Wisdom: tips and tricks

I've always been a sucker for a good aphorism: a short  snippet of wisdom from one of the world's great traditions. The ancient Greeks—clever clogs as they were—had two words for wisdom: sophia and phronesis; sophia being wisdom in general, sometimes "transcendent" wisdom, and phronesis being practical wisdom, how to apply wisdom in your everyday life. When the philosophers spoke of the four cardinal virtues— wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice—wisdom there is phronesis. This kind of wisdom is not about being clever or about how much you know about stuff; it's how to live your best life.

Being a philosopher (philosophy being the love of wisdom, or perhaps the wisdom of love) I'm a fan. So here's a few tips and tricks.

Tips and tricks 1. Find a good source of wisdom and stick with it for a while. Though all the great traditions have their differing emphases, at the core you will find a great similarity. Wisdom is wisdom, whatever the source. My current favorites are: 

The Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), the ancient Chinese text attributed to Laozi. The most helpful I have found to be Stephen Mitchell's version. 

The sayings of Jesus (not the stories about, but the sayings of). You can unearth Jesus' wisdom from the New Testament gospels or find a version that is Jesus' sayings only. My favorite of these is The Lost Gospel Q (Marcus Borg, Consulting Editor). Scholars tell us that Q (a lost text, but pieced together from a careful study of Mathew and Luke who used it) is likely the closest we can get to the original teaching (wisdom) of Jesus. If you like Jesus, Q will help you see Jesus in a whole new light.

The Analects of Confucius (any version). More ancient Chinese wisdom. "Confucius says ..."

The Bhagavad Gita (any version). Wisdom from India.

You will find wisdom in other traditions: Jewish, Islamic, Stoic, Indigenous to name but a few. Find a tradition that speaks to you and stay with it for a while and allow it to sink in to do its transformative work.

Tips and tricks 2. Explore meaningful ways to use the wisdom texts. Here's a few to try:

Pick a short saying in the morning and stay with it during the day, returning to it when you think on.

Pick a saying, sit with it for a while and write a journal entry. It's surprising what comes out.

If you meditate, pick a short saying and use it as a mantra, either speaking the saying aloud or else rehearsing it in your mind.

When you are in bed, just before sleep, pick a saying and hold it in your mind. You might fall asleep quickly, or else go down the rabbit hole for a while. It doesn't matter which.

Tips and tricks 3. Whatever you discover keep to yourself! No one likes a know all, the worst of which tries to convince you of their stuff. Let the wisdom of the ancients change you on the inside and then in practical ways in your day to day life. Demonstrate the wisdom by who you are and what you do, not by what you say about it.

Having said that I should be quiet!

Peace and all Good today,

+Andy