A Wise Man Wise

Written by Mathew Naismith

Edited by Karla Blowers

Note: I should state here that I didn’t take on all of Karla’s suggestion however most of the syntax errors have been corrected.

I have inserted a further part to this short story in the hope to be able to explain more of what the story is about in bold letters at the end of this post.

A wise man wondering about the countryside came across a valley with a large village poised in the middle of it and stopped to ponder.  All of a sudden, a person from the village appeared and approached the wise man as if he was expected. Without introducing himself first, & without hesitation, the man from the village asked, “Will you be our mentor & leader?”

The wise man poised in silence and then asked of himself in quietness, “Will I be their mentor and leader?” The man from the village stood by in bafflement wondering why a wise man would not answer such a simple question immediately.

An answer come from within the wise man and was immediately relayed to the man from the village; “It takes a wise man to see a wise man.  What you see in me, you are also.  From this, all one needs to do is become aware enough to know this”.

The man from the village seemed even more baffled and perplexed while looking down towards the ground pondering to what this all means. Looking up at the wise man again, in silence, the man from the village poised in thought, "I see your wisdom so what you are saying I too am of that wisdom but that isn’t so!!"

Immediately, noticing what the man from the village was thinking, the wise man said, “It takes a very wise man to ponder, and a not so wise man to not ponder at all. All answers are within, and to connect with this inner knowing one must pause & ponder in silence to obtain such knowing from within.  My friend, you are ready to take lead, as you have pondered”.

“But I don’t have the knowledge or experience to lead as you could”.

The wise man replied without  hesitation as he was still speaking from within – said “A wise old man once said, “It is  far wiser to know one’s limitations, and it’s  another to allow these limitations to limit oneself ”  Knowledge and experience will come if one is wise enough to know of one’s limitations, as you have done”.

Still perplexed, but understanding the wise man to a point, the man from the village said, “So if I became leader and mentor of my own people, wisdom is all I need?  Knowledge and experience will come forth as I no longer limit myself to these limitations?”

Immediately, the wise man replied, “Nothing is impossible if we ponder for a moment, for it is within this pondering that we become wiser and more understanding of our inner knowing. Not only will we become more aware of what is around us, but we will become more knowing of all without thought.   You must be aware of what is within.  Are you, or are you not ready?”

Looking down at the ground the villager pondered for a moment, & with a determined look upon his face he looked straight into the wise man’s eyes & was about to ask another question when the wise man queried, “Have you noticed how you look down while pondering?”

“I suppose so” the village man replied.

“Wisdom isn’t of finding awareness when looking down, for in this lies our limitations. When pondering, always look about and within.  Once you learn to do this, knowing will come from being aware, not looking down into our limitations”.

All of a sudden the village man broke into a huge smile, “I’ve got it!  I’ve got it!”

“Indeed you have my wise friend,” was the last thing the wise man said to the man from the village as he leaped down to his village within the valley yelling out “I’ve got it!”

While still in ponder, the wise man  watched  the man from the village leap and yell down towards his village in glee, the wise man thought for a moment, “I am now mentor and leader of but another village without even wanting it to be.  Such is wisdom.” He then turned away from the valley with the village below and strolled off into the countryside again, not knowing, or wanting, or needing to know for where his wisdom will take him.

Wisdom was needed in this story to not just identify wisdom within all ourselves, but to identify and understand that our limits are there to show us what we don’t know and understand.  The villager had the wisdom to identify with his own ponderings, but didn’t as yet understand that he’s limits were actually limiting him; he saw them as borders to never be crossed unless one was experienced and knowing enough to cross them.  Once the villager realised these limits weren’t there to limit him but to show him what he didn’t know and understand, he became more aware of his inner wisdom and yelled out “I’ve got it!”

Everyone, believe it or not, has this inner wisdom; we just see limitations instead of wisdom as the villager did.  Also, pondering in this circumstance wasn’t about thinking either, it was pondering without thought to attain inner knowing which of course isn’t of actual mindful thought.