Spiritual Virtues Part I: Wisdom

As I try to process all of the rapidly unfolding events of the past week in the United States, I was reminded of this wonderful definition of wisdom that I encountered in a book called, Teaching Mindful Self-Compassion Program by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff:

Wisdom: understanding the complexity of a situation and seeing our way through it.

Amidst a global pandemic and a national awakening of white people in the United States to the institutionalized and systematized racism in our justice system that culminated in the murder or George Floyd by 4 Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, it seems more than ever, we are in grave need of spiritual virtues in this world including: wisdom.

And, thankfully, wisdom can be cultivated.

One tried and true way to develop a spiritual virtue, is to seek out role models who generously exemplify the very virtue that we wish to cultivate, so that the rest of us can continue to evolve into our best human selves by following the guidance of those who have gone before us.

So for me, when I wish to stretch and grow in wisdom in order to “understand the complexity of a situation and see my way through it” (like I do right now during a global pandemic, record unemployment in the US, and a potential civil rights revolution), I quickly turn to the American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (b. 1929-1968) and the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher and monk Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926).

These two “giants,” as they are often called, actually met each other in both 1966 and 1968 before Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, and they shared a common vision for a "beloved community" that was even commemorated in a beautiful statue that rests in Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi.

But in addition to a shared vision for humanity that is both realistic and hopeful, they also shared an ability to artfully articulate with words how their respective hard-won wisdom could be understood by others.  

Through a legacy of speeches, books, letters, poems, and/or essays, each of them has left us with a path to follow, should we wish to, in order to cultivate our own humble wisdom.

Below, I have shared just a handful of nuggets from the gold mine of each wisdom-teacher that have spoken to me during these last few days, and perhaps these, or others, may speak to you as well.

May Peace & Justice Be in Your Heart,

Claire

Words of Wisdom by Dr. Martin Luther King:

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
Stride Toward Freedom, 1958

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.

"If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."
Christmas sermon, Atlanta, Georgia, 1967.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963.

"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Strength to Love, 1963.

"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience."
Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965.

Words of Wisdom by Thich Nhat Hanh or “Thay” which means “Teacher:”

The Fruit of Awareness is Ripe

My youthful years,

a green unripe plum.
Your teeth left a mark on it
which turned into a tiny wound.
Your teeth shuddered at their roots,
and always remember it,
always remember it.

But when I knew how to love

the door of my heart opened wide before the wind.
Reality was calling out for revolution.
The fruit was already ripe.
That door
could never be closed again.

Fire,
fire consumes this century,
leaving its mark on the uninhabited mountains
and forests.
The wind howls past my ears.
The snowstorm writhes in the sky.
The wounds of winter lie there, unable to forget
the cold steel blade,
restless, tossing and turning,
smarting,
in the deep night.

-Call Me By My True Names

“There is no phenomenon in the universe that does not intimately concern us, from a pebble resting at the bottom of the ocean, to the movement of a galaxy millions of light years away.

All phenomena are interdependent. When we think of a speck of dust, a flower, or a human being, our thinking cannot break loose from the idea of unity, of one, of calculation…If we truly realize the interdependent nature of the dust, the flower, and the human being, we see that unity cannot exist without diversity. Unity and diversity interpenetrate each other freely. 

Unity is diversity, and diversity is unity.”

-The Sun My Hearth

“The ocean of suffering is immense, but if you turn around, you can see the land.”

“Even while you have pain in your heart, you can enjoy the many wonders of life—the beautiful sunset, the smile of a child, the many flowers and trees. To suffer is not enough. Please don’t be imprisoned by your suffering…If you dwell only in your suffering, you will miss paradise. Don’t ignore your suffering, but don’t forget to enjoy the wonders of life, for your sake and for the benefit of many beings.”

“The Buddha called suffering a Holy Truth, because your suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering, and let it reveal to you the way to peace.”

-The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching