I have been thinking lately to myself on WHAT MAKES US WISE. ...Hence I came in contact with a statement from Confucius who once said that there were three ways to learn wisdom: "First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
Gaining wisdom, the most prized of virtues across almost all cultures, is an exercise in life learning, careful analysis, and thoughtful action.
To have wisdom, we must
Cultivate the mind of a beginner. Do you remember the first time you saw dinosaur bones at the museum? Or the first time you ate a really good peach? Your world expanded at that moment by a fraction and you became a little more wise.
The Buddhist concept of "beginner's mind" refers to the approach of a person just starting out, filled with the wonder of new learning, and being challenged anew by it. This is the receptive state of mind embraced by the wise. Rather than prejudging situations, learn to keep your mind open and tell yourself "I don't know what to expect," which will allow you to learn and gain wisdom. When you cease to have a fixed idea of people, things, and situations surrounding you, you grow in wisdom by soaking up changes, new ideas, and don't set any person above or beneath you.
Another remarkable way to become wise is to ask lots of questions. Learning doesn't stop just because you might have graduated from high school or college, or that you've got kids and have lots of experience you'd like to teach them. Even if you're a teacher at the highest level, or an expert in your field, you're not done learning.
A wise person questions their motivations, questions widely accepted knowledge, and learns to love asking questions in moments of ignorance, because a wise person knows when it is time to learn.
Anais Nin neatly summed up this need to continue learning: "Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death. " And we all want to live forever so an advice from me to you is get wise and live forever.
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