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……… Knowledge
alone liberates us from all miseries, pain & poverty. It has indeed
transformed our whole world & lives. The profound power of knowledge
has not only blessed our worldly life, it alone singularly liberates us
from the subjective clutches of time & space to help us awake to the
transcendental realm. Knowledge and knowledge alone should be our top
priority in life, not only to help make our day to day lives more
meaningful & productive but also to help awake to the divine &
timeless state of Godhood. This is the summum bonum of human life , our
ultimate goal, the real test of our right understanding, and this is what
was called as Moksha by the great Rishis of yore.
……… The
secret of success of all developed nations (if at all it is a secret) is
their singular dedication to the pursuit of knowledge. They encourage
pursuit of knowledge, provide more than sufficient funds for education
& research, respect knowledgeable people, invite good brains from all
over the world to come over to their place. They not only make laws
accordingly but even bend the rules for facilitating such pursuits. It is
their dedication to knowledge which is bearing appropriate fruits in terms
of their material prosperity & comforts. They deserve their prosperity
just as we deserve our lack of it. If the pursuit of knowledge blesses our
lives, then the flip side also is equally true. The absence of right
knowledge and understanding is the greatest curse of human life.
……… We are an
independent nation free to plan our priorities and plans. We have Planning
Commission planning for optimum utilization of our resources, but something
has indeed gone fundamentally wrong somewhere. The people with right brains
have to look for more fertile lands elsewhere, the masses cannot even read &
write after fifty years of self-rule, the definition of literacy has been
brought down to the ability to read & write one's name, the state of
schools is in shambles, and it takes a supreme court diktat to put an end
to reservations in super-specialty jobs.
……… If
because of some earlier social problems some people did not get proper
chance to come up, and reservation was considered to be a way out, then
fine, but it is fifty years now, a whole new generation has been born, yet
we are where we are. It is not the figures which we are interested in but
results. The results reveal distorted priorities. Why should our countrymen
be denied the right to education, why should are brains run elsewhere, why
should we not have high-profile in-house research wings, why cant we have
tax concessions for encouraging research & education in a big way. If
the government cannot do its job, why not pass on the baton to other
countrymen. Keeping people ignorant appears to be in the self-interest of
our politicians, just as raking up & sustaining distortions in the name
of caste is in the self-interest of others. It is the vote-bank politics
which is really behind the present state of affairs. Politics has become a
haven for the most smart & successful criminals. We cannot expect to
have the right priorities of knowledge from those who have had no interest
in it throughout their lives. Till we have these priorities it will be the
destiny of the masses & country at large to be condemned in this way.
……… The young
ones have to indeed depend on the system for some basic grounding, but the
grown ups need not always depend on government for helping change their
priorities. We have to do it our self, without any help from anyone. May be
God wants us to work for such goals. Let us do whatever we can to encourage
the pursuit of knowledge. We have to work both at the personal and social
level for such goals and priorities.
……… At the
personal level let us always keep some time for reading good books, and
listening to lectures & discourses of knowledgeable people. It is a
must. Keep out some time just for yourself and pursue the understanding of
some new thing continuously, not just for your profession but of other
aspects of life too. Poetry, literature, philosophy, art, music etc. As a
quiet mind is most suitable for understanding anything, appropriate
measures & exercises should be taken up to make the state of our minds
most suited for this endeavor. A good healthy body, a positively charged
yet a quiet observant mind are great assets. Let your respect for knowledge
& knowledgeable person be very evident. Invite such people at your
place, express your respect in whatever way possible, and discuss your
perceptions with them. It is also extremely necessary that a part of our
earning should always be spent on matters pertaining to pursuit of
knowledge. Purchase good books and other things which facilitate such
pursuits.
……… The
second aspect is our work for such goals in the society & professional
field. Encourage the intelligent & knowledgeable people in whatever way
felt most appropriate. Give out sometime to work for organizations working
in this direction, help some poor children to pursue their studies. Take
out a part of your earning to be shared with the less fortunate ones. Give
charity to Ashrams & other institutions pursuing such cause.
……… Do whatever you
can to have an open & sensitive mind. Be in the midst of nature at
least for a short period in a year, never let arrogance of any of your
achievements touch you, and never be conditioned with intense likes &
dislikes. Follow the Vedic adage that "Let noble thoughts flow to us
from all sides." Don't be under the impression that anything modern is
always good or correct and anything old is rubbish. This is an arrogance of
the most stinking kind. Do not also believe that everything old is gold and
everything new is nonsense. What is required is an open mind, which is open
to all ideas from all over. Let us have the intelligence to evaluate the
merits of anything our self. Conditioned people are basically unintelligent
people who cannot sieve out right & wrong, good or bad themself. It is
convenient for them to simply brand a thing as new & old, western &
eastern, religious or secular and blindly follow one. Such people remain
condemned to mediocrity and can never be expected to rise to those great
heights which a bhakta of Gyana can. The people who pursue knowledge whole
heartedly not only make their professional & worldly lives very
beautiful & successful, but also awake to the Godly state of transcendental
divinity in this very life.
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