Q: How do I build an affinity and attachment towards knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This very question indicates that you already have it my dear. Why do you
keep looking for it when you already have it?
If you think that you do not have an affinity for knowledge and then you
strive to cultivate it, I tell you, it is never going to happen. There are
certain things that you should just assume to be present in you. There are
some things that we need to know and understand, and there are some things
that we just need to believe in totally, and take it for granted.
Of course, you cannot know everything so some things you would need to
reason out. For example, if someone tells you, “This is poison, do not
drink it”. You should not say, “Oh! How do I know it is poison? Let me try
and see if it really is poison”. You would not survive to tell the
difference (laughter). Do you get what I am saying? So there are some
things you simply need to assume to be true, and there are other things
that you need to know and understand.
Embrace everyone with love as you walk ahead in life. Often people say that
they will only talk and mingle with people who are like them. I feel that
is very foolish. What is the use of sitting with people who think alike and
behave the same? It makes more sense to talk to people who are not like you
and have a different thought process and beliefs than yours. That enhances
your skills as well and it opens up your mind to new things. This rigid
fundamentalist approach to sticking to one’s thought systems and principles
is a typical sign of backwardness and orthodoxy in our country. A person
follows certain principles or ideologies and stays away or aloof from other
people who may not be following the same; just like how the Communists do
in our country. If a Communist is well-established in his ideology and
beliefs, what is so difficult in talking to people from other religions or
ideologies? Often they run away from people who do not subscribe to their
belief system and ideology. I would say, it is a kind of principles-based
untouchability that they practice.
Even people who consider themselves as religious or spiritual behave this
way. When they happen to meet an atheist, they keep away from them. This is
a sign of weakness of a person rather than being strongly established in
one’s beliefs. When we are well-established in our thoughts and beliefs,
then we should walk freely with our head held high.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This very question indicates that you already have it my dear. Why do you
keep looking for it when you already have it?
If you think that you do not have an affinity for knowledge and then you
strive to cultivate it, I tell you, it is never going to happen. There are
certain things that you should just assume to be present in you. There are
some things that we need to know and understand, and there are some things
that we just need to believe in totally, and take it for granted.
Of course, you cannot know everything so some things you would need to
reason out. For example, if someone tells you, “This is poison, do not
drink it”. You should not say, “Oh! How do I know it is poison? Let me try
and see if it really is poison”. You would not survive to tell the
difference (laughter). Do you get what I am saying? So there are some
things you simply need to assume to be true, and there are other things
that you need to know and understand.
Embrace everyone with love as you walk ahead in life. Often people say that
they will only talk and mingle with people who are like them. I feel that
is very foolish. What is the use of sitting with people who think alike and
behave the same? It makes more sense to talk to people who are not like you
and have a different thought process and beliefs than yours. That enhances
your skills as well and it opens up your mind to new things. This rigid
fundamentalist approach to sticking to one’s thought systems and principles
is a typical sign of backwardness and orthodoxy in our country. A person
follows certain principles or ideologies and stays away or aloof from other
people who may not be following the same; just like how the Communists do
in our country. If a Communist is well-established in his ideology and
beliefs, what is so difficult in talking to people from other religions or
ideologies? Often they run away from people who do not subscribe to their
belief system and ideology. I would say, it is a kind of principles-based
untouchability that they practice.
Even people who consider themselves as religious or spiritual behave this
way. When they happen to meet an atheist, they keep away from them. This is
a sign of weakness of a person rather than being strongly established in
one’s beliefs. When we are well-established in our thoughts and beliefs,
then we should walk freely with our head held high.
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