[NoraSpinnor]

My recent book, The Young Man and the Sage, raises the question: what qualities make up a sage? The answer is not simple. It does not lie in perfection, because perfection is impossible. It does not mean having all the answers, because no one has all the answers. It lies in a special spark that sees beyond established patterns, and a willingness to accept the world in its truest, most fundamental forms.

The sage says the world is bound by illusions, yet he doesn’t claim to give up illusions. That would be impossible, because according to him, “everything is countless illusions at once, and at the same time, its true self.” The trick lies in picking the right illusions.

This turns awakening into a form of mental transmutation. It resembles the Stoic practice of choosing a narrative that fosters coherence. The sage lives a meager life. He has few possessions and eats what he forages in the woods. This doesn’t bring him down, though, because “a man is only as poor as his desires. A man like me, who has little and desires little, is not poor at all.”

The sage never claims to be perfect or to have all the answers. He argues that people who claim to have all the answers are usually selling answers. For him, truth is spiritual, fluid, and individualized. No one can give another person their truth; they can only offer a doorway into another perception.
The sage also does not attempt to present the image of perfection. His tattered robes and wild hair fit his rugged lifestyle, where visitors are discouraged and few. His temper immediately contradicts the idealized vision of a sage who is supposed to have found complete peace. He presents a natural, human, and otherworldly presence at once, and the questions continue from there.

If we assume that a sage is the human embodiment of divine wisdom, then we might dismiss the sage whom Laolys encounters as a madman, as the rumors forewarned. The sage seems to encourage this impression, yet beneath his odd behavior and disheveled appearance lies an undeniable, vibrant passion for wisdom and for the beauty found in the balance of the natural world.

The book leaves the reader to decide what qualities define a sage, or whether the sage in the novel is a true sage at all. It presents reality as a single frame in a multidimensional multiverse, with no objective truth. Nothing is isolated; everything is relational. The reader can either walk away with the impression that the sage was a delusional madman, or embrace a changed view of reality.

Spiritual evolution is a personal journey, and no one can speak our truth for us. This means that to find answers, we don’t have to climb a mountain and seek guidance from a spiritual guru. It is enough to close one’s eyes and take a journey inside the self.

In your opinion, what qualities does a sage possess? Share your thoughts below.

You can view images for this post on Substack here: https://substack.com/@noraspinnor/note/p-184999574?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=6w93tr

[DREW]

Hard to say. For me, sage is someone who is not programmed and who chooses kindness, not manipulation.

[STELLA]

A sage knows the cosmos and soul like a map. That’s why they are the way they are they see the bigger picture.

[Healing_Lotus]

It’s spirituality on a whole nother level.

[Author]

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