How long does it take to become wise? The first response to the question might be to ask, according to whose standards? Who is judging? The further we go on the spiritual path, the less likely we are to think we are in any way wise. Instead, we begin to recognise that we are no more than a grain of dust before the radiance of the Sun. As for what others see as wisdom, well, appearances are not always reliable. Those who appear wise to the world may in truth be otherwise, and those are truly wise may be virtually invisible to the world. And yet, if we compare youth with maturity, there are sometimes signs of progress; wisdom does seem to grow. So, how long does it take?

In the brief, recently posted tale about Nasruddin, we get the idea that it takes a long time—and if we work very hard at it, it could take twice as long. One reason for this is that wisdom is not the same as conventional learning. A student of some field of knowledge is expected to master all the relevant names and forms and abilities. A surgeon must know the structures of the body; a London taxi driver must be able to navigate every street of the labyrinthine city. If that vast quantity of knowledge is lacking, it is impossible to follow the profession. Wisdom, though, is the ability to see beyond the names and forms to something deeper. It is, in fact, a reflection of the capacity of the heart. When the heart is closed, or when the capacity is small, not much wisdom will be there. When the heart widens its embrace, wisdom begins to grow.

And what is it that prevents the heart from opening? We could name various qualities, such as anger, jealousy and spite, but they are all aspects of self-attachment. It is the thought of ‘me’ that keeps the heart small. When, by Divine grace, beauty touches us and love begins to flow, the importance of self fades and there is room in the heart for all. Or, to put it another way, the sense of separation disappears, and one discovers that all is within, and we are within all. That is why it says, in Gayan, Boulas :
He who makes room in his heart for others
will himself find accommodation everywhere.

If we want something very much, it can happen that our very desire interferes with the accomplishment. As Hazrat Inayat Khan observes, our eagerness to grasp something can push it away, as we can sometimes see when a small child runs after a ball. Perhaps, therefore, it was that eagerness on the part of the student that caused the Mullah to double his estimate. Another twenty years might be needed for the student to slow down.

How long does it take to become wise? We might as well ask, how long does it take to forget oneself?