Devil’s Workshop or Angel’s Kingdom?

What really is an idle mind?

Being a premature retired person (thus a dud for many including, and of course, my wife) and doing and also loving nothing except smelling flowers, watching birds flying in the vastness of blue sky, and reading and writing (mostly also online) I am often bombarded with the famous and at the same time controversial saying/proverb that says that “An Idle Mind IS the Devil’s Workshop.” Similar to this there is another proverb that also says something like this: “Idle Hands are Devil’s Tools or Plaything.” And then there is a Chinese proverb that too suggests “if the hands are idle, the mind is evil.”

After not finding any refuge from the constant bombardment, I decided to dig deeper and discover the reality or truth behind this popular saying and the result is a long and unimpressive tirade that, however, might give boost to some hopeless souls or idle minds like me.

All the above cited proverbs (that also complement each other)about idleness are said to have their roots in the teachings of Bible (proverb 16:27) and do convey the similar meaning that when our mind or hands are not busy we are inclined to think and consequently do something mischievous or evil. Another, more clear explanation by some sages is that when we (or our hands) are not busy in any routine activity (mostly economic) or we have…