Wisdom is our goal, not knowledge. Knowledge is the realm of the mental body and the lower-self. Wisdom is the realm of the higher mind and the soul. Knowledge is important and it is an essential step into wisdom. However, understanding how to use knowledge for the highest good is true wisdom.
I recently read this passage from The Gnostic Gospel edited by Marvin Meyer and Willis Barnstone and I felt it was worth sharing. Keep in mind that in ancient times, wisdom was always the feminine aspect of Source. Feminine wisdom needs to balance the male action.
Marvin Meyer’s Discussion on Wisdom1
One of the earliest forms of exalted expression in the world of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern antiquity was wisdom. It can be both the product of experience and the gift of the gods. It is what the father teaches the son, the parent the child, the sage the student. Through wisdom and knowledge, people learn how to speak and act among family and friends and foes, in social encounters, in the political arena, on the street. Through wisdom and knowledge, people learn about the world and the ways of the world, and how to cope with it. Using the two together, people address the ultimate questions…
From the times of the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, wisdom and knowledge have been seen as keys to a good and successful life. So, in Egypt, an old sage, under the name of Ptahhotep, offers advice to his “son” with everyday observations and clever turns of speech.
“Do not let your heart be puffed up because of your knowledge. Do not be confident because you are wise. Take counsel with the ignorant as well as the wise. The full limits of skill cannot be attained, and there is no skilled person equipped to full advantage. Good speech is hidden more than the emerald, but it may be found with young women at the grindstones…If you are a leader commanding the affairs of the multitude, seek out for yourself every beneficial deed, until it may be that your own affairs are without wrong.”
1The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition (pp. 31-32). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.
Image by Karin Henseler from pixabay.com
This is a message I need to read over and over through this year of 2021.
No matter how far we think we have gone, we always have more to learn.