8-21-16

Whither Wisdom?

Wisdom is where you find it. We have the idea that there is something fixed about wisdom and, to be sure, there are some universally accepted components of it. Those components are shared over time and space, in many cultural contexts, and among those who subscribe to them. Having said that about the solid nature of wisdom, there is something to be said for those same cultural contexts and the people whose lives include versions of wisdom that make us think that wisdom is fluid. To the same extent, truth is fluid. I am not talking here about "truthiness," that concept hatched by politicians to explain dark motives. I am talking about components essential to personal and civic wholeness.

Because my concept of wisdom is fluid, I read and study and act with the intent to find wisdom wherever it may be found. Even the mouths of babes may be sources of wisdom. My reading this past week brought to my attention several aspects of wisdom. Gary Snyder's The Practice of the Wild: Essays by Gary Snyder mentions one source of wisdom.

"So the people of civilization read books. For some centuries the 'library' and the 'university' have been our repository of lore. In this huge old occidental culture our teaching elders are books. Books are our grandparents!
"Philosophy is thus a place-based exercise. It comes from the body and the heart and is checked against shared experience. ... We make a full circle in acknowledging that it is necessary to pay attention to the village elders and also to the wise elders of the Occident who have been miraculously preserved through the somewhat fragile institution of the library."

Anne Lamott picks up the theme in this passage from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

"Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die. They are full of all the things that you don't get in real life--wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. And quality of attention: we may notice amazing details during the course of a day but we rarely let ourselves stop and really pay attention. An author makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift. My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I'm grateful for it the way I'm grateful for the ocean. Aren't you? I ask."

 It goes without saying that one era's "wisdom" is another era's junk thought. I'm not sure that there is a thing we could call common wisdom. If there were, wouldn't we all be kind and loving and compassionate? Wisdom doesn't seem to be commonly recognized, but there is wisdom for all of us to find. Books may be one repository and deep relationships may be another. In a time of loud language noise and bombast, we seek the wisdom that conforms to what Gary Snyder and Anne Lamott describe--in books as one source.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the well known Vietnamese monk, has spent most of his life promoting the wisdom we can find in each one of us. He has been teaching about mindfulness as the practice that uncovers our innate wisdom. He says that we are all related to one another because we are human beings. He calls this Interbeing. The mindfulness trainings he teaches include one for nourishment and healing. In part it says:

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations."

His wisdom is a path open to all of us. We are all able to enlist our intention, attention, and mindfulness in ways that open up the path to wisdom, to the universal elements of life that make us healthy and whole. In the long run, most paths of wisdom lead to the relief of suffering--ours and others'. The threads of wisdom we can pick up can be used to patch the fabric of a life shattered or a frayed civic conversation. Books are certainly a durable source of wisdom, but our experiences with other human beings and with all the beings and things of the earth can also be sources of wisdom for us. Books are a metaphor for wisdom sources, but experiences are the basic lifeblood of our loving concern for one another. Being and doing are the poles of our daily lives.