A new way of looking at an ancient wisdom
By zevi770 · May 9, 2014
Wisdom, it’s a funny thing, for Einstein erroneously said: “Ego=1/Knowledge; More the knowledge, lesser the ego, lesser the knowledge, more the ego.”
Now, while it was true, that Einstein himself was a very humble person, as he writes, he felt ashamed by all the adulation paid to him; as it was all so simple for him to understand; the fact is, “the more knowledge,” for the person who is not as wise as Einstein, recognizing that his wisdom is a gift; in fact, “the more ego!”
This is the great trap of wisdom – for ideally, what Einstein is saying should be correct – “the more knowledge, the less ego” but practically, it is incorrect; and as I personally saw, but summarized best in the immortal words of Henry Kissinger, who had to deal with massive governmental issues, debating very important destinies of millions of people, but he said that “the fights between the professors at Harvard (where he taught before entering into the political arena) were so fierce, because the stakes, were so small.”
In other words, the more we attribute our ego to our achievements, be they achievements in any arena, perhaps especially in the area of innovation and wisdom, the more – not the less, egotistical, hence petty, we become.
The solution to this, is ancient and modern.
Ancient, being Judaism – Judaism calls on us to let go of our wisdom, let go of our preconceived notions and simply adhere to the teachings of morality defined by God.
But this itself, in a sense, not only is very difficult – especially today, when wisdom plays such an important role – but also it is, in a sense, self-limiting, to the ancient wisdom received.
As we had occasion to mention, God is infinite, hence in fact, growth is infinite; so a new wisdom from God, the messianic wisdom, as it states “a new Torah will emanate from me” (which cannot God-forbid be a new Torah, as we know, one of Miamonidies, thirteen principles of faith is: “The Torah will never change;” rather, new principles in Judaism based on the old foundation – this is the messianic infinite light of God) this wisdom is called Chassidus!
Now what is unique about Chassidus, which is paralleled in the style of the Torah’s wisdom, is that, it leaves you somewhat confused.
Though it is certain, that its wisdom makes all other wisdom seem foolish; its advice makes all other advice seem retarded at best; perhaps even evil; nonetheless, it comes from a place which is so deep, so beyond our human capabilities, that we realize – perhaps even subconsciously – that two things are occurring: we are touching truth, but truth is not touching us!