Thursday, July 30, 2009

From Raw Data to Wisdom......

Data

  1. information, often in the form of facts or figures obtained from experiments or surveys, used as a basis for making calculations or drawing conclusions
  2. information, for example, numbers, text, images, and sounds, in a form that is suitable for storage in or processing by a computer

Information

  1. definite knowledge acquired or supplied about something or somebody
  2. the collected facts and data about a particular subject
  3. a telephone service that supplies telephone numbers to the public on request.
  4. the communication of facts and knowledge
  5. computer data that has been organized and presented in a systematic fashion to clarify the underlying meaning
  6. a formal accusation of a crime brought by a prosecutor, as opposed to an indictment brought by a grand jury

Knowledge

  1. general awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths, or principles
  2. clear awareness or explicit information, for example, of a situation or fact
  3. all the information, facts, truths, and principles learned throughout time
  4. familiarity or understanding gained through experience or study

Wisdom

  1. the knowledge and experience needed to make sensible decisions and judgments, or the good sense shown by the decisions and judgments made
  2. accumulated knowledge of life or in a particular sphere of activity that has been gained through experience
  3. an opinion that almost everyone seems to share or express.
(Source: Here are four definitions taken from Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.)

What Einstein had to say.....

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

Albert Einstein

SIX STANZAS ON NIRVANA


**************************************************************************************

I am neither the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor the mind-stuff ;
I am neither the body, nor the changes of the body ;
I am neither the senses of hearing, taste, smell, or sight,
Nor am I the ether, the earth, the fire, the air ;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).

I am neither the PrĂ¢na, nor the five vital airs ;
I am neither the materials of the body, nor the five sheaths ;
Neither am I the organs of action, nor object of the senses ;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).

I have neither aversion nor attachment, neither greed nor delusion;
Neither egotism nor envy, neither Dharma nor Moksha;
I am neither desire nor objects of desire ;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).

I am neither sin nor virtue, neither pleasure nor pain ;
Nor temple nor worship, nor pilgrimage nor scriptures,
Neither the act of enjoying, the enjoyable nor the enjoyer ;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).

I have neither death nor fear of death, nor caste ;
Nor was I ever born, nor had I parents, friends, and relations ;
I have neither Guru, nor disciple ;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).

I am untouched by the senses, I am neither Mukti nor knowable ;
I am without form, without limit, beyond space, beyond time ;
I am in everything ; I am the basis of the universe ; everywhere am I.
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute—
I am He, I am He. (Shivoham, Shivoham).


(Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda)

Where the Mind is Without Fear


Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.