“These day’s people seek knowledge, not WISDOM. Knowledge is of the past; WISDOM is of the future.” Says V. Cooper a Lumbee elder. Through education, tomorrow we will be wiser than we are today. We must utilize the education that we obtain in a different way than what exists today. As S. Jobs said; “taking two unrelated pieces and combining them is innovation.” That process of combining two pieces of knowledge is WISDOM.

Attaining WISDOM is a very long path of picking up pieces of knowledge along the way. On that path some lose their way and search for power. Some mistake power for WISDOM. With WISDOM comes responsibility, not power. Sometimes the way is not obvious; but when you look behind you, you see the path that you’ve developed. To learn from the past one has to be humble, grateful and possess empathy. It is very rare to find a man of WISDOM that is not humble, grateful and empathetic.

Today everybody is in a hurry to learn, but no one is going anywhere with the process. It takes a long time to gain knowledge. It takes a longer time to obtain WISDOM. Be patient.

A person of WISDOM talks from the heart, not the mind, and touches the heart of others and not their minds. WISDOM comes to you when you stop looking for it. Be patient, it is a long path. Lao Tzu said; “WISDOM is not from outside the inner mind, we must rely on the intuitive mind.”

I’m not professing that I have WISDOM, but that I am aware of what it takes to acquire WISDOM. It is our responsibility to give our knowledge to others. THAT IS PURE WISDOM.

WISDOM THROUGH THE EYES OF NATIVE AMERICAN ELDERS is special.

Categories: PERSPECTIVES Philosophical Perspective

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.