Reflection

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.”           Lao-Tzu

“all that we need to know
all the wisdom of the cosmos
we will find in our own heart”          Mother Teresa

     “it is important to consider the deep underlying similarities that unite schools (of wisdom) even across religious and philosophical traditions. An important unifying theme is that developing wisdom requires a radical transformation of lived experience, one that occurs in identifiable stages. ... both Tibetan Buddhism and Sufism require practitioners to overcome preconceived notions and expertise and return to a ‘beginner’s mind’. Only then can people enter on a path that will lead to wisdom, a path that is in many ways self-secret, because only the mind that is prepared can appreciate the teachings that advance one along that path.”

     Ferrari M, Potworowski G, eds. Teaching for Wisdom: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Fostering Wisdom. Heidelberg: Springer. 2008. 

     Take time - savor these words - chug-a-lugging a bottle of rare vintage wine misses the point. How often in my daily life do I "speed by" only to miss the point?

 

Words by Joseph Campbell, Music by Yo-Yo Ma