Is knowledge alone sufficient in life?

The previous post dealt with the importance of knowledge and how we must constantly keep learning to progress in life. But the question now arises 'Is knowledge alone sufficient in life?' Just by knowing what to do can the thing be done? Someone is suffering right in front of us and we know that the person has to be admitted in hospital and given emergency treatment but is knowing alone enough? There must be some kind of action taken right? Therefore learning alone is not enough, there must be application of the true learning to the right kind of action.

Again what is 'true learning' and the 'right kind of action'? These terms are so vague. We must first have a concrete purpose in life. Just wanting to seek pleasure in life, always be happy and peaceful is expecting the outward circumstances to act according to the satisfaction of our ego. The external circumstances can never be changed, only our attitude towards it can be changed. We must try to be least affected by the outward happenings and realise that the happiness and peace is purely internal. Now coming to true learning. True learning is learning and absorbing something without judgement, critisicm, accepting everything as it is, i.e. be like the witness to it. For example: When we read a news item in the paper, say, a bomb blast, our anger surges, our whole day is spoilt by thinking and imagining the number of deaths and at the same time fearing for our own safety. Another typical example is when we hear someone gossip or talk ill of another person, we believe them to be true. This greatly influences  how we build relationships. Then comes the 'right kind of action'. This is somewhat the consequence of true learning. It means doing something without getting affected by the consequences of it. Lord Krishna has said 'Act but do not cling onto the fruits of it'. For example: helping a person without expecting anything in return.

What happens when we do get attached and affected by learning and the actions we perform? The minute we get attached to something we learn or perform is the minute we stop learning, stop progressing. If we want to be always happy and peaceful we must keep progressing.

It all seems such a difficult task. Our mind is so hard to control how can we learn without forming ideas or opinions? How can we perform action without expecting the fruits of it? Shouldn't there be some incentive? How can an employee work for free in an organisation? The whole thing about right action, true learning is so out of reach especially when it comes to leading our daily lives.

So there is that extra special something. That which solves all our problems.  Long long ago, the earth was inhabited by only sages and rishis. For them knowledge alone was sufficient. They survived on air and gained great yogic power by doing sadhana and meditation. Slowly as time went by these sages began to create organisms on the earth and Nature dominated them. Man slowly deviated from knowledge and began to be under the control of nature. Nevertheless, he performed actions with sincerity and began to do extreme amounts of hardwork which itself led to his fulfillment in life.

With the progress of time, man began to think ways to reduce his effort. He created machines and gradually developed qualities of laziness and for every action he expected something in return. He became greedy, jealous and thats how men fought wars and sank into great depths of sorrow.  To go back to the rishi-muni state would be near impossible for him now. So again there is only that extra special solution to the problem. Can you guess what it is? (to continue...)

Aim of life--to acquire knowledge!

It has been a long time since I last posted. Having started a blog it is truly unfair of me to not give regular updates. The truth is though I had many ideas it was so hard putting it all together and of course there is a problem of typing. For the past few months though many flashes came in my mind, all thoughts seem to converge to one focal point--the purpose of life is to acquire and attain true knowledge.

It is not enough that you build an invisible cage around yourself and stay inside, for there is so much to see, learn and understand. No knowledge is inferior and unnecessary. Even gossiping, watching a movie or chit chatting can provide you with valuable lessons. Of course only the information must get into the head and not opinions, preferences and judgement as they block learning. For e.g. I recently learn't so much from the movie avatar and the gossip session of how one of my friend's cousin's marriage took place.

Books are the most valuable source of knowledge. It is very wise to in fact worship books on Saraswathi pooja day as a token of our gratitude for the knowledge it has provided us. I for my part believe in handling and keeping books neatly and with respect, whether the information inside it has gone inside me and benifited me or not. Tearing, unnnecessary scribbling, or damaging the book in any other way is not a clever thing to do as it clearly shows that you have not learn't much from it or even in life.

The next basic thing is to have a questioning mind. (The exception to this is the faith you have in God or even your loved ones.)  The more you have questions, the more you seek answers, the more curiosity you have, the more you learn. One must ask the right questions, at the right moment and to the right person. By right question means meaningful, sensible ones. You must put a great thought into the question, try to find out the answer yourself-from books or other sources(like internet) and if your efforts fail, you can put forward the question to a well qualified person. This is quite intuitive and one gets the knack of asking questions by practice.

Some other ancillary ways to acquire knowledge is to meet and talk to different kinds of people and travel to many places. The most important quality to acquire knowledge is to have courage-believe me loads of them. First have fearlessness and courage then everything else follows. I am one person struggling to develop these qualities. I get scared, nervous and continuously sweat for every new challenge I face in life. This should be avoided for it creates a barrier and it is not going to help me in any way.

To summarise:

• Read a lot
• Have many friends and keep making many friends
• Learn from everything you do and everything that happens to you
• Travel to many places
• Be courageous

Learn from Nature

Nature is the best teacher. Everything that is part of Nature is self replenishing and it follows its own pattern. Left to itself Nature can take care and man seems only a burden to it. When I was a child I used to feel sorry for the deer and curse the lion for hunting it down. Now I feel that even the lion, tiger is all a part of food cycle. Everything in Nature has a purpose and when looked as a whole is so fascinating. Men with ignorant minds take Nature for granted and end up bringing harm to themselves. Below are certain aspects of it which are the best teachers for man in terms of quality.

Stone: Just as the stone bears everything with patience and does not react to external situations.

Tree: Is a symbol of selflessness. The tree only lives for the sake of other creatures. It gives shade, flowers, fruits etc . It also teaches us to broaden ourselves. One must strengthen the roots and prepare hard in order to grow tall.

Sea: Life in general has highs and lows. All is not always sweet and easy.

Bees and ants: Symbols of Hardwork and teamwork. They do not rest till their goal is achieved.

Birds: Soars high. Pushing the limits. Each bird has a unique quality. Some symbolise freedom, some love, care, hardwork, alertness, contentment etc

Above are just a few cases. Each rock, each seed, each particle, everything in this universe has a lesson to teach us. They lead by example. It is upto us to take the clues and make ourselves and our lives worth living.

FAQs my mind revealed

These are certain questions which keep ringing in my mind on and off and to which i get instant answers from within my heart. The thought process has quite a shrill irritating tone whereas the voice of the heart is loud, clear and very firm. It is as though I have two personalities. One which is always confused, negative and gives me wrong directions and the other which hopes, aspires inspite of all difficulties, always positive, never reactive but always acts and is extremely focussed. But the former is quite predominant and it takes quite an extra effort to stop its functioning. Feelings like jealousy, envy, laziness, false ego are like clouds which hide the clear sky. They can be described as slush or mud. The voice of the heart is like the lotus flower growing out of the slushy pond.

The process of Meditation begins...

Q.1. Why can't everything in this world be always beautiful and sweet?

Ans: Beauty and sweetness are qualities which are very relative. A fisherwomen who always sleeps with a smell of fishes by her side does not get sleep smelling flowers. To her fishes are the sweetest smelling in the world. When one stops differentiating between various objects and have an equal view of all things then one shall discover that the world is truly beautiful and sweet. For e.g. one must appreciate both the taste of milk chocolate and the taste of bittergourd.

Q.2. What is the reason that there are so many pairs of opposites? What is the purpose behind it?

Ans: Darkness and Light, Truth and Falsehood, 0 and 1 and the things in between. It is truly a complicated world we live in. One must observe that these pairs of opposites complement each other and one cannot survive without the other. Falsehood must exist temporarily to enhance the quality of Truth. It is to realise the importance of Truth. If one is given a cup of coffee with too much sugar in it then one gets bored but drinks it all the same. With salt in the coffee, one immediately spits it out and makes another cup of coffee adding ample amounts of sugar. Thats life!

Q.3. What does this mean "Falsehood must exist temporarily"?

Ans: It is very easy to fall down from a cliff than to climb a mountain. Easy to go down the stairs than to move up. Falsehood is like that. When one realises that there is not a wee bit of ecstacy in falling down, when one realises that the joy in climbing up a mountain facing all odds is incomparable, till one reaches the highest summit the odds are heavily against him/her. Once the person reaches the destination then there is no reason for falsehood to exist.

Q.4. What is highest summit? Is that the destination one is supposed to reach?

Ans: Take the course of a river. A small trickle, then a stream, fast flowing river and breaking into various tributaries and finally it empties into the sea. The Ganges river starts from Gangotri in the Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal. Just as the river has a purpose so does everything in life. A lion's purpose is to be born, grow, hunt, reproduce and die. Human beings too have a purpose. Other living creatures seem to be controlled under the forces of nature but it is we humans, who are born not to destroy nature but to appreciate her as well as think of something beyond.

Q.5. Think of something beyond?


Ans: Us human beings are special because we are provided with the special ability to think, reason and calculate. We have put this into destructive use and have wasted so much of our energy and resources in seeking after what we really don't find happiness in. Yes! happiness is our goal. But what can give one permanent happiness? Is it buying a new car? A top designer wear? Or winning a lottery? Helping people?
Even sometimes by doing good deeds, one does not get permanent happiness.

Q.6. Then what gives Permanent Happiness?

Ans: Perhaps the most difficult and the most important question that my mind can ever think of. The question itself is wrong! Happiness is not externally driven or given by something. It is a state which one chooses for oneself. To be happy, one must simply accept all, without a questioning mind, without cloudy thoughts, all that happens to one. It is very difficult but not impossible. It does not mean a state of inertia or inaction. One must act and continue to act like helping an injured person on the road, helping mother do the household chores but should one have to pay that person's hospital bill, should mother scold, likewise all the consequences of one's actions one must accept humbly without getting the least bit affected. Thats what Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita about not clinging on to one's own actions.