In President Obama’s speech to the nation in a joint session of Congress on September 9, 2009, I was especially struck by this line of his, “when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom.” After hearing this, I forced myself to remember it. And then I began to think about it especially the part “timidity passes for wisdom” which for a Buddhist rings a bell.
Buddhism understands wisdom or prajñâ to mean the ability to distinguish true reality from empty appearance or if your prefer, truth from fiction. So how does timidity pass for wisdom?
Certainly timidity passes for wisdom when a majority of the population is content with the superficial; who lack courage; who go with whichever way the wind blows; and who are easily induced into a consensus trance. As we might expect, they are very conservative and conformist in their thinking often choosing not to engage with new ideas and solutions. Their counsel is always: “Follow the past and accept the values of the herd.”
Yes, anyone can sound wise who is timid. But this is not wisdom. The timid soul can only offer us the words of a platitudinarian who hands out insipid truisms which history has taught us, are useless. They have never, in their entire life, been able to distinguish truth from fiction.
On the other hand, real wisdom comes from the truly wise who have found the truth through courageous acts—not through timidity. They are the ones who often go against the herd when they realize there is a cliff before the stampeding multitude. They are the ones with a long term vision who see, exactly, the consequence of every action and thus avoid taking the wrong path. The also know that having an abundance of wisdom makes true the words, “All is well that ends well.” Indeed, wisdom leads us to green pastures—never a dry land.
Instead of letting those who are truly wise speak, the majority feel happiest when some timid talking head says what the herd wants to hear. Eventually the halls of wisdom turn into a huge echo chamber. And more and more it becomes increasingly difficult even to detect wisdom and the wisest. In the meantime, those who are timid and weak become our leaders who really have nothing to say; whose job is to assure the herd that there is no need to make any fundamental changes as if to say, “We’re going in the right direction—I assure you there is no cliff ahead.”
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