Toward Wisdom -- & -- Wisdom and Understanding --- Emotional wisdom

[Leah]

Toward Wisdom   by Copthorne Macdonald

Chapter 1 --- What is Wisdom?

Wisdom is not one thing; it is a whole array of better-than-ordinary ways of being, and living, and dealing with the world. Because of this, and because individual wise people express wisdom's characteristics in different ways and to different degrees, this chapter's question has no brief answer.

Short statements about wisdom can be helpful as long as we realize that each expresses only part of the truth. We could say, for example, that wisdom involves:

      seeing things clearly; seeing things as they are
     
      acting in prudent and effective ways

      acting with the well-being of the whole in mind

      deeply understanding the human/cosmic situation

      knowing when to act and when not to act

      being able to handle whatever arises with peace of mind and an effective, compassionate, holistic response

      being able to anticipate potential problems and avoid them


Each statement helps clarify some aspect of wisdom, but none tells the whole story.

The self-actualizing and ego-transcending people that Abraham Maslow studied were wise people, and Maslow's writings tell us much about the nature of wisdom. Maslow's self-actualizers focused on concerns outside of themselves; they liked solitude and privacy more than the average person, and they tended to be more detached than ordinary from the dictates and expectations of their culture. They were inner-directed people. They were creative, too, and appreciated the world around them with a sense of awe and wonder. In love relationships they respected the other's individuality and felt joy at the other's successes. They gave more love than most people, and needed less. Central to their lives was a set of values that Maslow called the Being-Values, or B-Values: wholeness, perfection, completion, justice, aliveness, richness, simplicity, beauty, goodness, uniqueness, effortlessness, playfulness, truth, honesty, reality, self-sufficiency.

The inner directedness that Maslow noted is a key feature of wisdom. It arises, in part, from acquiring new, more helpful perspectives.

We live today in a swirl of information, and we need some of this raw data to arrive at the answers we seek.

Knowledge, however, is interpreted data.         

If the perspective or conceptual model through which we interpret our data is inappropriate, or flawed, then our knowledge is flawed and will lead us astray.

For many people, the task of becoming wise is not one of absorbing more information, more raw facts; it is to put the significant facts they already have into appropriate contexts, to view them from more helpful perspectives.         

[Leah]

Humanity is too clever to survive without wisdom.       E.F Schumacher

What is Wisdom?

What is wisdom? We hear the word a lot these days—the need for wisdom, the wisdom traditions, wisdom schools. We each would like to have more wisdom. And for others to have it as well. Too much human hurt and suffering comes from lack of wisdom. There is something about wisdom that we all aspire to. But what is this quality we hold in such high regard?

Various people have pointed to the progression of data to information to knowledge. Variations in patterns of data gives rise to information. Information from different situations is generalized into knowledge.

Through knowledge we learn how to act in our own better interests. Will this decision lead to greater well-being, or greater suffering? What is the kindest way to respond in this situation? Is it coming from love, or insecurity?

Wisdom reflects the values and criteria that we apply to our knowledge. Its essence is discernment. Discernment of right from wrong. Helpful from harmful. Truth from delusion.

The wise are able to discern their true interests from those of the ego mind.    They are usually regarded as kind, content in themselves. They tend not to aspire to greater material wealth or fame. They have learnt what is important.

At present, humanity has vast amounts of knowledge, but still very little wisdom.

The question then arises: What can we do to facilitate the development of wisdom? This is where the wisdom traditions—the spiritual traditions found throughout human culture—have their value. They are often seen as simply religions, but most of the great religions were seeded by wise people, people who had, in one way or another, awoken to the deepr truths of life and then sought to share their wisdom with others.

Today we need to re-discover for ourselves the wisdom that inspired so many of these traditions.         And discover how to enliven that wisdom in ourselves.

[Leah]

THE NATURE OF WISDOM

Classical Views



[From The Old Testament-Wisdom Books: Ecclesiastes, Sirach, The Wisdom of Solomon, The Proverbs]

1.  In her [wisdom] there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.


2.  For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things. For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. For she is a reflection of eternal life, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.


3.  Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail. She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.


4.  Kinship with wisdom there is immortality, and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get for myself.


5.  Wisdom is a kindly spirit.


6.  Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty for he will find no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates. To fix one's thought on her is perfect understanding, and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care.


7.  The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her, and love of her is the keeping of her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality [being in touch with one's immortal being], and immortality brings one near to God; so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.


8.  Happy is the man who gains wisdom, and the man who gets understanding, for the gain  from it is better than gain from silver and its profits better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.


9.  I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I desired to take her for my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.  She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and Lord of all loves her. For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works.


10.  If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom who effects all things? And if understanding is effective, who more than she is fashioner of what exists? And if any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men like these. And if any one longs for wide experience, she knows the things of old, and infers the things to come; she understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles; she has foreknowledge of signs and wonders and the outcome of seasons and times.
Therefore I determined to take her to live with me, knowing that she would give me good counsel and encouragement in cares and grief….


11.  When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.


12.  I prayed and understanding was given to me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I accounted wealth  as nothing in comparison with her. Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold is but a little sand in her sight, and silver will be accounted as clay before her. I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance [pure light bliss] never ceases.


13.  All good things came to me along with her, and in her hands unaccounted wealth. I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them; but I did not know that she was their mother. I learned     without guile and I impart without grudging; I do not hide her wealth, for it is an unfailing treasure for men; those who get it obtain friendship with god, commended for the gifts that come from instruction.


Augustine

1.  Wisdom is the knowledge of divine things

2.  Wisdom is the charity of God.


St. Gregory

Wisdom is a remedy against folly.


Heraclitus

1.   Wisdom consists in speaking and acting the truth, giving heed to the nature of things.

2.   Wisdom is one and unique; it is unwilling and yet willing to be called by the name of [God, the Creator of all being]

3.   Wisdom is one -- to know the intelligence by which all things are steered through all things.


Plato

1. The virtue of wisdom more than anything else contains a divine element which always remains, and by this conversion is rendered useful and profitable.

2.  When a man is always occupied with the cravings of desire and ambition, and is eagerly striving to satisfy them, all his thoughts must be mortal, and as far as it is possible altogether to become such, he must be mortal every whit, because he has cherished his mortal part. But he who has been earnest in the love of knowledge and of true wisdom, and has exercised his intellect more than any other part of him, must have thoughts immortal and divine, if he attain truth, and in so far as human nature is capable of sharing in immortality, he must altogether be immortal; and since he is ever cherishing the divine power, and has the divinity within him in perfect order, he will be perfectly happy.


Cicero

Wisdom is the knowledge of things human and divine and of the causes by which those things are controlled.


St. Thomas Aquinas

1.  The wisdom which is called a gift of the Holy Ghost, differs from that which is an acquired intellectual virtue, for the latter is attained by human effort, whereas the latter is descending from above.

2.  It belongs to the gift of wisdom to judge according to the Divine truth. Hence the gift of wisdom presupposes faith...

3.  It belongs to the wisdom that is an intellectual virtue to pronounce right judgment about Divine things after reason has made its inquiry, but it belongs to wisdom as a gift of the Holy Ghost to judge aright about them on account of connaturally with them."

4.  Wisdom which is a gift, has its cause in the will, which cause is charity, but it has its essence in the intellect, whose act is to judge aright..." Wisdom (sapientia) takes its name, insofar as it denotes a certain sweetness (saporem)

5.  The intellect exercises a two-fold act, perception and judgment. The gift of understanding regards the former; the gift of wisdom regards the latter according to the Divine ideas,   

[Leah]

A reality-seeking attitude

Wisdom, maturity, and happiness seem to go hand in hand with figuring out how life and the world work — with discovering the nature of the rules, laws, and programming that dictate what will happen under what conditions. Wise people know that the more deeply and accurately they come to understand key processes within and without, the better able they are to live their personal lives in harmony with what is happening moment-to-moment. Wise people want to find out. Wise people are reality seekers.

Developing an accurate, comprehensive picture of reality does not happen easily. We arrive on earth having to play the game of existence but not knowing the rules or even the object of the game. Then, gradually, each of us builds a worldview — a mental map of how it all is and what it's all about. The maps made by wise people are in many respects more complete and more accurate than the maps made by others, but for even the wisest, their picture of how it all is never becomes much more than a rough sketch. Despite talk about "fully enlightened beings," I strongly suspect that no one has ever been completely out of the dark.

Almost by definition, reality seekers remain open-minded, flexible, and receptive. They know that all explanations, models, and metaphors are just pointers to truth and crude maps of reality. All are approximate and partial. Further refinement of the maps is always in order. And since wise people are not ego-attached to their present views,  when they do get new data, or flip to a new perspective, their worldviews and explanatory words change.

[Leah]

Maslow's self-actualizers focused on concerns outside of themselves; they liked solitude and privacy more than the average person, and they tended to be more detached than ordinary from the dictates and expectations of their culture.  

They were inner-directed people. They were creative, too, and appreciated the world around them with a sense of awe and wonder.

In love relationships they respected the other's individuality and felt joy at the other's successes.   They gave more love than most people, and needed less.

Central to their lives was a set of values that Maslow called the Being-Values, or B-Values:      wholeness, perfection, completion, justice, aliveness, richness, simplicity, beauty, goodness, uniqueness, effortlessness, playfulness, truth, honesty, reality, self-sufficiency.


The inner directedness that Maslow noted is a key feature of wisdom.   

It arises, in part, from acquiring new, more helpful perspectives.

We live today in a swirl of information, and we need some of this raw data to arrive at the answers we seek.

Knowledge, however, is interpreted data.         

If the perspective or conceptual model through which we interpret our data is inappropriate, or flawed, then our knowledge is flawed and will lead us astray.

For many people, the task of becoming wise is not one of absorbing more information, more raw facts; it is to put the significant facts they already have into appropriate contexts, to view them from more helpful perspectives.         

 

[Leah]

Wise Behavior that benefits others

Wise people live their daily lives in accord with wise perspectives and wise values. As a result, their actions make the world around them a better place. They help others to grow. They live compassionately. They resolve conflicts and in other ways maximize harmony and general well-being. If their own growth in wisdom is carried to the point where identification with Being takes place, they stop differentiating between themselves, the universe, and what needs to be done. At that point they see themselves and the rest of humanity as Being itself — evolving, and living progressively higher values.

As Maslow pointed out, when you see clearly what is, you automatically know what to do. Reality, in other words, has its own ethical imperatives. These ethical "musts" become obvious when the mind becomes quiet — when the clear truth about what needs to be done is not obscured by personal wants, fears, and dislikes.

Wise people are able to sense ethical imperatives and act on them because intuition and intellect — working as coordinated partners — now run the show. What to do becomes clear under these conditions. So does what not to do.

[Leah]

Most of what we say or do begin with our thinking processes in our brains. Our decisions and choices are generally made within our minds, with the exception of the times when we allow our emotions to do the thinking. How we think determines our overall demeanor and behavior. Our perceptions and thought mannerisms not only effect us, but others as well. All to often we allow the psychological results of perception, learning, and reasoning to be clouded by unhealthy thought patterns.

We need to recognize and understand that the information we store up in our brains is going to be what we access at any given time. If we do not seek out wisdom, for the purposes of gaining understanding, we are not going to be prepared to respond adequately to the situations we are faced with.

Consider your computer, it stores up much data and information, it then accesses that information on a needed basis. However, if it does not have the correct information, it will have difficulty processing the requested data. You might need to consider the things that you are storing in your database for future access. If the knowledge that you are gathering is corrupt, it’s going to be of no use to you. Think about that while you are watching television, about the content of the books you are reading, and then consider seeking out sound healthy context  to collect for your knowledge reservoir.


The way you think is very important, in life we often accept our initial perception of something without looking into it’s depths. We accept what we see on the surface for what it appears to be and never consider the mental boundary we have just created for ourselves. Underneath the surfaces there are greater realms of possibility. Often times we focus on things that appear to be falling apart and our typical mental reactions or emotional responses are that things are decreasing. We may very well be missing the fact that the breaking is not a diminishing, but a spreading out of multiplication. Take a piece of bread and break it in two, give one piece to a friend, what are you now lacking? Nothing! The breaking is an expanding, not a diminishing. The more it is broken off, the greater it’s increase, the more potential for growth it has, which then leads to a more significant harvest. When we prune a plant or a tree back it appears to be lacking, but then it fills those voids with new growth, which is multiplied, and the ending outcome is far more fulfilling. The initial pruning may appear to be a diminishing, but given a little time healthy increase prevails.

How you train your mind will greatly effect your responses to all situations, it will also improve your ability to handle stress. Mindlessness will only leave you open to anxiety, doubts, frustrations, and fears that will only leave you with poor emotional responses.

Too often people accept defeat far too easily because they are not looking deeper into their own perceptions. They look at issues on top and perceive themselves as being overcome. They decide in their minds that they have been beaten, or that they have in some way lost something. Whatever appears to have ended has only just begun. You can not read a book by it’s cover, do not allow appearances to deceive you or your thought processes.

Change the way you’re thinking and you will drastically change your outcomes. Get adequate insight, seek wisdom, gain understanding.

Embed wisdom and healthy thoughts into your thinking processes repeatedly so that you will remember them in your time of need.


…be made new in the attitude of your minds.   Ephesians 4:24

Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind… Romans12:2

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Proverbs 4:6

Proverbs 9:10

[Leah]

Wisdom is not being able to explain things - as much as a knowing.     It's also the ability to laugh in virtually every situation.

The basic constituent of wisdom is awe.  Or as Matthew Fox phrased it, "Awe is the beginning of wisdom."  Possibly the best source of such awe struck wisdom is an unobstructed view of a clear, dark night sky without the trace of light or other pollution.  Meanwhile, the emotion of awe – and its resulting wisdom – is the sudden realization of truth.

"Just in case you were thinking this is really deep stuff... remember that: "Life is too important to be taken seriously."    [G. K. Chesterson]  

Emotional wisdom derives from balancing intellectual knowing, physical knowing, and emotional knowing. Each of these begins with an awareness, a self-knowing. When these three elements of wisdom communicate, one is able to make conscious choices – instead of doing the knee-jerk, unconscious thing. Scientific research is already showing that learning does not take place without an emotional component. This is precisely the reason music can aid in learning – with largo (60 beats per minute) Baroque music being just the ticket for aiding in the mental processing.

“By emphasizing only the academic, cognitive, and competitive aspects of education, we lead people into the same kinds of split allegiances of ‘I'm right, you're wrong.'

To be wise, you have to be aware of alternatives, and you have to be able to see other points of view.”

It also implies a willingness and capacity to change one's mind.  Politicians are fond of accusing others of “waffling” on issues. 

In this regard, “waffling” might be considered an element of wisdom, in that newly revealed facts or points of view are not stonewalled at the brain door, but are instead incorporated into new schemas.

Emotional wisdom is thus a recognition of growth, an ability to change in a constantly changing world, and an openness to learning via a variety of channels. It's not being dead.

Ultimately, of course, wisdom in all its forms is simply a connection with the universe [with others around you]. Instead of an ego-centric, separate self.

To be intuitively or emotionally wise, one must reduce the thinking to manageable levels consistent with other modes of wisdom.   


Eckhart Tolle has described the role of a spiritual teacher as ‘an open window through which a breeze is blowing.'   It is easy to confuse ‘the breeze', he said, ‘with the window through which the breeze is blowing,” that is, the physical form of a particular person.”   Just the sort of thing you might expect from someone with a “quiet and unassuming nature as well as [an] impish and contagious sense of humor.”    e.g., Tolle writes:

“We live in a world of mental abstraction, conceptualization, and image-making – a world of thought. And that becomes our dwelling place. It is a world characterized by the inability ever to stop thinking. The mental noise is a continuous stream. Psychologists have found that ninety-five percent or more of it is totally repetitive.  Perhaps ten percent of those thought processes, at most, are actually needed to deal with life.

Thought can sometimes be very useful [ laughter ], but in our world it has become obsessive-compulsive, almost like an addiction."

People's sense of identity, of self, gets bound up with their mental concepts and mental images of ‘I' and ‘me'.”   

[Leah]

Wisdom is the ability, developed through experience, insight and reflection, to discern truth and exercise good judgment. Each of us holds our own wisdom that we may or may not commonly use to guide our journey through life. To awaken this wisdom, is to bring it forward into our everyday lives: to make our wisdom our individual common sense that governs our daily thoughts, decisions and actions.

[Leah]

Wisdom

1)   The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.


2)   Common sense; good judgment:   "It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things"  (Henry David Thoreau).


3)   The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge:    "In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations"  (Maya Angelou).

[Leah]

“Life can only be understood backwards - but it can only be lived forwards.”              Kierkegaard