Walking the Path. Part 4: Wisdom
As you might’ve learned, learning isn’t enough. Whatever we may have learned can’t always protect us from the endless supply of risks that exist in this world.
There is a tendency for intelligent people to develop a sense of hubris, which at times may further develop into arrogance. I can admit that I fell prey to this trap.
What progress can one make when they think they know everything there is to know, and have learned everything there is to learn?
It takes at least one moment of Humility, and usually several, for one to realize that they are not Omniscient and Omnipotent. We are all limited in what we can know, what we can experience, what we can feel, what we can do. Acceptance of this allows us to take the next step… Towards Wisdom. As a bad analogy, maybe this can be considered Learning Squared (Learning^2). What did we learn from what we learned?
Wisdom comes from the acknowledgement and acceptance of the Fools we once were. Sadly, much of the Wisdom we gain is a result of our own suffering or failures, and we are often blind to it unless/until such happens.
Wisdom can be imparted from another source if we keep our minds open and are humble enough to recognize opportunities to progress beyond our current levels of knowledge and intelligence. Through empathy and selflessness, we can learn from others, but we have to get out of our own way to do so.
But to become wise is not the goal. I don’t want to be the ragged vagrant at the traffic light that surprises passersby with unexpected injections of reverence… but if that is my fate, even in a figurative sense, then at least I will have lived my life with a resulting effect.
What, then, is my goal??