The Buddha might have gotten a lot of wisdom and insight through thought and meditation, but more mortal mortals don’t. Sure, a little thought, reflection, deduction, meditation, and similar mental actions might get you some insight and wisdom, but, for the most part, we get most of our wisdom through life. Some of it is from our life lived, successes and mistakes, while the rest are lives lived by others. Life still is, by far, the uncontested best teacher we have.