A brief history.

Lao Tse (Lao Tzu), 604 BC - 507 BC

Not too much is known about Lao Tse. He is supposed to be the founder of Taoism. Legend has it that he was a philosopher who traveled for years. As nobody apparently wanted to hear his words, he decided to leave the world. When he reached the western border however he was persuaded by the gatekeeper to write down his ideas. The resulting work is known as the Tao Te Ching, although experts suspect that this work has been contributed to by several authors.

Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 563 BC - ca 483 BC

Siddhartha Gautama was a prince who lived a life of luxury for 29 years. At that age he left the palace and came across a decrepit old man, a diseased person, a corpse being cremated, and a sadhu (=holy man, hermit). He then decided to devote his time to finding the end of suffering. At the age of 35, after having learned from two respected monks, he spends seven weeks meditating and reaches Enlightenment. The rest of his life he spends teaching both monks and lay men the Dhamma.

Jesus Christ, 7 BC - 30

Little is known about the first thirty years of Jesus' life. It is assumed that Jesus came out to the open in the year 26; approximately at the age of 33. He then started preaching throughout the province of Galilea. It is assumed that he did this for three years.

Muhammad, 569 - 632

At the age of 25 Muhammad married the widow Chadidja, who was 15 years older and owned several trade caravans. Traveling as her representative he met Jews and Christians and learned about their religion. According to the tradition, he withdrew in a cave in the month of Ramadan in 610, where the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. During the next 22 or 23 years Muhammad had a number of revelations, which were combined to form the Qur'an.

My point is that these men didn't lead an ordinary life. They had both the opportunity and the time to spend in the presence of other wise men, to travel and explore their world, to retreat and to contemplate. It takes time, a lot of time to acquire a certain level of wisdom. It's not just a matter of reading a couple of books, attending a few workshops here and there. Acquiring wisdom requires a significant effort. I hope I haven't disillusioned you, but there is no simple guide. It takes more than reading a hub, or two.

I can't speak for you of course, but I assume your lives are not that different from mine. I go to work to earn my income, I have a household to run, a child to raise, I need my sleep and in the time that is left I'd like to enjoy life. So I spend time with my friends and loved ones, like to watch a movie at times, read a book, and so on. All this leaves me little time to think about Life. So I hope wisdom will come with the years.

Back to the starting question of this hub. I guess a number of you are already thinking on a comment. And you're absolutely free to comment on it, but you should note that I did not put the question there in search for an answer. The question is there to open your mind, make you think, step outside the boundaries of common knowledge.

Wisdom doesn't start with education. It starts with questioning this education with an open mind. It starts with taking a step back, abandoning the world you are familiar with and taking a different point of view.