Of Wisdom and Stupidity

 

After my eyecatching title (yawn...... ) I would like to mention a really good book for anyone still interested in what is called "spirituality" in todays consumer driven society, full of dubious "celebrities" of all shades and behaviours.

(Yes, I'm waffling as usual, just glad that it is monday and that sunday - my day of deepest gloom - is behind me)

Anyway, the book is:-

"The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Journey to Wholeness: Storytelling and the Search for meaning"

First encountered many years ago and it first taught me the sheer poverty of "perfection" and any search for it, which has certainly saved me a lot of bother. The book is loosely based upon the AA Twelve Steps Programme, but "loosely" is certainly the right word. I have no problem with alcohol myself (that is, apart from often not being able to afford it....ha ha) so the structure of the book is obviously unimportant.

It contains stories from right across the spectrum of our world's Faith Traditions, but also much from the secular realm. A very wise book.

But getting to the point of this thread (there doesn't really need to be one given how therapeutic I find waffling away is) near the end of this book was a quote of a theologian called Hugh Kerr, which was:-

All wisdom is plagiarism - only stupidity is original.

Now I think that this is the wrong way round (or is it "around"?) I tend to think that we often pick up many of our thoughts and habits of mind simply from the sad world around us and little by little we conform to it, begin to ape what is so often the stupidity of others; this now considered our "own". We all have our own stupidities it is true, yet surely they are hardly original?

But wisdom? Wisdom as the Source, the ground of Reality; wisdom, the constant advance into novelty, radical freedom, not tied to the past (beyond redeeming it)

So, I would say:- Stupidity is plagiarism - only wisdom is original.

Well, what do others think? What is stupidity? What is wisdom? What is plagiarism? What is original?

All opinions will be reflected upon and considered.

Just to finish, having mentioned the book and it's host of stories, here is one (told from memory as I do not have the book to hand) It comes from the Buddhist tradition, specifically zen....

A zen master liked to begin each day with a walk around the village. One morning he heard cries of deep suffering coming from one of the households. Entering he found that they were lamenting the death of a loved one. Immediately he sat down beside them and joined in with their weeping. At this moment one of the master's desciples passed by and looked in. Seeing his master weeping he exclaimed:- "Surely master, you are beyond this sort of thing?" to which the master said, between his sobs, " It is this that puts me beyond it. "