Insight

There is a question I have asked over 100 people. It is actually five questions. I used to ask this question when I was doing dog-and-pony shows for a Business Intelligence software vendor. The questions are:

· What is your definition of data?

· What is your definition of information?

· What is your definition of knowledge?

· What is your definition of intelligence?

· What is your definition of wisdom?

I’ve heard a variety of answers to the questions above. The worst response was ‘Awww, they’re all the same.’ They are not the same, trust me. There is a wide chasm between information and wisdom. Too frequently, people parade their data down the street expecting others to accept it as intelligence, or even worse, wisdom.

The fourth of the Buddhist Perfections is much attuned to this series of definitions – it is “insight”. Insight is not as hard as it sounds. There are a few tactics which can help. First we must acknowledge that our ears outnumber our mouth, so we should adjust the amount we listen and the amount we speak proportionately. The second is detachment – I’ll talk about detachment some other day, but for now, simply put, it is the practice of removing our own emotional agenda from a situation. The third tactic is accepting that you are doing the best you can, even if you are wrong.

Accepting imperfection in ourselves, detaching ourselves from desire and listening acutely opens us to insight. With experience, our insight becomes clearer. As in all things, there is no substitute for daily preparation. Prepare yourself and open yourself to wisdom and you, too, can practice Panna parami, insight.