Wisdom, Not Intelligence, is our Pressing Need

Kuruttinai Neekum Guruvinai Kolvaar,

Kuruttinai Neekaa Guruvinai Kollaar,

Kurudum Kurudum Kuruttaatam Aadi,

Kurudum Kurudum Kuzhi Vizhumaare.

Seek a guide who cures the blindness,

Following a guide who is unable to cure the blindness,

The blind and the blind, dancing the dance of the blind,

The blind and the blind, fall into a ditch.

(An Ancient Tamil poem by Thirumoolar, possibly ~6 - 7th century CE)

We are indeed in a puzzling age and time.

Unprecedented abilities to connect with each other across borders and cultures, yet the fire of hate and strife grow and grow, burning hearts, minds and innocent lives.

Unprecedented technological development, yet with its intentions veiled in falsehoods, focused on generating profits for the few instead of making lives better for the society.

An age where falsehoods reign supreme, with the light of truth breaking in here and there.

For us Millennials and Gen-Z’s who need to live through this era, we need a way to make sense of things, and decide the direction and path to tread.

The guidebooks from our parents from the Boomer and Gen-X generations don’t quite work anymore. Our parents were born in the times of poverty and scarcity, where the ethics and values of hard work and persistence were most important, generating wealth for a secure and stable future for us, was their key focus.

Yes, securing and providing for our families’ futures is as important as ever, just as it is and has been for every living being ever born that cares for its family and young. Yet, it is no longer enough to survive, we want to thrive. We want to thrive with meaning, with joy, with purpose.

My views are, we need to reach back to the wisdom of our ancients to guide us through these bewildering times. We need to reach out to the wisdom from nature, just as our ancients have done.

What Really Matters to us?

A very personal question, but we must spend time ruminating over it and anchoring ourselves in it.

This is indeed a very noisy age thanks to social media, where we are exposed to lots of thoughts, desires, emotions of various types, good and bad. Are our desires and ambitions truly our own, or that of others? Are the thoughts and emotions we’re occupied with our own?

Are we living in the present, or constantly pining for something in the future?

What is that is not allowing us to enjoy the here and now? How can we release that?

What is the purpose of Education and Knowledge?

Yes earning a living is important, but is that all there is to education? What about the sense of wonder, revelling in the mysterious and marvellous nature of the world and universe, the building of character, grounding our foundations in values that matter?

What is the real reason for us to seek education?

It is time to go back to our ancient roots in terms of the purpose of education, both for children and for ourselves.

We constantly learn, not for the sake of just making money & our careers, but also for the joy of learning. Knowledge is an essential part of us, of being human, of being alive.

Knowledge (and money) in the hands of one without wisdom can be extremely dangerous for themselves and the world - we see this lesson playing out again and again.

The Sense of Identity

My view is that our sense of identity is artificial, human-made & ultimately unreal. When we think of who we are, we think of our name, our personality, our work, our body, ethnicity, language(s), beliefs, religion, nationalities, etc - all of which are made up. All of these are temporary.

Yes we need it to function in society, but it is not static & changes over time. But unfortunately our sense of identity causes great suffering in this world. These temporary, made-up identities are the cause of division, strife, hateful feelings, war, injustice, crimes…

We can only hurt another when we feel it is different from us.

Nature functions perfectly well without this sense of identity. Trees in a forest support each other by sending nutrients to suffering trees through their network of roots. No agenda, no motives, no expectations, it is just what they do.

Ultimately we are all connected to each other whether we see it in a material way or a mystical way. We are part of each other. We are part of nature. It is time for us to wake up to this truth.