Sometimes Wisdom is explained as having three different levels. One is that we see something or we hear something, it goes into us, that's one level. The second one is that we think about these things. The third level is that we actually know them, we have experience, we know them deeper. So as you are sitting here, you are listening to teachings, they are going in your ears, it's up to you to think about it, it's up to you to get it in deeper. This is also true with books. If you read a book, if it's got something nice in it, then it's going into your eyes. And then you want to take it deeper, you want to think about it, you want to try to make it part of you if it's a good teaching. Whenever you do read, the advice I give in the last evening of the normal retreat, about going to see teachers, being careful, the Kalama Sutta and so on, that applies to books, too. You always want to keep that handy. It is up to you to take it deeper if you see it's a good teaching.
It's exactly the same thing when you are talking with somebody, they give you advice, you have to go practice it. You have taken it in through the ears, or in a book you have taken it in through the eyes, you then have to go do something with it.
Now with some people, they actually jump the middle part, they can take something in the eyes, in the ears and they jump to the end, they actually know it deeper. But that is not so common. Now, a little example, a very simple example is: Imagine I am in the kitchen, preparing dinner, and a family member comes to dinner with their children. One of the kids is three years old. They had never been in the kitchen before, their parents didn't allow them in the kitchen, they felt it's too dangerous at their age, but I don't know this. So the little three year old comes into the kitchen while I'm cooking, and I know that I have to be careful with them as I am not sure they should be there or not, so I let them stay. They see the stove and they've never seen a stove before. They say, "Hey Steve, Uncle Steve, what's that? Looks like a TV or a computer?" And I say, "Now that's a stove, it's very hot, don't touch it. It can burn you!" But the little kid doesn't really know "stove", doesn't really know what hot is and burning, has never experienced that before. So they say, "Yeah, but it looks like a TV! Can we turn it on or something?" I say ,"No, no, it's not a TV, it's a stove, it's very hot, don't touch it!" The kid goes, "Okay." So I turn around and I start chopping the vegetables some more, and the little one goes over to the stove, thinking it's a TV and touches it, "Ooooh!" It burns their hand! They skipped the middle level of wisdom. They had no ability to think about my words, it didn't make any sense. They heard it, but they went and experienced it and then they knew.
Now, for most of us we can't do that. For people in the Buddha's day, as I had mentioned, in some of the stories, people were simply talking with the Buddha. He put something into their ears, it went straight down, they were ready for enlightenment because they had quick understanding, their Paramis and Kamma were very high. So yes, we'd like to take things from the ears and the eyes if it's good, if it's beneficial and wise, we'd like to take it in and make it experiential.
As to how much you read though, in your normal life, you have to be careful. You have got to be careful that you don't read too much or that you read stuff that takes you in the wrong direction. Personally for me and Rosemary, we have read quite a bit about Buddhism, I personally have read the two major Sutta books and lots of the little Sutta books as well, and some of the collections, there're just so many. I've read lots of the commentaries, and I've read lots of individual teacher's books and so on. I don't read very much anymore. I feel that I've had enough. However, if a brand new teacher, someone whom I don't know has a book out, and I've heard some nice things about that teacher, I will always pick it up, I will always look at it, a brand new book, a brand new teacher, I will always look at.
However, if I start to find things that are very wrong, things that are just not right at all, if I see that there's something wrong with this teacher, I will just shut the book and I won't finish it. I, also, won't pick up another one by that same teacher either, because I feel that if a teacher has gone way off base very quickly, then that's not a person I want to practice with. That's something personally that I do.
I have certain things that I look for, I can do that as to my experiential level. I look to see how they describe the Eight worldly dhammas. I look at that because that is something which is not always talked about. So if a teacher is writing something about them, then I like to see, and see if they do understand what the Eight worldly dhammas really are. I like to see, specifically, whether they are talking about compassion or not. I like to see whether they give any emphasis to the Ten Paramis and such. So there are some things specifically that I draw my attention to. I look at the chapter titles, and I often go to some specific things first and see, can they get these things straight or not, and if they do, then I'll read more.