Philosophy
“The wise man has the knowledge of all things, in so far as possible” ~ Aristotle.
Introduction
Aristotle, reckoned among the greatest Greek philosophers, devoted his life to searching for truth which to him was the highest knowledge to be attained through wisdom. Philosophers, Greek or Indian, right since ancient times, have devoted themselves to the search for truth. The implication is clear. Truth, per se, is not a unique entity, but is like a chameleon that changes its colours.
Philosophical Scrutiny
There has never been any universal truth in the world of science in human history except self-evident principles that require no wisdom to be applied in their recognition. Of these self evident truths, rationalists like Descartes have maintained that these truths are recognized as soon as they are brought to our cognition. For instance, it requires neither wisdom nor intelligence to cognize that a triangle is a three sided figure or even that a triangle is 180 degrees.
If that is the case, what meaning lies in the assertion that wisdom finds truth? The truth being referred to here then must be an altogether different kind of truth than 2+2=4. After all, the Greek philosophers and the Indian philosophers devoted their ageless wisdom in search of the truth. And did they find it? Most certainly, they did. Only, we, the lesser mortals devoted to sensory pleasures and the material world, fail to recognize or appreciate the truth they found through wisdom.
All philosophers can be said to be devoted to the enterprise of truth. Descartes was a rationalist, who arrived at the truth of Cogito Ergo Sum, or I think, therefore, I am. This self discovery for Descartes was indubitable because, as he maintained, “the more I think of I, the more certain I become of its existence which even an evil genius could not have put into my mind”. Let us not forget here that a philosopher is one who loves wisdom because, by its very definition, philosophy is the love of Wisdom. Therefore, we can argue that Newton dedicated himself to the love of wisdom when he discovered the law of gravitation, even as our own philosophers like Buddha, Gautam, Shankaracharya, and Kanad discovered their truths through their wisdom.
There now emerges a conundrum about truth. Is truth one or many? Is my truth different from your truth? Is the world of plurality a mirage? The wisdom of our holy sages contained in Upanishads answers this question beautifully. Our Upanishads claim, Ekam sat, Vipra Bahuda vadanti. This aphorism means: “That which exists is ONE; sages call it by various names.”
Yet, the quest for truth is a never-ending pursuit that has led to civilizational transformations, crusades, jihads, and burning at stake. For much of human history, the creation theory of Adam and Eve held as much sway as the geocentric theory of our world. These were truths patronized by the holy church. They could not be questioned because it was the Biblical truth believed to have descended directly from God. However, some brave and courageous men like Darwin and Copernicus questioned these truths. Hundreds of men before them were already sacrificed at the altar of truth for holding contrary beliefs. When these men brought the new truths before the world, they also simultaneously transformed the world. However, there is no guarantee that the truth brought out by these men will remain permanent and set in stone, and who could have said it better than wise Siddhartha, the Buddha, in as precise words as “The only constant in this world is change” or the wise Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus who claimed, “You cannot bathe in the same river twice.”
Wisdom and Intelligence
These incidents in human history clearly point out the unmistakable distinction between wisdom and intelligence. While intelligence will help us discover, invent or innovate, wisdom allows us to attain the consciousness of truth. The truths found through intelligence can be short-lived, but the truths found through wisdom are permanent.
If you are a great devotee to science or scientific truths, you may, in all likelihood, question the above assumptions. You may, for instance, want to know how truths established by science can ever be challenged. You only need to look at the progress of science, which has revised the truths a number of times in its journey. The Newtonian laws of motion perfectly explained our physical world till the time particle theory began to dominate the field of science. The laws of motion failed in their explanatory power when an altogether new world, the microscopic world, was opened to us. Similarly, our understanding of diseases underwent a paradigm shift when the discovery of germs and germs theory came to dominate the medical world.
We are constantly discovering new knowledge, and science is no doubt enriched by those, but they can never establish the truth for good, as we continue to hop from one truth to the next, and so on. Therefore, the wisdom of Lord Buddha can surely take us closer to the truth of the world of flux, the truth of constant change.
So, the adage wisdom finds truth can be seen to operate in our world like clockwork. The question then for us is what truth we want to find and how wisdom can help us discover the truth. In other words, this adage operates in the very personal and private lives of individuals. There are many things that we discover with our own wisdom, and sometimes what we learn has the status of grand truth. These adages are aptly expressed by wise poets and saints like Kabir and Rahim. Let us see few examples.
Rahim says, “Rahiman nij man ki bitha man hi rakho goy, sun ithlainhe log sab, banti na lainhe koi”. Rahim cautions us not to disclose our personal grief to others because people will not share our pain, rather, they will draw malicious pleasure out of it. This is the kind of worldly truth many of us discover through our wisdom. Similarly, Kabir states, “Mati kahe kumhar se, tu kya ronde moy, ek din aisa ayega, main rondungi toye”. This couplet, in a very simple and plain language, expounds a profound and undeniable truth. The truth of mortality, or impermanence of life, is well known but it requires wisdom to string this truth in a language that strikes an instant chord of awareness.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that wisdom finds the truth. The wise either discover the truth themselves, or realize the truth spoken by masters. The unwise, far from the truth, spend their days without self reflection and self-cogitation. One may be knowledgeable, may have mastered the encyclopaedia; but all of it amounts to nothing if one has not invested an iota of wisdom in searching the truth. With all our knowledge and learning, we are like robots fed with data that we churn out when needed and that really makes no difference to us. But when we apply our wisdom to find the truth of life, we are transformed individuals.
