You’ll Never Get Better Life Advice Than This

Seriously, this is the good stuff right here

Do you know why the world is in such a terrible state?

All the people who know how to fix it are out driving cabs!

I’ve had some amazing conversations in taxis. Cabbies get to see a lot of people, often at exciting times, and share some of the gems if you prod them in the right place.

But they are about as wise as anybody else.

And everybody is wise.

Don’t believe me?

In my tradition, there is a question we are told to ask ourselves when faced with a challenge.

What would a wise person do?

It doesn’t matter who. Jesus, the Buddha, Socrates, Mother Teresa, Grandmother; we all know somebody whom we consider wise. Think about them, and ask yourself, what would they do?

It might not be what you want to do — eat the marshmallow right now, buy the flashy car, marry the boss, have one more drink “for the road” — but it is what the wise person in your mind would advise you.

So we all have a wise person inside whom we can call on — kind of like a quizshow lifeline — when needed.

The Human Tree

In the philosophical model I follow, humanity is like a tree. The root source is the causal entity. Whatever makes the whole thing go, and there are various names for this concept: the Good, the One, the Absolute, God, whatever.

Whatever this entity is, it is ineffable and beyond all but the most superficial knowledge. Who knows the mind of God? Nobody.

Then there are various entities and structures one might describe as trunk and branches and twigs before getting to us at the far end. The individual leaves, about eight billion of us. Souls, jiva, embodiments. Look in the mirror and you see one, okay?

Some see this chain from absolute to self as a series of discrete beings. Plotinus described three distinct entities, for example.

And others see it as more of a continuum. We can certainly say that some of us are more wise or saintly than others, and it’s always good to push ourselves towards the more divine end of the spectrum rather than wallow in the gutter.

But who are we?

This is the question humanity has been asking itself forever. I suspect that a complete answer is impossible. Ineffable, if you like.

We can claim various things. Our body, our thoughts, our sense of beauty, our emotions.

Are we those circling thoughts, always judging, always commenting, always telling us that we are this or that. Too fat, too skinny, too lazy, too much of a busy-body. Are we really so shallow?

Or maybe we are that wise person within. After all, we aren’t sending a text or picking up the telephone to communicate with them, now are we? The link is instant, the answer is immediate.

Here’s the answer

We can situate ourselves anywhere from the divine to dross. It’s not a matter of how we see things, but where we see them from.

Do you have a sense of right and wrong? Be the right.

If you can recognise the beauty of a rainbow, or of a child’s smile, a shady park, a tall mountain, a good story, then you have the sense of beauty inside, otherwise, they would not resonate. You don’t have to study up on whether a sunrise is beautiful or majestic, do you? No, you have those qualities already, available as a touchstone. Be the beauty, be the majesty.

Do you have that wise person available for advice? Be that wise person.

The secret to a good life is as simple as that. Sure it helps to listen to wise and clever and learned people, to read good books, to be in good company, to see the world and think deeply. Develop good habits, do all the right things.

But the key is that you already know what to do. See yourself as the wise person living a happy, productive, loving life, and it doesn’t matter at all what your physical circumstances are. You will be the best you can be, and it doesn’t get any better than that.

Don’t knock cabbie wisdom

Not everybody gets the same start in life, nor the same path to greatness. If you look down on somebody because they are driving the taxi, or sweeping the street, or serving your food, then you have the wrong approach.

Instead, think of them as your teacher. You might ask them directly for their personal words of wisdom, for everybody has some advice to treasure, or you might watch what they do and learn something from that, even if it is what not to do when approaching an amber light.

Find the happy, loving people. They have to be doing something right. They must have solved some of the puzzles of life. Maybe they have no diplomas, but if they face the world with a smile, they may have something to offer you.

Bottom line. We are all wise — including you and I. We may not see it for all the noise and junk and fog inside our heads, but it is there if we look for it.

And when you find it, show others how to, please?

Britni

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