Tuesday, August 28, 2007

In Persuit of Wisdom

From the beginnings of this journey and Walk I have wanted to share insights about wisdom on this blog. As I observed the effects of human misjudgements on people and the environment in Scotland and England through weapons and nuclear energy, the impulse became stronger and stronger. One of my poetic blurting even screamed, "Wisdom, wisdom, where is the wisdom?" Now that I am home and reflecting on the insights, this blog cannot carry them. The subject is too comprehensive. In fact, wisdom is poetic and elusive. But, wisdom is.

Experience and knowledge are its sources. As are the heart and intuition. Emotion has a role, once understood and disciplined. I have come to see that even the esteemed in truth and nonviolence, though way out ahead in certain areas of human insight and action, have parts that are unwise and weak. Life is really complex. Gandhi, King, Tolstoy could not overcome every aspect of insight to be wise in all things.

I want to share two sources from which I would have summarized on this blog, were it possible. The May 6th issue of the New York Times Magazine's cover article is "Can Science Tell Us Who Grows Wiser?" The basis is psychology and its use of scientific measurement. While frustration is the result of all the efforts over the last thirty years, many insights emerge. "There is a yin-yang to wisdom that makes it difficult to pin down. Wisdom is founded upon knowledge but shaped by uncertainty. Action is important but so is judicious inaction. Emotion is central, yet detachment is essential."

On the other side of learning is observation and experience without measurement. At one of the Quaker Meeting Houses on the Walk I came across Bede Griffiths Universal Wisdom--A Journey Through the Sacred Wisdom of the World. The introduction is an excellent overview. As Griffiths quotes Judith Miller, Vedas..."show that vedic seers sought to transcend conventional religion and discovers hidden source of religion in the divine mind."

These two approaches to wisdom are what Thomas Merton persuded to address the "crisis of the West" (now the East too) and gave body and soul to my search.

In the words of the New York Times article, "As Gandhi (who topped the leader board a few years ago in a survey in which college students were asked to name wise people) put it, 'It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom.'"

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