FOOLISH WISDOM

“A fool is a man who believes he knows everything, a wise man is one who knows he knows nothing.”

What then divides the foolish from the wise? Is it the everything-nothing division or the difference between ‘believing’ and ‘knowing’ or perhaps, a bit of both?

The ‘everything’ is the realm of science – founded on the belief that knowledge is finite, that with persistence and perseverance, it is possible to know everything there may be to know. In fact, the best of scientists are working towards achieving the TOE – Theory of Everything. The framework that can explain everything in the known Universe and hopefully, accommodate the ‘unknown’ as it becomes the ‘known’.

The ‘nothing’ is the realm of philosophy – founded on the belief that knowledge is infinite, that no matter how much we are able to know, there will always be more that we do not know. The essence then of the philosopher is to understand ‘nothing’, to accept his own insignificance and pursue true wisdom with the knowledge that he may never quite reach it, no matter how far his progress.

The ‘everything’ has a ‘destination’; the ‘nothing’ has but a ‘journey’. Focus on a destination requires ‘believing’ for who could aspire to what he does not believe exists. Focus on a journey requires ‘knowing’ for who could learn from the road if he didn’t know where to look.

The wise are patient and pay attention to the details in their journey, not concerned with where they are being led. The foolish are impatient and their attention is claimed by the horizon, but who is to tell how far they might lead.

While the words ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’ imply that one is better than the other, the choice is not so simple. The Tarot deck gives the ‘fool’ his due – he does not know his limitations or acknowledge all the obstacles in his path, so he has the potential to overcome them with his belief and reach further than the ’wise’ who will notice all obstacles and perhaps, even allow his journey to move in another direction.

So, which is the path to choose? Is one better than the other?

Each has its challenges and rewards but in the end knowledge is not the province of one man but of mankind. The foolish and wise, both contribute to what we know and what we cannot know. We may choose to be wise or foolish but ignoring the ‘other’ leaves us incomplete.

IN THE END IS THE BEGINNING

Hindu philosophy divides time into ‘yugas’ – as one yuga comes to an end, another begins. For a beginning, an ending is necessary…so time is seen as a cycle. Related to this is the Physics rule – ‘what goes up must come down’. Again the motion is cyclic.

All of life can be seen as a cycle – night and day, death and birth, recession and growth, destruction and creation, war and peace….

If only we could take a step back and see the big picture as the Buddha does. Nothing disturbs him – if there is a ‘down’, he knows the ‘up’ is round the corner so he will not be depressed. If there is an ‘up’, he knows the’ down’ is coming up next, so he will not treat it as permanent either.

This is the impermanence of life. Always changing, always transforming. In every obstacle there is an opportunity. In every opportunity, there is an obstacle. The yin and yang co-exist. In fact, they do not exist without the other!

So, in every contradiction, there is reconciliation possible – if only we can try to see it. No ending is completely bad, no beginning completely good. Life is a cycle. In the beginning is the end, in the end the beginning.