Wisdom is the state of being wise which means having the power of judgment and judging appropriately as to what is true and what is not. Wisdom does not mean having lot of knowledge. People can easily be acquainted with theories, concepts and scientific facts and principles, but just a few can apply the information in their deeds and actions. 

Enlightenment in seven days: Buddha told his disciples that whoever makes an effort can attain enlightenment in seven days. If he can’t manage it, certainly he will attain it in seven months, or in seven years. The young man decided that he would attain it in one week, and he wanted to know what he should do: “concentration” was the reply from Buddha.
The young man began to practice, but in ten minutes he was already distracted. Little by little, he began paying attention to everything that distracted him, and thought that he was not wasting time, but was getting used to himself. One fine day he decided it was not necessary to arrive at his goal so fast, because the path was teaching him many things. It was at that moment that he became an “enlightened” one.

In life when we get academic degrees and have knowledge of specific areas, we are called knowledgeable. Wisdom is not just about knowledge, but applying that knowledge into our everyday life. When you do that, this is when you know that you are truly wise.

We have wrong perception that there is a certain age at which maturity sets in. Some say it is 18, some say it is 25, some say it is 40…. But I have met a young child of 7 years whom I found matured and wise, and I’ve known older guys of 60 and 70 years of age very childish.

The Japanese master: A great Japanese master received a university professor who came to enquire about wisdom. The master served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. ‘It is overfull. No more will go in!’ ‘Like this cup,’ the master said, ‘you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you wisdom unless you first empty your cup?’

Well, I’m not sure that we can be mature in every situation that presents itself to us because we are always growing and learning as human beings, and I’m pretty sure that all of us have been guilty of at least some of these negative behaviours at least once in our lives; that being said, I give here below some of the following signs of wisdom.

1. Realizing how much you don’t know. 2. Listening more and talking less. 3. being aware and considerate of others as opposed to being self-absorbed, self-centred, and selfish. 4. Not taking everything personally, not getting easily offended, or feeling the need to defend, prove, or make excuses for self. 5. Being grateful and gracious, not complaining. 6. Taking responsibility for your own health and happiness, not relying on others and blaming others for the circumstance you are in. 7. We need to be compassionate to ourselves and others in tough times. 8. being calm and peaceful, not desperate, frantic, or irrational.  9. Do not brag about yourself.

I’m sure there are probably other signs, but this list covers at least the majority of them. I know we can always do a better job by displaying our mature sides. I also know that, by doing so, we lift each other up through our example. But, what is most important, however, is seeing the negative side of our behaviour and knowing we must do something positive to change it; and my dear friends that is what is WISDOM.

Aptitude is defined as a high level of intellect or quickness to learn. We use adjectives for describing a person’s aptitude. An aptitude is an element of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. An aptitude may be physical or mental. Aptitude is inborn potential to do certain kinds of work; it is sometimes developed or undeveloped. We choose positive and negative adjectives as per our experience and our observations about those people. Some of the positive adjectives are:

Book smart is an adjective to describe a person as generally intelligent, well educated and do well academically. However, the fundamental idea is that the person deals with situations especially bad or difficult situations from an intellectual direction, using or basing decisions on facts, knowledge or insights gained mainly from books or structured experiences.

If you are a Book smart, it means you’re studious and good at school. You pass tests with good grades. You can spout off facts, handle math and science, and make references to art and literature. People who are good at trivia are considered smart.

A Street smart on the other hand is a person who uses common sense; he/she deals with the world as per demand by using wittiness, shrewdness, at times kindness as per requirement of the hour; this person knows the ways of the world. The underlying idea is such a person deals with matters at hand in a more practical way with pragmatic applications. In short, a street smart uses intelligence not from books but from reality of life and personal experience.

If you are Street smart, it means you are aware of your surroundings and you know how to prepare for and respond to various types of adversities. You won’t invite trouble and you’ll know how to handle it if it does come your way. “Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit,” said the world’s greatest and greatest English writer of all time, William Shakespeare.

An Intelligent person is one who has a wealth of information, one who has honed critical thinking skills, and has a brain that’s strong at making connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information, he/she also creative.  Intelligence is very useful on a daily basis. It makes you powerful. People cannot buy intelligence. Intelligent people can quickly assess what’s being presented to them, they can determine whether it stacks up factually and logically, and expose any holes. They are good at pinpointing flaws as well as strengths in an idea and   explore areas before arriving at a conclusion. Wit and intelligence go together, so intelligent people can be refreshing and a lot of fun.

A Smart person has the ability to quickly adapt to a situation and make the best of it. This is the origin of the “street smart” expression. It can be applied to people who can read a situation and act accordingly, especially on the streets of a bad locality, where social rules and civil laws sometimes do not apply. Smartness is being practical, applicable, and generally desirable for day-to-day life.

A Brilliant person is great in a specific field. We say Dev Anand was a brilliant actor, Mohamed Rafi was a brilliant singer, S.D. Burman was brilliant music director, Mehamood was a brilliant comedian. Brilliance specifies highest praise for a specific craft. People can have relative brilliance in a specific area/discipline, which means a brilliant person engages in his best capacity in a chosen craft; he/she can completely immerse in it, without getting bothered about time and energy spent on creating a masterpiece.  What a brilliant person creates is larger than life. For example, the Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.” It holds the Guinness World Record. Leonardo da Vinci was a brilliant painter. Brilliance is always boundary less.

A Sensitive person is someone whose inner experiences line up with his/her outer experiences. Often we see a disconnection between inner and outer feelings in people. People believe their inner world — thoughts and emotions are separate from their outer world — other people. They believe only in their physical world in which they live. Sensitive people most definitely bound together, and they influence each other every moment. Some people think sensitivity is an impediment to success. Sensitive people experience discomfort and pain, and therefore, many brush away the feelings of sympathy and understanding.  People turn away from it. The fact is that life is comprised of dualities. We can’t have only pleasure without the opposite — pain. They are bound up in each other. To experience happiness, we must know its opposite -sadness. And we are most healthy when we can sit with both.

A person of Wisdom is sensitive at heart. Sensitivity is crucial to wisdom. And, it helps to have quite a few years of experience as a human under your belt. A man of wisdom is objective in nature. The person understands that all that he/she thinks need not be correct. Wise people have space around their thoughts and emotions. They can keep an eye on them, and choose which ones to engage with and the ones to let flow through them and pass on by. They see life as a river. They know which currents and tides they’ve seen before, and their typical patterns. They can advise people accordingly. Sensitivity and wisdom lead to brilliance.

The purpose for your life is to experience the completeness of who you really are.