When I was in primary school, one day my mother told me a story about a king who went to a wise sage for advice to save the day.
Until that time I had believed Kings and Queens are the most powerful beings so I asked mama, what makes a sage so powerful for which she replied, “Wisdom” – The realization of true wisdom makes them powerful and wise.
Being a very spiritual person, she told me to pray for wisdom every day, to seek and find it. It only left me more puzzled. Thus began my search for wisdom.
In this article, I am sharing with you my exposure to realization of true wisdom, what it is and baby steps to make it there.
In Search of True Wisdom – The 3 Crucial Concepts to Conquer
Let’s start with the basic question, What is Wisdom?
“The quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.”
In other words, it is like a bank of knowledge and learnings one has accumulated over the years which will help in dealing situations, choosing the right thing and making the world a better place.
The realization of true wisdom lies in the three crucial concepts that we are going to discuss below.
1. Realization of True Wisdom – Starts with YOU
The great philosopher, Socrates once said,
“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”
Surprise. The entire search for realization of true wisdom begins with Understanding Yourself. It is the easiest and the toughest part in itself. To understand wisdom, one needs to understand oneself.
Has it ever occurred to you why you behave the way you do, why do you get angry at some specific things, why certain things make you so happy, why you crave for certain types of people or connections?
Because you have been built that way from childhood. Our childhood experiences shape what we are. A child who was nourished with love and raised with boundaries shares love, respects others and values life.
Whatever your childhood experience has been, it makes the basis for your psychology, how you will behave etc.
“Your understanding of yourself holds the meaning of your life.”
So, how do we understand ourselves?
Life gives us a lot of opportunities to understand oneself but we are often lost in the pre built judgments and beliefs. We go on a default mode that’s where mindfulness comes into play.
Being mindful is being there at the moment, to feel what you feel, feeling the emotions and sensations within you and acknowledging it.
Here are few things that will help you to understand yourself:
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- Sit in silence and think about your behavioural responses when you face different situations.
- Know what triggers you.
- Think about the experiences from your childhood that you are scared of, happy for and proud of.
- Why do you like some people so much and hate some people?
- Observe your patterns, let your emotions free.
Understanding self is the big part of the puzzle. It took me 28 years to finally get a grasp of who I am and what’s my core because I started the work only recently.
It is never too late to start the process of understanding yourself. What matters is that you are taking a step forward because realization of true wisdom happens when we start to understand.
2. What is Life
This is a question that used to scare me. But it is not as scary as it may sound. Let’s break it down into the simplest bits.
The Britannica definition of life is,
“Life is defined as any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli.”
In other words, life is movement, life is evolution, life is a constant cycle changing from one thing to another like from a baby girl to an old woman.
We are living in different environments shaped by different beliefs just like what we have. But you can always know what you want and take control of your life by understanding yourself.
In short, your life is your perception. What you think it is, that’s how it is going to be. Based on our raising and core beliefs, we have a set of pre judgements towards life in general.
But realization of true wisdom happens beyond this when we are able to think beyond this level.
What can help you to understand life better?
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- When we begin to learn more and observe how people behave and how it impacts
- Incorporating more humane values and approaching with love. Love in simple words is freedom – to let go, to live free.
- One thing about understanding life is to experience it. We won’t know the comfort of a warm house unless we are exposed to the harsh winter. To value silence, we must know what noise is. This experience helps in achieving wisdom and to make the right choices.
There are so many models and theories throughout history about life. But the closest thing I found about the essence of life is,
“In order to write about life first you must live it.”
― Ernest Hemingway
When you start living, being aware of yourself and the environment, you will realize that you actually know very little about all this because you will be learning more from every experience.
It is in these moments, realization of true wisdom happens.
3. What Lies Ahead in the World
As for understanding the world, you have already finished most of this work by understanding and taking control of yourself and your life! Thus, setting our foot slowly on realization of true wisdom.
One of the best ways to understand the world is to “Observe”.
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- Observe everything around you.
- Get to know about the kind of people around you.
- Embrace mindfulness.
- Be aware of the happenings around you and choose wisely as to what to come in and what not.
Thus, with one step at a time you can understand Yourself, Life and the World around you and then realize that you know very little about this whole universe.
In this plethora of understandings and realizations, when you see life through the magnifying lens, amidst all this learning and chaos, you will find a light that shines bright pointing to a peaceful path. That light right there is the realization of true wisdom.
“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of facts within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity.”
― Calvin Coolidge
Conclusion
Thus, I took baby steps to understand myself, slowly taking control of my life and with the learnings, I am still learning to tread ahead. I am still a long way in my journey of realization of true wisdom.
I hope you find this path helpful to understand life and the world around you and within You.
Do you find this article useful? Did it spark a light anywhere as you read it?
All of us are somewhere in the road to realization of true wisdom, we can always lend a hand to each other to help out in what we are seeking.
If you are inspired by this article, please share with us in the comments below. Also tag a friend who has helped you in this path or even your story of enlightenment.
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