Now for a look at the wisdom part. What exactly is wisdom? Well, you can slice this pie a thousand ways. And slice it again and again but for our purposes we shall define wisdom as the best use of available knowledge.
Vague? Yep.
But it boils down to specifics. Context specific. Another paradox perhaps? Let's take a look. How do we know we have made the best use of the available knowledge? Well the only way to know with certainty is to look at the results. What did the application of this knowledge produce? How can we know if it best? How about the effect of the process used to transform this knowledge into a specific and desirable result? Does the process also have to be wise?
What about the source of the knowledge itself? Reason? Science? Intuition? Experience? Revelations? Insights? All are potential sources of wisdom. The key element is in the application of knowledge. Does it lead to value creation for self and others? Of course all this really means is that wisdom itself is paradoxical.
So lets get practical. If it is to be called wisdom it must create value in the context in which the knowledge is applied. That's simple enough. That is until we consider what is meant by value. Then its not so clear. Value is at the core of what wisdom is really about.
Value is the worth and usefulness of a thing or outcome. So, in this blog wisdom will be defined as the application of knowledge the produces the best results, where best is defined as the highest valued outcome for both the applicant of the knowledge and for those who are affected by it.
Last thing to consider is that value itself has a time value. What this means is that we can act with wisdom and produce wise results but long term consequence may not stand the test of time. Hmmm, yet another paradox.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Is it really better to give than receive???
In turbulent and volatile times like these, the question of giving becomes more interesting. Why? Well, first and foremost uncertainty and loss tends to make most of us hoard or at least withhold our largess. Millions of years of cyclic famine and pestilence have given us a seemingly natural predisposition to holding on to what we got when times get rough.
Not enough to go around. Or at least a problem in distribution. Either way it is the uncertainty that makes most of us draw back. So on to one of the most curious and powerful paradoxes of our age. In times of uncertainty is it still wise to give generously? It depends of course on what you believe is true about human life.
The central question is what or who is the source of your supply? The source of your wealth? The source of your food? Who do you think it is? The government? Your job? Your parents? God?
The answer to this question determines in large measure your willingness to give.
Each is a channel from which your supply is provided but are they the source? Would you be able to provide for all your needs without these channels? One important question is the idea of responsibility. Not as burden, duty or obligation but as "I am response abled." In a sense it means if its to be its up to me. I am free to choose what I want, what I am willing to do and be to have it. I don't blame. I don't make excuses. I just forge ahead with the determination and commitment to produce.
This is a version of the rugged individualism that characterized the American spirit. It is since been eroded and replaced by notions that someone else is responsible for your life and well being. In most cases this is either the Government or the cosmic vending machine which delivers our needs based on needs, or rights or demands, or prayers. The problem with this mindset is that we no longer are in charge of our life. We have given it to an entity (a substitute parent perhaps?) and said "here, take my life and my freedom. You will provide for all my survival needs. In exchange I will give up the idea of self-responsibility and submit to your authority."
Of course it feels good to have our so called "burdens" lifted. But the real price we pay is the loss of our authenticity and integrity. Most of us do not realize we paid this price until we have boiled slowly for many years in a pot of frogs and fears. By the time we start to notice what we have done, we lack the will or courage to act any differently. So we find ourselves further and further from our authentic self, living in a state of separation. This is the great sin against ourselves and our uniqueness.
And this is why we do the thing we don't want to do, when the thing we want to do we don't do. It is this separation from our true identity in exchange for a false sense of security.
So, back to the question, "Is is better to give than receive?"
Well it depends. Each circumstance will reveal what is true over time. Paradoxical wisdom maintains the idea that in spite of fear, uncertainty and doubt it is better to give then receive. What do you think?
Not enough to go around. Or at least a problem in distribution. Either way it is the uncertainty that makes most of us draw back. So on to one of the most curious and powerful paradoxes of our age. In times of uncertainty is it still wise to give generously? It depends of course on what you believe is true about human life.
The central question is what or who is the source of your supply? The source of your wealth? The source of your food? Who do you think it is? The government? Your job? Your parents? God?
The answer to this question determines in large measure your willingness to give.
Each is a channel from which your supply is provided but are they the source? Would you be able to provide for all your needs without these channels? One important question is the idea of responsibility. Not as burden, duty or obligation but as "I am response abled." In a sense it means if its to be its up to me. I am free to choose what I want, what I am willing to do and be to have it. I don't blame. I don't make excuses. I just forge ahead with the determination and commitment to produce.
This is a version of the rugged individualism that characterized the American spirit. It is since been eroded and replaced by notions that someone else is responsible for your life and well being. In most cases this is either the Government or the cosmic vending machine which delivers our needs based on needs, or rights or demands, or prayers. The problem with this mindset is that we no longer are in charge of our life. We have given it to an entity (a substitute parent perhaps?) and said "here, take my life and my freedom. You will provide for all my survival needs. In exchange I will give up the idea of self-responsibility and submit to your authority."
Of course it feels good to have our so called "burdens" lifted. But the real price we pay is the loss of our authenticity and integrity. Most of us do not realize we paid this price until we have boiled slowly for many years in a pot of frogs and fears. By the time we start to notice what we have done, we lack the will or courage to act any differently. So we find ourselves further and further from our authentic self, living in a state of separation. This is the great sin against ourselves and our uniqueness.
And this is why we do the thing we don't want to do, when the thing we want to do we don't do. It is this separation from our true identity in exchange for a false sense of security.
So, back to the question, "Is is better to give than receive?"
Well it depends. Each circumstance will reveal what is true over time. Paradoxical wisdom maintains the idea that in spite of fear, uncertainty and doubt it is better to give then receive. What do you think?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Practical Matters
Like any idea that doesn't conveniently fit with our normal expectations, a few bookkeeping items will help us to appreciate the extraordinary nature of paradoxes.
Numero uno is the definition of the word. Paradox...sounds like a pair of docs, which is another paradox I will share with you in a future post. Paradoxes come in different flavors.
The version that is most valuable for our purposes is a statement of conclusion that seems self-contradictory or absurd but is really true.
Many spiritual adages are constructed this way. "The more you know the less you know, " It is better to give than receive." Of course the proof is in the pudding as they say. Your own life experience will inform you. This is the great lesson of maturity, to see for yourself the wisdom which arises from living the paradox. It transcends our conditioning, both mental and physical through the realization of its living truth.
The next version of paradox is a statement of conclusion that despite a valid argument and valid premises leads to a nonsensical conclusion. One of the most famous is called Zeno's Paradox of Motion. In this story an arrow is fired from point A to point B but it never arrives. Why? Well, according to Zeno the arrow at any instant cannot reach point B because prior to getting to halfway to point B, you must get halfway to halfway to getting to point B. And so on...ad infinitum. Of course Zeno was unwilling to have the arrow fired his way.
And the last version is a statement in which no truth value can be assigned. An example of this kind of paradox is;
1. This statement is false.
2a. Suppose 1 is true.
Contradiction: If it’s true that it’s false then it isn’t false.
Our focus is on paradoxes of the first kind and the opportunities for a wise awakening.
Numero uno is the definition of the word. Paradox...sounds like a pair of docs, which is another paradox I will share with you in a future post. Paradoxes come in different flavors.
The version that is most valuable for our purposes is a statement of conclusion that seems self-contradictory or absurd but is really true.
Many spiritual adages are constructed this way. "The more you know the less you know, " It is better to give than receive." Of course the proof is in the pudding as they say. Your own life experience will inform you. This is the great lesson of maturity, to see for yourself the wisdom which arises from living the paradox. It transcends our conditioning, both mental and physical through the realization of its living truth.
The next version of paradox is a statement of conclusion that despite a valid argument and valid premises leads to a nonsensical conclusion. One of the most famous is called Zeno's Paradox of Motion. In this story an arrow is fired from point A to point B but it never arrives. Why? Well, according to Zeno the arrow at any instant cannot reach point B because prior to getting to halfway to point B, you must get halfway to halfway to getting to point B. And so on...ad infinitum. Of course Zeno was unwilling to have the arrow fired his way.
And the last version is a statement in which no truth value can be assigned. An example of this kind of paradox is;
1. This statement is false.
2a. Suppose 1 is true.
Contradiction: If it’s true that it’s false then it isn’t false.
Our focus is on paradoxes of the first kind and the opportunities for a wise awakening.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Welcome to the edge of reality
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” Albert Einstein
Common sense sounds like practical wisdom. Its not. Its more about what we assume is true than what is actually so. Mark Twain observed the problem with most of us is that we know to much that isn't so.
And so it is with what we think of as common sense. It tells us more about our prejudices than our authentic understanding of reality. Consensus, convention and common understanding provide a framework for agreement but preclude us from looking beyond the boundaries created by these social contracts.
So how about a little fun with reality?
No, I'm not asking you to engage in mind altering behaviors. Well, actually I am. It won't require drugs, alcohol or drumming. Only the willingness to enter the world of paradoxes and stand on the end what you think is true.
A willingness to oppose so called common sense. But only for a moment. Just long enough to sit in the unknown and experience what it feels like to not know. To live with the energy of the unknown. But only for a moment. A benign suspension of the idea we actually know what we are talking about. I know, I know...you are really smart. You really do know. But in the paradoxical path of wisdom this proclivity to fill in the blanks is anathema to the larger understanding of reality.
What I am suggesting is that paradoxes are potential gateways between the physical and the metaphysical....between heaven and earth. A portal that can connect us with deeper levels of understanding and provide us with a new understanding of common sense. A paradoxical wisdom.
The edge of reality is found in paradox. Come to the edge...and fly.
Common sense sounds like practical wisdom. Its not. Its more about what we assume is true than what is actually so. Mark Twain observed the problem with most of us is that we know to much that isn't so.
And so it is with what we think of as common sense. It tells us more about our prejudices than our authentic understanding of reality. Consensus, convention and common understanding provide a framework for agreement but preclude us from looking beyond the boundaries created by these social contracts.
So how about a little fun with reality?
No, I'm not asking you to engage in mind altering behaviors. Well, actually I am. It won't require drugs, alcohol or drumming. Only the willingness to enter the world of paradoxes and stand on the end what you think is true.
A willingness to oppose so called common sense. But only for a moment. Just long enough to sit in the unknown and experience what it feels like to not know. To live with the energy of the unknown. But only for a moment. A benign suspension of the idea we actually know what we are talking about. I know, I know...you are really smart. You really do know. But in the paradoxical path of wisdom this proclivity to fill in the blanks is anathema to the larger understanding of reality.
What I am suggesting is that paradoxes are potential gateways between the physical and the metaphysical....between heaven and earth. A portal that can connect us with deeper levels of understanding and provide us with a new understanding of common sense. A paradoxical wisdom.
The edge of reality is found in paradox. Come to the edge...and fly.
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