Wisdom

Wisdom is the power of seeing things as they truly are, and how to act rightly when the problems of come before us. The seeds of wisdom lie latent in us, and when our hearts are warm with love they grow into their powers.

When a man has stilled the raging torrents of greed, hatred and ignorance, he becomes conscientious, full of sympathy, and he is anxious for the welfare of all living beings; thus he observes steadily the moral precepts. It is when his mind becomes pure and his heart is soft by being equipped with this morality and mental development that the sublime seed, wisdom, grows. Knowledge of the properties of the magnetic needle enables the mariner to see the right direction in mid-ocean on the darkest night when no stars are visible.

In just the same way, wisdom enables a man to see things as they truly are, and to perceive the right way to real peace and happiness, Nibbana.

Wisdom, or insight (Panna) enables man to overcome all the defilements completely. As a tree which is destroyed by the root will never grow, even so the defilements which are annihilated by wisdom, will never rise again.

One knows only what one has experienced, not just read about or thought about but actually experienced, otherwise one’s knowledge is only theoretical.

Only by continuous practice can realization, the understanding of things as they really are, not as we ordinarily view them, be achieved. 

Source: thebuddhism.net (July 30, 2013)