E-Paper
Spiritual hogging
Spiritual seekers must understand that knowledge and wisdom are two different things: "Knowledge is proud it knows so much, Wisdom is humble, it knows no more!"
I have come across many humans who pride themselves on 'being' on a Spiritual Learning Path. This is, of course, not counting those who feel they are so spiritual that nobody can teach them anything more than what they already know.
The former would very gladly inform that they have 'done' all those spiritual courses, and that they are more knowledgeable than anyone could ever be.
It is a wonderful feeling to have learnt a lot, through various courses and fields in the eternal path of learning about God. But life is not merely about learning of God, life is actually about 'becoming' God in the process. Those who have learnt to be One with God, have also learnt that it is impossible to know the unknowable, that is God, that it is certainly naïve to assume that mere knowledge of God's outworking could make you an expert on the Wisdom of Being God.
Spiritual Hogging--that is endlessly consuming through books, workshops, courses, and the media, are just the first stage in our preparation for the ultimate state of our being-ness. Such spiritual seekers must understand that knowledge and wisdom are two different aspects of learning. As the saying goes, "Knowledge is proud it knows so much, Wisdom is humble, it knows no more!"
I am reminded of those humans who cannot see food without wanting to eat it, even though they may have just been through a full meal. Hungering for knowledge is absolutely correct in our spiritual path, but, as with food, there has to be a time interval between 'spiritual hogging', which allows for 'digestion' of what we have learnt.
There has to be periods of waiting, where each aspect of our knowledge is totally integrated into our lives, as wisdom gained. Otherwise all that knowledge just goes into a bottomless pit in our brains, lying there, rusted and alone, for want of putting it into practical use in our lives. This is one of the reasons why I have especially dedicated one day of the week to writing on how to integrate the learning into our daily, moment to moment, living,
When we try to fill up a vacuum in any part of our life, be it food, knowledge, or feel-good sensations, we are actually getting addicted to the high that is produced after eating, reading, or taking drugs and alcohol. This results in over indulgence, just to get a brief respite from our 'vacuum'. Yet, once the vacuum is filled, the cycle is restarted, without the deeper need being fulfilled.
In spiritual pursuit, the deep felt need is to know the true nature of oneself, the true soul-purpose of our life, and to uncover the path to attainment of Divine Bliss. This can be done if we only understand that we must walk slowly, chewing every morsel of wisdom gained, so what we learn becomes a part of our Sanskaar, never to be removed from our cellular consciousness, even after rebirth.
More on this topic next week...
