Wisdom
Wisdom is knowing how to do what you came here to do.
Aspects of Wisdom
"Wisdom is an experience, an experience of openness and recognition, an experience of being in contact with two realities simultaneously—the reality of your physical life in the world and the reality of your divine life, your spiritual life, which represents your intrinsic relationship with God and with all of God's messengers."
- GCS, p. 70
"Wisdom is not something that you possess alone. It represents a relationship—your relationship with the Greater Power in your life and with Creation itself. Wisdom must be able to guide and instruct you in areas which are beyond your understanding and capacity."
- GCS, p. 71
Expressions of Wisdom
"Learning to deal with the tangible world in a practical way and to open yourself to the mystery of your life, with reverence and humility, represents a new threshold in learning."
- GCS, p. 70
"[Discernment and discretion] require the willingness to be instructed, the willingness to learn, and the willingness to revise or unlearn things that have proven counter-productive for you. This requires ... that you hold in abeyance many of your needs--the need for recognition, the need for validation, the need to express yourself, the need to be accepted by others, the need to overcome your adversaries, the need to be unique or special and the need to have all of your wishes fulfilled. These needs must be overcome in order for you to have this greater presence of mind and security in life."
- GCS, p. 71
"Being in right relationship with your body, your mind, your being and the being of life itself, which is God, represents Wisdom."
- GCS, p. 72
Contrast with Knowledge
- Wisdom
- must be learned, a skill-set for being in the world, developed along the way
- Knowledge
- cannot be learned, already complete, intrinsic within oneself
See also
Further Study
Greater Community Spirituality (GCS), chapter 7: How Is Wisdom Achieved in Life?