"Pleasures & Wealth Do not Satisfy." said the one who had gone through all - Ecclessiates 2

One of the richest and wisest kings of all time, King Solomon, pursued pleasures, wealth, great works and great wisdom told us that at the end of it all, nothing truly satisfies and all is vanity.

The mind-map for this chapter 2 is:

To discover the meaning of life, King Solomon embarked on full scale experiments of

1. seeking pleasure of wine and wives and concubines, of songs and dances, 
2. accumulating great wealth of not just silver and golds, but also of slaves and live stocks.
3. building great work of houses, vineyards, gardens, parks, reservoirs. Solomon was the one who built the Temple of God.
4. pursue of great wisdom.

It does not mean that pleasure, wealth and great works are not important. It does mean that they cannot be the highest objective of one's pursue in life. They can be the by-products or sub-objectives. By pursuing the truth one gets freedom and joy as by-products. By just pursuing wealth or happiness alone, one is never satisfied and will end in disappointment.

His conclusion was shocking to ordinary men like us, who thought highly of wealth and pleasures. He said those things could never satisfy us, no matter how much. He lamented that all his great works and wealth will be given to others after his life on earth is gone. What then is the meaning of life. He answers for us in the next chapter3.

Lim Liat (c) 23 Aug 2013