Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever… Mahatma Gandhi
We all keep on learning something in life from the time we are born till the day we die. Irrespective of whether we want it or no, we can’t stop learning because there is not any existence of life without the process of learning. Our whole life is a bundle of experience and in turn, an education, where we all are in ever learning mode, every moment and everywhere. Throughout our lives, under all circumstances, something is being added to the stock of our previous attainments. Our mind is always at work, in observation; analyzing and storing from the time started functioning. As conscious beings, having sense organs, also known as the five doors of knowledge, we, by virtue of our very nature, cannot remain without creating perception. Our ears are always open, so we are constantly listening. The words that go through our ears to our brain are like lessons that we receive constantly. Similarly, we see the whole world through our eyes which also results in learning good things as well as bad things. The electrical impulses which we receive through our skin or taste-buds, reach our brain which is also a kind of learning for us. However one must understand a fact that all the above-mentioned processes of learning take place by virtue of awareness or consciousness that is present in our brain without which learning is next to impossible.
Learning and education are not synonyms
Most of us spend the bulk of our time in classrooms acquiring new knowledge and ideas. However, once we finish our studies, we feel that the education phase of our life is finally over and now it’s time for us to go out in the world and attain the highest level of success. But doesn’t this sound too casual and an odd idea? That only a quarter of our lives should be devoted to learning, and then we should simply rest on our laurels for the remaining part of our life? Well!! it is said that learning never exhausts the mind, then why do we restrict the process of learning until we are pursuing formal education? Just because you’ve finished your formal education, doesn’t mean that your education is over! It’s quite an erroneous idea, but unfortunately, the majority of us have absorbed it subconsciously?
When we stop learning – we are as good as dead
Remember!! It is only a dead body that ceases to participate in the process of learning and not the ones who resonate with life.
Our life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us enlightened, even though many a time it is hard to realize this. We must always remember that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward. Hence, we must always make it a point to learn something about everything and everything about something. Throughout our journey of life, we constantly learn some such lessons that result in the formation of sanskaras according to our karma. Hence, if we know clearly that learning is unavoidable and that we are always learning good or bad things, resulting in good or bad sanskaras that lead to happiness or sorrow, then we will never say that we have no time or no interest in learning. Likewise, if we know that our sanskaras go along with us life afterlife, then we will be more careful in learning good things and in giving up bad things because education seems to be an elixir that can bring us a healthy mind and body along with lasting fruitful life.
In present-day life, nobody is perfect so far as goodness and virtues are concerned. Hence, it cannot be denied that we all need to be enlightened and we urgently need to improve the quality of our thoughts, speech and action. Since we cannot avoid learning, even if we wish, why don’t we then learn to inculcate, in us, moral values, virtues or good qualities so that we may make progress towards perfection? Why do we wish to carry a heavy load of rubbish on our heads? Why do we want to delay our march towards our goal? What do we gain by making lame excuses, saying that we have no time or that we are not interested? What is it that we are really interested in? Are we interested in our downfall, decay or doom? In sinking and drowning deep down in the quagmire of vices, evils and mud? Remember!! The more we delay, the worse will be our condition and the more difficult would it be to rectify our ways. The process of learning, as was said earlier, is ceaseless and continuous and hence someone has rightly said “we learn every day and shed the ego and the perception that I know everything”. Hence we cannot stop it even if we try our best, putting all our might into it. So why not remain alert and follow the right path that saves us from tragedies, traumas, tensions and turmoil of life? The answer lies within us.
