Back to Our Source
Do the things that must be done, pay the price that must be paid, make the choices that
must be made. Live life to the fullest; so that when the end is near you can go out with your head held high, your
back straight, and your conscience clear. You did what had to be done. You measured up.
Things to Do Now
Religion to Spirituality to Maat
Path of Ancients
The male eternity and the female eternity are the sum of existence.
The first is the day, the second is the night. They together are a union for the
ages.
Apart, they are without life or a chance to live.
Texts of the Sarcophagi, Ch.335
Follow your heart all the length of your
days and make each day perfect.
For perfect are those who did all that they could do, and did it the best that they
could do it.
Kmt-ra
Stele at the Brit/Museum 37984
If you never do the work that needs doing, the field will never get ploughed.
For
many will talk in empty fields, while those who silently cast their plow to work have fruits to harvest.
Stay
clear of talkers.
Ani
There is
no strong river in existence that allows itself to be hidden, for when it overflows its banks it will destroy the dam that
conceals it. The greatest of ships cannot hold an ocean. The largest mountain cannot cover the sky.
Merikare
The
heart of one who listens to their stomach is weakened.
They will provoke disdain rather than love.
They who obey their stomachs obey the enemy.
Ptah-Hotep
Be careful to avoid the mistake of lying: it will prevent you from fighting the evil inside yourself.
Ani
You know the heart of your brother or
sister well when you ask him/her for help in a moment of difficulty.
Those who come through in bad
times, and tough moments are with you, those who do not are not.
Works determine worth.
Insinger Papyrus
Your back
is not going to break just because it is bending.
Listen to sound orders, do what you agree to do, keep your word.
There is much to gain from being disciplined carrying out duty.
Amenemope
As for the ignorant man who does not listen. He will accomplish
nothing.
He is like a dead
man walking through a life without a body.
Nothing he does gets done; nothing he says amounts to anything.
Ptah-Hotep
Do not automatically
take the side of a well-dressed person.
Do not automatically turn away from the badly dressed one.
Do not accept unsolicited gifts from powerful people; there are strings.
Do not
be unjust towards the weak to help the strong.
Amenemope
All conduct should be so straight that you can measure it with a plumb-line, a ruler, a bricklayer’s measuring
tool.
Ptah-Hotep
The ship
of loud fools gets stuck in the mud.
The ship of the silent who have prepared themselves sails with the wind.
Amenemope
For the ignorant, the work of goodness is nothing but a joke.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Advice given to the stupid weighs as little as the wind.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Humility
May your heart never be vain because
of what you know.
Take counsel from the ignorant as well as the wise.
Since one never
reaches the limits of art.
And there has never been an artisan who has attained perfection.
Ptah-Hotep
A little worry
can break your back, A little
good news can make your heart leap, a little dew
can make the grass live, A little bee can make honey.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Self-Criticism
Know how to be critical of yourself to avoid the criticism of
others.
Hor- Djedef
Do not enter
someone else's house before they permit it and welcome you in.
Do not let your
eye be too curious. Know
how to look silently, and do not gossip about someone
who isn't there.
It would
be a serious fault if your stories were listened to
Do not enter someone else's house before they permit it and welcome you in.
Ani
Do not pour your heart out to people off the street.
Trust is earned, not tossed about carelessly.
Do not associate with those who bare their souls.
They may be baring the souls of the one
who sent them. Traps are best laid with issue of the heart.
Amenemope
Instruction
The greedy person will come to no good, his or her seeming triumphs
are only but moral failure, tempered by time. They will reap what they sow.
In the end they or their children’s
children lose.
So do whatever opposes injustice.
Do whatever opposes
deceit.
Do justice for justice sake.
For when good is truly good it lasts forever.
Speak justice, do justice, for it is powerful, far-reaching, and everlasting.
There can never be an excess of high standards,
Nor should there ever be a mean act to reach the humblest inhabitant of the universe.
The strength of a great leader lies in justice.
The acts of a liar do not last for no lie can live forever.
Kanais, Inscription of Seti I
All
through your earthly life, accomplish righteousness.
Comfort those who suffer.
Do not oppress the widow.
Do not unjustly
drive a man from the land of his father.
Do not hinder the great from fulfilling their duties.
Do not punish people unjustly.
Merikare
Do not join a crowd that you meet when it has gathered to fight
without plan, preparation, or purpose.
Keep away from rebels without a cause.
When wars are fought they should be just wars
Ani
Unjust acts do not come home to port.
One who is just will always come to port, even if it is in the
next generation.
Stories
of the Oases
I have done justice for my creators, I have satisfied with the things they love.
I have spoken and repeated words of righteousness.
I have codified righteousness and delivered
justice.
I have given bread
to the hungry, clothes to the naked, I have respected my father, I have profited from the love of my mother and achieved self
mastery.
I have never slandered
anyone, because I wanted the accomplishment and the respect of my ancestors for ever.
Mastaba of Idu at Saqqara
He who is without righteousness will not enter the dwelling of Maat, the country of silence.
Only those whose hearts are true are admitted
on to the ferry. Since the ferry-driver will not take the unrighteous.
How fortunate they are, those who pass to the other side!
Hymn to Amon
Good and EvilLearn to understand the words which distinguish good from evil.
Learn to judge another’s actions.
Learn to treat people with fairness based on what they do.
Learn to weigh hearts.
Amon-Nakht
Do not respond
with evil to good.
Do not confuse
the one thing with the other.
Stories of the Oases
The heart is full of sadness because of the evil that has
to be punish.
If retribution
does not come sooner it comes later.
A law at the temple of Edfou
I have spent my days searching for good,
I have peacefully become a respected person.
I have upheld righteousness in accordance to what is just and
good, Day after day.
I have
been a fair and just, free from evil. My heart has never joined with wickedness.
I was just, never giving in to favoritism, someone whose bearing was measured, whose
words made good sense, a respected person who followed the paths of the ancestors, and who was free from injustice.
If you do good, good will be done unto
you.
It will benefit you in the long
run in accordance with what you will have achieved.
Statue of Ankh-pa Khered in Cairo Museum
You cannot remove the venom from the crocodile, from the serpent or from the evil one. They are
what they are. Let them be. You are what you are, become what you are.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Even the smallest serpent is venomous.
Know your enemy, they may already be within.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Even if he were an important person, a person whose life’s
work is evil does not know how to remain upright.
For it is far harder for one who is uncivilized to act civilized
than it is for one who is civilized to act uncivilized.
Ani
Injustice exists in abundance, but evil can never succeed in the long run if good is persistent.
Ptah-Hotep
It is the duty of responsible men and
women to fight evil and affirm goodness, as they are the workers who bring into existence that which has to be.
Stories of the Oases
Identify
the immoral
Vet truth and false, right and wrong, just and unjust.
Sentence
those whose heart is heavy and whose hands are with guilt.
Punish with principle, teach lessons meaningfully.
The act of stopping evil leads to virtue
reborn.
Ptah-Hotep
It only takes a moment to put something right, but unbridled evil
lasts a lifetime time.
Stories
of the Oases
Though off the main road, walk on the path well lit.
Great are the advantages
gained by those who do so quietly and without fanfare.
Much reward comes to those who discipline themselves to follow it.
For the highway of life may be
wide, but the paths are direct.
Petosiris
Serving
Celebrate the monthly ceremony of the Servant
Put on your sacred sandals, Go to the temple, Enter the Sanctuary,
Eat the bread, Renew the libations on the altar, Add to the offerings, Take good care of your monuments as a duty of your
power.
A single day can be the equivalent
of Eternity, A single hour can suffice for the future.
Merikare
Celebrate the feast of your ancestors,
the great ones, the ones who sacrificed much, And begin it at the correct time.
Neglect not the Innocent Ones. They are the salt of the earth, a rock to cling to
in a great storm.
Ani
You have
the light in your hands. You will appear by day like the perfect glow of the divine light spreading over
the whole world. Use it. Live on the sweet fruits of the tree and the perfumes of the Earth.
Texts of the Pyramids, 718c
Fill your arms with as many flowers
as you can see.
All are needed,
for it is good not to be deprived of them.
Ani
In the days of the ancients the walls did not crumble and fall and the thorns did not prick.
Victories
were certain because great people made them certain.
The best building stood because the best erected them.
Answers were accurate because questions were precise.
Life was fruitful because living was harvested
daily with care and kindness.
In victories, we won because we knew how to win.
Urkunden VIII, 90
Neither worry about, nor rejoice
in, the future. For nothing is promised.
History is made by those who make it.
Stories of the Oases
Heart of the Sage
Follow your heart all your life. Do not commit excess with respect
to what has been ordained.
Do not
cut short the time for following your heart.
To waste a single moment of actions of the heart is an insult to the Ka, your soul.
Do not divert your daily routine excessively to support your household.
When things happen, follow your heart.
The negligent will never profit.
Ptah-Hotep
It is
thanks to the heart that all just knowledge exists.
A tablet at Shabaka
The heart of a just elder is a gift from the creators.
Take care not to neglect it.
For there
is safety in hearts that survive.
Amenemope
Your
life runs true when heart and words are without fault.
Near, far, where ever they are, when pure, they last for a lifetime.
They live in the hearts of others.
They are the pulse of inspiration.
They
give life to those burdened with lose.
They are never forgotten.
They commune
with the ancestors.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Never separate your heart from your words. Then you will succeed
in life.
Amenemope
Hold
fast to your heart.
Strengthen
your heart.
Do not try to guide
a ship with just your tongue.
If language
is the rudder of a ship, then it sits idle in the harbor.
Amenemope
My heart has encouraged me to do my duty with my conduct.
It is, for me, a perfect witness.
I do not break its rules, I am afraid to ignore its commandments.
If I have known great prosperity, it is thanks to their influence
on my actions.
I have followed
their teachings to the letter.
For
a divine word is like a heart beating in every body.
Urkunden IV 974
Take heed of my words, be competent in every task.
Be married to
perfection
Be without fault.
Make your heart a solid wall against that which the waves will break.
Yes, the waves will indeed come.
Amon-Nakht
The
character of a righteous person is more agreeable to than the sacrifice of a dozen from the rotten.
Merikare
Knowledge
Let us come and give thanks to Tehuti
The official scribe who preserves the hidden texts.
One who punishes the criminal.
One who welcomes the obedient one.
One
who restores what was forgotten, who advises the lost.
One who preserves the moment, who watches over the hours of night.
One whose words last for eternity.
Statue of Horemheb (Metropolitan Museum of New York)
Every being who is fully aware does not die a second death.
Enemies can exert no influence over them.
And
no one can hinder them from pursuit of justice on this earth.
Texts of the Sarcophagi, Ch.83
Let your thoughts be great living incantations spoken by you.
The Book of Leaving the Day, Ch.80
Seeing
The eye of the leader is their strength. They see what others
only guess about.
Texts
of the Pyramids, 320b
I had integrity and was just, I hated lies and fought each day for truth.
I was wise without equals. One who shrugged
off all difficulties.
I have ordered everything according to the Divine eye.
Stele of Ra-Hotep, High Priest of Ptah
The
parts of my body have been put back together.
What was taken away has been brought back.
What
was dispersed has been gathered.
My eyes have been opened and I see the Great Future.
Texts of the Sarcophagi, Ch.106
Silence
The commotion in the temple is like a tree growing in an enclosed
place.
The growth of its branches lasts
but a brief moment, and it finishes as firewood.
It is taken far from its proper place and the fire is its shroud.
The true silent one, who keeps to self, is like a tree grown in a field.
They mature, increase in production and
straightens themselves before their teachers.
The fruits of this tree are sweet, its shadow delicious.
They live life peacefully in their garden.
They are not chopped for firewood;
they live long and prosper.
Amenemope
If you work hard, and if growth takes place as it should in the
fields, it is because ancestors have placed abundance in your hands. You are what you were given. You become
what you make out of it.
Ptah-Hotep
Tehuti,
science, justice, order is a well of sweet water for the man thirsting in the desert.
The well remains sealed to the talkative.
It opens
for the silent.
The silent man comes and finds the well.
The disorderly are lost.
Their lives are empty.
Papyrus
Sallier 1, 8, 2-6
It is painful to remain silent while you listen.
But there is no point in replying to the ignorant.
Responding to their proposals creates disorder.
Their hearts will not accept the truth.
Move on, there is
nothing to be gained talking to a empty wall.
Kha-Keper-Re-Seneb
Listening and UnderstandingIf one who listens, listens fully,
then one who listens becomes one who understands.
When hearing is good, speech is good.
One who listens becomes the master of what is beneficial.
Listening benefits the listener.
To listen is better than anything, thus is born perfect love.
Love those
who listen.
Hate that which is
not heard.
It is the heart who gives birth to its master.
For a man or woman their heart
is life, prosperity and health.
They
that listen understand what is said.
Ptah-Hotep
As for the ignorant one who does not listen, they accomplish nothing.
They equate knowledge with ignorance, the useless with the harmful.
They do everything which is detestable,
so people get angry with them each day.
They live with that which brings death, their food is twisted words.
Their character is readily recognized by the nobles.
When
this is known, remove them, and you will move forward.
Keep them and you will continue to drown fish.
Ptah-Hotep
Open your
ears, listen to the words, let your soul understand them.
May you keep them in your heart.
Don’t neglect them!
May
they stay in your heart of hearts. May they be locked up in your soul.
If you lead your life with these words in your heart you will succeed.
Amenemope
Speech
A perfect word is hidden more deeply than precious stones.
Listen.
It is to
be found near the servants working at the mill-stone.
Ptah-Hotep
To have strength, be a craftsman with words.
The power of a woman or man lies in their language and words.
Merikare
Only speak when you have something
worth saying.
The one who
speaks in counsel has to be an excellent craftsman with words.
Speaking is more difficult than any other work.
Ptah-Hotep
Teaching
Do not teach those who do not want to hear.
Can a door open alone when it has been closed?
Can fish swim without water?
Can the ignorant
gain knowledge without study?
Teach those who want to learn.
Ankh-Sheshonk
Speak to your children, since the Word has been a teaching since the time of great beginnings.
The Loyalist Teaching
The twisted
stick is thrown to the ground where both light and shade fall on it.
But the carpenter can carry it away, straighten it out and fashion a staff for a great noble
out of it.
Those who want to learn can learn, those who want to change can.
Ani
As for you, teach your disciple the words of tradition.
Make them act as models for the children.
That they may find in themselves the understanding and justice of every heart that speaks to them.
Since no one is born wise.
Ptah-Hotep
Master teachers (sba) are themselves teaching for the ages.
Their life’s
work is their lesson.
Merikare
Everyone
can master their own nature if the wisdom which they have been taught has made that nature stable.
Learn
to listen to your own heartbeat. Follow Maat.
Ani
I am silent in the face of anger, a patient man with the ignorant, liking to calm quarrels, I
am tranquil, free from impulses, who knows what is ordained to happen and awaits it serenely.
I am the one who shows himself in conflicts, and who knows (the
better to avoid them) the words which provoke anger.
I am master of myself, I am kind and friendly, I calmed those who weep with words of comfort.
