Wisdom

“… Is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”.

Wisdom is a personality possession that one gains over a lifetime of experience. Philosophers, psychologists, spiritual leaders, poets, novelists, life coaches, and a variety of other important thinkers have tried to understand the concept of it. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions (the "passions") so that universal principles, values, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one's actions (Wikipedia. 2013). It is a possession that is bestowed upon a person, rather than one that the person recognizes on his or her own. It comes from all races, all gender, with no distinction from a young seven year-old boy to a centenarian. Many yearned for it, yet few were fortunate ones who found it. Moreover, wisdom is as vital as life is. Many foolishly claim to have it but the history has stated the truth. Wisdom can be defined in several ways; the virtue to discern what is true or right, the use of knowledge, and as the Divine Intervention. Although many different viewpoints regarding this matter arise, the essence of wisdom still reflects a definite idea of goodness.

The virtue of wisdom “provides guidance in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 4:10-19). This idea of wisdom is the exact opposite of autonomy and arrogance.  Buddhist scriptures teach that a wise person is endowed with good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct, and good mental conduct. A wise person does actions that are unpleasant to do but give good results, and doesn’t do actions that are pleasant to do but give bad results .Wisdom is the antidote to the self-chosen poison of ignorance.

Wisdom is the righteous use of knowledge. At present, humanity has vast amounts of knowledge, but still very little wisdom. Practically, an engineer who knows the concept of beams, foundations, and soil mechanics and builds a building on top of a landfill has knowledge. On the other hand, an engineer who refuses to build such dangerous structure alongside the seashore may not be knowledgeable, but surely he has wisdom. Being wise is the ability to conduct daily activities in accordance to what the conscience complies to do.

The concept of wisdom also lingers in the realm of the Divine Intervention, the Omnipotent God. The bible states of several men who were bestowed by this blessing, one of those fortunate was Solomon. He was humble enough to wish for wisdom rather than longevity or riches and because of that, he was renowned up to this day. According to the story, two women came upon his court for they were quarreling about the ownership of the offspring. The first woman claims that the other woman’s child was already dead. The other claims she stole it in her sleep. King Solomon ordered to cut the baby into half but the real mothers refused and allow the other woman to have it. Finally, Solomon gave the child to the one who was shown worthy enough to be a mother. Such wise decisions can only be attributed to the Giver of Wisdom, the Almighty God.

Wisdom can be characterized as a virtue of the capability in doing what is right, the application of knowledge, or as a bestowment from God. Amidst the many definitions and origin of it, wisdom still points out to a single concept of righteousness and goodness. Only the one who understand what it really is to be morally upright, virtuous and God-fearing makes for a truly wise person.