"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 success.
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 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:
1. Theoretical knowledge: The 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 noses, taste with our tongues or feel by our sense of touches. We could call this sort of knowledge raw data. This sort of knowledge also includes the knowledge we receive by listening to information and what we can remember from what we have heard in lectures and read from textbooks. If we have never had the chance to apply the knowledge that we have learned then it may still be of limited use.
2. Hands-on Knowledge : The second sort of knowledge which is slightly more advanced is hands-on knowledge, the knowledge that has been reflected on, tested and applied.
3. Insight : A third and higher sort of knowledge is insight into deeper truths or more challenging truths:
a. It will give rise to brightness in the mind.
b. It allows us to transcend defilements.
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