Speaker 1: Knowledge is really just the accumulation of all the information
Speaker 1: that we receive in our mind. It is purely intellectual.
Speaker 1: It's regurgitation of information that we learn. But wisdom is
Speaker 1: gathering the knowledge and then actually applying it. I'm Raley
Speaker 1: Wukiah and on my podcast A Really Good Cry, we
Speaker 1: embrace the messy and the beautiful, providing a space for
Speaker 1: raw and fielded conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow you
Speaker 1: to tune in to learn, connect and find comfort together.
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of every
Speaker 1: Really Good Cry.
Speaker 2: I hope you've had such a wonderful week.
Speaker 1: You know, earlier this week, I started to feel a
Speaker 1: little bit overwhelmed with the amount of information that we
Speaker 1: as humans have access to. I was trying to find
Speaker 1: a course that I wanted to do, and I realized
Speaker 1: there were just so many places that did the courses,
Speaker 1: and then there was online information about it, and then
Speaker 1: there was things on social media, and then it just
Speaker 1: felt too overwhelming, and I decided that I didn't want
Speaker 1: to commit to anything and don't want to apply for
Speaker 1: anything because I.
Speaker 2: Just know what to pick.
Speaker 1: And honestly, at times, I think it is just way
Speaker 1: too much information that we have access to, and the
Speaker 1: problem is also that it conflicts so much. Right It's
Speaker 1: like one place will tell you to eat avocados, another
Speaker 1: place will tell you that avocados are really bad for you.
Speaker 2: And that's just the simplest things.
Speaker 1: There is just so much information that is thrown at
Speaker 1: us on a daily basis. You can literally scroll through
Speaker 1: social media or speak to my new bff chat dpt
Speaker 1: or as we in the office call her Gabby princessa Tiara,
Speaker 1: that is actually what we call her, and you can
Speaker 1: learn everything from how to hack a phone to how
Speaker 1: to make a missionin star Worthy Salad, and literally a
Speaker 1: couple of minutes, you can feel like an expert in
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes. And so I feel like we
Speaker 1: live in this world where it's never been easier to
Speaker 1: feel like an expert that we don't actually know much about,
Speaker 1: and to feel like an expert on something we haven't
Speaker 1: really lived.
Speaker 2: We end up.
Speaker 1: Treating knowledge like a status symbol, something to collect or
Speaker 1: flaun to attach to our identity. And I personally can
Speaker 1: hold my hands up and say that has definitely been me.
Speaker 1: But I was actually recently listening to this podcast where
Speaker 1: they were discussing the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and
Speaker 1: they said this one sentence that sparked my thought for
Speaker 1: this entire episode, that knowledge puffs up and wisdom builds up.
Speaker 1: And I sat with that sentence for a little bit,
Speaker 1: and so many thoughts came to my mind, like how
Speaker 1: this wellness and self help space teaches us so much,
Speaker 1: and it's so beautiful that we have access to all
Speaker 1: these quotes on a regular basis, Like my for you
Speaker 1: page is often filled ninety percent with really great quotes
Speaker 1: that make me think, or make me more thoughtful, or
Speaker 1: make me more compassionate, or help me grow in some way.
Speaker 1: And so we actually have the ability to look at
Speaker 1: so much. But that learning can sometimes just become a crutch,
Speaker 1: a distraction from actually doing the real work. So we
Speaker 1: end up thinking we know better, but we don't end
Speaker 1: up actually doing better. We end up constantly consuming, consuming, consuming,
Speaker 1: which makes us think, oh, we're obviously learning, which means
Speaker 1: we're obviously doing good by learning these things, but we're
Speaker 1: really digesting and putting these things into practice into our life.
Speaker 1: And then I started reflecting, and when I first started
Speaker 1: creating content, and I entered this wellness space, and I
Speaker 1: felt this intense pressure to know everything.
Speaker 2: I didn't really do that well at school.
Speaker 1: I got quiet catastrophic grades, and I really struggled with
Speaker 1: conventional learning, and for a while I felt like I
Speaker 1: really carried that deep insecurity about that. So once I
Speaker 1: actually found a space that I was interested in and
Speaker 1: I was thriving in and that I loved to learn about,
Speaker 1: I almost overcorrected. I consumed books and podcasts and workshops
Speaker 1: and science and scripture not just to learn, but to
Speaker 1: prove things, to prove that I was worthy of having
Speaker 1: a voice, to prove that I deserve to be in
Speaker 1: this space, to prove I guess also to myself that
Speaker 1: I deserve to be here. And I wasn't learning to
Speaker 1: live it. I was learning to show that I knew it.
Speaker 1: And there's such different things from that time. I feel
Speaker 1: like I've really had to work hard on not trying
Speaker 1: to prove myself, not trying to prove my intelligence or
Speaker 1: to keep trying to accumulate knowledge for the sake of show,
Speaker 1: but instead learning it, to live it and share it
Speaker 1: through who I am, not what I know. Knowledge is
Speaker 1: really just the accumulation of all the information that we
Speaker 1: receive in our mind. It is purely intellectual. It's regurgitation
Speaker 1: of information that we learn. But wisdom is gathering the
Speaker 1: knowledge and then actually applying it. Knowledge tells you what
Speaker 1: to do, but wisdom is when you embody it through action,
Speaker 1: through your relationships, and through your choices, especially in the
Speaker 1: times when no one is watching. It was such a
Speaker 1: great reminder to me that it is not about how
Speaker 1: much that you've learnt in your life, but about what
Speaker 1: you've actually lived. I think accumulating knowledge actually ends up
Speaker 1: feeling the ego, because when you think about it being intellectual,
Speaker 1: or when you feel like you know a lot, you
Speaker 1: can end up feeling superior to people who don't.
Speaker 2: Know that information.
Speaker 1: It can create this I know more than other situation
Speaker 1: in your own mind, and we as humans are always
Speaker 1: trying to find reasons to superior. It's like my race
Speaker 1: is better than yours, my religion's better than yours, what
Speaker 1: my mind knows is better than your mind, and we
Speaker 1: always try and create a hierarchy or a way of
Speaker 1: feeling better about ourselves through something. And I think knowledge
Speaker 1: and intellect ends up being one of those things. I
Speaker 1: remember my teacher rather Thanswami once said this, and I
Speaker 1: have shared this one line in pretty much every interview
Speaker 1: that I've done because it really stuck with me.
Speaker 2: He said that knowledge is useless unless it's.
Speaker 1: Shared, and I'd actually add to that that not just
Speaker 1: shared in words, but in how you live. And it's
Speaker 1: funny because I was thinking about it, and everything that
Speaker 1: we actually learn, we obviously are learning from other people
Speaker 1: or a book or or even Instagram, and yet we
Speaker 1: end up holding on to it or holding it within
Speaker 1: us like it's our information. As soon as I've heard it,
Speaker 1: I own it, like we created it. But actually, nothing
Speaker 1: is new. Nothing is actually new in this world. Everything
Speaker 1: already exists ideas, words, theories, whether it exists in the
Speaker 1: depth sub scriptures that people don't know about yet or
Speaker 1: in the mind of someone that's just been unspoken most things,
Speaker 1: or I think everything has already existed, and so everything
Speaker 1: we learn is learnt from somewhere, from nature, from our parents,
Speaker 1: from teachers, from books, from songs. But yet this desire
Speaker 1: to be the best or be original and unique and
Speaker 1: things being mine take over the actual information and actually
Speaker 1: using it rather than owning it. Really, when you let
Speaker 1: knowledge flow through you and you become a vessel for
Speaker 1: it rather than the owner of it, and you end
Speaker 1: up pouring it into how you love, how you lead,
Speaker 1: and how you show up. That is when it turns
Speaker 1: into wisdom. It's actually just like in our body, when
Speaker 1: food is undigested in the stomach it turns into tuxins,
Speaker 1: or when thoughts are left too long in the mind
Speaker 1: it can cause anxiety. And in the same way, knowledge
Speaker 1: is not supposed to just sit in us and be
Speaker 1: stagnant and be held captive within us, but it's meant
Speaker 1: to be utilized as a tool to serve other people
Speaker 1: and ourselves. Knowledge is reading them up, and wisdom is
Speaker 1: walking in the path. Knowledge fills them, but wisdom transforms
Speaker 1: the heart and it shows itself through action. I think
Speaker 1: I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but I was
Speaker 1: reading Ryan Holiday's book The Daily Stoic, and I've really
Speaker 1: been enjoying seeing the similarities and comparisons actually to Vadic
Speaker 1: literature and Stoicism. There is so much similarity between them,
Speaker 1: and the Stoics actually speak about this too. Marcus Aurelius,
Speaker 1: this Roman emperor and philosopher, asked the question from what
Speaker 1: source do you spring? What power fuels you? And what
Speaker 1: great question to reflect on a regular basis, because if
Speaker 1: your fuel is ego, you're trying to prove, perform, accumulate,
Speaker 1: then you might become clever, but you will not become wise.
Speaker 1: Wisdom in both stoic and veadic traditions is action born
Speaker 1: of self mastery.
Speaker 2: It's not about what you say. It's about how you live.
Speaker 1: It's not about having the right ideas, but it's about
Speaker 1: knowing what to do with them and actually doing it.
Speaker 1: You become what you live, not what you learn. And
Speaker 1: I think that's really important because it is so easy
Speaker 1: to feel like you know a lot just by.
Speaker 2: What you read.
Speaker 1: It's so easy to know that, oh, I should be
Speaker 1: eating well, but am I actually going to put them
Speaker 1: into practice by buying the right ingredients, by learning how
Speaker 1: to cook, by meal planning and prepping my week, so
Speaker 1: I end up eating those things. Such a simple thing
Speaker 1: that it applies to but it applies like that in
Speaker 1: every situation. It's like when they make the joke of
Speaker 1: doctors knowing that smoking is bad for you, but they
Speaker 1: still smoke. You know, they see it the most that
Speaker 1: it's not good for you, but you still do it.
Speaker 1: So it's one thing about knowing all the things that
Speaker 1: you should be doing or all the things that you
Speaker 1: want to be doing that make you a better person,
Speaker 1: or that make your physical body better or your mental
Speaker 1: state better, or that are good for other people, or
Speaker 1: how to be better in a relationship. You can read
Speaker 1: all the books, but how are you putting it into practice?
Speaker 1: So I started to asking myself a couple of questions
Speaker 1: to really differentiate whether I'm living from a place of
Speaker 1: wisdom or from a place of knowledge and ego. Those
Speaker 1: questions are number one, am I trying to impress or express?
Speaker 2: And two?
Speaker 1: Am I using knowledge to connect or control? Those two
Speaker 1: questions have helped me to always differentiate what I'm living from.
Speaker 1: Am I living from a place of ego? Or am
Speaker 1: I living from a place of wisdom and wanting to share?
Speaker 1: So the two were am I trying to impress or
Speaker 1: to express? And am I using knowledge to connect or
Speaker 1: to control? So simple, but you can learn so much
Speaker 1: about yourself by answering those questions. And if you're like me,
Speaker 1: and you realized, damn, I answered those questions and I'm
Speaker 1: not in my wisdom era right now, but I really
Speaker 1: want to be. I actually just started doing small things
Speaker 1: to help me get there, one of which was picking
Speaker 1: one teaching to live by this week. Less is more, digest,
Speaker 1: absorb and churn it. So instead of saving like ten
Speaker 1: podcasts or screenshots of quotes and reading all these things,
Speaker 1: choose one idea, like I just did from the podcast
Speaker 1: that I heard. I heard that one sentence and it
Speaker 1: inspired this whole podcast because I really thought about it
Speaker 1: for that full week. So find one thing, one idea
Speaker 1: that resonated with you and discuss it. Think about how
Speaker 1: you can apply it into your life, share it with others,
Speaker 1: and put it into practice. An example of that is easy,
Speaker 1: something like gratitude. We read quotes on gratitude all day
Speaker 1: and hear about it, but actually writing down things you're
Speaker 1: grateful for daily, or expressing gratitude to someone every single day,
Speaker 1: that is putting it into practice. If it's something like
Speaker 1: be present, how much do you'd hear be present? Just
Speaker 1: be present in the moment, Well, try leaving your phone
Speaker 1: in another room during a meal, or make eye contact
Speaker 1: when you're speaking to someone. Think about how you can
Speaker 1: take that information and make it practical in your life
Speaker 1: and put it into practice. Are Vada and Vedic text
Speaker 1: actually emphasize the value of silence and Smariner reflection, and
Speaker 1: so after learning something new, just taking him a five
Speaker 1: minutes of quiet to ask how does this change me?
Speaker 1: How can I integrate this into my life? And where
Speaker 1: does it apply in my life? Just simply taking a
Speaker 1: moment to pause after hearing something or reading something can
Speaker 1: make such a difference. I've learned to do that with
Speaker 1: my friends lately, when we're having a conversation and so
Speaker 1: much comes out of them, and I take a moment
Speaker 1: to reflect and write down what are the things that
Speaker 1: I learned in that conversation, What were the things that
Speaker 1: I feel I want to expand on or explore, What
Speaker 1: were the things that make me feel uncomfortable? And why
Speaker 1: really exploring the conversation you're having rather than just being
Speaker 1: half present and forgetting them the moment you leave them.
Speaker 1: There's so much we can learn if you're just there.
Speaker 1: There's so much you can learn if you're just noticing,
Speaker 1: and especially if you're noticing to learn, it's really different
Speaker 1: from being present just to hear when you're there to
Speaker 1: actually learn from a situation. When I go up for
Speaker 1: a walk, okay, if I'm trying to really be present
Speaker 1: and learn from nature. I'll see so much more. My
Speaker 1: eyes will notice so much more. But if I'm out
Speaker 1: there just to enjoy, I probably won't. I've probably just
Speaker 1: wander through. But this is really nice. But when you're
Speaker 1: choosing to see the world from a point of learning
Speaker 1: and digesting and processing, you just see the world so differently. Now,
Speaker 1: I know this actually feels like such a small topic,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, it really does change the
Speaker 1: way that we live life and experience it. We can
Speaker 1: go our whole lives not really living life, and I
Speaker 1: don't really want that for us. To be honest, this
Speaker 1: is what this podcast is about. It's trying to help
Speaker 1: us see the world in a different way, help us
Speaker 1: to create these habits and rituals and practices that actually
Speaker 1: help us grow into better people, into the people that
Speaker 1: we want to be. So these small mind shifts, even
Speaker 1: though they seem extremely small, they're doing the needful and
Speaker 1: helping us to grow not just for ourselves but for
Speaker 1: the people around us too, and to just be living
Speaker 1: more authentically, which is what I think we all want
Speaker 1: to be doing in our life.
Speaker 2: So I hope this conversation was useful.
Speaker 1: I hope these random reflections that I had from that
Speaker 1: one sentence ends up being beneficial to your ears and
Speaker 1: to your heart too, And I hope that you put
Speaker 1: these things into practice. Read to quote, think about how
Speaker 1: you can apply it, and sending us so much love
Speaker 1: for this week.
Speaker 2: Hope it's more intentional and.
Speaker 1: You feel more present and you learn so much more
Speaker 1: just by changing the way that you're viewing the world.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening and sending up so much love.