Many of my readers complain that I have become too much pessimistic and the depression of militancy, bloodshed and killings of our countrymen have too much affected my mind and writings, and it is the reason why they are of the view that I am writing too much about those issues which leave behind a sad message for reflection. At times, I also critically assess my thoughts from the same view and try my best to keep my mind free of these thoughts but all the efforts go in vain. The thorns of ignorance have now grown into full-fledged trees and we are not in position either to tolerate their continuous and painful pinches or go near and bring them down to the ground. When the imprints of a sad event come to heal and disappear, another similar event opens the mouth of wounds and they start bleeding again. But at the same time, it is also pity that negative and painful events should be allowed to deprive us of good thoughts and completely occupy our mind and behavior.
I remember a professor of our University who had a strange style and he had all the reasons to adopt such a style. He was highly educated, had handsome income from his farms and land, used to wear the best branded clothes, rode the most luxury vehicle and had a charismatic personality and many more. Both from his lifestyle and behavior, he never looked like a teacher especially the one which is common in our society. Teacher in our society is one who is depressed due to financial problems, tired due to load of work and puzzled and confused due to his uncertain social status. He is given respect for being the architect of the young generation but his limited income brings down his social status and he is never regarded equal to any rich industrialist, businessman or even a successful shopkeeper. Anyhow, this intimidating behavior of our professor had deprived him of many golden opportunities. He was never able to listen to his students with complete eye contact.
He was never able to deliver his lecture with an interest and attention that mesmerize the students. Especially, I remember his style of delivering lecture inside the classroom. He would write the topic on the board, come in front of the class and then would start moving from one to the other corner of room, tying his hands at his back and looking persistently at the ground. At the same time, he would continue to explain the topic and got really annoyed when anyone interfered by asking a question or doing anything that could break his momentum. This much high ego was not suitable for a person who was under the constant observation of his students and who had to pave a path for the others to follow.
One of our art teachers was weak in English. When he was asked about it, he told a story which was funny like a joke. He told that, ‘At that time, there was only present one English language institute in the city and getting admission there was also not easy. When I was successful in getting admission there, I was really pleased and tried my best to utilize completely my time in the institute. One day, our teacher mentioned rat and mouse in his lecture and so I raised my hand and asked a question, ‘Sir, what is the difference between rat and mouse?’ To this, our teacher got angry, came near to me and said angrily, ‘Don’t ask such stupid questions. Are you here to learn something or waste the time of yours and other students,’ I could not understand how I was wasting my time but his insulting behavior hurt me a lot and after that day, I never returned to the institute and I became the victim of rat and mouse.’
Another teacher told me about his tactic of avoiding difficult situations in the classroom. He said, ‘if any student asks me a question and I know its answer, I give the answer right away but if I don’t know the answer of the question, then I at once start shouting at the student, ‘You stupid boy! Why you disturb the lecture by asking such an irrelevant question. Sit down and always ask your question on its suitable time.”
These different stories came into my mind the other day when I was reading a book by the name of ‘Lights of the Way’ in which great ideas were given about learning, knowledge and relevant matters and some of them will be shared with you here.
True knowledge must make you more humble because it is a form of gratitude for the unique gift bestowed upon you and it is what a true knowledge teaches. If all the knowledge and learning has failed to remove the harmful habits and attitudes, it means that it has not fully penetrated into your mind and body and has failed to make any effect on you. It is the reason why we see that a tree loaded with fruit bends more while a tree standing tall and stiff hardly bears any fruit. Sweet water of rivers fall into the vast ocean as ocean stands lower than them. If the ocean takes itself up and high, all its water will spill out and it will no more remain a grand ocean.
If religious and spiritual knowledge is aimed to make the minds of people comfortable and beautify their characters, scientific knowledge is also aimed to free it of the miseries of material world and make its body comfortable. Both of them work to serve humanity and a person is truly ignorant who ignores the importance of either of these and sticks on with only one of them.
Human beings have been created with an objective of learning and teaching the same to others. This learning is aimed to make the lives of others easy and comfortable and teaching is intended to keep this river flowing. If human beings forget this mighty objective, human beings no more remain distinct and better than other creatures.
Learning never ends and no one should ever claim to be perfect in knowledge. Comparing to the vastness of universe and having a look at your pettiness, if you still feel and claim that you are perfect, then you have not learned anything at all and from the very day, your decline will start. Till a person considers himself a student and shows eagerness to learn, his mind will keep growing with the nourishment of wisdom and knowledge but if a person considers himself perfect, he will cut down the source of eternal knowledge.
The first objective of knowledge is to understand yourself better because if you know yourself well, you will be able to better understand others as well and then there will remain no ambiguities, differences and resultant complications.
The respect and honor earned by knowledge is better and long-lasting than the honor earned by any other way. All those who are still remembered and admired even after thousands of years were either men of knowledge or prophets and prophets had connection with the best source of eternal knowledge.
Ignorance will always make noise while knowledge will silently keep doing its duty. When two people shout on something and start argument, it depicts that one or both of them are without any knowledge.
However knowledge you acquire, it will be meaningless if it doesn’t become the part of your action and attitude. Such knowledge will also dry down if it is not continuously watered by the water of action. In the same way, any knowledge without action will not attain its objectives.
And last but most important is to develop the habit of saying humbly, ‘I don’t know’ and then you will know so many things but if you don’t have this habit, you will have to go through many embarrassing conditions as no human being can ever learn all the knowledge present in the world and hidden in the secrets of universe.