"When wisdom is functioning in our life, it has the effect of enabling
us to overcome the ingrained perspectives of our habitual thinking and
arrive at a fresh and holistic view of a given situation. We are able to
make a broad assessment of the facts, perceive the essence of an issue
and steer a sure course toward happiness. Wisdom dispels our delusions
of separateness and awakens in us a sense of empathetic equality with
all living things."
A Buddha is characterized as a person of profound wisdom. The idea of
wisdom is core to Buddhism. But wisdom can be a vague and elusive
concept, hard to define and harder to find. How does one become wise? Is
wisdom something that we can actively develop, or must we merely wait
to grow wiser as we grow older? Perhaps it is because wisdom is such an
indistinct concept that it has lost value as a relevant ideal in modern
society, which has instead come to place great store in information and
the attainment of knowledge.
Josei Toda, second president of the Soka Gakkai, characterized the
confusion between knowledge and wisdom as one of the major failings of
modern society.
His critique is starkly demonstrated in the astonishing progress of
technology in the last century. While scientific and technological
development has shown only a mixed record of alleviating human
suffering, it has triumphed remarkably in its ability and efficiency in
unleashing death and destruction.
Toda likened the relationship between knowledge and wisdom to that
between a pump and water. A pump that does not bring forth water
(knowledge without wisdom) is of little use.
This is not to deny the importance of knowledge. But knowledge can be
utilized to generate both extreme destructiveness and profound good.
Wisdom is that which directs knowledge toward good--toward the creation of value.
Buddhist teachings, such as the concept of the five kinds of wisdom,
describe and analyze in detail the dynamics of wisdom and how it
manifests at different levels of our consciousness.
When wisdom is functioning in our life, it has the effect of enabling
us to overcome the ingrained perspectives of our habitual thinking and
arrive at a fresh and holistic view of a given situation. We are able to
make a broad assessment of the facts, perceive the essence of an issue
and steer a sure course toward happiness.
Buddhism also likens wisdom to a clear mirror that perfectly reflects
reality as it is. What is reflected in this mirror of wisdom is the
interrelatedness and interdependence of our life with all other life.
This wisdom dispels our delusions of separateness and awakens in us a
sense of empathetic equality with all living things.
The term "Buddha" describes a person who freely manifests this
inherent wisdom. And what causes this wisdom to well forth in our lives
is compassion.
Buddhism sees the universe, and life itself, as an embodiment of
compassion--the interweaving of the "threads" of interdependent
phenomena, giving rise to and nurturing life in all its wonderful and
varied manifestations.
It teaches that the purpose of human life is to be an active
participant in the compassionate workings of the universe, enriching and
enhancing life's creative dynamism.
Therefore, it is when we act with compassion that our life is brought
into accord with the universal life force and we manifest our inherent
wisdom. The action of encouraging and sharing hope with others awakens
us to a larger, freer identity beyond the narrow confines of our ego.
Wisdom and compassion are thus inseparable.
Central to Buddhist practice is self-mastery, the effort to "become
the master of one's mind." This idea implies that the more profoundly we
strive to develop an altruistic spirit, the more the wisdom of the
Buddha is aroused within us and the more powerfully we can, in turn,
direct all things--our knowledge, our talents and the unique
particularities of our character--to the end of creating happiness for
ourselves and others.
Speaking at Tribhuvan University in Nepal in 1995, SGI President
Daisaku Ikeda commented, "To be master of one's mind means to cultivate
the wisdom that resides in the inner recesses of our lives, and which
wells forth in inexhaustible profusion only when we are moved by a
compassionate determination to serve humankind, to serve people."
If human history is to change and be redirected from division and
conflict toward peace and an underlying ethic of respect for the
sanctity of all life, it is human beings themselves who must change. The
Buddhist understanding of compassionate wisdom can serve as a powerful
basis for such a transformation.
Source: http://www.sgi.org/buddhism/buddhist-concepts/wisdom.html
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