Challenging Western Culture: Knowing

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What we know translates into many different aspects.
All related yet not the same:

BELIEF
TRUTH
WISDOM

Beliefs are related to experiences and biases. But beliefs are not always TRUTH.
And TRUTH is not always ABSOLUTE! What is true for some people is not true for all.

Summer is the hottest season of the year...TRUE! But not for everybody!

What we know is knowledge and this is portrayed externally, while WISDOM is internal. KNOWLEDGE results in pride and barriers in relating to others. If I know something that someone else does not know, they may be interested in what I know. If I can garden and plant, there may be friends who want to learn from me. But if they are not interested in what I know, then they will be divided from me if I keep trying to talk with them or teach gardening skills. Knowledge can result in barriers or cohesion, depending. Presentation of knowledge can lead to pride. It is often paired with worth, success, and money.

Mr. Chaz, the sanitation man, comes to pick up my trash cans. I wave to him and yell "hi!" over the loud truck. He yells back what I perceive as "hi!" with a smile. Mr. Kim and Mrs. Kim are physicians from Korea. They immigrated and had a son named Jon Kim. Jon and I are friends. His parents receive different reactions at the local party at the Cultural Arts Center from the reactions to Mr. Chaz. The Kim doctors are praised and honored, while Mr. Chaz is respected, yet not revered as highly.

Mr. Chaz has knowledge different from that of the Kim doctors. He had to do schooling and courses to learn his profession. Without him, my waste would overflow, OR I would need to result to creating a burning pit to dispose of my weekly trash.

Is Mr. Chaz not as important as the Kim doctors?

The knowledge separates them. Doctors are viewed as more important than trash disposers.

But knowledge is different from wisdom.

Wisdom is internal. You do not need to flaunt wisdom. Wisdom does not involve pride. Wisdom comes from experience. Wisdom comes from your own personal truth. What you have learned to be truth in your own life.

Mr. Chaz may have more wisdom that then Kim doctors, or vice versa. This depends. And it also does not usually matter as much in Western culture. Western culture seems more focused on knowledge than on wisdom.

Knowledge is relative to a situation. If you are in a crash, you may need the help of the Kims. If the sanitation industry in your city strikes, you will call up Mr. Chaz! "Please, tell me what to do with my trash! It is over flowing. How can I easily and legally get rid of this stuff?"

Wisdom allows you to discern across different situations. To apply experience and knowledge and truth to result in the best possible outcome for yourself and others.

This is my personal take on the writings of Osho. See www.osho.tv