Precursor to Wisdom
To understand the knowledge you have acquired takes time and effort.
Unfortunately only a very small amount (if any) of real understanding can be provided by an external source (for example an instructor, a book or this article). Almost all understanding comes with either deep thought or lots and lots of practice.
Instructors can explain how they understand something, but this doesn't automatically mean that you will understand it the same way.
To truly understand something you must put effort into thinking about it and drawing conclusions on your own, otherwise you have simply just followed what someone else has said (blindly following will never develop your mind in any way!).
If a Budoka doesn't practice very much and/or doesn't think very deeply about any particular technique, concept or idea; the Budoka, through their own ignorance, will misunderstand and won't get very far in Budo like this.
In many ways, searching for the understanding is the most difficult, time consuming and (at times) frustrating part of the journey of a Budoka.
Only you can understand the knowledge in your head, it is 100% internal. Nothing external can make your mind understand something; the whole process takes place internally, within your head.This might seem obvious, but many people still seem to think that others can make them understand something, mostly so they don't have to put the effort in.
While external things may prompt and help understanding, it's still a result of the 'wheels turning' in your head.
This makes things difficult for an instructor as they aren't in your head and they can't know exactly how to make anyone understand something.
A good instructor will attempt to prompt understanding by imparting the knowledge in as many different ways as they can, but at most the instructor can only be an external catalyst to your internal process.
This is the reason why all good Budoka are thinking and analysing all the time, to seek better understanding.
The good news is that you don't have to be an analytical genius to be a good Budoka, learning to analyse yourself is part of the character development and polishing of the spirit. This comes naturally, if your focus is in the right place.
To think deeply without the information or knowledge to give the thoughts direction or focus, a Budoka can't find the true understanding.
Without thinking and analysing what was learned, the understanding of the martial techniques can be dangerous, as Confucius said: "Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous."
If you put the effort into thinking about the knowledge you gain, then you will learn to analyse it and therefore find more understanding of that knowledge.
It's not a difficult thing to do, to simply reflect on things that have been said or done, either by others or yourself.
The next thing beyond this is to take both knowledge & understanding and apply them to your Budo, actually use them. Not just in training but in daily life.
Through this, over time, experience is gained and if a Budoka knows to analyse what was learned through experience they will find wisdom.
True wisdom only comes with much knowledge, time, continued effort, understanding and experience.
Only a few Budoka truly become 'wise'.
Remember, lots of knowledge doesn't automatically equal wisdom.
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| Bodhidharma reflected on his knowledge & experience so much that his wisdom became enlightenment! (This is the way of both Buddhism and Budo) |
Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have. :)
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