Value abounds in the words of every fool. Discernment distills wisdom from distraction.-- CG Walters
Agent of Wisdom
There is no unlikely agent of wisdom, only those we are least likely to recognize.
Let’s say I were the trickster god—Coyote or Loki—playfully exercising the awareness of a budding adept with a riddle. Or if I am the guardian at the gate of wisdom. Where do you imagine would be the best place for me to hide the words of the most profound insights of the Universe?
Wisdom abounds in the words of the biggest fool. However, to perceive such encoded insight, one often needs either to be wise, or merely to be the Universe’s intended receiver of the message.
Perhaps you might suggest I would hide the words on the lips of someone that you dislike intensely or have contempt for. Sure, if you were not actively pursuing wisdom that might work. From the face of this person that you were so preconditioned to hearing loathsome trifles, the trickster could slip across the vital information that you needed, and because of the source you might discount that truth without ever really hearing what was said. However, once someone is earnestly open to insight—and their perceptiveness keenly stimulated—Coyote could not be certain that you would not notice the variance between the standard content of the speaker and this ‘hidden’ wisdom.
Maybe we could try A drunkard or a lunatic. But That’s even easier to decipher. Over time, seekers have become used to the idea of the archetypal insight mixed in with the ravings of babblers. To be truly crafty in my hiding, Neither would I chance hiding the vital insight in the words of children, actions of nature, in a dream, or into art. People are often overanxious to read insight into these. Since such things are regularly scrutinized for importance, as Raven I would not use any of those—unless it was for the purpose of misdirection, to present useless information that would be erroneously assumed to have value.
Consider this quote from Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching, Verse 47):
There is no need to run outside for better seeing,
Nor to peer from a window.
Rather abide at the center of your being,
For the more you leave it, the less you learn.
Have you noticed a pattern in the possibilities suggested for places to hide the secret? That pattern shows our general expectation of the sources of wisdom, and therefore suggests the best possible hiding place. These suggested hiding places were all outside of ourselves!
One need not be wise to be the agent of wisdom.
Consider where you go to seek out answers for the majority of the most substantial quandaries of your own life. Now order a sequential list of those sources in your mind, going from the one most trusted to the least. Once you have completed your list, please tell me where you were on that list. Unfortunately, when the tough questions need answering, most of us have defined ourselves as an “unlikely agent of wisdom.”
As trickster, I would hide the most profound mysteries of the Universe—that which would most quickly bring an individual to enlightenment—on the lips of that very individual, in the middle of the most mundane chatter. I am often stunned by the insights offered by others, seemingly without their awareness of the value of what they have said. I have also been dumbfounded by what has just come out of my own mouth or pen (am I am referring to the positive surprises just now).
You must listen to learn. And when you speak, also listen.
If you are willing, you may be surprised by what you will learn.
Within you may be the teacher you seek. Surely, it is not the conscious mind, but then, that is more of a disguise than a definition of who you are.
2 comments:
I met a friend this night. Unexpectedly.Thanks for visiting me ! See you again ?
Surely we will meet on the path many times.
Many blessings to you and your dear ones,
CG
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