Wisdom and Happiness

Information and knowledge are easy to come by, too easy. Just run a search engine on anything and you'll be over-whelmed. But how to make sense of it all? What does it really mean to you and your life? That requires Wisdom.

Wisdom is derived from a word “wise” which in turn came from a Latin word “videre” means ‘ to see ’. Thus, the word Wisdom is generally used to represent the ability to see:

· the cause of the activities happened in the past,

· the interrelation ships among the entities in the present and

· the consequences of the actions to be taken in the future

through appropriate applications of the knowledge and experiences gained in the past.

Wisdom shows itself as a perception of the relativity and relationships among things. It is an awareness of wholeness that does not lose sight of particularity or concreteness, or of the intricacies of interrelationships. It is where left and right brain comes together in a union of logic and poetry and sensation, and where self-awareness is no longer at odds with awareness of the otherness of the world. Wisdom cannot be confined to a specialized field, nor is it an academic discipline; it is the consciousness of wholeness and integrity that transcends both. Wisdom is complexity understood and relationships accepted.

Thus wisdom involves:

· seeing things clearly; seeing things as they are

· acting in prudent and effective ways

· acting with the well-being of the whole in mind

· deeply understanding the human/cosmic situation

· knowing when to act and when not to act

· being able to handle whatever arises with peace of mind and an effective, compassionate, holistic response

· being able to anticipate potential problems and avoid them

This world, is full of troubles of all kinds. Whether a king or a beggar, all are unhappy on account of the troubles in this world. Since the time when man came to acquire knowledge, this same condition has continued and man has since then continued to make efforts to reduce his troubles. Thus man, to save himself from the troubles he has to suffer from in summer, winter and the rainy season, began to build houses and invented arrows, swords, guns to keep him safe from the troubles caused by enemies. Similarly, he developed agriculture and arranged to dig wells for water etc. to save him from the trouble caused by hunger and thirst. But one has to admit with grief that in spite of continued efforts for such a long time, there has not been any worthwhile reduction in the troubles of the world. Wisdom, therefore, lies in making an effort to get release from the body and the mind. The release can not be attained by listening to lectures or by reading books. For this one has to develop the spiritual faculties, to control the actions of mind and body.