Flux and Freedom: The Joy of Impermanence - Stephen Morris

Wisdom is alive and kicking, but it is not, nor has it ever been, commonplace. It is the priceless, liberating insight of the few, yet remains elusive to the many. An individual cannot gain it without searching for it, and few look for wisdom in the first place. Another reason wisdom remains hidden is because, in a sense, it is highly camouflaged and turns up precisely where we least expect to find it. As Socrates had a penchant for pointing out, wisdom is not necessarily where our society would lead us nor in the hands of ‘leaders’ who claim to possess it. Both he and Jesus taught that wisdom is more akin to humility than pride, that anyone who is interested in it is better off not being impressed with accolades or drawn to costumes.

Considered something of a misfit and a dreamer by many of his contemporaries, Henry David Thoreau was actually one of the most practical men who ever lived. He wrote in ‘Life without Principle’:

The title wise is, for the most part, falsely applied. How can one be a wise man, if he does not know any better how to live than other men? . . . Does Wisdom work in a treadmill? Or does she teach how to succeed by her example? Is there any such thing as wisdom not applied to life?¹

Wisdom recognizes itself to be incommunicable in words, so it does not talk much, and may not often be disclosed in discourse; but it can certainly be discerned in discipline, and detected in devotion. It is embodied in a life and modeled in a lifestyle, and often looks ridiculous.

The Sense of Freedom

As odd as it may appear when we encounter it, wisdom seems to go hand in hand with an exhilarating sense of fundamental freedom. Take, for example, the story of the meeting between the famous conqueror Alexander the Great and the lowly philosopher Diogenes. Alexander went to see Diogenes (which is already instructive — who is seeking out whom?). Alexander, who had virtually everything — power, lands, riches — seemed irritated that Diogenes, who had nothing, was laughingly exultant in his mind-boggling simplicity. So sure that there must be something Diogenes wanted, Alexander, standing over the reclining peasant, demanded to know what it was. ‘Just now, stand a bit away from the sun.’² It appears the emperor was blocking the sunlight in which the penniless philosopher happened to be happily basking at the moment.

1. Thoreau, Henry David, Walden and Other Writings, Bantam Books, New York, 1981, p.360.
2. See Crossan, John Dominic, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Harper, San Francisco, 1994, pp. 115-16.

© "The Theosophist" (September, 2003) published by The Theosophical Society, Adyar, Chennai 600 020. Website: www.ts-adyar.org. Reprinted with permission.

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