by Sri Ajit Halder
‘Prajnana Brahman, the supreme
non-dual Self-I, is the highest Truth or Reality which is neither subject nor
object, but the real essence of both. The real essence is verily Saccidananda
I-Absolute which is beyond the range of mind, intellect and word’, so said Sri
Sri Babathakur.
The above quotation is an appropriate illustration of the theme of this article. It provides information on several topics, e.g. on ‘Brahman’, on His attribute ‘Prajnana’ and elaborating further, on His being ‘the supreme non-dual Self-I’. This information creates interest in the reader’s mind to gain the knowledge that ‘Brahman, the highest Truth or Reality, is the real essence of both’. This knowledge leads one to think deeply to bring oneself to a state of realizing the wisdom that the real essence is ‘Saccidananda I-Absolute’.
Typically, information is defined in terms of raw facts, knowledge in terms of information and wisdom in terms of knowledge. Thus, we notice a functional relationship existing among the three entities. This model based on the three inter-related components may be easily comprehended if we include an understanding tier interposed between knowledge and wisdom.
Information
We now discuss in greater details what is meant by the expression information. An item of information is inferred from the responses gathered in the process of answering interrogative question e.g. “who”, “what”, “where”, “how many” and “when” thereby making the answers useful for decision-making and/or undertaking an action that serves an intended purpose.
The dictionary defines information as ‘one word or a combination of words’, helping us become aware of some facts, about something, some specific organization or a specific person.
Let us consider the following informative statement referring to a person: ‘Miss Madhumita Aditya lives at 23 Purbasha Sarani, Kolkata – 700085’. This piece of information about Miss Aditya may have been taken out of a telephone directory. This information on Madhumita if true, could be useful to her relatives and friends who may wish to contact her by sending a mail. A letter envelope bearing this address sent by a friend will be safely delivered to Miss Aditya’s doorstep by a postman.
Given facts do have a fundamental property of being true descriptions of an entity, have objective reality and can be verified, such definitions would preclude false, meaningless and nonsensical items of information from our information list.
We live in an age characterized by the phrase ‘The Information Age’ which is oft-quoted by the media and a host of other people who talk about and use information. Hence, it is to be expected that various interpretations of ‘information’ are available in literature and used in common parlance. We have offered a set of definitions of ‘information’ that are relevant and helpful for the progression towards the next item ‘knowledge’ and then onto ‘wisdom’.
Knowledge
The term ‘knowledge’ is defined with reference to information that has been processed, organized or structured in some way, or is being applied to put into action. It originates in the mind of the ‘knower’ and typically answers “how” questions.
Knowledge may be considered as a mix of contextual information, expert insights and understanding gained from evaluating and incorporating new experiences. It is often found embedded in official documents and repositories for future use by some interested person.
The above quotation is an appropriate illustration of the theme of this article. It provides information on several topics, e.g. on ‘Brahman’, on His attribute ‘Prajnana’ and elaborating further, on His being ‘the supreme non-dual Self-I’. This information creates interest in the reader’s mind to gain the knowledge that ‘Brahman, the highest Truth or Reality, is the real essence of both’. This knowledge leads one to think deeply to bring oneself to a state of realizing the wisdom that the real essence is ‘Saccidananda I-Absolute’.
Typically, information is defined in terms of raw facts, knowledge in terms of information and wisdom in terms of knowledge. Thus, we notice a functional relationship existing among the three entities. This model based on the three inter-related components may be easily comprehended if we include an understanding tier interposed between knowledge and wisdom.
Information
We now discuss in greater details what is meant by the expression information. An item of information is inferred from the responses gathered in the process of answering interrogative question e.g. “who”, “what”, “where”, “how many” and “when” thereby making the answers useful for decision-making and/or undertaking an action that serves an intended purpose.
The dictionary defines information as ‘one word or a combination of words’, helping us become aware of some facts, about something, some specific organization or a specific person.
Let us consider the following informative statement referring to a person: ‘Miss Madhumita Aditya lives at 23 Purbasha Sarani, Kolkata – 700085’. This piece of information about Miss Aditya may have been taken out of a telephone directory. This information on Madhumita if true, could be useful to her relatives and friends who may wish to contact her by sending a mail. A letter envelope bearing this address sent by a friend will be safely delivered to Miss Aditya’s doorstep by a postman.
Given facts do have a fundamental property of being true descriptions of an entity, have objective reality and can be verified, such definitions would preclude false, meaningless and nonsensical items of information from our information list.
We live in an age characterized by the phrase ‘The Information Age’ which is oft-quoted by the media and a host of other people who talk about and use information. Hence, it is to be expected that various interpretations of ‘information’ are available in literature and used in common parlance. We have offered a set of definitions of ‘information’ that are relevant and helpful for the progression towards the next item ‘knowledge’ and then onto ‘wisdom’.
Knowledge
The term ‘knowledge’ is defined with reference to information that has been processed, organized or structured in some way, or is being applied to put into action. It originates in the mind of the ‘knower’ and typically answers “how” questions.
Knowledge may be considered as a mix of contextual information, expert insights and understanding gained from evaluating and incorporating new experiences. It is often found embedded in official documents and repositories for future use by some interested person.
The development of Knowledge occurs
through a gathering of information from multiple sources and is grasped by a
sequence of acts beginning with processing, understanding and experiencing the accumulated
learning. It is an ongoing process
taking place in the knower’s mind and may lead to some form of action.
Wisdom
The concept of Wisdom is a profound understanding of the response made to a “why” query: ‘why’ something has been talked about or ‘why’ someone has acquired intellectual power to enable him/her to make ‘discriminating judgment’ on an issue and thereby improves his/her effectiveness in dealing with a problem, finding a solution or resolving a conflict. Wisdom requires mental function to add value to the knowledge already possessed by an individual, and so, wisdom is a feeling in the mind that is non-materialistic in nature and helps to solve mundane problems of material i.e. worldly nature.
The two categories namely, information and knowledge, relate to the past as they deal with what has been, has happened or what is already known. Empowered by Wisdom, people can create the future to their advantage, bringing in joy and satisfaction instead of just grasping the present and the past. But achieving wisdom requires sincere effort by people moving successfully through absorbing usable information, acquiring new knowledge and getting energized to reach the desired state of Wisdom.
In a more practical sense, Wisdom is the process by which we can judge between what is right and wrong, good or evil. Whereas information leading to knowledge can have its origin in non-human resources, wisdom is a uniquely human state.
Conclusion
The objective of this article has been to draw the attention of the reader to the fact that in performing our daily tasks, we rarely think that our actions are preceded by our minds going through the sequence of states: it starts with amassing ‘Information’ to be processed in our minds for acquiring ‘Knowledge’ and finally to the exalted state of possessing ‘Wisdom’’.
Sri Sri Babathakur’s extensive writings are full of wisdom that help a devotee make progress on the spiritual path. There perhaps could be no better way to conclude this discussion than by quoting another divine message of Sri Sri Babathakur:
‘The realizer of the Supreme I-reality is His best holder (supporter), bearer (convenor) and distributor or server. He/I-Reality gives to His (Its) own Self-I dwelling in all beings/I-reality, since the infinite one Divine Self-I is the soul of all beings (I-Reality)’.
In this message, the ‘information’ bits are: ‘The realizer’, ‘the Supreme I-reality’ and ‘all beings I-reality’. All these lead to the ‘knowledge’: ‘the best holder (supporter), bearer (convener) and distributor or server’. From this ‘knowledge’ the reader acquires ‘wisdom’ to realize that ‘the Infinite one Divine Self-I is the soul of all beings (I-Reality)’.
Wisdom
The concept of Wisdom is a profound understanding of the response made to a “why” query: ‘why’ something has been talked about or ‘why’ someone has acquired intellectual power to enable him/her to make ‘discriminating judgment’ on an issue and thereby improves his/her effectiveness in dealing with a problem, finding a solution or resolving a conflict. Wisdom requires mental function to add value to the knowledge already possessed by an individual, and so, wisdom is a feeling in the mind that is non-materialistic in nature and helps to solve mundane problems of material i.e. worldly nature.
The two categories namely, information and knowledge, relate to the past as they deal with what has been, has happened or what is already known. Empowered by Wisdom, people can create the future to their advantage, bringing in joy and satisfaction instead of just grasping the present and the past. But achieving wisdom requires sincere effort by people moving successfully through absorbing usable information, acquiring new knowledge and getting energized to reach the desired state of Wisdom.
In a more practical sense, Wisdom is the process by which we can judge between what is right and wrong, good or evil. Whereas information leading to knowledge can have its origin in non-human resources, wisdom is a uniquely human state.
Conclusion
The objective of this article has been to draw the attention of the reader to the fact that in performing our daily tasks, we rarely think that our actions are preceded by our minds going through the sequence of states: it starts with amassing ‘Information’ to be processed in our minds for acquiring ‘Knowledge’ and finally to the exalted state of possessing ‘Wisdom’’.
Sri Sri Babathakur’s extensive writings are full of wisdom that help a devotee make progress on the spiritual path. There perhaps could be no better way to conclude this discussion than by quoting another divine message of Sri Sri Babathakur:
‘The realizer of the Supreme I-reality is His best holder (supporter), bearer (convenor) and distributor or server. He/I-Reality gives to His (Its) own Self-I dwelling in all beings/I-reality, since the infinite one Divine Self-I is the soul of all beings (I-Reality)’.
In this message, the ‘information’ bits are: ‘The realizer’, ‘the Supreme I-reality’ and ‘all beings I-reality’. All these lead to the ‘knowledge’: ‘the best holder (supporter), bearer (convener) and distributor or server’. From this ‘knowledge’ the reader acquires ‘wisdom’ to realize that ‘the Infinite one Divine Self-I is the soul of all beings (I-Reality)’.
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