone who takes a cursory glance at the modern world, and sees how negative emotions and skewed perceptions of reality are prevailing among many members of society as a result of the type of media they are consuming.)
That does not mean that all reading is bad, or that the use of the intellect is necessarily detrimental to spirituality. It is obvious from his books that Samael was a prolific reader. In the Three Mountains, he even describes reading the entire Rosicrucian Library:
I joyfully found an inexhaustible, wealthy spring of exquisite splendors in the books of Krumm-Heller, Hartmann, Eliphas Levi, Steiner, Max Heindel, etc.
Without excessive verbosity, I emphatically, seriously, and sincerely declare that in such an epoch of my current existence I methodically studied the whole Rosicrucian library. - The Three Mountains, "The Rosicrucian Fraternity"
M and Blavatsky, two other famous masters, also show evidence in their writing of dazzling intellects and being extremely well-read.
So it does not follow that reading alone is detrimental to our spiritual growth. But, as Igneous pointed out above, we must have balance. To overdevelop the intellect at the expense of our other centers leads to a variety of negative consequences, and not just on the spiritual path.
On the other hand, it is a mistake to assume that true Self-realization can be approached through the mind. Just like the physical body, the mind is a tool we must use to walk on the Path. But we ultimately have to learn how to move beyond the intellectual mind, to use the mind in the proper way, and in the proper context, but not become trapped in ways of subjective reasoning.
The terrestrial, great triple-powered Self-willed has its own intellection. It is easy to mistake the light of this intellection with the Light that comes from the Treasury of the Light.
Moreover, this intellection even feels that it is very capable of stealing the light of the Great Treasury and thereout fashion for itself light-Aeons or Genii. Thus, sequentially, it hallucinates of reaching the power that permits it to reach the Light of lights, which is in the Height of heights.
Therefore, we must make a clear differentiation between Sophia and the subjective reasoning of the intellectual mammal, mistakenly called a human being.
It is better to think about objective reasoning. Yet, for this, we must know the three existing minds.
The first is the Sensual Mind.
The second is the Intermediate Mind.
The third is the Inner Mind.
The first mind elaborates its concepts with its contents, by way of the data obtained with external sensorial perceptive senses. Therefore, it cannot know anything about That which is the Reality.
The second mind is the deposit of religious beliefs.
The third mind functions only with the data of the awakened consciousness.
The leaven of the materialistic and incredulous Sadducees is in the first mind.
The leaven of the hypocritical Pharisees, who do not work on themselves, is in the second mind.
In the third mind is Sophia, Divine Wisdom, who is based on the direct and lively experience of That which is not of time.
- Samael Aun Weor, Pistis Sophia Unveiled, Book 1, Chapter 31
This is a good lecture to listen to The Path of Balance
"Indeed, all newspapers are filled with ideas that falsify the mind. On this path of psychological liberation it is not convenient to falsify the mind.
It is evident to me that conscious faith is necessary in order for true mental health to exist.
The press fills the mind with skepticism. Skepticism alters the equilibrium of the mind because it makes it ill.
Journalists are one hundred percent skeptical by nature.
Mental health is not possible as long as conscious faith does not exist.
The skepticism of journalists is contagious and destroys the mind.
Instead of reading foolishness, children should be taken to the countryside and fairy tales of olden times should be narrated to them. Thus, in this manner, their mind will remain open and free of the prejudices of these decadent and degenerated times.
In these decrepit and mechanical times it is necessary to recover the capacity of amazement. Unfortunately, modern people have lost this capacity." Revolution of the Dialectic - The Press
"Indeed, all newspapers are filled with ideas that falsify the mind. On this path of psychological liberation it is not convenient to falsify the mind.
It is evident to me that conscious faith is necessary in order for true mental health to exist.
The press fills the mind with skepticism. Skepticism alters the equilibrium of the mind because it makes it ill.
Journalists are one hundred percent skeptical by nature.
Mental health is not possible as long as conscious faith does not exist.
The skepticism of journalists is contagious and destroys the mind.
Instead of reading foolishness, children should be taken to the countryside and fairy tales of olden times should be narrated to them. Thus, in this manner, their mind will remain open and free of the prejudices of these decadent and degenerated times.
In these decrepit and mechanical times it is necessary to recover the capacity of amazement. Unfortunately, modern people have lost this capacity." Revolution of the Dialectic - The Press
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