Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

“Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.”

- Zen Proverb

Sometimes, less is more. 

In a world with information at the tip of our fingers, it’s easy to constantly feed our brains new information to grow, learn more about our Selves, and not get left behind with the advancements in technology.

This Zen proverb was the quote I received when I opened my Open app for my meditation this morning. Most mornings I dismiss the quote for the day and try to keep my mind free during meditation, but today this proverb stayed with me and I explored it for nearly the full 20 minutes. In the end, I was left with more questions than answers–ones I thought I’d share with you to challenge your thinking about the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Some questions I was left with:

Do we get to a point where we have enough knowledge for our Pursuit and our additional learning just takes up space?

Should we be striving to be knowledgeable or wise?

Can we become both wise and knowledgeable on the same day—learning something new and letting go of something we no longer need?

Does gaining wisdom only refer to information or does it also include other individuals, things, and beliefs?

Do we have to let go of something before we can add more knowledge?

If we are not conscious of what we are letting go, do we risk losing something we want to keep–or, does the Universe take care of this for us?

As you can see, this simple proverb unpacked a lot of questions for me. 

I did arrive at one conclusion I feel confident about–throughout your Pursuit, it is important to be comfortable letting go. Whether it is to become wiser, remove detractors and distractions from your Pursuit, or to be able to allocate your energy toward the important parts of your authentic life, letting go is an important part of the journey.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC