Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 April 10

= April 10 =

How to gain wisdom
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

I was wondering, if a philosopher or theologian ever came up with a step by step guide to aquire wisdom. I would love to gain more widsom.

Thank you for your answers

With kind regards--2A02:1205:502E:4030:304D:4E2A:2DD5:539D (talk) 17:44, 10 April 2018 (UTC)


 * The Book of Wisdom might not be what you are looking for.  Dbfirs  19:55, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
 * One of my personal favorites in the Judeo-Christian scriptures almost didn't make the cut, but is indispensable for those who aim to acquire wisdom. Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 20:14, 10 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Whoever is selling it, take note of what Dogbert said: "Beware the advice of successful people; they do not seek company." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:17, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Scott Adamss was just making a cartoon not trying to dispense some wisdom. Successful people are very often only too happy to try and help and encourage others to go around doing things in a better way. The usual requirement is that one be willing to try. Dmcq (talk) 23:15, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Keep telling yourself that. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:35, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Wisdom is an interesting article that has some info you might be able to use. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 05:48, 11 April 2018 (UTC)


 * See Dragons' Den. 92.19.172.40 (talk) 14:31, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

The Quintessence of Japanese Literature
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

I will in a few months travel to asia, including China and Japan. I was wondering, if there was a special book that can give me some insight in japanese culture and japanese thinking. Some people have told me, that the "Hagakure" comes close to this, but I am skeptical. I doubt that this specific book has such a wide-spread among the native Japanese.

Thank you for yours answers

With kind regards--2A02:1205:502E:4030:B0E1:B486:5265:AFF8 (talk) 19:18, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Have you tried starting at Culture of Japan and investigating that article as well as related articles and their cited sources and suggested further reading? There's also Wikivoyage and for added measure here's the Japan National Tourism Organization website. And there's always your favorite search engine; Google will put books from Google Books in search results if it thinks they match your query. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 09:06, 11 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Not literature, but I found the book Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage, and Sex in Contemporary Japan by Nicholas Bornoff (New York: Pocket Books, 1991, ISBN 0-671-74265-5; there are other editions) gave some interesting insights into aspects of modern Japanese culture. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.218.14.51 (talk) 15:56, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Online Study of the Paranormal
Dear All

I once asked a question about an encyclopedia of the paranormal. I was wondering, whether it was possible to take a recognized online course in parapsychology (I currently reside in Switzerland, but will travel through Asia in the coming months). I would love to have some certificate for the competition or a diploma (it is always good to have certificates, as they say in Europe). I really would love to get some basics of the subject, it also could be a religious led course by some monks or so, that deals with the same subject.

Thank you for your answers

With kind regards--2A02:1205:502E:4030:B0E1:B486:5265:AFF8 (talk) 19:23, 10 April 2018 (UTC)


 * You might look into the University of Edinburgh's Koestler Parapsychology Unit (there's a link to the Unit's website at the foot of the article). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.218.14.51 (talk) 16:01, 11 April 2018 (UTC)


 * finds a lot of classes, though "recognized" can mean a lot of things. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 17:48, 11 April 2018 (UTC)


 * The Parapsychological Association has a list of accredited institutions that offer courses on parapsychology for some reason.
 * If you're looking for a course taught "by some monks or so," you're gonna have to either:
 * Join specific Sufi orders that emphasize Simiyya (technically not monks, but as close as Islam has). This is not to say that Sufi Islam is inherently paranormal, and pretty much any authentic group would tell you that focusing on "paranormal" stuff is missing the point.
 * Join a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (preferably not Gelug). Other countries have their own forms of Esoteric Buddhism which are related, but the Tibetan stuff gets hella more complex.  Again, this is not to suggest that Buddhism is inherently paranormal, because within their own context the goals of Vajrayana traditions are not supernatural but psychological (even if the means are, by any other standard, supernatural).
 * Join a cult (haha, please don't).
 * However, those kinds of groups tend not to like it when someone joins for reasons other than spiritual enlightenment or whatnot (except maybe the kind of cult that uses promises of paranormal stuff as a honeypot). If you're already a Freemason, you'll know that mainstream Masonic groups are usually a pretty stupid place to go looking for paranormal stuff, but some modern Martinist and Rosicrucian orders require Masonic standing.  Ian.thomson (talk) 20:09, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
 * If you specifically meant Christian monks, while it's not out of the question that they might encourage you on the path of Christian mysticism, divine visions are considered the exception (not the rule), and actually seeing or hearing anything may be taken as a sign that things have gone horribly wrong (especially if other people can see or hear them). If things haven't gone horribly wrong, then the Vatican is going to be called in to try to prove that it's a hoax.  If they don't immediately prove that it's a hoax (or perhaps feel that the hoax is harmless), then even then there's gonna be this attitude that you'd damn well better be quiet and humble about it.
 * Sufi groups, for the most part, are going to have a similar attitude. It's just not out of the question that a Sufi group might practice theurgy, while the Council of Trent and the witch hunts really put a damper on already uncommon Christian monastic theurgy.  Ian.thomson (talk) 20:28, 11 April 2018 (UTC)