From Curiosity to Knowledge, from Knowledge to Wisdom: Two Tales from Ancient Asian Thoughts
From Curiosity to Knowledge, from Knowledge to Wisdom: Two Tales from Ancient Asian Thoughts

Summary/Abstract: This thought piece is taken from two legendary teachings created during the axial age in China and India. It was written to introduce to the Polish agenda of how to introduce young men in transition from pupil to the student of philosophy. The story from China exemplifies the traditional Chinese culture of emphasizing tenacity and hard work to introduce people to understand the phenomenon of life and to show how a man can overcome great obstacles in the world. The story examines a variety of insights into the human disposition of perseverance, audacity, and transformative power of man with determined heart. Where seemingly absurd ideas can be carried out to fruition when people have the collective heart to push even a utopian vision aimed at changing society through symbolic interventions from heaven. The second tale from India is taken from the immortal conversation between the father and his son extracted from the Vedic text of the Upanishad. The tale reminds us of the natural foolish disposition of a young student in his study of life. He learned, the importance of human discovery of that which is permanent and unchanging and eternal. At the end, the young student realized that the trajectory of human pursuit of knowledge is to liberate himself from the drudgery of existence burdened by the sensible world. Such plight of a human pilgrim is aimed at his being taught to rise from the unreal to Real, from untrue to Truth, and from death to Immortality.

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