The Embodiment of Wisdom
Information is so readily available in the world right now. Using technology we can access a wealth of information online. This means we no longer have to rely upon experts to provide us with the information we need.
Yet receiving information is just the beginning. With so much data available at our fingertips, discernment becomes crucial. We must discern what information is right for us. We must select information with the intention to gain knowledge as the means to become more aware. With awareness, we begin to see the possibility for change.
It is easy to get stuck in the process of gaining information – not allowing the time to apply what we have learned. We may read about how to access our inner-wisdom through stillness, yet most of us find it easier to read about stillness than we do to actually experience stillness.
On the healing path, we can get stuck in the cultural mindset that we need to gain more knowledge, we haven’t done enough, or we need to become more spiritual. And I can tell you from personal experience that this mindset can become an obstacle to the embodiment of wisdom.
Gaining wisdom is simple, yet the embodiment of wisdom is the real journey. It isn’t until we begin to embody the wisdom that we experience any form of transformation. If the wisdom we have gained is to serve a real purpose, we need to apply it in the living of everyday life.
True embodiment of wisdom occurs in the moment to moment awareness of our direct experience. To live as a conscious being, we embrace the experience of our lives… as the wisdom.
Embodying wisdom is not something we do for thirty minutes twice a day, or when we can fit it in to our busy schedules. It is our commitment to meet life, 24 hours a day, consciously. It is our commitment to stay awake and to honestly witness how we relate in the world.
The embodiment of wisdom requires the acknowledgment of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. It is the acknowledgment of how the world participates in our lives, feeding us with a continual stream of information and experiences necessary for our individual evolvement.
When we look at the aspect of gaining knowledge from a higher perspective we see that our yearning for information reveals a different truth. Consciousness may be attempting to get our attention, to help us remember, to redirect us back to the true wisdom that resides within us.
Overtime the practice of embodying wisdom changes the way we relate in the world. The daily practice of a new way of being changes the neural pathways in our brains. We start to verbalize the new behavior, we make choices and take action in a new way. The more we understand these new behaviors, what we are doing and why, living consciously becomes easier.
Photograph by Sayan Nath
