The evolution of wisdom
No one thinks alone. Pick a question and follow it forward: the text that asked it first, the traditions that reached for it again centuries later and half a world away, and the people answering it now.
Suffering
“Tell me about a kind of pain you've had to live with rather than fix. How do you carry it?”
Pain that can't be fixed. How we carry what we can't put down.
- ~10th c. BCE – 1st c. CE
Hebrew & Christian Bible
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Psalms, the Sermon on the Mount, and the parables. Foundational to Western moral language.
“So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.”
Job's three friends arrive to comfort him after his catastrophic losses and sit in silence with him.
“Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
Job meditates on the brevity and hardship of human life.
- ~8th c. BCE – 4th c. CE
Hinduism
Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads — dialogues on duty, action, and self.
“The soul which is not moved, The soul that with a strong and constant calm Takes sorrow and takes joy indifferently, Lives in the life undying!”
Krishna describes the quality of the soul that remains unmoved by the highs and lows of worldly experience.
↓ Reached for again — Buddhism, ~5th c. BCE onward45% resonance“Him I call indeed a Brahmana who has traversed this miry road, the impassable world and its vanity, who has gone through, and reached the other shore, is thoughtful, guileless, free from doubts, free from attachment, and…”
“The Soul, Thus passing forth from the Three Qualities-- Whereby arise all bodies--overcomes Birth, Death, Sorrow, and Age; and drinketh deep The undying wine of Amrit.”
Krishna teaches that the soul that transcends the three qualities achieves liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and suffering.
↓ Reached for again — Buddhism, ~5th c. BCE onward53% resonance“He who knows that this body is like froth, and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirage, will break the flower-pointed arrow of Mara, and never see the king of death.”
- ~6th – 4th c. BCE
Taoism
Tao Te Ching, attributed to Laozi — terse, paradoxical aphorisms on living with the grain of things.
“He who has killed multitudes of men should weep for them with the bitterest grief; and the victor in battle has his place (rightly) according to those rites.”
Laozi insists that even a justified victor must mourn the lives taken, treating victory as a funeral rite rather than a celebration.
“The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes them think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.”
Laozi observes that over-taxation and excessive toil cause people to lose their fear of death — and suggests that clinging to life is itself a cause of suffering.
- ~5th c. BCE onward
Buddhism
Dhammapada and selected sutras — terse, principle-rich verses on suffering, attachment, and right action.
“Silently shall I endure abuse as the elephant in battle endures the arrow sent from the bow: for the world is ill-natured.”
The Buddha teaches on patience and endurance in the face of hostility.
↓ Reached for again — Qur’an, 7th c. CE51% resonance“And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure.”
“From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who is free from love knows neither grief nor fear.”
↓ Reached for again — Stoicism, 3rd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE48% resonance“He that preferreth before all things his rational part and spirit, and the sacred mysteries of virtue which issueth from it, he shall never lament and exclaim, never sigh; he shall never want either solitude or company:…”
- ~5th c. BCE
Confucianism
Analects of Confucius — sayings on conduct, governance, and moral cultivation.
“A superior man, during the whole period of mourning, does not enjoy pleasant food which he may eat, nor derive pleasure from music which he may hear. He also does not feel at ease, if he is comfortably lodged.”
Confucius explains to a disciple who advocates shorter mourning that genuine grief naturally suspends ordinary pleasures.
↓ Reached for again — Stoicism, 3rd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE50% resonance“Yet a little while, and thine eyes will be closed up, and for him that carries thee to thy grave shall another mourn within a while after. Why then shouldest thou so earnestly either seek after these things, or fly from…”
“'Is it excessive?' said he. 'If I am not to mourn bitterly for this man, for whom should I mourn?'”
Confucius responds to disciples who suggest his grief over the death of his beloved student Yen Yuan is excessive.
↓ Reached for again — Stoicism, 3rd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE48% resonance“Yet a little while, and thine eyes will be closed up, and for him that carries thee to thy grave shall another mourn within a while after. Why then shouldest thou so earnestly either seek after these things, or fly from…”
- 3rd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE
Stoicism
Greco-Roman school of practical philosophy on virtue, agency, and acceptance. Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca.
“Oh, wretched I, to whom this mischance is happened! nay, happy I, to whom this thing being happened, I can continue without grief; neither wounded by that which is present, nor in fear of that which is to come. Now to conclude; upon all occasion of sorrow remember henceforth to make use of this dogma, that whatsoever i…”
↓ Reached for again — Qur’an, 7th c. CE48% resonance“By God, thou hadst almost caused me to perish; And, but for the favour of my Lord, I had surely been of those who have been brought with thee into torment.”
“As we say commonly, The physician hath prescribed unto this man, riding; unto another, cold baths; unto a third, to go barefoot: so it is alike to say, The nature of the universe hath prescribed unto this man sickness, or blindness, or some loss, or damage or some such thing... These therefore let us accept of in like…”
Marcus uses the metaphor of a physician's prescription to argue that hardships assigned by fate should be accepted as treatments for the soul.
↓ Reached for again — Qur’an, 7th c. CE43% resonance“As to man, when his Lord trieth him and honoureth him and is bounteous to him, Then saith he, 'My Lord honoureth me:' But when he proveth him and limiteth his gifts to him, He saith, 'My Lord despiseth me.'”
- ~3rd c. CE
Rabbinic Judaism
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) — concise principles for living, distilled from the early rabbinic period.
“Do not try to appease your friend during his hour of anger; Nor comfort him at the hour while his dead still lies before him; Nor question him at the hour of his vow; Nor strive to see him in the hour of his disgrace.”
↓ Reached for again — Qur’an, 7th c. CE50% resonance“And grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.”
“Such is the way [of a life] of Torah: you shall eat bread with salt, and rationed water shall you drink; you shall sleep on the ground, your life will be one of privation, and in Torah shall you labor. If you do this, "Happy shall you be and it shall be good for you": "Happy shall you be" in this world, "and it shall b…”
A description of the austere, disciplined lifestyle required for serious intellectual and spiritual pursuit.
↓ Reached for again — Qur’an, 7th c. CE48% resonance“For the like of this should the travailers travail!”
- 7th c. CE
Qur’an
Central scripture of Islam. Ethical teachings, parables, and prophetic narratives.
“Then verily along with trouble cometh ease. Verily along with trouble cometh ease. But when thou art set at liberty, then prosecute thy toil. And seek thy Lord with fervour.”
God speaks to Muhammad during a period of burden, promising relief and urging continued effort.
“Surely in trouble have we created man.”
God speaks of the fundamental condition of human existence.
- Now
Living voices
The same question, answered by people who are still working it out.
Nobody has added to this thread yet. It could be you.