“Wait a minute — isn’t that backwards? You mean I should seek timeless wisdom from the Sutras, instead of that boring old traditional knowledge stuff, right?” Well, no. Wisdom is highly overrated in it’s usefulness, whereas actual knowledge is something you simply cannot do without, no matter how wise you are, which is a lot less than you think anyway.
Imagine the Buddha. Let us suppose he was every bit as wise as tradition says he was. Now let’s teleport him directly from the bodhi tree across time and space to modern day Boston. Let us also have him be fluent in English but still lacking any kind of current knowledge. How would he manage in this noisy, chaotic modern world? Could he deal with the T, traffic, and the thousands of details you navigate every day? Being the Buddha and all enlightened and stuff, he might not shit his pants in sheer terror, but would you ask him to get you dinner from Star Fish? Could he even get to Roxbury and back? Could he get through Egleston Square without getting run over, robbed, or scammed by the beggars? Imagine how he might respond to the drug dealers — “Oh, yes, I would like to partake of some sacred herb, how lovely”. And be toking away when the cops roll up and 5150 his ass.
This hapless pilgrim is you, minus the wisdom of the Buddha. No matter how enlightened you are, the rangers will not give shit about it if you are over the 14 day camping limit in the National Forest (trust me on this). Your heart chakra based compassion will not save you from getting ripped off by crooked mechanics. Your understanding of the unity of all things will not get you your car back if you leave it parked on the wrong side of the street when they do street cleaning (I did manage to dodge this bullet, through diligent application of — yes, correct knowledge).
“But wait — all these people I look up to say it’s wisdom that counts!” You have to take that in context. Most of those people had to use detailed, specific knowledge to achieve their success, and probably fired a bunch of people over the years whose knowledge wasn’t up to the task. Plus, they are trying to write their legacy and quoting the Bhagavad Gita sounds a lot better when you get your honorary degree.
Get the knowledge you need. Know what you do and don’t have to say to the Border Patrol when they stop you for nothing. Know what rights you do and don’t have when dealing with your boss, landlord, or business associates. As gold prospectors say, “know before you go”. Be on top of all the details. Once you succeed you can always say you learned all you really needed from Winnie the Pooh.