I have been hotly challenged on several philosophical forums by young whippersnappers regarding my claim that only age and experience brings on wisdom.
The immature challengers have fallen into the pseudo-intellectual trap of thinking that natural or book-learned smarts, in mechanics or the arts, embellished by a modicum of practical experience, equates with the holistic view of life and the ability to penetrate its enigmas that I am referring to when I talk about the wisdom that comes with sagehood.
I have been at pains to inform them that all they know only forms the fount from which wisdom is distilled; that only when the promise of death becomes a constant factor in the psyche, does the summation of all their life experiences bring on the enlightenment of true wisdom.
They have cried in response the age does not guarantee wisdom, which is true.
Naturally, there are degrees of wisdom attained by the elderly, but no natural smarts or any amount of book learning or practical experience can even begin to equate with the inner realizations that death brings to the table of even the most uneducated psyche.
Mercifully, for those elderly who have led ineffectual lives and have not learned to come to terms with themselves, senility sets in with age and screens them from dealing with the frightful aspect of the grim-reaper.
The blinders of religious Faiths, who's artificial Scriptures promise an after-life, have served to save many from confronting the finality of death head on. Though Faith may comfort the heart of the devout when one is in the cold Shadow, it does not keep enlightening the enquiring mind, and so religious dogma severely narrows the macroscopic view that the Cosmos really offers.
For those old-timers who manage to keep one eye open and embrace Death as a learned companion, the enlightening boon of sagehood arrives to keep the surprise of new discoveries eternally alive.
True sages are Seers with clear hindsight. Summation of the past places them squarely in the present, which in turns gives them endless visions of future possibilities.
Only when Time and Space are fused as a singularity, is wisdom evident.
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1 comment:
Though I can see where you are rattling the cage with your attitude toward younger people, which may be putting them off rather than bringing them in, you have an interesting take on age that one can hardly argue with unless one is older. At the same time if you haven't reached this area yet one can hardly imagine a different view than the one that one is saddled with. I myself am always amazed that the mystery of death is stilll a mystery. With all the belief in past lives and scientific research into this subject, we should have a greater understanding. Would like to see you follow more.
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