Based upon this premise, it means the older you are, the more raw material you have to be wise. But, that doesn’t always mean the older person is the wiser one. Think of kitchen-phobic Chip with all kinds of delectable ingredients and a complex recipe versus someone half my age who knows her way around the kitchen and can cook a lovely, simple meal with less ingredients. It’s not having the life experience that matters – it’s what you do with it.
Carrying that metaphor one step further, Deepak Ramola is a master chef of life knowing how to distill wisdom like a fine reduction sauce. As a teenager, he founded Project FUEL (Forwarding the Understanding of Every Life Lesson) which gathers wisdom from individuals of all backgrounds—ranging from refugees and survivors to celebrities and everyday people—and transforms these lessons into interactive workshops, art, and storytelling formats. He’s even created a World Wisdom Map with these stories.
He says, “My mother was pulled out of school when she was in grade 5 by her grandmother who felt education was not for girls. Despite the lack of opportunity for formal education, my mother always emphasized that life is our biggest classroom. To my young, impressionable mind that meant: If she was learning by living that means everyone who is living is learning something; and I must try to find it out. I dream of a world where our significance isn’t measured by the fame, power or money we hold, but by the meaningful lives we lead.”
I’m bringing Deepak up because we had a transcendent Zoom call the other day, nearly finishing each other’s sentences as we giggled like school kids. I admire Deepak as an artistic seeker who’s written many books including the 50 Toughest Questions of Life. Part of my interest in Deepak comes from his blog post about a hotelier based in one of my favorite spots on the planet, Varanasi, India, called 12 Life Lessons from a Man who has seen 12,000 Deaths. When I was there witnessing Hindu devotees come to this sacred city before they died, I wondered who takes care of them (I guess it’s the hotelier in me that has that curiosity). Now I know. For 44 years, Bhairav Nath Shukla has been the Manager of one of three Varanasi guesthouses where people take refuge before they pass and are burned on the ghats facing the Ganges River. I’d recommend you read Deepak’s post, but here’s the shorthand of the 12 lessons:
1. Resolve all conflicts before you go
2. Simplicity is the truth of life
3. Filter out people’s bad traits
4. Be willing to seek help from others
5. Find beauty in simple things
6. Acceptance is liberation
7. Accepting everyone as the same makes service easier
8. If/When you find your purpose, do something about it
9. Habits become values
10. Choose what you want to learn
11. You don’t break ties with people; you break ties with the thought they produce
12. 10 percent of what you earn should be kept aside for dharma
Deepak has also taken academic Dilip Jeste’s scholarship on wisdom and turned it into a circle of wisdom (which is the same shape I’ve used in my Owning Wisdom workshops – I’m hoping that Deepak will join me in my June 23-28 workshop in Santa Fe).
In sum, it’s so reassuring to meet someone half my age who has studied the value of wisdom in the world and believes that we all have the capacity to cultivate and share that wisdom with others. The world is in good hands with Millennials like Deepak.
-Chip
For those of you who are curious about the meaning of life and death, I heartily recommend the Baja workshop this fall, Transitions In Loss: Death, Grief, and the Path of Healing. led by Michael Hebb who created the Death Over Dinner movement a dozen years ago when he was in his mid-30s. This is a great workshop to bring family members and friends to. I’ve experienced Michael’s work and can say that he’s magical in how he creates exercises and experiences that allow us to see grief and death in a new way.
