Valuing Wisdom

I remember at a retreat years ago, having just undergone a process of mind-healing, I remarked: "Last night I slept soundly after all that crying." Teacher Lai Fun who overhead me, said: "Healing causes the mind to be free of tension – that's why you slept well." Indeed! I was amazed at how I missed that and attributed the ease to the crying! This is an example of how we tend to give credit erroneously.

In the same misleading way, I tend to pay much attention to the state of my experiences as I go about planning my life and attempting to resolve problems. I rarely ponder over the causal factors like the ideas I uphold and my habitual tendencies; and how these play important roles in determining my experiences. It did not strike me that I was going about seeing in an upside-down way whereby I dealt with resultants when I should be looking into the causes.

At WISE, I begin to learn about these different perspectives: causal and resultants. Uncovering the root cause may sound like a really neat idea but developing the skills of such shifts in perspectives is really not easy at all – but very much worthwhile. I could be caught up in thoughts over a serious problem, experiencing the turmoil of emotions weighing down on me – when the sudden shift of right seeing occurred and released this mental entrapment instantaneously. The thought system that played out the related experience was recognized and understood. This is how wisdom works. It pretty much feels like an awakening: being present to that mind process rather than being engrossed within the experiencing.

Much of our suffering is intensified when we delve into our stories. In fact, we didn’t even realize they were stories. They became real. All the hopes and expectations became how life should be.

Learning to see the workings of mental processes is a most fascinated art. It opens the doorway to myriads of understanding – from recognizing the unfamiliar field of mind natures to comprehending the correlations of life happenings. If you are intrigued by this brief introduction to wisdom, come and explore for yourself.

On behalf of WISE, may this new lunar year bring out the best in you in the development of the 3 Meditator's Jobs leading to a wise and bright mind.

In grace,
Nancy Cheah
01 February 2022