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will have any concern for the state 
of their 
family, of the nation or the 
religion. It is like 
the aphorism often heard on the 
lips of modem 
youth that "ideals don't keep the 
wolf 
from the door". 
A.2 Definition: Artfulness in 
Knowledge 
The word `bahEsEta' in the Pali 
means literally `one 
who has heard much'. It refers to 
being learned by 
having heard much both in 
spiritual and worldly 
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ways. A `bahEsEta' is someone 
who is: 
"artful in knowledge" — choosing 
to study 
only the things appropriate for 
study —
being a person learned in those 
subjects and 
observant — personal qualities that 
lie at 
the trailhead of the path to 
wisdom. Such 
knowledge allows one to be 
independent 
in earning one's living and will be 
the key 
which unlocks the door to worldly 
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success. 
B. The Nature of Knowledge 
B.1 The Three Levels of 
Knowledge 
If we want to identify the features 
of learning that 
will give rise to wisdom we have 
to distinguish 
wisdom from other sorts of 
knowledge. All sorts of 
knowledge help to illuminate the 
mind. When we 
don't understand something it is as 
if we are left in 
the dark about that thing. When we 
understand 
something it is as if light has been 
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thrown on that 
matter. Knowledge in its most 
basic form, like the 
ability to do arithmetic or knowing 
where to catch 
the bus sometimes will feel as if it 
creates some illumination 
in the mind but it is just a feeling 
because such an ability is restricted 
to the higher 
sort of knowledge we call 
"wisdom". In all we can 
differentiate three levels of 
knowledge: 
I. Theoretical knowledge 
[sutamaya-pafulA] The 
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most basic sort of knowledge 
arises via the five 
senses, that is through the things 
we see with 
our eyes, hear with our ears, smell 
with our nose, 
taste with our tongue or feel by our 
sense of 
touch. You could call this sort of 
knowledge raw 
data. Touching fire tells us that it is 
hot. A child 
might want to know what fire is 
like. Their 
mother tells them not to touch it 
because it is hot 
and will burn them. The child will 
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not believe 
their mother so easily. The mother 
might tell 
them not to touch it twice, but on 
the third time 
she will have to give in to the 
child's curiosity 
and let him touch the flame so that 
the child will 
know for next time that heat goes 
together with 
Blessing Seven: Artfulness in 
Knowledge 105 
brightness. This sort of knowledge 
also includes 
the knowledge we receive by 
listening to information 
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and what you can remember from 
what 
you have heard in lectures and read 
from textbooks. 
If you have never had the chance 
to apply 
the knowledge that you have 
learned then it 
may still be of limited use; 
2. Hands-on Knowledge 
[cintamayapaririA]: The 
second sort of knowledge which is 
slightly more 
advanced is hands-on knowledge, 
the knowledge 
that has been reflected on, tested 
and applied. 
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However, even if you are the 
world's best 
professor, your knowledge will not 
exceed this 
level. With this sort of knowledge 
you are like 
someone stands on the water's 
edge and sees 
ripples on the surface of the water. 
From knowledge 
or experience they would be able 
to assume 
that the ripples are caused by fish 
under the surface 
of the water. Whether the fish are 
large or 
small or whether there are shrimps 
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or crabs or 
shellfish moving under the water, 
you could 
probably notice from the size of 
the ripples. But 
because you cannot see the fish 
directly you are 
able only to make an educated 
guess; 
3. Insight [bhAvanAmayapaririA]: 
A third and 
higher sort of knowledge is insight 
into deeper 
truths or more challenging truths. 
However if 
we study meditation further we 
will discover 
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that even finding the solutions to 
simple problems 
in this way is actually causing 
there to be 
illumination arising in the mind. 
The characteristics 
of wisdom when it arises in the 
mind: 
1. It will give rise to brightness in 
the mind. Wisdom 
is the light which will chase away 
the 
darkness of ignorance. This is not 
just a metaphor 
for the knowledge but when we 
train 
ourselves further in meditation, we 
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will see 
that brightness really is the operant 
feature of 
wisdom. The illumination of the 
more advanced 
sorts of knowledge is so bright that 
is 
is like compressing the brightness 
of a hundred 
suns into a single spot. It is by 
virtue of 
such brightness that we can 
identify and uproot 
the defilements usually hidden in 
the 
mind. For those who are new to 
meditation, 
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the brightness is not yet continuous 
and is dim 
like a glowworm. Such brightness 
is not yet 
sufficient to identify defilements, 
but it is a 
good start; 
2. It allows us to transcend 
defilements: When 
wisdom arises, it allows us to 
transcend defilements 
previously active in the mind. 
Problems 
which used to exist will be 
overcome 
once and for all. Evil in the mind is 
uprooted. 
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It allows us to probe deeper into 
problems and 
cut off problems at their roots. It 
allows us to 
overcome our own faults and 
weaknesses. It 
allows us to change our bad habits. 
Such 
knowledge is able to overcome 
suffering and 
to change our own habits. It allows 
us to get 
to the root of problems. Such 
knowledge can 
actually kill negativity in the mind 
once and 
for all. Such knowledge no longer 
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comes via 
the five senses but will come 
instead directly 
via the mind that is still. It is not 
knowledge 
that comes from thinking. It is 
knowledge that 
arises in the still mind together 
with brightness. 
It is a sort of knowledge we 
sometimes 
call wisdom or insight. If we go 
back to the 
scenario with the man standing on 
the edge 
of the water, where through 
conventional 
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knowledge the man could do no 
better than 
make an educated guess, if we 
were to use 
insight to assess the same situation, 
it would 
be as if the water was clear and the 
man could 
see the fish, the crabs, the shrimps 
or the shellfish 
without having to think about it. 
The ability to harness the 
knowledge that arises 
from the still mind is an ability for 
which you have 
to train in meditation. 
B.2 Contrast between the Learned 
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and the Wise 
There are several important 
differences between the 
learned who know only the theory 
of how to do 
good deeds (but may not practice 
it) and the wise 
who may not know much but use 
everything they 
know to boost their opportunity to 
do good deeds. 
Unfortunately, knowledge in the 
hands of a fool (or 
even a learned person) can be a 
dangerous thing. If 
your only knowledge is academic 
knowledge, no 
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matter how clever you might be, 
there is always a 
106 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
risk of making a mess of your life. 
For example, if 
you have a knowledge of nuclear 
physics, you can 
use it for peaceful applications as 
an energy source 
— on the other hand you can use 
your knowledge 
to produce atomic bombs and the 
resulting holocaust 
towards human life. Thus ethical 
considerations 
need to go hand in hand with our 
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academic 
knowledge, like a guiding light to 
give us clarity as 
to whether the application of our 
knowledge is good 
or bad, appropriate or 
inappropriate. 
Those who are inter ested only in 
academic learning, 
no matter how clever, rich or 
powerful they 
may be, can never manage to make 
themselves endearing 
or worthy of the respect of others 
and in 
the end they cannot make a success 
out of their lives. 
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C. THE NATURE OF THE 
STUDENT 
C.1 Sense of Responsibility for 
own Human Dignity 
In order for a student to protect 
their own sense of 
human dignity, they must refrain 
from the Four Defilements 
of Action: 
1. taking the lives or being cruel to 
people or animals; 
2. stealing; 
3. committing adultery or have 
sexual intercourse 
outside marriage; 
4. telling lies. 
Also concerning a person's 
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responsibility to their 
own sense of human dignity, a 
person should: 
• avoid sentimentality about 
learning: those who 
are not strong-minded in their 
pursuit of learning 
will not manage to succeed in 
becoming 
learned; 
• avoid obsession with 
appearances: if you want 
to try to be a learned person in the 
future — you 
should model yourself on the 
stereotype of academics 
or monastics who emphasise only 
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