WhatsApp wisdoms can be soppy at times, but I believe that the challenges of our immediate past have made people wiser, deeper and more reflective.
One such a wisdom by a certain Osho stopped me in my tracks:
“No society wants you to become wise, it is against the investment of all societies. If people are wise they cannot be exploited. If they are intelligent they cannot be subjugated, they cannot be forced in a mechanical life, to live like robots… They will have the fragrance of rebellion around them.
In fact, a wise man is afire, alive, aflame. He would like rather to die than to be enslaved.”
What resonated with me in this random quote, is that now, more than ever before, we need to acquire wisdom to survive. Not only to survive, but to equip ourselves for meaningful relationships and a life of value.
A young man who grew up in poverty but chose to train and develop himself, became an enterprising investment banker. When asked to write a book sharing his success recipe, he replied that wisdom could not be shared.
“Yes, I can share what worked for me, but until you discover these truths for yourself, it would only be words. One has to live life to learn from it,” he told the media.
We are all caught up in a culture of “not enough”. Not enough time, not enough money, not enough job satisfaction – the list goes on. Buying a new car or computer today, might make us happy for a while, but in no time the pleasure wears off or technology demands that we need to update to stay on top of our game.
Wisdom, this unique human commodity, is something we can never get enough of – there is always more to know. But there is a difference – sharing it, does not make it diminish. When you share wisdom with a colleague or a friend, both have it and it somehow lights a flame of wanting more of it. Making you afire, alive, aflame.
In our next blog I would like to explore the makings of true wisdom.
