“Wisdom
is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” -- Albert
Einstein
“Follow your instincts. That's
where true wisdom manifests itself.” -- Oprah
Winfrey
True wisdom is much more than knowledge
or intelligence. It has much to do with the processing of information by the
thinking mind. It requires much clarity and concentration of the thinking mind
to see things as they really are, and not as what they are supposed to be.
Accordingly, being knowledgeable may suggest smartness but not necessarily true
wisdom of an individual. After all, humans are all limited in their capacity
and capability to acquire knowledge, which is often unlimited. Therefore, to
use what is limited for the unlimited is irrational. True wisdom, on the other
hand, is empowering the thinking, which is potentially unlimited, to apply the
limited knowledge acquired to understand the true nature of the self, of
others, and of the world around.
True wisdom is innate and inside each and
every one of us, but you just have to look inside you, just as Eckhart
Tolle says in the beginning of his book The Power of Now:
“A beggar has been sitting by
the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. ‘Spare
some change?’ mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball
cap. ‘I have nothing to give you,’ said the stranger. Then he asked: ‘What’s
that you are sitting on?’ ‘Nothing,’ replied the beggar. ‘Just an old box. I
have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.’ ‘Ever looked inside?’
asked the stranger. ‘No,’ said the beggar. ‘What’s the point? There’s nothing
in there.’ ‘Have a look inside,’ insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to
prey open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the
box was filled with gold.”
Look inside! True wisdom is already inside you, but you just have to look!
Yes, looking inside is the key to
understanding true human wisdom. When you look within yourself, you may become
awakened and even enlightened.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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