There was a time when knowledge was not easily accessible. People had to cover the distance of miles to gain knowledge. Teachers were rare, and that’s why they had great value. The competency of a teacher in the past was unmatched. Pupils used to give reverence to their teachers. A single teacher was capable of guiding 100s of students with versatile knowledge and wisdom. Cutting it short, knowledge was delivered justly in the past, but unfortunately, today, knowledge is nowhere to be seen, and education has become a business fad. My heart aches for such injustice with education and knowledge!
Although the institutions of that time were also not well-equipped, people used to believe that from wherever knowledge is accessible, take it. Education and knowledge used to come in parallel (a topic for later discussion), and students had amazing grasping power. That’s why our preceding generation had great analysing and observational skills. Their thought process was broad, and they tend to easily comprehend the wisdom behind the majority of the affairs.
What happened today then? Is it carelessness and irresponsibility? If yes, by whom then? I’m tracking down the major flaws that led us to such demise in the field of education and knowledge. Till then, let’s not stop getting knowledge, else we’ll be mentally imprisoned by someone having more knowledge than us.
Availability of Knowledge and Its Limit
Knowledge is sacred, as we all know. Doesn’t matter if knowledge is related to humans, animals, plants, technology, material, sky, earth, or sea; all knowledge is from the Divine and the human’s cognition is powerful enough to understand each and everything that has been made possible to comprehend for the human by his Creator. No doubt there are things beyond human’s capability of understanding. For example, take the spiritual existence. We never know what’s happening there. That field of souls is per se another universe that’s beyond our reach in this life.
The knowledge that’s available to date is so much that we can’t gather everything. That’s due to the continuous evolution in sciences and the conflict in theories. But the main point is that knowledge has been made easily accessible, thanks to technological advancement. And I believe it’s a blessing that we are exposed to the world of knowledge at such negligible cost.
Therefore, if you find someone sharing anything that’s unknown to you, take it without judging the person. Gather knowledge as much as you can while you have time and strength. Never discriminate whenever it comes to knowledge. No matter if the knowledge is mundane or spiritual, grasp the concept, then verify it later. Our thought process is designed to raise questions on anything that’s new to us. That’s why, when you have the urge to ask questions, take out a piece of paper and pen and note them down. This will save you from distractions (compared to a smartphone). Anything that pops up in mind doesn’t stay there for longer. Writing questions is a good choice, and it’s been my practice for years.
Never Deliberately Ignore Knowledge
There is a vagueness hidden in the famous quote, “Ignorance is bliss.” Well, in the spiritual context, when it comes to knowledge, this quote fails. Let me quickly tell you why.
Suppose you are doing something that’s morally ill, but it doesn’t look like one due to the culture around you. From your inner voice, you realise that you are doing something wrong, but you keep on doing that and ignoring the truth. That feels like bliss, but it isn’t actually. When a person tries to correct you and tell you about the Divine guideline, you interrupt him and say, “stop! Don’t tell me about this. If you do so, I’ll suffer.” Although you knew you were doing wrong, you didn’t want to stop just for the cause of temporary mundane pleasure. And when the true knowledge came to you, the true bliss, you hushed that.
You will feel like you won for the time being, but you shall feel the real burden in your life after some time. You will run out of happiness, prosperity, peace, and satisfaction. Despite having health and wealth, you will feel like some kind of pressure is exerted on you. And that’s not the only consequence of deliberately ignoring the knowledge. On Accountability Day, the real burden will welcome you, and only then you will realise how grave a sin you actually committed by intentionally ignoring the Divine knowledge that came to you as a blessing in disguise.
So, kindly never ignore knowledge, especially when your inner voice is resonating with it. And never discriminate whenever it comes to learning because knowledge is sacred, and it is a duty of everyone to gain knowledge from wherever possible.