Light on the Way of Wisdom - James Allen

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Light on the way of wisdom. The path of wisdom
is the highest way, the way in which all doubt
and uncertainty are dispelled, and knowledge and surety are realized.
Amid the excitements and pleasures of the world, and surge
in whirlpools of human passions. Wisdom, so calm, so silent,

(00:22):
and so beautiful, is indeed difficult to find. Difficult not
because of its incomprehensible complexity, but because of its unobtrusive simplicity,
and because self is so blind and rash and so
jealous of its rights and pleasures. Wisdom is rejected of
men because it always comes right home to one's self

(00:45):
in the form of wounding reproof, and the lower nature
of man cannot bear to be reproved. Before wisdom can
be acquired, self must be wounded to the death. And
because of this, because wisdom is the enemy of self,
self rises in rebellion and will not be overcome and denied.

(01:06):
The foolish man is governed by his passions and personal cravings.
When about to do anything, he does not ask is
this right, but only considers how much pleasure or personal
advantage he will gain by it. He does not govern
his passions and act from fixed principles, but is the
slave of his inclinations and follows where they lead. The

(01:30):
wise man governs his passions and puts away all personal cravings.
He never acts from impulse and passion, but dispassionately considers
what is right to be done and does it. He
is always thoughtful and self possessed, and guides his conduct
by the loftiest moral principles. He is superior to both

(01:50):
pleasure and pain. Wisdom cannot be found in books or travel,
in learning or philosophy. It is acquired by practice. Only.
A man may read the precepts of the greatest sages continually,
but if he does not purify and govern himself, he
will remain foolish. A man may be intimately conversant with

(02:13):
the writings of the greatest philosophers, but so long as
he continues to give way to his passions, he will
not attain wisdom. Wisdom is right action, right doing. Folly
is wrong action, wrongdoing, All reading, all studying is in vain.
If man will not see his errors and give them up,

(02:35):
Wisdom says to the vain man. Do not praise yourself
to the proud man, humble yourself to the gossip, govern
your tongue to the angry man. Subdue your anger to
the resentful man. Forgive your enemy to the self indulgent man.

(02:57):
Be temperate to them the impure man. Purge your heart
of lust, and to all men, beware of small faults.
Do your duty faithfully, and never intermeddle with the duty
of another. These things are very simple. The doing of
them is simple. But as it leads to the annihilation

(03:19):
of self, the selfish tendencies in a man object to
them and rise up in revolt against them, loving their
own life of turbulent excitement and feverish pleasure, and hating
the calm and beautiful silence of wisdom. Thus men remain
in folly. Nevertheless, the way of wisdom is always open,

(03:39):
is always ready to receive the tread of the pilgrim
who has grown weary of the thorny and intricate ways
of folly. No man is prevented from becoming wise but
by himself. No man can acquire wisdom but by his
own exertions. And he who is prepared to be honest
with himself to measure the depths of his ignorance, to

(04:02):
come face to face with his errors, to recognize and
acknowledge his own faults, and at once to set about
the task of his own regeneration. Such a man will
find the way of wisdom, walking with humble and obedient feet.
He will in due time come to the sweet city
of deliverance.