‘Roots of Wisdom’ is indisputably one of the most interesting and influential philosophical books. The book was authored by a famous, influential philosophical writer identified as Helen Buss Mitchel. Currently, Mitchel is a professor of philosophy and Director of women studies at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. “Roots of Wisdom was published in the year 2000, however, over the years the book has been reviewed to other different editions. The author explains both basic and complex philosophical thoughts in this book associated with an adequate tapestry of opinions which incorporates the traditions of various people across the world giving it a positive multicultural aspect. This paper will critically analyze the teachings of the Buddha as highlighted by the author in the chapter two of the book. Subsequently, it will explain how a person may effectively benefit to discover “practical wisdom” by following the Buddha’s teachings.
Buddha’s teachings are characterized by rich and diverse wisdom and knowledge that touches on different aspects of a human life across all cultures. As a result, these lessons have enabled different individuals to acquire unlimited ‘practical knowledge' based on their understanding and attentiveness in following the Buddha's expressions and rational thoughts. Furthermore, most of the Buddha's instructions are formulated in the form of sayings, chronicles, and proverbs as illustrated by Mitchel. Surprisingly, even though these items used by the Buddha to pass on his wisdom to his followers may seem insignificant regarding educating his people, they usually possess rich knowledge embroiled in them. Therefore, it is crystal clear that on a philosophical perspective, the Buddha's ideas and wise teachings have played a significant role towards enabling his followers to discover themselves and gain a noteworthy satisfaction regarding ‘practical knowledge' and understanding of the fundamental philosophical questions relating to the life of a human being.
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Buddhism ideas concerning the mental components and experiences of an individual's self-understanding have been in existence for a long period, dating back two thousand five hundred years ago. According to the Buddha's teachings, perceptions, motivations, thoughts, behaviors and sensations are part of people's neural representation. Likewise, the author illustrates that the Buddha's ‘skandhas' serve as the beginning pad that connects the physical realm of the brain and a person's body to the mental realm of the mind. Buddhism represents one of the major non-western views of the self. As such, these sentiments provides an elaborate platform that enables the Buddhist followers to gather practical knowledge from the teachings of their God.
In Buddhism, ‘practical knowledge’ also identified as wisdom is based on the four noble truths developed by the Buddha. The noble truths explain the process by which an individual can discover the true self. Moreover, in this chapter, the author describes the Buddha's concept of enlightenment which illustrates a personal realization that comes to his followers of primarily viewing the world as it is. According to the Buddha's teachings to his followers, the first step towards gaining wisdom is first and foremost to be enlightened. The enlightenment enables an individual to understand the current situation that he or she is involved in the universe. Mitchel illustrates that the four noble truths of Buddhism include; life is a suffering, the desire of ego causes suffering, ending a person's desire brings his or her suffering to an end and following the Noble Eightfold Path ends desire.
Concisely, understanding and adhering to the above named noble truths of Buddhism creates a transparent platform for understanding and gaining ‘practical knowledge' as a follower of the Buddha teachings. As such, the followers of Buddhist culture and lessons can apply the above processes to teach and benefit other individuals to acquaint themselves with personal wisdom. The first noble truth of Buddhism illustrates the extent at which individuals undergo through pain and suffering as they adapt to the reality and vitality of the life adjustments. Secondly, the Buddha's teachings on noble truths point out the way in which suffering of human beings increases with their demand for more desires. The third Noble provides a solution to individual's endless suffering by proposing that the only sure way to do that is by resisting to hold on to our personal self. Lastly, the last noble truth describes the process in which people can apply the Buddhism teachings to counter the persistent and resilient life challenges. Consequently, it is evident that the Buddha's lessons learned by his followers regarding the noble truths as illustrated by Mitchel in her book ‘Roots of Wisdom’ can be applicable towards helping an individual discover ‘practical knowledge.' Additionally, wisdom gained from these teachings will enable a person to understand the essence of his existence, as such, the person will be capable of overcoming the challenges that the world presents to him effectively.
Philosophically, idealism is described as a metaphysical or ontological notion that is mentally perceived by human thoughts in their respective minds. It is a concept in philosophy that explains that the only real thing in this world is what can be explained as something that is mental perceived such as spirits, mind, reasoning and will. Likewise, idealism is characterized as an immaterial concept which does not classify physical objects as being real but as the way they are perceived differently by each and every person. Mainly, the idealism concepts critically support the perception that the world of reality only primarily as a spirit or in other words as a sense of consciousness. The idea of idealism was initially developed in the Indian society by the Mahayana Buddhists which characterized this philosophical concept as a wider degree of phenomenological considerations of personal experience.
On a philosophical perspective, materialism is also referred to as to physicalism. The concept of materialism explains that the only real thing in nature is physical matter. Materialism is opposed to the perception of spiritual concepts and thoughts which comprise the philosophical concept of idealism. Additionally, materialism doctrine proposes that the mental perceptions spiritual phenomena and consciousness is as a result of mental interactions with the physical matter. Moreover, the doctrine stresses that materials or physical object are the only realistic phenomena rather than spiritual concepts or mentally derived insights such as consciousness. According to this dogma, there is nothing else that exists beyond physical possessions.
Pragmatism is an American philosophical concept that was developed by Charles Sanders Peirce . The concept is applied to establish the practicability aspects of philosophical doctrines such as materialism and idealism. It investigates the extent at which a particular concept guides actions that critically seek to provide the truth about certain philosophical beliefs and consequences. Pragmatism is usually associated with the core concept of pragmatism maxim which is the respective principle that points out the contents of a particular philosophical theory to determine its practicability.
Ontology is categorized as a branch of metaphysics that that commonly explains the nature of being or the concept of existence. It also highlights on various aspects of reality. Ontology is mainly concerned with establishing the various things which exist in the natural setting. The concept of ontology also describes the procedure by which various objects may be classified according to their respective characteristics based on their resemblances and dissimilarities.
