DaVincisms - dreadavinci

DaVincisms

What school of intellectual thought do you follow?  Who moves you spiritually?  Do you get your wisdom from social media, or from age old Masters?

An "ism" is defined as a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement.  As a Master who continues to be relevant 500 years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci is a perfect example of a mind who's "isms" we should all explore.  An intellectual giant who dominated the High Renaissance, Leonardo left us many gems of wisdom.  Most of what we know about him is from his notebooks. 

In studying the writings of  Leonardo, we can see that he succeeded in laying the basis for a philosophical system that separated him from his contemporaries and marked him as the oracle of a new age.  In 2020, overstanding what Leonardo was trying to share with humanity is vital.  

Leonardo was mentored by Andrea del Verrocchio and, as such, he was the first to suggest and epitomize something that DaVinci wrote often in his notebooks:  The painter is so much more than a craftsman, he does not imitate, he creates.  Later on in Leonardo's life, he was appointed court painter to the King of France, Francis I.  The King was overheard saying that "he did not believe any other man had ever been born into the world who knew so much as Leonardo, not only in sculpture, painting, and architecture, but still more in that he was a great philosopher."  

Being a collector of all things Leonardo, we at dreadavinci have compiled some of our favorite "DaVincisms" over the years, and now seems a good time to explore just a few of them.  On the topic of originators and imitators, Leonardo wrote, "There is but one way to judge and appraise men who are true inventors and interpreters to nature and men in contrast to those who are the trumpeters and expositors of the works of others.  They are like objects placed in front of a mirror with respect to their likenesses in the mirror; one group is in itself something, the other group is nothing."  We, as individuals, should practice self reflection in order to avoid the pitfalls of having no real substance, possessing only the trappings of ego and pride.  

In a modern world filled with trumpery and distractions with little to no intellectual weight, it is imperative that we look to the Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci for wisdom and direction.  According to Leonardo:

"The acquisition of knowledge is always useful to the intellect.  The worthless can be rejected, the good retained.  Nothing can be wither hated or loved until one has had some knowledge of it."  

"Shun that study of which the resulting work dies along with its creator."  

"The truth works in such a way that a lie tortures lying tongues."

"He who does not treasure life does not merit it."

"One can have neither greater nor smaller mastery than that over himself."

"Happy are those who heed the words of the dead.  Read good books and be guided by them."

The secrets that Leonardo da Vinci was privy to are now accessible to ALL thanks to the world wide web and the age of transparency we are living in.  If Leonardo were alive today, he surely would be thrilled to be able to access so much knowledge with just the touch of a button and a swipe of the hand.  As a whole, humanity must make the deliberate choice to be autodidactics who  think critically, and discern what is a lie and what is truth.  Leonardo da Vinci was a Master who can help us navigate our way through modern day storms towards a new age of enlightenment.  If you look, you will find what he was trying to tell humanity, and it truly is Divine.  

Here is another piece of the REAL DaVinci Code given to us by Alan Green who made this video of polymath Robert Edward Grant's work in a paper titled "The Wave Number Theory." The Last Supper was not just a picture of Jesus and his disciples...

Leonardo da Vinci the Last Supper

 

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