The Most Important Lesson I Learned In My Pursuit Of Knowledge
And how accepting this will kick-start your journey as well.
What was the last thing you searched for before landing upon this article?
No one is pursuing knowledge really.
Or are they?
Google says that it processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average. So where is this drive coming from?
Admit it — Had it not been for your pursuit of knowledge, you would have been scrolling through the FB feed or Instagram profile or binge-watching on your favorite OTT platform.
The Vedic scriptures also tell us that knowledge is the foundation for humility, worthiness, wealth, leading a righteous path or the path of dharma, and finally contentment.
Especially now so when we are struggling with Covid 19, we are challenged with a crisis for beds and oxygen, we are inquiring all over social media. Even when we do manage to get through this, our struggle for knowledge will not end. We will probably seek clarity on even more dire needs, like the need for meaning and value, won’t we?
Okay!!! Time for a little introspection
All these years, where did we get the knowledge from? What all things have we done to acquire knowledge?
1) During our childhood, we had resorted to our parents for knowing things. My mother was my first teacher, how about yours?
2) Apart from our parents, as we grew, we started seeking the help of teachers, professors, friends, seniors, elders, relatives, etc.
3) Oh, let me not forget the all famous Google or Wikipedia, the rescue partners for all our college assignments :P
4) In our day to day life, we consult media and newspapers to know what’s happening around
5) In case of a medical emergency, we go to a doctor to get knowledge of how we can get better
6) There are subject matter experts across fields, whose opinion we find valuable
7) Am I forgetting something? Ah — books!! They are our go-to source for knowledge
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Okay, the list goes on and on. Surely, one thing is coming out distinctly — We need a guide. There’s another factor we always bring into the picture. You won’t believe in all that you read or hear. You check whether the information is credible or not, whether it’s authentic or not.
So, let me change the statement I made a little while ago — for acquiring knowledge we need an authentic guide
So far so good??….
Alright, let me tell you even if you get an authentic guide, Mr. Doubt will show up and say —
Well, why don’t you read from other sources as well?
Yes, I know you have gone through it, so just think hard.
The reason is that the knowledge received from an authentic source is perfect:
You feel like you have had a sumptuous meal and your hunger is now satiated (for time being obviously :P).
There are so many different subject matters we have to deal with today from the rugs of history to the balancing of books in accounts.
Of all them, there is however is one subject which we all have to know no matter where we come from, what we are engaged in…
yes, even when we don’t have the time for.
Through scriptures and personal realizations, we understand that the knowledge of the soul and the source of this soul is the only thing that can eliminate all the incompleteness experienced by us. Thus, only the information about the soul can be categorized as perfect knowledge.
Unfortunately, when it comes to spirituality (topics dealing with knowledge of the spirit), people profess theories out of their mental speculation and prefer not to follow an authentic source.
I have seen people discussing these with their barbers and tea vendors. Tell me —
If for acquiring any usual knowledge, we need an authentic guide, then how can we do without it for understanding the spiritual subject matters, which requires more precision than that involved in a successful moon mission?
This authentic guide, who teaches about the knowledge of self is Guru.
I know you have been following this publication closely, so you must have read the article “4 things that prove how imperfect you are”. If you haven’t yet, please check it out here.
Guru comes in a proper disciple succession that originates from the Almighty Himself, and he repeats the same message without any interpretation or mental concoction. Since the source is perfect, the knowledge passed on by Guru is also perfect and is not subject to these four imperfections.
One such Guru for this age is Srila Prabhupada and exploring his books shall surely satisfy your quest for knowledge.
Who’s Srila Prabhupada? Which disciple succession does he belong to? What knowledge did he pass on? What was the consequence of the knowledge he gave to this world?
We will get there….. in our next article. We won’t keep you waiting for long!
Okay, here’s a remedy — Until the next article is out, you can click on the below links and check out the books enriched with perfect knowledge.
Hare Krishna!!!
Intrigued? Want to know more?
I suggest you to read the book Science of Self-realization where we discover the oldest and most essential of all sciences — the one that modern scientist are most in the dark about. Throughout this book Srila Prabhupada explains how you can go beyond limited, short-lived enjoyment and experience the unlimited and lasting pleasure of the inner self.
Click the book below to read for free —
