Knowledge vs Wisdom

Very scarcely now-a-days do we every come across the word wisdom, yet knowledge is widely available.

Knowledge: According to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knowledge - Knowledge means:

1. acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition: knowledge of many things.
2. familiarity or conversance, as with a particular subject or branch of learning: A knowledge of accounting was necessary for the job.
3. acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight, experience, or report: a knowledge of human nature.
4. the fact or state of knowing; the perception of fact or truth; clear and certain mental apprehension.
5. awareness, as of a fact or circumstance: He had knowledge of her good fortune.
6. something that is or may be known; information: He sought knowledge of her activities.
7. the body of truths or facts accumulated in the course of time.
8. the sum of what is known: Knowledge of the true situation is limited.
9. Archaic . sexual intercourse. Compare carnal knowledge.
–adjective
10. creating, involving, using, or disseminating special knowledge or information: A computer expert can always find a good job in the knowledge industry.
—Idiom
11. to one's knowledge, according to the information available to one: To my knowledge he hasn't been here before.

Wisdom: according to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wisdom - Wisdom Means:

1. the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
2. scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.
3. wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
4. a wise act or saying.
5. ( initial capital letter ) Douay Bible . Wisdom of Solomon.


The above definitions are not the end all, be all, however it is generally accepted that these constitute what the words mean overall.

Now, if you take notice that knowledge is simply what is a "fact", or what is accepted as "fact". It is acquired from a wide array of various sources and readily available by simply viewing, experiencing or from learning. While on the other hand, Wisdom, as pointed out in #1 of the definitions, is more that simply gaining knowledge, but actually doing something with it, making it more refined, of a higher "quality" than simply just getting something in one form and keeping it that way.

For example, you can get a book and just read it and understand what it says, or you could read the book and build a boat from the instructions learned, then from that new ability, you can give wisdom to someone else who is embarking on the same journey and advise them on the pitfalls, shortcuts, and other experience you may have gained along the way of building this boat.

Wisdom is NOT in much abundance in any society. Especially very highly organized and refined wisdom is kept in close circles and shared with only those who would be able to appreciate this important data and use it at its full potential.

So next time you gain some knowledge, it may be wise to look into how you could use that knowledge to your advantage in some way. Dont just store all that information in your memory with no apparent use for it. We are "information hogs" by nature, and although this can be a good thing, it is also a bad things when we cannot decide for our selves what is important knowledge and what can be expanded upon as wisdom.

Why make goals, plans or final destinations?

Quite a few months back, I had a conversation with a very disorganized and spontaneous woman. She seemed to think that life is alot more fun when she is just a get up and go person, someone who makes plans on the go, and always have 2-5 backup plans if plan A fails. I was very curious as to why someone would behave in such a chaotic manner towards their daily, monthly and yearly life, just did not compute on my end, as I am a very organized person.

She explained that she used to be somewhat organized and her "friends" often told her to loosen up and be more accommodating. She found it hard but once she let go, she found that things worked out for the better more times than not in the end. So I asked her how often did her plans work out, and she said about 30% of the time. So I asked her if this was a good odds to keep in such a rudimentary manner concerning her well being and acceptance of her friends. She said that with her plan b-c-d-e and so forth, can come in handy when people cancel plans, she forgets to do something, is late, and so forth. So I asked if she meant that she has an excuse for anything that might come up or just to keep busy if her plans got cancelled, and she essentially said yes.

After such a conversation, I realize that some of us more intelligent people take our knowledge and insight for granted and usually do not share it with others who are less inclined. Rightfully so, because most people without a certain level of thinking (intelligence), will usually not want to hear that someone is smarter than them, or look into why an answer or suggestion might help them without being overly defensive.

The person essentially asked me the same questions they were asked before they changed into a spontaneously energized aimless drone. I explained that my views on life and my future are decisions I make myself, as a result of analysis and reanalysis of information, experience, insight and foresight of what has been and what I look forward to. I was fortunate enough to have been into computers since 1999, merely a year after I came to New York. I was so curious that I have learned things on my own, that still help me to this day, and also able to teach others in my profession some of these self taught techniques I have learnt along the way. I have confirmed for myself, that if you do not have a specific goal, something to look forward to, then you will NEVER reach anywhere. You will become someone "chasing ghosts".

Our minds are made up in such a way that we need a "full circle" of information in order to make sense of anything. That is why 95% of movies are based on a chronological or reversed-chronological order of events, making a story. Something with a beginning and an end. Something with a subject, body and ending like a letter. Without this basic connection, we get bored, annoyed, frustrated, and essentially unmotivated to do many things.

When we set goals, we allow the mind to work in such a way, that it aligns our life around getting to that goal. If you tell your mind you want to be on a road to success, that's exactly what you will get, a road to success always ahead of you, never reaching it. If you tell your mind that you want to start a business in 1 year, and you keep that in focus as you go through your days, weeks, months and eventually the year, you will see how many things come into perspective and opportunities that presents themselves in front of you for the choosing. Just like a Jigsaw Puzzle, you must choose the right parts to complete the puzzle.

Spirituality vs Religion

Before I say anything in this public arena, I will say this is all my opinion and anything I say or disclose here is strictly for entertainment purposes. Those who wish to read and comprehend my standpoint in their own way, are welcome to do so, as well as those who wish to share their criticism of my views, as I love an intellectual challenge or ability to possibly enhance my viewpoint. So this is My Opinion, again, and not intended to offend or put down any particular established religion in any way, shape or form.

Religion
I choose to start on religion because this is in order of how I broke out of the dogmatic beliefs that were taught to my ancestors, all the way up to the present "family" traditions. It is my understanding that most of the western world, including Jamaica is "Christian" in nature, and I was within this pool growing up. As a child growing up in a Christian home in Jamaica, you are either forced go to go church (or brought along), stay at home with other "Non Believers" if your family do not care much about church, or you are enticed with candies, cookies and other goodies children are drawn to. The fact is that once you are drawn into the church by one or many methods, you are indoctrinated from a very young age and most people do not even realize what is happening.

Growing up, I wondered who Jesus was, who god was, and who the many mentioned people in the bible were and how they relate to our present lives. One thing i noticed is that the brain is always in search of answers. If you feed the brain something logical that it can assert as truth, it no longer searches, unless something in the future conflicts with the present definition of truth on a specific topic or item you stored earlier. In this case, it replaces the old definition with the new fact or truth it has now realized.

The problem for me, was believing that all these characters in this book was alive, and did all the things and said all the things that are in the bible. I was made to remember entire verses and sections of the bible that are still embedded in my psyche and can be drawn upon at will, which I think is amazing. However, there was no real controversy as to the accuracy of the bible.

There were no similar works available to read or try to understand. Interestingly, I am able to comprehend the language in which the bible is written. Even though it is in English, the way the bible is written is complex and derailing in some cases. Keeping things in context becomes work for the mind that seems to be a bigger task for some to put together and follow. I never paid this any attention at a young age, but as I grew, and became more aware of my surroundings, beliefs and the things that influence my way of thinking, I became increasingly curious about life.

In Jamaica, there are not many people in the differences of religious beliefs, since the country is almost all Christian, so if there are people, your chances of running into someone who don’t believe in the societal norm, is very slim. My research into similarly complex documents/books only took flight when I left Jamaica in 1998 and started high school in New York.

Upon my first realization that the bible is flawed brought my belief system horrifically crashing down and I felt as if the earth moved from beneath my feet. I continued my research and found that the bible was not what it was intended to be when it was first written. In fact, it is not a complete document, even if you found the original "Bible". This I will touch on later. However, I found books that are only mythical in reference in Jamaica. Such as the Apocrypha, The Macabees (not what many have been lead to believe), and many other works, such as The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. I was shocked that they removed all references to female prophets and authors from the bible and the positive message they were writing. In essence, I dug deeper and deeper and wondered why this was suppressed and other more profound works were included in the current edition of the bible "The King James Version" or "The New King James Version" KJV or NKJV.

My research for the truth led me to untold depths of knowledge and spiritual enlightenment beyond what I feel comfortable disclosing here. I still was not satisfied with why all this deception of the masses of people who do not research or do not have the tools to access the information that should be a choice and not a mandatory road down to blissfulness. As I came to understand, and this may shock most Christians, the bible is not meant to be a Religious Document, IN MY OPINION. With that said, it is also not meant to be a Historical Document, IN MY OPINION. Also, for those who wish to maintain the standpoint that this book was written by the "Hand of God" or "Inspired Men of God" truly do not know what this really means.

The depth of the information conveyed in what is in today's bible, is so much removed from the truth, that a basic conveying of information would not suffice your curiosity of why this is so and how this ties into our very disturbing past. It is without a doubt that there are people and entities on this planet that have access to information about us that we are made to forget, and focus more on distractions that are to our demise and unknowing acceptance of total destruction. The church is a interesting institution to say the least. For those unaware of the other side of the church, they should sit back and analyze the facts of the situation.

#1: it is strictly forbidden to question the bible or the authority of the church.
#2: it is encouraged to bring in all your children to the church and recruit others to come in and be "saved".
#3: believers and those with a good heart will go to "heaven".
#4: NON-Believers will burn in hell forever and ever.
#5: Obey the 10 commandments given to Moses on the mountain.
#6: At the age of basic reasoning, a child is told that Santa Clause is not real.
#7: Freedom of sexuality is an abomination and only Marriage is recognized as pure and holy in the eyes of "God".
#8: All can enter the church and be saved, but being able to afford luxuries of life are an abomination and a "rich man will never enter the kingdom of heaven".
#9: God gave man free will. This list can go on and on and on, but the above is sufficient.

Now, let’s look at these "rules" from the highest point downwards. If we are granted free will, then why are we not allowed to gain wealth and consequently happiness with the ability to travel freely and experience other cultures and people? This, at the very basic of reasoning, seems to be an oppressive rule that is translated into total nonsense. It seems at least to want to put people in the mindset of being stagnant, docile and keep your passion for positivity and growth to a bare minimum. In other words, be comfortable with being where you are and staying there.

If we have free will, why is sex before marriage looked down upon as an abomination and unacceptable in the church? First of all, I have NEVER, in my 10 years of being forced into thechurch, heard "GOD" talk to me. If "God" truly gave us free will, there would be no "Boundaries" or "Licenses" needed to do what is already within the realm of "Free Will". It is an oxymoron to say you have free will, but do as I say about these matters. it is absolutely absurd. Marriage has taken a 180* turn in the wrong direction. Many people, millions, turn to marriage and get a license for comfort and commitment, yet its original intentions were purely different and spiritually sound. Freedom of sexuality is something no government can really suppress unless the people buy into their propaganda. Obviously no society wants prostitutes and other obscenities in a public venue, however if one decides to do whatever they want privately, making this a criminal act is putting humanity in a class of animals that need to be regulated.

If Santa Clause is not real, why are children taught about this story from birth to age 7-13? As I said before, it is absolutely devastating to the psyche when it accepts something as fact and then realize it is in fact false or untruth, it now has to go back and replace that memory, stored are of your consciousness and make itself incorporate with your current reality. Why is this fundamental icon of the "Christmas" holiday so significant all over the world? Is this a lie in itself or is there some truth to it? This question I cannot answer here without a more lengthy explanation than what this "Note" already is, but for the sake of truth, Santa Clause is only a symbolism for the most profound experience one may be able to experience as a human being. I may cover this later on in another note about the Christmas presents and why it is so significant. Obey the 10 Commandments. Now, as we all know, there are situations where these seemingly simple commandments should be mostly basic and fundamental, but all depends on the situation and interaction with another person. Like if someone is about to kill you and you have the chance to kill them first, I do not know many people who would stand in the face of danger. If someone is starving to death and genuinely cannot get any food or shelter, stealing a crop or food may be justifiable, etc.

If a religion claims that God is "Compassionate" and "Caring", yet, if you don't "Obey" him, and "serve" him, you will "BURN in hell forever and ever". Does anyone ever think about this contradiction? It is purely a scare tactic to keep the sheep of the religion in check and not deviate outside of the "faith". There is NO MAN or WOMAN walking the face of this earth that can say they have been to "Heaven" or seen someone go to "Hell". However, the disturbing fact is that fear is a driving force that keeps a lot of people doing what the fear bringer wants them to do. Fear is simply lies or something false appearing real or true. God, I do not believe, is both good and bad, it is the intentions and decisions of man/woman that create this duality and oxymoron of duplicities to justify their actions and inner desires.

Recruiting is something associated with an army or cult. Almost everyone is familiar with the churches and different religions within their geographical area. I do not believe that people should be persuaded or forced to join a religion like Christians and 7 day Adventists do, as well as parents doing with children. Everyone should choose to either join voluntarily or take their on path to spiritual realization. Religion in its purest form, whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, etc, should lead back to the same source. The same way we can start out anywhere in the world and end up in a totally different place.

Finally, if I cannot question my reality, religion if I have any, and my beliefs, then how much of a free will is that? Why would I want to be imprisoned intentionally and not be able to decipher messages and meanings for myself? Why do I need a pastor telling me what the bible says when i can get one and read for myself? This is the fundamental reason we are humans. To seek out and understand our humanity and our surroundings For Ourselves! Everyone has a choice to either lead or to be led, and you reading this have the same option afforded to all humans, what will it be?

In closing on the subject of religion, I believe it has become a dogmatic system of control by government and religious leaders to take away our basic free will and impose sanctions on our basic human rights as security mechanisms to supposedly make our lives better.

I am a spiritual being of no religious connection.


Spirituality
On my path to seek the truth as it concerns my true nature, I have come to the conclusion that I am spiritual as it concerns a belief. I choose not to associate myself with a system of religion as I believe it is corrupt and toxic beyond basic repair. The assumed power and authority of the church is in complete contradiction to its teachings, as per the shear volume of money involved in this business institution. Based on my quest for knowledge and finding about my true self and myself beyond my human capacity in this physical realm, a social institution is not somewhere I would even visit to embrace my spiritual nature.

Knowledge is power, is a very false statement. Knowledge is perfection, and perfection does not change or move, therefore, Knowledge is only potential power. If knowledge is used to do some work or action, then it can be power or transferred to someone else or something else for use of its power. To this end, one has to be careful how they use power and knowledge. You can never know the definite impact of your actions, once it is in motion, as the nature of our reality is to constantly change and reinvent matter, energy and potential energy.

I rather have direct communication and Gnosis with GOD rather than have someone else tell me what this is. With my current results, I now see why natural Entheogens such as consciousness enhancing plants and chemicals are made illegal, and grouped with other destructive, man-made concussions of various elements and call everything drugs. However, I do agree on one point that the government makes, drugs are dangerous. If one does not have the consciousness and foresight before diving head first into this realm of consciousness, it can truly be harmful. However, plants are our life sustainers and the only thing that can give us insight to the "God Consciousness" we are all seeking subconsciously as humans. We all strive for better, and some of us feel like giving up every single day, because we do not have a reference point to point to, we do not know how to direct our focus to what we truly want, and for that reason, most of us who get into church, is in there searching for this basic truth and basic path that has been taken from us as a human race.

Life is a battery that will run out and we ALL know this, so why do we hang on? Some say "Make the best out of this life while you still can", others say "God put us here to serve him", others say "We just born, live our lives and die" and others do research and try to find out external means to leave the planet or find a way to go somewhere else. I am not condemning anyone for their beliefs or their quest for knowledge or the truth, but I don't follow most dogmas and traditions of what people think is the definitive truth.

My definition of spirituality is "Knowing God for One's Own Self".

I cannot tell you directly how to do this, only you can search for the path to spiritual and physical happiness. If you stop searching for knowledge, then you can no longer learn how to grow and achieve higher consciousness.

Take small steps to your goal, then look back and see that you made a big leap!

Take small steps to your goal, then look back and see that you made a big leap!

Many of us just wish to live a normal life and be able to take care of our loved
ones or our families. However, it seems that such is a luxury rather than a normality in today's economic climate. Some of us also wish to live at an above normal rate, in order to guarantee a happy and prosperous life for our self and our future, as well as our children. We have seen just about every scam and lucrative business go down the drain, from Enron, to small businesses struggling to stay open. So it is logical to say, that hard work alone will not bring us riches or a happy life, if anything, hard work is not a guarantee to anything, as you can still get fired, and if you have a loan, you can still lose your business. So what exactly is it that keeps successful businesses afloat, successful people making a steady income, and others happy with what they have? it is simply, their state of mind and ability to be persistent on a given goal. The easiest thing to do is give up. In any situation, and whether it be a good or bad situation, we have to make a choice the same way, to continue, or give up, or give up to continue. Might seem simple, but it is really that simple. We know all the formulas and rules to not be successful, yet very little on the road to success. A famous quote from one of my favorite books, Think and grow rich, "The ladder of success is never crowded at the top".

I've had what I call extreme success with my goals and I can definitely attribute such success to being exposed to various books, audio books and an open mind. One example I will use, is a goal I set from my last year of college that materialized in front of my eyes.

When I was in my last year of college, I took a course called "Systems Analysis and Design". This course was very interesting to me, as the male side of my family is very business oriented. We love planning, outlining and making things happen or making things work. We touched on a topic of what a Systems Analyst does and how it helps the other core people in various projects come together and achieve a specific goal. I've been fixing computers since high school, and that has been my passion, and I envisioned both of these coming together, making an interesting career for me. Since that class, that's all that's been in my head.

After Graduation, I went to Jamaica for 2 weeks, and I only thought about this goal 1 day and saw myself actually going to work with my briefcase in the morning. I got back from my vacation and and immediately worked on my resume intensely. I wanted to be different, so I searched for about 12-15 jobs and found out the specific key words they were seeking in a candidate and included them in my resume, as well as making sure my resume was over 1 page, without too much redundant stuff. in 2 weeks I had a job, as a Desktop Support Technician, Level II. I was promised a permanent position within 2-3 months, and in the 5th month, I was told there was a hiring freeze (November 2008). At that point, I made a choice to focus my attention to finding a new job, more geared towards my satisfaction and not to the sake of just having a job. I set the terms of my employment and minimum salary rate I would take, and within 3 weeks, I was offered the opportunity to interview over the phone. I was given a 2nd phone interview a day later and then an in person interview 2 days later. I was so confident, it was as if I knew I had the job and was gearing up myself to start. I started as a Corporate IT Analyst 3 days later, and currently in that position today.

Now look back at the starting point and see how I reached my goal. It is obvious some goals may require more effort and dedication, but it is still possible.

No one can make you do anything, it is you who make the choice to do or not do to it.

As Morpheus would say in "The Matrix", "Free Your Mind" and then make the jump!