Wisdom...

Wisdom does not emanate from thought or belief. It emanates from the direct seeing of reality the way it really is. When life is filtered through the story of “me,” reality is not being directly experienced in that way. It is being processed through a self-centered story. When that filter is happening, thoughts, experiences, states, emotions and circumstances are interpreted in terms of what they mean for the central figure “me.”

Even knowledge is usurped by this story. Knowledge, in the way it is being used here, means conceptual knowledge. Reality is being interpreted through a set of stored files (i.e., learned concepts). Once there is identification with those concepts, the “me” is born. It’s all about being right. That is not wisdom.

Wisdom arises naturally from awareness. In seeing this identification with concepts, the desire to be right loosens its grip. Wisdom is seeing the ways in which there is a sense of self invested in learned concepts. There is nothing to do to cultivate wisdom. Doing comes from the mind. There can only be a present seeing of what is already arising. What is already arising is identification with these learned concepts, including concepts about spirituality, religion, politics, philosophy, and various world views. That seeing is wisdom. It allows the seeing through of this false sense of self invested in ideas.



Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment