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Practice of Wisdom
Kishore (April 2004) There is so much wisdom in us. We are all smart. We are educated. But why do we suffer? Whenever I browse internet I find so much inspirational material. I visit library, I find tons of books written on self improvement and motivation. I go to a book store and I find so many books written on becoming enlightened. Spiritual books are also galore. Scriptures are numerous which talk at length about philosophy, spiritual practices. Despite all this material we are not happy. We are not satisfied with the hunger for wisdom and spirituality. We find confusion and misery within and around us. It is becoming more and more difficult task for us to stay on track of spiritual progress. I have been pondering about this for quite sometime. The following are some thoughts that crossed my mind. It is not how much we read or listen that matters, but how much we practice that matters. If you are hungry, it is not enough you read lot of books about how to cook delicious food. You cannot satisfy your hunger just by looking at pictures of delicious food. You need to prepare food and eat it. If you want to eat a special item, you need to spend hours cooking the item and then eat. If you want to get in shape by exercise, it is not enough you watch videos on exercise or read books on how to exercise. The same applies here. You cannot become spiritually enlightened if you just read. Swami Vivekananda said, if books contain all the wisdom, then libraries are saints. The wisdom is not in the word written. The wisdom is within us. Books help us to discover the wisdom within. We don't learn anything. We discover the knowledge within. By constantly practicing the wisdom we becomes experts at it. Get out of the rut. Get out of slumber. "Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached". I was reading another book called "Saints that moved the world". One of the saints in this book had same realization. It is not in reading books and engaging in debate that takes one towards spiritual enlightenment. It also does not happen sometime in future. This realization made him renounce everything and become a saint and transform his life in one moment. Hurdles to practice are in our minds and not outside. Excuses are in our minds and not outside. Where there is a will, there is a way. Summary This has been my constant effort to practice what I read and learn. After learning a new concept or thought, if I repeat the mistake, I feel bad. I do my best to put that into practice. I urge you to do the same. Related Articles |