Too smart for ageless wisdom teachings?
We don’t need wisdom teachings from the past to guide us on our journeys toward self-discovery. Right?
We have science. We have technological gadgets galore.
We are so full of confidence, determination and eagerness to push forward that we hardly even read the instructions that come with our purchases and assignments anymore.
As my granddaughter says when I’m trying to figure out how to play a new game, “Let’s just make up our own rules.”
Ageless wisdom teachings as supplements to what we know.
Confidence, determination and eagerness are commendable attributes while we forge our way through life, but there’s a lot to be said for supplementing what we know – or think we know – with the knowledge of those who trekked the path before us. Ancient wisdom can add depth to our “modern” spiritual journey.
In the article “Technology of Transcendence,” Frances Vaughan and Roger Walsh claim that most of our recent psychological discoveries are revivals of far older ways of knowing. They believe that the task in the years ahead is to develop our untapped human potential through these rediscovered inner technologies.
In ancient times, for instance, it was believed that individuals operate within a greater intelligence – a believe now backed by quantum physics.
We hear a lot these days about a quantum field filled with information and are told that how we interact with that field – through our thoughts and beliefs – determines our reality. The Secret and The Law of Attraction are modern renditions of old truths about how thoughts become things.
A process called channeling can also be traced back to oracular traditions of old. Yet many scientists, musicians, writers and artists claim that ideas, creative works and personal guidance are revealed to them by some kind of nonphysical communicator.
Examples of ageless wisdom teachings
Some forms of ageless wisdom teachings, such as yoga and meditation, are already mainstream. Others, such as the shamanic knowing found in the Native American Medicine Wheel, still wait to be rediscovered, appreciated and employed.
When I read about the Native American Medicine Wheel for the first time thirteen years ago, I was so impressed with its potential as a tool for self-discovery that I wrote four novels with medicine wheel teachings binding the stories together.
Ageless wisdom teachings, such as the ones below, can serve as companions to – rather than replacements of – our current spiritual practices.
- The labyrinth enlivens the intuitive part of our nature and gives us firsthand experiences of the Divine.
- Hatha yoga is used for stress management
- Dream work is a timeless, cross culture source of spiritual guidance.
- Tarot are cards chosen by virtue of Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity.
- Feng Shui balances the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune.
- Crystal energy tools bring clarity, light and healing into our energy field.
- I Ching is a collection of practical wisdom pertaining to every conceivable situation.
According to Roger Walsh, in his article for Inner Knowing called Hidden Wisdom, “…reality consists of many different inner states, each containing its own wisdom.”
He asks,” “What higher grades of significance, what profound meaning and messages, does the world give us that we are overlooking.”
I believe a good question we should ask ourselves is, “What can we learn from the wisdom of those who walked this earthly path before us?”
There’s plenty of it available, if we care to look, a job I intend to tackle in future posts on this blog.
Let’s part the curtain together and catch fragments of another kind of knowing.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
