And as smart as ever

 If you type the term "wisdom" into Google, you'll get about 3.1 million results. "Stupidity," on the other hand, yields 5.1 million hits. Now, stupidity isn't exactly the 100% opposite of wisdom. But let's try foolishness and end up with about 140,000 hits.  

Apparently, it's difficult to depict the concept of wisdom in images. Well, images do appear, but these in turn depict words, poems, and characters. When I created a Zen garden 15 years ago, I had to decide which stones and their meanings I wanted to place there. One important stone became the "stone of wisdom." Since then, I've read much about wisdom, invented it myself, and discussed it with others. And I have to admit, "I'm as smart as I was back then."

 

Stone of recognition

The stone of knowledge rests in itself. It does not speak to you, nor does it show any clues that could lead to any knowledge.

Knowledge comes out of yourself. It only comes as a result of your own action. It is an addition of your own experience, your own insights into the things of your own world. Only this knowledge, if you accept it and recognise indicates knowledge to you.

Photo: Stone of recognition, Master Horst D. Lindenau Zen Garden, Symondsbury, Dorset, UK, 1994

How wonderful is that?

In this film, Philipp Askew and Lydia Walker dance "Surya Namaskar," the salutation to the sun. It's truly impressive what trained bodies can achieve. Pure aesthetics and a completely different kind of Surya Namaskar!