TO ME, any normal person’s level of wisdom is very much
dependent on his or her experiences in life. One learns from one’s experience.
Whether it is a good or bitter experience is immaterial; the important thing is
you emerge wiser.
From the time a child is born, he starts gathering experiences in accordance
to his growth and the environment he lives in. However, it’s only on reaching 40
years of age that a person will have wider knowledge, maturity and better mental
strength.
Some people seemingly have vast knowledge even before they turn 40 but a
thorough investigation will reveal that it is only after age 40 that they attain
some semblance of efficiency in their life and mental peace. Even the great
motivational guru, Napoleon Hill, acknowledged this fact in his masterpiece,
Think and Grow Rich.
Here is an example of how wisdom is gained through experience: Lee and Ram
are colleagues. One day, Ram confides in Lee that he has a jockey friend who can
provide them with tips for horse races.
Both go to the races one day, with
the expert tips in hand. They do their punting and start winning. They find
themselves on a winning streak. But over the ensuing months, they learn the hard
way that the tips don’t always work, resulting in them losing heavily.
But the thing here is tht Ram and Lee had to undergo the experience of
gambling in order to know that it is a bad habit.
As said by an enlightened master from India, G.P. Mahan (1900-1981):
“Sufferings are the ancestors of wisdom. Tolerance is the progeny of wisdom.
Pondering, research and experiences are the allies of wisdom.”
Let me explain: Prior to attaining wisdom, you will suffer the consequences
of your ignorance; but as you get wiser, you find yourself becoming happier
because you are able to put your wisdom into practice. And as your wisdom gets
deeper, you are better able to analyse all your experiences.
I would also like to share this real story with you. It’s called The 100th
Monkey Syndrome which actually happened on an island in Japan many years ago.
Some scientists had observed a group of monkeys which, after digging out
tapioca plants, washed them in a nearby stream and then ate them. Naturally, the
monkeys found the tapioca more edible after they were washed. Apparently, other
monkeys observed what was happening. Soon, about 100 monkeys were gathered at
the stream washing the tapioca before eating them.
But the amazing thing was that scientists on another island, hundreds of
miles away, also reported seeing monkeys washing tapioca before eating it. The
wisdom of the earlier group of monkeys had somehow been communicated to their
peers on the other island.
Wisdom moves in wonderous ways and it has the ability to perform, what we
perceive as, miracles.
We cannot be reinventing the wheel again and again. We
proceed from the knowledge and wisdom available to us and with that as a basis,
we develop further insights.
For example, in the early 1900s, the American Wright brothers successfully
experimented with their first manned flight in their plane, the Flyer, at Kitty
Hawk. Then, others started making more advances in flight technology. The
aircraft of today is a far cry from that first manned craft at Kitty Hawk.
Years of experiences and the wisdom acquired have passed on from generation
to generation and I refer to this as the ‘Wisdom of the Ages’. The wise will
profit from their forefathers’ experiences and go on to lead happy, healthy and
successful lives.
Let me remind you that formal education is only one stage in the process of
becoming a wise person. Wisdom cannot be had by having a string of degrees
behind your name on your calling card. Wisdom can only be accrued by going
through various experiences in your life.
Let me cite the following example to illustrate my point. During the 1960s,
President Nasser of Egypt wanted to build a dam in the Sahara Desert, so he
invited two foreign engineers to his country to study the implications of his
proposal.
While in Egypt, the engineers and their wives decided to go on a desert
safari one fine morning. Armed with food and drums of water, they proceeded in
their jeep, all dressed in shorts and sleeveless T-shirts.
As time passed and with the sun beating on them mercilessly, they found
themselves drinking more and more water. About half-way through the desert, they
found the heat so unbearable that the men took their T-shirts off. Suddenly they
ran out of water and their jeep stalled as there was no water in its
radiator.
They decided to walk and look for the nearest oasis. But one by one, they
perished. The next day, a search party found them all dead. Guess what is the
irony of all this?
The mostly uneducated Arab Bedouins safely criss-cross the desert daily on
camels armed with only a small container of water. How come the foreigners
failed even though they had a jeep and drums of water with them?
Well, the bedouin drapes himself with thick clothing, thus preventing the
sun’ s rays from touching his skin and causing evaporation of moisture. The
bedouin, through experience accumulated over the years, has the wisdom that
exposing skin in the desert is akin to committing suicide.
The engineers had university education but their book knowledge did not put
them in good stead that morning in the hot desert.
At the end of the day, it is wisdom that rules.
Guru Sitarasu is a reader whose contribution above on the subject of wisom
has been picked to win the prize.
