It is important to understand that real knowledge is of the heart. Real wisdom is what we live. Real knowledge comes from experience, and more importantly, that experience of higher realities comes when we investigate our own heart, our own mind, our ways of living, and to look, not to assume that we know, “I am of this race, this culture, this religion, this belief system, these politics, this upbringing.” It means to really look at what is inside in terms of our emotions, our impulses, our will.
This active looking is precisely what every tradition teaches about meditation: to look, to observe, to acquire new information―not to assume that we already know who we are, but to be open and to watch in a state of stillness, of observation, of clarity. It is that inner discrimination of ourselves that really helps us to distinguish right from wrong. It is our heart, our conscience, that tells us what is right and what is wrong. We may have traditions that tell us these things, but what do we know in our being about what to do? ― especially when we are faced with situations that are so complex that we are baffled. We are confused. We are overwhelmed, like you heard in Carmina Burana. When fate hits, the hammer of karma, of hardship, strikes, and we find all of those things that we typically ignore come to the surface of our mind, things we may neglect or fail to look at.
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The source of real spiritual power, serenity, and insight.