Confidence Comes From Wisdom

There are 2 levels of trust: there’s trust based on nothingness, narcissism and ignorance, and there’s trust based on true knowledge expressed through action.

Beware Of Ignorant Trust

By definition, when you’re ignorant yourself, you can interpret people’s confidence as the mark of a profound knowledge of things and of life in general. We can therefore be fooled by appearances. It’s only logical, then, that we should regret having put our trust in someone who has not hesitated to deceive us in order to gain some advantage from the relationship he or she wanted to establish.

Most Relationships Are Transactional, Even If You Can’t See It

We come into contact with people and the world in a way that is most often selfish. That’s okay, it’s all part of our development. Even the most spiritually advanced person acts in a selfish way, only his or her selfishness is of a higher level.

A Reminder Of The Three Levels Of Selfishness

As long as we are incarnated in flesh and blood, we are selfish. What can vary is the quality of our selfishness. There are essentially 3 levels of egoism:
– archaic egoism: my happiness contributes to the misfortune of others
– intermediate egoism: my happiness is independent of the happiness of others
– high egoism: my happiness contributes to the happiness of others

How Can We Identify Truly Wise People?

To identify whether someone with a high level of self-confidence is ignorant or wise, we need to identify what their happiness is made of. If their happiness comes down to doing things that contribute to making others (including animals) more unhappy, then you’d better run away from that person because it proves that they’re ignorant and haven’t reached a true level of wisdom. Conversely, if you notice that this person finds happiness in doing things that increase the happiness of others, then this is a good indicator that this person is truly wise and is not wearing a mask to hide their ignorance.

Pay Attention To Details

It’s rare for a person to completely betray their true nature by acting cruelly, for example. More often than not, ill-intentioned people wear a mask that they are careful to maintain at all times. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to details. A detail can tell you a lot about someone’s true nature. A mark of meanness or contempt can be a good indicator of a person’s true nature.