Following is the Introduction of the book – “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. I found it so amazing that I felt compelled to share it with everyone. It is the story of enlightenment of Eckhart Tolle, in his own words.

I have little use for the past and rarely think about it; however, I would briefly like to tell you how I came to be a spiritual teacher and how this book came into existence. Until my thirtieth year, I lived in a state of almost continuous anxiety interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. It feels now as if I am talking about some past lifetime or somebody else’s life.

One night not long after my twenty-ninth birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been. The silence of the night, the vague outlines of the furniture in the dark room, the distant noise of a passing train – everything felt so alien, so hostile, and so utterly meaningless that it created in me a deep loathing of the world. The most loathsome thing of all, however, was my own existence. What was the point in continuing to live with this burden of misery? Why carry on with this continuous struggle? I could feel that a deep longing for annihilation, for nonexistence, was now becoming much stronger than the instinctive desire to continue to live.

“I cannot live with myself any longer.” This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. `Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the `I’ and the `self’ that `I’ cannot live with.” “Maybe,” I thought, “only one of them is real.”

I was so stunned by this strange realization that my mind stopped. I was fully conscious, but there were no more thoughts. Then I felt drawn into what seemed like a vortex of energy. It was a slow movement at first and then accelerated. I was gripped by an intense fear, and my body started to shake. I heard the words “resist nothing,” as if spoken inside my chest. I could feel myself being sucked into a void. It felt as if the void was inside myself rather than outside. Suddenly, there was no more fear, and I let myself fall into that void. I have no recollection of what happened after that.

I was awakened by the chirping of a bird outside the window. I had never heard such a sound before. My eyes were still closed, and I saw the image of a precious diamond. Yes, if a diamond could make a sound, this is what it would be like. I opened my eyes. The first light of dawn was filtering through the curtains. Without any thought, I felt, I knew, that there is infinitely more to light than we realize. That soft luminosity filtering through the curtains was love itself. Tears came into my eyes. I got up and walked around the room. I recognized the room, and yet I knew that I had never truly seen it before. Everything was fresh and pristine, as if it had just come into existence. I picked up things, a pencil, an empty bottle, marveling at the beauty and aliveness of it all.

That day I walked around the city in utter amazement at the miracle of life on earth, as if I had just been born into this world.

For the next five months, I lived in a state of uninterrupted deep peace and bliss. After that, it diminished somewhat in intensity, or perhaps it just seemed to because it became my natural state. I could still function in the world, although I realized that nothing I ever did could possibly add anything to what I already had.

I knew, of course, that something profoundly significant had happened to me, but I didn’t understand it at all. It wasn’t until several years later, after I had read spiritual texts and spent time with spiritual teachers, that I realized that what everybody was looking for had already happened to me. I understood that the intense pressure of suffering that night must have forced my consciousness to withdraw from its identification with the unhappy and deeply fearful self, which is ultimately a fiction of the mind. This withdrawal must have been so complete that this false, suffering self immediately collapsed, just as if a plug had been pulled out of an inflatable toy. What was left then was my true nature as the ever-present I am: consciousness in its pure state prior to identification with form. Later I also learned to go into that inner timeless and deathless realm that I had originally perceived as a void and remain fully conscious. I dwelt in states of such indescribable bliss and sacredness that even the original experience I just described pales in comparison. A time came when, for a while, I was left with nothing on the physical plane. I had no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity. I spent almost two years sitting on park benches in a state of the most intense joy.

But even the most beautiful experiences come and go. More fundamental, perhaps, than any experience is the undercurrent of peace that has never left me since then. Sometimes it is very strong, almost palpable, and others can feel it too. At other times, it is somewhere in the background, like a distant melody.

Later, people would occasionally come up to me and say: “I want what you have. Can you give it to me, or show me how to get it?” And I would say: “You have it already. You just can’t feel it because your mind is malting too much noise.” That answer later grew into the book that you are holding in your hands.

Before I knew it, I had an external identity again. I had become a spiritual teacher.

In the modern world of spirituality and conscious relationships, detachment is considered to be one of the fundamental pillars of conscious living and loving.

The concept of detachment comes from Hindu and Buddhist spirituality. Detachment, or non-attachment, is the result of repeated spiritual perceptions that cause us to be strongly rooted in our sense of Self. This higher Self remains unaffected by the fluctuations of daily life.

It is that witnessing part in ourselves that always feels at peace and simply observes what comes and goes. It is that part that knows that “time heals all wounds.” In reality though, on top of this higher Self, we all have developed a personality that is shaped by our past experiences. This personality carries hopes, dreams, and emotional pain. These aspects of our personality, when not made peace with, keep us identified with our personality and therefore weaken our roots in the Self.

Unfortunately, many spiritual practitioners subscribe to the idealistic worldview that is presented in spiritual lore and artificially apply it because it somehow “makes sense.” While non-attachment is a beautiful and elevated quality that can bring a lot of peace and love into your life, its misapplication can be dangerous for your well-being and of those around you.

Non-attachment is a spontaneous quality of someone who has ceased to identify with the personality parts of himself. When non-attachment does not come naturally or when it is something we are striving for or a technique we are applying, it can result in emotional suppression.

Let me illustrate this with an example from one of my open-relationships. The partner I loved had laid his eyes on another woman and decided that he wanted to date her. While I kept telling myself that I love him and therefore I was happy he was having a great time, my heart suffered. I felt as if he didn’t love me enough by putting me through such hardship. Intellectually, I believed in unconditional love but emotionally I wasn’t ready for it.

Non-attachment is not about not caring but rather requires a deep and intimate experience of life. Unfortunately, my partner was the type who tried to apply “spiritual concepts” to control me. Instead of acknowledging my pain and asking how he could help me, he simply gave me a lecture on non-attachment, on the very things I already knew.

I felt as if I was failing because I was unable to be detached. I suffered because I felt as if my partner was punishing me for feeling hurt. This self-judgment is how we create a vicious cycle of emotional suppression. It’s that simple. Unfortunately, people who tend to suppress their emotions are usually unaware of it and are often those with tender hearts who genuinely love unconditionally, but who suffer as a result.

Emotional suppression is one of the main causes for disease. In the long run, suppressing our emotions leads to a suppression of the immune system. It is one of the factors thought to play an important role in a variety of diseases and syndromes such as anxiety, depression, cancer, fibromyalgia, auto-immune diseases and heart problems.

Spiritual practice requires a high level of awareness and radical honesty with ourselves. If non-attachment is not our natural response, we have to make sure we recognize it. Our ego wants us to believe we already are a fully evolved person. Rather than “practicing detachment” in such occasions, we can practicing mindfulness instead.

Mindfulness is the non-judgmental observation of sensations, feelings, and thoughts as they happen in the here and now. If we feel pain, we recognize and acknowledge it without attaching any meaning to it or creating a story out of it.

Mindfulness, rather than imposing non-attachment, requires us to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge the truth of our emotions and thoughts, without suppressing them. As a result, we have to make peace with ourselves and brutally accept where we’re at including what our wounds and challenges are.

The desire to be detached, preach detachment, and wish it for others is an idealistic drive that belongs to the realm of the ego. It is often a form of escapism resulting from the personality that suffers from the lack of acceptance of the present moment. Acknowledging our pain, and practicing equanimity towards it, involves a surrendering of the ego that wants to be and feel a certain way. This doesn’t mean we should give up on the idea of non-attachment. On the contrary, it’s an invitation to bring more awareness and honesty into the practice.

As conscious people, we need to befriend our own ego if we desire to bring consciousness into our relationships. We need to recognize its good and dark parts, and simply witness the different aspects of the ego as just another aspect of yourself. By establishing ourselves in that part of us that is able to see the play of reality, we witness the reactions of our personality and its wishes and dreams. We need to observe with radical honesty and transparency the challenges our personality needs to experience. Knowing our deepest desire, most heartfelt pain, and deepest longing can reveal to us the purpose of our life. Next time you experience pain, rather than running away from it, let it guide you to discover your deepest truths and the meaning of your life.

Rather than suppressing our emotions, we need to find harmonious ways of expressing them to our partners. As partners, we need to provide the support to our loved ones so they feel safe to express their true feelings and emotions without feeling judged.

Conscious loving takes hard work, and the danger of escaping into spiritual ideals and dreams when things get rough lies just around the corner. Conscious relationships are those in which we explore and work through our vulnerabilities and heal our deepest wounds with a partner who is committed to doing the same inner work. Relationships can be a great tool for transformation and personal development when they are done consciously, with mutual respect and love, and a deep caring for one another. The person who develops the emotional maturity necessary to support another human being will discover the gift of having been helped in return through the very same process.

Source:

The Health Dangers of Practicing Detachment in Relationships.

Mental strength requires a three-pronged approach—managing our thoughts, regulating our emotions, and behaving productively despite our circumstances.

While all three areas can be a struggle, it’s often our thoughts that make it most difficult to be mentally strong.

As we go about our daily routines, our internal monologue narrates our experience. Our self-talk guides our behavior and influences the way we interact with others. It also plays a major role in how you feel about yourself, other people, and the world in general.

Quite often, however, our conscious thoughts aren’t realistic; they’re irrational and inaccurate. Believing our irrational thoughts can lead to problems including communication issues, relationship problems, and unhealthy decisions.

Whether you’re striving to reach personal or professional goals, the key to success often starts with recognizing and replacing inaccurate thoughts. The most common thinking errors can be divided into these 10 categories, which are adapted from David Burns’s book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (link is external).

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking
Sometimes we see things as being black or white: Perhaps you have two categories of coworkers in your mind—the good ones and the bad ones. Or maybe you look at each project as either a success or a failure. Recognize the shades of gray, rather than putting things in terms of all good or all bad.

2. Overgeneralizing
It’s easy to take one particular event and generalize it to the rest of our life. If you failed to close one deal, you may decide, “I’m bad at closing deals.” Or if you are treated poorly by one family member, you might think, “Everyone in my family is rude.” Take notice of times when an incident may apply to only one specific situation, instead of all other areas of life.

3. Filtering Out the Positive
If nine good things happen, and one bad thing, sometimes we filter out the good and hone in on the bad. Maybe we declare we had a bad day, despite the positive events that occurred. Or maybe we look back at our performance and declare it was terrible because we made a single mistake. Filtering out the positive can prevent you from establishing a realistic outlook on a situation. Develop a balanced outlook by noticing both the positive and the negative.

4. Mind-Reading
We can never be sure what someone else is thinking. Yet, everyone occasionally assumes they know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. Thinking things like, “He must have thought I was stupid at the meeting,” makes inferences that aren’t necessarily based on reality. Remind yourself that you may not be making accurate guesses about other people’s perceptions.

5. Catastrophizing
Sometimes we think things are much worse than they actually are. If you fall short on meeting your financial goals one month you may think, “I’m going to end up bankrupt,” or “I’ll never have enough money to retire,” even though there’s no evidence that the situation is nearly that dire. It can be easy to get swept up into catastrophizing a situation once your thoughts become negative. When you begin predicting doom and gloom, remind yourself that there are many other potential outcomes.

6. Emotional Reasoning
Our emotions aren’t always based on reality but we often assume those feelings are rational. If you’re worried about making a career change, you might assume, “If I’m this scared about it, I just shouldn’t change jobs.” Or, you may be tempted to assume, “If I feel like a loser, I must be a loser.” It’s essential to recognize that emotions, just like our thoughts, aren’t always based on the facts.

7. Labeling
Labeling involves putting a name to something. Instead of thinking, “He made a mistake,” you might label your neighbor as “an idiot.” Labeling people and experiences places them into categories that are often based on isolated incidents. Notice when you try to categorize things and work to avoid placing mental labels on everything.

8. Fortune-telling
Although none of us knows what will happen in the future, we sometimes like to try our hand at fortune-telling. We think things like, “I’m going to embarrass myself tomorrow,” or “If I go on a diet, I’ll probably just gain weight.” These types of thoughts can become self-fulfilling prophecies if you’re not careful. When you’re predicting doom and gloom, remind yourself of all the other possible outcomes.

9. Personalization
As much as we’d like to say we don’t think the world revolves around us, it’s easy to personalize everything. If a friend doesn’t call back, you may assume, “She must be mad at me,” or if a co-worker is grumpy, you might conclude, “He doesn’t like me.” When you catch yourself personalizing situations, take time to point out other possible factors that may be influencing the circumstances.

10. Unreal Ideal
Making unfair comparisons about ourselves and other people can ruin our motivation. Looking at someone who has achieved much success and thinking, “I should have been able to do that,” isn’t helpful, especially if that person had some lucky breaks or competitive advantages along the way. Rather than measuring your life against someone else’s, commit to focusing on your own path to success.

Fixing Thinking Errors
Once you recognize your thinking errors, you can begin trying to challenge those thoughts. Look for exceptions to the rule and gather evidence that your thoughts aren’t 100% true. Then, you can begin replacing them with more realistic thoughts.

The goal doesn’t need to be to replace negative thoughts with overly idealistic or positive ones. Instead, replace them with realistic thoughts. Changing the way you think takes a lot of effort initially, but with practice, you’ll notice big changes—not just in the way you think, but also in the way you feel and behave. You can make peace with the past, look at the present differently, and think about the future in a way that will support your chances of reaching your goals.

Amy Morin is a licensed clinical social worker and an internationally recognized expert on mental strength. Her new book, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears, and Train Your Brain for Happiness and Success (link is external), is filled with strategies and exercises to help you avoid those common pitfalls that can prevent you from reaching your full potential. Watch the video trailer below to learn about her personal story behind the book.

Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201501/10-thinking-errors-will-crush-your-mental-strength

I have been interacting with many people since several years now. Many people shared their personal problem as well with me, with the belief of getting some emotional comfort and intellectual resolution. The problems have been many, but to an abstract level, the problems can be summarized as – Emotional Hurt and Stress. There may be many reasons for hurt. Most powerful of all or hurtful of all, which I encountered till now have been – heartbreak in relationships. Heartbreak because somebody left somebody else after a long deep relationship. Heartbreak because mistrust came in a relation which has been going fine since a long time. Somebody saying something very hurtful  may also be a reason for emotional hurt and stress. Rejection is one of the most hurtful emotional experience. There can be many more reasons. Generally these emotional hurts and stresses, occur in interpersonal relationships. These issues in summary are the issues of relationships!

A lot of literature are generally available on understanding relationships, but they are generally not meant for immediate relief from the hurts and stresses. They give a general and sometimes even very deep understanding of life, emotions, relationships, which are definitely useful in long run. I myself have written many articles on relationships in past which can be found on this blog.

In this article, I primarily wish to focus on some hacks and techniques which I developed over a few years, which help in dealing with immediate emotional hurts and stresses. When a person is going through a lot of emotional hurt and stress, philosophy related to human nature, psychology, relationships and in general life, makes certain impact, but not much. A lot more is needed to the person to sustain and come out of this emotional turmoil and think objectively.

Following are some hacks and techniques I developed, which I have tested on myself and also on others, and they are giving good results! So next time, if you are going through some emotional hurt or stress, then consider following following hacks and techniques!

1. Try to distract yourself from all the thoughts, imaginations and imaginary situations which you imagine related to other person, with whom you are hurt. The more you imagine all those things, the more deeper and longer the hurt will go. Try to consciously distract yourself. The process of keep on thinking on the same set of events and disturbing oneself is called “Rumination”. This is one of unhealthiest and most common habits. To ruminate means to chew over. Studies tell us that even a two-minute distraction is sufficient to break the urge to ruminate in that moment. Ruminating about upsetting events in this way can easily become a habit, and it’s a very costly one. Because by spending so much time focused on upsetting and negative thoughts, you are actually putting yourself at significant risk for developing clinical depression, alcoholism, eating disorders, and even cardiovascular disease. The problem is the urge to ruminate can feel really strong and really important, so it’s a difficult habit to stop. Each time you have a worrying, upsetting, negative thought, force yourself to concentrate on something else until the urge passed. And within one week, your whole outlook will change and you will become more positive and more hopeful.
Listen to some soothing instrumental music. I emphasis on instrumental music because music with words doesn’t have that therapeutic effect. Classical instrumental music is better. Sound Therapy works best here. I have mentioned links to a lot of sound therapy audios in Meditations section below with “Resource #4”. Just listen to them, they will calm your mind. Watch some good movies, which you like. Read some interesting literature which you are interested in. The talk by Guy Winch on “Why we all need to practice the emotional first aid?” is a very good resource to understand and handle this issue. This is mentioned as “Resource #1” in the resources section.

2. Find out a good friend or some friends, who can listen to you without any judgements, without any hurry and who can empathize with you. Empathy has amazing healing power. To read more about empathy follow my article “The Power of Empathy”, as “Resource #2” in the resources section.

3. Do some random acts of kindness. Be good with people. Help people. Do these things specially when you are distressed. Do anything which helps you receive good gestures and kindness of people. The more kind you try to be with people, the more kindness you will receive and that will make you feel good and increase your self confidence.
In case, you are not able to generate the feeling of kindness within you, then FAKE the kindness in behavior. Fake it, and when you start seeing some good results with people, you will like it and then it will start becoming natural. Fake it, till you make it.

4. Try to empathize with somebody who is going through the similar conditions as yours. Try to counsel him/her. When you counsel him/her, you will be reminded of all the things which you yourself should be doing! Generally we know the right things but we forget them. We need a constant reminder ourselves. This activity will keep reminding you the things which you yourself should keep in mind. This will also give you assurance that you are not alone, and the issues which you are facing are not unique to you, they are human issues. This will also increase your self confidence and hence help you getting better.

5. Auto-Suggestion. Try to make arrangements to auto-suggest yourself all the things which you should be doing and thinking. For example – If you wish to remind yourself of doing random acts of kindness, then you can make your passwords of all the online accounts to be something like “RandomKindness@123Something”. This will keep on reminding you multiple times of the day, of the activity which you should do. You can come up with some more creative ways to remind yourself of the things which you should be doing and they will help you in auto-suggestions.

6. Try some Meditation. Meditation relaxes the mind and fill our mind and body with the necessary energy to conquer the emotional hurt and stress. There are some very simple meditations, mentioned in the resources section in the end of this article which one can practice. A must-do meditation among all is Yoga Nidra. It is extremely easy and extremely effective. Yoga Nidra will help in getting good and sound sleep and relaxing the mind from all the emotional turmoil. It will also fill the entire system with sufficient energy. Check out some meditation techniques and Yoga Nidra resources in the “Meditations” section. One can also learn some good meditations from Spiritual Organizations like Art of Living, Isha Foundation, Vipassana, Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga and many more. Use Sound Therapy. I have mentioned links to a lot of sound therapy audios in Meditations section below with “Resource #4”. Just listen to them, they will calm your mind.

Resources:

1. Guy Winch – Why we all need to practice emotional first aid?

2. Devansh Mittal – The Power of Empathy.

3. Brene Brown – The Power of Vulnerability.

Meditations:

1. Yoga Nidra. I personally like this version of Yoga Nidra. I find it quite effective. There are many more available. One can use them too.

2. Golden Light Meditation

3. Several meditations and related videos can be found on my youtube channel at following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_0lj9rby3g2rf7OLzgIUORQgVgh6_Lqw

4. Sound Therapy. Listen to them. They will calm your mind. Many more are available in youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_0lj9rby3g0z6Vq3n2UpIwGa3vhB97uN

And there are many many more one can find, if one starts exploring into this area.

My First of its kind 🙂

Following is the article written by Dr. Sandeep Pandey Ji (Social Activist, Guest Faculty at IIT(BHU)). Read more to know the context.

Some of my teacher friends are quite concerned with the fact that I don’t conduct any examination in the courses that I teach and almost all students in my class get ‘A’ grade. I believe there is no relationship between learning and examination. If the purpose of teaching is to make students understand a subject the job of a teacher is not complete until the students have learned the subject. Any failure of student to learn should be considered a failure of the teacher to make his/her students understand the subject.

I feel sorry that so much precious time is wasted in setting questions papers, conducting examinations, correcting answer sheets and giving grades. Some teachers seem to take the whole process of conducting examination more seriously than teaching the course itself. For some it is a very pious exercise which they see as integral part of teaching. They cannot imagine the process of teaching sans examination. But performance in examination is not a true reflection of student’s learning. Students may pass examination, and often with good marks, without understanding the subject by adopting legitimate as well as unfair means. This exercise of examination is akin to a struggle between the teacher and the taught. After an insipid semester of instructions the teacher tries to put the students to unnecessary strain of memorizing the content and is usually very strict with grading. So much so that some teachers consider it a matter of pride that students are not able to get very high marks in their subjects. Students on the other hand try to beat the teachers and find ways to score good marks without putting in much effort.

In my system of evaluation I conduct one-to-one interaction with each student in my class. The interaction is held in my office or the hostel room of student. With a class size of slightly over hundred students I’m able to do it about three times during the semester at IIT, BHU. In this evaluation I test the understanding of the student. If the student has not learned the subject he/she is asked to go back, study and prepare for another round of interaction. The students have unlimited chances to learn the subject. The process of evaluation is complete when the teacher and student are both satisfied with the learning achieved. In this process almost all students are able to achieve a certain basic level of understanding of the course. This is the reason that almost all students get the same grade in the class. Since everybody has understood the subject they get ‘A’. I don’t see why they should be given any lesser grade. Ideally I would be happy if no grades had to be given. I should just be required to declare whether the student has understood the subject or not.

Let me make it clear that I’m not saying the examinations have no role. I’m just saying they have no role in learning process. However, if some selection is to done, for example for a job, then the employer may use the method of examination to make appropriate selections. In our country there is a huge industry which just prepares people for various kinds of examinations. They are guilty of making the competition cut throat, draining any element of learning in the teaching process. The joy which is associated with the process of learning disappears as one is exposed to fierce competition. Moreover, it wastes the time and energy of so many youth who are ultimately not able to clear these examinations. The successful candidates are only a miniscule percentage of those who are not able to make it.

However, when we solve problems in real life we almost never do it under examination like conditions. In fact, instead of competing with our colleagues, we try to seek their cooperation in accomplishing a task. Hence the role of examination must not be exaggerated. It is an artificial meaningless wasteful exercise which puts tremendous strain on candidates.

The element of competition inbuilt in examination brings the worst out of us, distorting our personalities, making us more selfish and unnecessarily aggressive. People who are not subject to process of competition, for example all primary producers and illiterate service providers, are more humane in their interaction and produce better quality results in their work too. They have never scored high marks nor hold certificates and degrees from reputed institutions but the society trusts them to do its work. And they do their work honestly. If one thinks about it, it is amazing that we trust formally unqualified and untrained people to do such important tasks as cook our food, build our houses, handle our little children, etc., essentially because we believe in their integrity but still continue to accept the idea that competition produces quality. Most of  the above mentioned categories of people are not working in competitive set ups.

People who do not go through the process of competition have a better understanding of life. For example, they know the amount of resources needed to fulfill human needs. The educated people because of their selfish nature become greedy and lose a sense of remaining contented within limited resources. Hence they feel that their needs are unlimited. This is the reason they also engages in corruption. Corruption is a product of educated society. The uneducated are victims of corruption.

Author:
Dr. Sandeep Pandey
Social Activist,
Guest Faculty at IIT (BHU).
Know more about him at:
http://www.ashanet.org/pandey/visit2005/bio.html

Empathy is the basis of all the human connections. Empathy “happens” when other person is able to experience within himself the same emotional condition, which I am experiencing in a given situation, and then other person acknowledges and expresses to me, how it feels to be there. Other person also feels empathy with me, when I do the same. Empathy is the deepest level of emotional oneness which happens between two individuals. It is an amazing feeling of oneness, connectedness and love.

Sympathy on the other hand, which is mostly confused with empathy, is almost the opposite of empathy! Sympathy is trying to understand other person’s condition and then offering consolation or solutions, without having experienced that specific emotional condition within oneself. Sympathy doesn’t connect two individuals, to the depth, to which empathy connects.

Sympathy is a phenomena, when other person is not able to exactly understand how I feel, but evaluates/judges my situation in a certain way. Other person in this case  may give a lot of space and time and may be very nice behaviorally, but his inability to connect with my emotional condition, leaves a void within me. I do not feel connected with the person. Sympathy is often accompanied with the feeling of superiority in the person sympathizing and pity for other person. Nobody likes to be pitied.

The person sympathizing may many a times feel that he understands how it feels to be there in a given situation, but in reality he may not. He may feel that he is empathizing, but in reality, he may be sympathizing. The right of decision, whether the person is sympathizing or empathizing, generally lies with the person on the receiving end. The receiver only can decide, what has happened – Sympathy or Empathy!

Empathy is deep, Sympathy is superficial. Empathy drives connection, Sympathy drives disconnection. Empathy gives comfort, Sympathy brings void. Empathy strengthens the bonding, Sympathy weakens it. Empathy makes a person attractive, Sympathy makes a person repulsive.

In all human conditions, Empathy breeds Trust, Empathy breeds Respect, Empathy breeds Affection and Empathy breeds Love! Without empathy, no amounts of money, no amounts of power, no amounts of nice behavior and hospitality can bring connection between two human beings. Empathy is the basis of all the human connections.

Capability doesn’t necessarily imply Actualization. All human beings are “Capable” of feeling Empathy, but capability doesn’t necessarily imply actualization. Empathy comes with experience and understanding. The more and diverse experiences I have, the more and diverse thought processes I am aware of, the more and diverse emotional states I am aware of or have experienced in past, the more I am vigilant and understanding of my own experiences, thoughts and emotions, the more I will be able to empathize with others. It takes a lot of experiences and inner-connectedness to feel empathy with other person. Introspection and inner-connectedness are necessary to have empathy, but they are not sufficient. Experience of diverse human conditions, understanding of diverse human emotions, understanding of diverse thought processes, are also essential to feel empathy. The more one explores in various human dimensions, the more empathetic one keeps becoming.

There are 4 Components of Empathy. Empathy requires four things to be done. They are:
1. Perspective Taking.
2. Staying out of Judgements.
3. Connecting and experiencing within oneself what other person is going through.
4. Expressing how it feels to be there.

Perspective taking is the process of seeing the situation from the reference point of other person. Staying out of judgements is essential, if one wishes to feel empathy. In fact, empathy kills judgements. If one is really able to feel empathy with other person, the judgements will automatically go away! Empathy requires connecting within myself to the same emotional condition, which other person is going through. And, finally expressing to other person what it feels like to be in that situation, is essential to bring comfort. In fact, in case of empathy, it happens automatically. In empathy, all the 4 things above happen automatically.

Empathy enriches one’s perspective. Empathy develops the capability in a person to see the same situation from multiple perspectives. In fact the reverse is also true. The more perspectives one is able to see the same situation from, the more empathetic one keeps becoming. Lack of understanding of subjectivity of human condition, is one of the main reasons for lack of empathy.

Empathy kills Judgements. To feel empathy, one has to go beyond one’s notions of “good” and “bad”. Different thoughts and emotions which human beings experience in their daily life, are not bound with the ideas of “good” and “bad”. Any type of thoughts and emotions may come in a human being. If one is too immersed in one’s notions of good and bad, if one’s perception is too colored with the ideas of ‘this is good’ and ‘that is bad’, if one is too judgmental, then one will not be able to feel empathy and others will not feel comfortable with that person.

Empathy Builds Relationships: Connecting, Experiencing and Expressing. Empathy Builds Acceptance. Acceptance and Emotional comfort are the keys to good relationships. Empathy breeds acceptance and emotional comfort. When other person is able to connect with my emotional condition, experiences the same within himself and expresses how it feels to be there, it brings me a lot of emotional comfort. Other person also feels comfortable with me, when I do the same. When I am able to connect with other person at this emotional level, then it also builds acceptance. Acceptance is one of the foundational building blocks of any relationship.

Empathy increases understanding of Human Nature. The more one is able to empathize, the more one is able to understand and appreciate different human conditions and perspectives, the more one is able to understand different thought processes, the more one is able to understand different emotional conditions, the more one grows one’s understanding of human nature. One is able to see that innate nature of a human being is good. One is able to see that human being is innately good, but is unable to actualize the goodness, due to certain limitations. An empathetic person is able to understand and appreciate even those limitations. He is not judgmental about the limitations. An empathetic person understands and even respects the imperfection of human beings in their current state of being, since he is or he has been through that imperfection himself and he understands how it feels to be there.

With the increased understanding of human nature, when an empathetic person comes in contact with a human being, he is not able to empathize with, because of the limitation of his experiences, he is still compassionate with him. Compassion builds with more empathy. Compassion is the “Trust in Innate Goodness” of a human being. The more one is able to empathize, the more Trust one builds in Innate Goodness of a human being, the more compassion one builds within oneself for human beings in general.

Empathy in the beginning is generally limited by one’s own experiences in life and awareness within oneself. It is also not possible to have all the experiences of all the kinds in life, but the more one builds empathy and awareness within oneself, the more one breaks free from the limitations of experiences, and the more one develops compassion for human beings in general.

Empathetic Guidance is well received by everyone. Guidance, specially in life related matters, is a thing which one is not receptive to, when given without empathy. Knowledge cannot be imposed on anybody. I am ready to listen to other person when I trust other person’s knowledge, I find his knowledge good for me, I trust other person as a human being and when I feel empathy from other person. When empathy in other person is absent, I am not receptive to him, even if he is saying something really useful. Knowledge, when served in the plate of Empathy, is well taken by everyone. Empathy makes other person more receptive. It loosens his rigidity and preconceived notions.

Empathy is a solution to internal peace, good relationships and societal harmony. When I am able to empathize with other person, when I am able understand other person’s situation better, when I understand why other person did/does what he did/does, then it increases my acceptance for other person. When my acceptance for other person increases, I feel more peaceful and comfortable within. Non-Acceptance brings internal disturbance. Acceptance bring peace within. The more my acceptance increases for other person, the more other person also feels comfortable with me and that leads to mutual fulfillment and complementarity in relationships. When people in a society become more empathetic, more accepting and their relationships improve with each other, it contributes a lot to the harmony in society.

Following resources summarize Empathy very very well. Please spend some time watching them.

1. Following short video by Dr. Brene Brown summarizes Empathy quite well!

2. Empathy can change the world.

The development of a country is usually defined in terms of only its economic progress. The more a country
economically progress the more it grows. Economic progress is measured in terms of its Gross Domestic Product. GDP is calculated in terms of the monetary value of all legal transactions involved in the primary, secondary and  tertiary sectors of economy. More the goods and services are produced and consumed, more the GDP rises and more the country progresses. Most countries in the world and international financial institutions use GDP as a yardstick to measure progress. So much so that some modern economic experts are obsessed with merely maintaining high rates of GDP. Fall in GDP rates brings gloom to economies.

However, from time to time questions have been raised about the GDP being a true measure of progress. Does it capture the overall growth in a holistic sense? Does it hide more than it reveals? Does it have some adverse affects? If GDP is not a true reflection of progress, what is? Let us consider some of these questions.

GDP doesn’t reveal the actual wealth distribution. It is not uncommon for the GDP of a country to increase simultaneously with increase in gap between the rich and the poor. It implies that the wealth being generated is concentrated in the hands of a minority rich section of society rather than being equitably distributed. Economic inequality does not lead to a healthy society as it results in a plethora of social problems. These include crime, violence, physical and mental illness, unsatisfied aspirations of youth, disintegration of community life, trust deficit within and among families, drug and alcohol abuse, social segregation, more members of marginalized sections of society landing in jail, lower literacy levels and health status of society, homelessness, suicides, to name a few. Thus what we get is an encumbered growth.

Let us consider the following examples which expose the flawed nature of GDP. Forests if allowed to flourish on
their own do not contribute to growth but if trees are cut down and wood sold in the market then this activity contributes to GDP. If people are healthy they do not contribute to GDP. But if they fall ill frequently, have to consult doctors, undergo tests and consume medicines they contribute to GDP. If people are hale and hearty they do not contribute to GDP. But if they have to visit psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors, they contribute to GDP. If water sources are clean, they do not contribute to growth, but if they become polluted with industrial waste, chemicals used in agricultural fields and sewerage, their cleaning constitutes an economic activity. The bottled water industry stands to gain directly from polluted water sources. If society is crime free then it doesn’t contribute to GDP. However, if we hire security personnel and buy expensive equipments, arms and ammunition, it contributes to GDP. At global level if there is peace between nations, it doesn’t contribute to GDP. If there are wars and dangerous weapons are used it may boost some economies. There is money to be made even in post war reconstruction work, contracts for which are decided even before the war begins. If people exchange gifts and services as part of barter system, it doesn’t contribute to growth but if the same things and bought and sold, they begin contributing to economy. If people live in joint family system as part of which they share resources then they don’t contribute to GDP. But if there are disputes within family, lawyers have to be hired to contest legal cases, money is spent to divide property and to build boundary walls, nuclear families buy more items from the market, it is good for economy. If the production and consumption is local it is not good for larger economy. But if long distance transportation of goods is involved, packaging and middle men are involved then it contributes significantly to economy. If women take care of domestic chores it doesn’t contribute to economy but if men go out and cook food in a restaurant or a lady baby sits for payment then there is a contribution to GDP. If one helps another human being as a volunteer out of a sense of service, which gives inner satisfaction, it doesn’t contribute to economy. But if the same job is done by a professional, it contributes to GDP. If one believes in the omnipresent notion of God and worships from home it doesn’t contribute to economy. But if one goes on pilgrimage to visit a special place where God resides, it contributes to GDP. If one pays attention to words of wisdom from elders in family and community it doesn’t contribute to GDP, but if one goes to listen to one of the commercial preachers, some of them in the garb of sages, it contributes to economy.

Quite clearly GDP is a very inadequate criterion of growth. It doesn’t capture quality of human relationships, psychological and physical well being of human beings, sustainable relationship with nature, sense of security or even the fulfillment of basic material needs of all human beings.

The idea that ‘product’ can make human beings progress will have to give in to a more holistic notion of growth
where ‘happiness’ of human beings becomes the key criterion. Some countries like Bhutan are already measuring the progress of their society on the basis of a Gross National Happiness index.

By Devansh Mittal and Sandeep Pandey
e-mail: devansh.exe@googlemail.com and ashaashram@yahoo.com
(About the writers: Devansh Mittal is a Lecturer and Ph.D. student at IIIT, Hyderabad and Sandeep Pandey is a Visiting Faculty at IIT, BHU, Varanasi)

I gave this lecture on Education at Theosophical Society, Varanasi. Submitted the lecture in written form, which is published in their journal.

I am a Lecturer and a PhD student at IIIT-Hyderabad, currently staying at IIT (BHU). My PhD problem includes psychological and sociological studies. Just a few years ago, I myself did not know that I will be doing higher studies and that also in humanities! I had joined B.Tech program at IIIT-Hyderabad (International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad) in 2003, in computer science department. I had not chosen my stream; I had got this stream because I had a good rank in AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination). I had a notion that those who get good ranks get computer science. I was neither interested nor disinterested in computer science or any other stream as such. For me studies were just a means to get a good job and good livelihood and I believed that getting a good job and good livelihood was all that was needed in the life! I had normal ambitions, which any normal student joining a good technical institution might have, like complete the graduation, get a good job, work in the industry for few years, do MBA, get married, take loans, buy a house and spend rest of the life in repaying the loans! For all these aspirations IIIT-Hyderabad seemed to me a perfect institute, given my rank in AIEEE. I had joined IIIT Hyderabad because the placements and faculty in the institute were/are good, so it was a suitable institute to fetch me Good Job, Good Package and Good Respect.

I have been one of the beneficiaries of this system. I got what I desired from my undergraduate college – Good Job, Good Package and Good Respect. After my B.Tech, I worked in IT industry for two years, earned a lot of money, visited abroad, and experienced the entire “Hell of Affluence”, which most of the students who join colleges, desire for. The reason, I called my life of affluence, a hell, is because it lacked on the very basic thing I needed in my life. In fact, it lacked on the very purpose, I needed this affluence. It lacked Happiness. It lacked peace, fulfillment and joy! My life had become 2/7, which means, in a week, I used to enjoy only two days – Saturday and Sunday, because they used to be holidays! I used to feel, I am living to earn money and not earning money to live. “Life” itself was missing in my life. Amazing thing is, this is not only my personal story, but the story of almost every child who is aspiring to be “Successful” in the current system! Frustration kept growing in me, during those two years in which I worked in IT industry.

Things have definitely changed for me now in past few years, after I decided to quit IT industry and join PhD, not in Computer Science, but in Humanities. I assume that this change is for better. Since this is not a document to share my personal journey, so I will not dwell further into it, but I thought of sharing a small personal account, not primarily to share my personal journey, but to show the condition of society we are living in, which constructed our pasts, influencing our present and also shaping our future, without our knowledge!

Everything in current society is being driven by the Market. Market drives the societies, the economies, the polities, our education systems, our production and health care systems, our relations, our goals and aspirations and even our psychology! We are being used as the Cogs in the entire machine-like system, for the sake of its own development. The major question here is, people are for development of the system or system is for the development of the people?

We, as a human race, have gone completely wrong in understanding the true meaning of word “Development”. What is Development in current system? Replace the mud-brick houses with concrete. Replace the extended family compounds with nuclear family apartments. Replace systems of mutual aid with insurance. Replace communally held land with deeded property. Replace culinary knowledge with fast food restaurants. Replace the identity conferred by local stories and relationships with identity derived from brands. Replace walking with automobiles. Replace traditional songs with entertainment products. Replace sustainable subsistence agriculture with commodity export cash crops. Replace experiential land-based learning with school-based curricula. Replace the village healer with a medical clinic. Send all the young people to the cities. Prepare city people to go to Abroad. Replace small scale industries with big industries. Covert everything into Free Market. Open economy of all the countries. Replace Self Employment with More Industrial Jobs. Convert Natural Resources in Products. Let the industry determine the education, production, justice, health care and even the psychology of people. Let the industry govern the government. If we are doing all this, then that is called development, in current system!

Today, we see two major problems, with which entire world is struggling – global warming and wars! Rest of the nature i.e. plants, animals, airs, waters and lands have not gives us these problems. These problems are the consequences of unsustainable human activity. Both of these problems are in a way consequence of our current fallacious understanding of the word “Development”.

All said so far, begs us strongly, to answer the question, what is then “Development”?

I believe, to understand the root of the word “development” and to understand its real meaning, we will need to understand a “human being’s natural desires” and how “development” happens in rest of the nature. Development in rest of the nature is generally referred to as “Evolution”.

There is evolution in nature. Evolution is something which is accepted in science as well. The evolution which we see in nature progresses from Material Order to Plant Order to Animal Order and then finally comes the Human Order. This seems like a natural and logical flow of evolution. The question which comes here is, what is the basic difference between Human Beings and rest of the species in nature? or more specifically, what is the difference between human beings and animals?

If we try to explore the above questions in depth then we find that there are several differences between animals and humans. Some of these differences are as follows:

1. Evolution in human beings happens in relation to Evolution in their Consciousness.
2. Human beings have the capability to reflect over things. The object of reflection may be internal and/or external. Animals do not have neither the capability nor the necessity to reflect over things. The beliefs of animals towards themselves and towards rest of the nature seem hard-wired by the natural laws. On the other hand “Beliefs” of human beings towards themselves and towards rest of the nature, are not hardwired by the laws of nature. Human beings can become “Aware” of their beliefs. They have capability to question and alter their beliefs. Animals do not have the faculty of “Self Awareness” and thus they also do not have the capability to question and alter their beliefs.
3. Human beings have Free Will. Animals do not have free will.
4. Human beings have the capability to “consciously interfere” into their own process of evolution and the evolution process in rest of the nature. This interference may be negative or positive. If this is negative then we see all the problems which are currently manifested in the world. If it is positive, then there is possibility of creating the harmonious world, we desire. Capability to interfere into evolutionary process is also the definition and manifestation of free will in human beings.
5. In case of animals and other orders in nature, the evolution happens by the law of Natural Selection. As per the process of natural selection the evolution in animals and other species in nature, happens by natural laws and they cannot “consciously interfere” in their own or rest of the nature’s process of evolution. As per this, there is no free will in case of animals.
6. Living of an animal is mostly limited to four aspects: hunger, sleep, fear and reproduction. Needs of a human being transcend these four aspects. A human being needs something more than just the satisfaction of food, sleep, reproduction and saving themselves from bodily fears.
7. We need not teach an animal, what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, when to sleep, when to wake up, how to sleep, when to reproduce, how to reproduce, how much to reproduce, how to do parenting, how to treat other animals of the same breed, how to treat other animals of different breed etc. Animals do not have insecurity of future, they do not carry agonies of past, and they live in present.       Animals do not have any religion, they do not have communal wars, and they do not practice spirituality.
   On the other hand, a human being needs to be taught, what to eat, how to eat, how to sleep, how to behave, how to have a peaceful mind, peaceful relations, peaceful society and peaceful co-existence with rest of the nature!

So we see that human beings have several different and higher needs, than animals. What are these higher needs of human beings?

Again on deeper self reflection we can find out that a human being needs following things:

1. Knowledge.
2. Happiness.
3. Material Prosperity.
4. Assuring and Fulfilling Relationships.
5. Fearlessness in Society.
6. Co-existence with rest of the nature.
7. Continuity of above all!

These are the needs in a human being, which when start to get fulfilled, makes a homosapien, a human. These are the higher needs in a human being. These are the needs which when fulfilled, give happiness to an individual, build mutual trust in relationships, secure fearlessness in society and ensure peaceful co-existence with rest of the nature. If we are moving towards fulfillment of these needs, we say that we are developing, otherwise, we say that we are moving away from development, in the real sense of the term.

Word “Development” can have no meaning, unless we define, where we wish to go as a whole. Without defining the goal of human beings, human relations and human society, we cannot define whether we are developing or not.

With the discussion till now, the understanding of human goals turn out to be something like following:

On the other hand, current notions of development and current goals of society include following:

The main thing to notice here is, realization of human goal is not possible, without Right Understanding and Right Feelings in Human Beings. This is where Education comes into picture.

The purpose of education as I understand, is to build understanding and capability in an individual, to realize and actualize the human goal, as discussed above. All the education has some “hidden purpose” which it tries to fulfill. There is no education without purpose, this is why we first discussed the purpose which we wish to fulfill through education.

If we see in history, Britishers in their education system, which they employed in India, had the purpose to build a race of Babus and Clerks, who can fulfill their purposes, and we know what their purpose was. At least we can say that their purpose was not same as what we discussed above.

Summarizing what we discussed till now, we can say that the purpose of education is to help an individual realizing and actualizing the goal, which he naturally desires. What a human being naturally desires? We discussed with the help of animal-human comparison, a human being naturally desires – Knowledge, Happiness, Prosperity, Fulfilling Relationships, Fearlessness in Society, Mutually Enriching Co-Existence with Rest of the Nature, and Continuity of All of the these things. On the basis of these natural human desires, we can say that the goal of entire human civilization logically concludes to be something like – “Happiness, Right Understanding and Right Feelings” at the level of Individuals, “Fulfilling Relationships and Prosperity” at the level of Family, “Fearlessness” at the level of Society, and Co-Existence with rest of the nature. We also saw what is happening in the current world and how that is quite contrary to what we naturally desire.

Moving ahead with the purpose of education, the two questions which arise associated with any kind of education system, are:

1. What should be the Content of education?
2. What should be the Process of education?

Content of Education

Content of education should be same as the content of knowledge a human being naturally desires.

So what a human being needs as a content of knowledge?

A human being wants to understand all the laws and details, at all the levels of his living.

Next question which comes here is at what all levels a human being lives?

A human being lives at following levels:

1. With the Self.
2. Within Relationships. In a family.
3. In a Society and with various Social Systems.
4. With rest of the Nature and Existence.

A human being lives at these four levels. A human being wants to understand all the laws and details at these four levels. Hence, the content of knowledge thus turns out to be following.

Content of Knowledge

1. Knowledge of the Self.
   What is the purpose of my life? And How do I fulfill it?
2. Knowledge of Relationships.
   What are the basic feelings involves in relationships? And how do I ensure them within myself and for others?
3. Knowledge of Society.
   What is a society?
   What constitutes a society?
   What should be the purpose of society?
   What are the various social systems required in the society?
   What should be the purpose of all those systems? And many more questions.
4. Knowledge of Nature.
   Knowledge of four orders in nature and their interconnectedness.
5. Knowledge of Rest of the Existence.

Next question is about process of knowledge. Following section highlights some salient features which should be incorporated in process of imparting knowledge.

Process of Knowledge

Process of imparting education should be such that it facilitates the understanding of the content of education to a human being in a way that it is easy for the person to understand. It becomes necessary to understand at this how a human being can understand better. Following are some features of process of education which when are incorporated in education help facilitate the understanding in students, in a better way.

1. Learning by Observation.
2. Learning by Experimentation and Doing.
3. Going from Meaning to Word.
4. Connecting with reality and environment around.
5. Going from Known to Unknown. Starting the content of teaching from what students know and then taking them towards the concept which they do not know.
6. Considering the Receptivity (Patrata) of the student.
7. Making a distinction between Value and Skill.
8. Understanding should be given more priority over theories and authors.
9. Making a distinction between Experimental and Experiential education and incorporating associated process.
10. Localization of Education. It means education should be in alignment with local conditions, local belief systems, local needs, local economy etc. When this is not the case then students begin to assume something else “non-local” as more superior than theirs. This affects local life, local relations, local communications, local systems.
11. Trust between Teacher and Student. Trust is must essential especially in experiential education.
12. Inquisitiveness to learn in both Teacher and the Student.
13. Education should not be the means to achieve some other end. It should be an end in itself.

Osho says – Every child is born with an innate search for truth. It is not something learned or adopted later on in life. Truth simply means, “I am, but I do not know who I am.” And the question is natural — “I must know the reality of my being.” It is not a curiosity.

These are the three differences, or three categories the world can be divided into: there are things which are, but they do not know that they are; hence there is no opening for any enquiry. They are closed, their existence is windowless. Then there are animals who know that they are, but they don’t have the intelligence to enquire what it is that they are. Their windows are open, but their intelligence is not enough to look out and see the stars and the sky and the birds and the trees. Their windows — whether opened or closed — don’t make much difference.

Perhaps once in a while a rare animal uses the window. In Shri Raman Maharshi’s ashram… and he was one of the most significant people of this century. Raman Maharshi was a silent pool of energy. Every morning he used to sit for a silent satsang, communion. He never talked much, unless asked something. Then too his answer was very short — having profundity, but you had to look for it. There was no explanation in it. His literature is confined to two, three small booklets.

His teaching was mostly to be in silent communion with the disciples. Naturally, very few people were benefited by him. But every morning he was sitting, people were sitting, and a cow would come and stand outside, putting her neck through the window, and she would remain standing there while the satsang lasted. It must have continued for years. People came and went, new people came, but the cow remained constant… and at the exact time, never late. And as the satsang would disperse she would move away.

One day she did not appear, and Shri Raman said, “Today satsang cannot be held, because my real audience is absent. I am afraid either the cow is very sick or she has died, and I have to go and look for her.” He lived on a mountain in the south of India, Arunachal. The cow belonged to a poor woodcutter who lived near the ashram. Raman left the temple where they used to meet, went to the woodcutter and asked, “What happened? The cow has not come today for satsang.”

The woodcutter said, “She is very sick and I am afraid she is dying, but she goes on looking out of the door, as if she is waiting for someone. Perhaps she is waiting for you, to see you for the last time. Perhaps that is why she is hanging around a little longer.”

Raman went in and there were tears in the eyes of the cow. And she died happily, putting her head in the lap of Raman Maharshi. This happened just in this century, and Raman declared her enlightened, and told his people that a beautiful memorial should be made for her.

It is very rare for human beings to be enlightened; it is almost impossibly rare for animals to become enlightened, but the cow attained. She will not be born again. From the body of a cow she has bypassed the whole world of humanity, and she has jumped ahead and joined with the buddhas. So once in a while — there are a few instances only — it has happened. But that cannot be called the rule; it is just the exception.

Things are, but they do not know that they are. Animals are, they know that they are, but they don’t have the intelligence to ask who they are. And it is not something to be wondered about. Millions of human beings never ask the question — that is the third category.

Man is, is aware that he is, and is capable by birth to enquire who he is. So it is not a question of learning, cultivation, education; you bring the quest with yourself. You are the quest. Your society destroys you. It has very sophisticated ways and means to destroy your quest, to remove the question from your being, or at least cover it up. And the method it uses is this: before the child has even asked who he is, the answer is given. And any answer that has been given before the question has been asked is futile; it is going to be just a burden.

He is told that he is a soul, that he is a spirit, that he is not a body, that he is not material. Or, in communist countries he is told that he is a body, just material, and that only in the old days, out of fear and ignorance, did people believe that they have souls — that that is just a superstition. But in both cases, the child is being given an answer for which he has not asked. And his mind is delicate, pure… and he trusts his mother, his father — there is no reason for him not to trust.

He starts a journey of belief, and belief kills the quest. He becomes more and more knowledgeable. Then education is there, religious education is there, and there is no end to collecting knowledge. But all this knowledge is futile — not only futile, but poisonous, because the first step has gone wrong. The question was not asked, and the answer has been implanted in his mind, and since then he has been collecting more and more answers. He has completely forgotten that any answer that is not the finding of a question is meaningless.

So the only quality of a seeker of truth is that he does not believe, that he is not a believer, that he is ready to be ignorant rather than to be knowledgeable, because ignorance is at least natural, simple, innocent. And out of ignorance there is a possibility, almost a certainty, that the question will arise, that the journey will begin. But through knowledge you are lost in a jungle of words, theories, doctrines, dogmas. And there are so many, and they are so contradictory to each other, that soon you will find yourself more and more confused… more and more knowledgeable and more and more confused.

As far as I am concerned the basic quality of a seeker of truth is to cut himself away from all belief systems, from all borrowed knowledge — in other words, to have the courage to be ignorant rather than to have borrowed knowledge. Ignorance has a beauty; it is at least yours, authentic, sincere. It has come with you. It is your blood, it is your bones, it is your marrow.

Knowledgeability is ugly, absolute rubbish. It has been poured upon you by others, and you are carrying the load of it. And the load is such that it will not give you any opportunity to enquire on your own what truth is. Your collection of knowledge will answer immediately that this is truth. If you are filled with THE HOLY BIBLE, then the question will be answered by THE HOLY BIBLE. If you are filled with the VEDAS, then the question will come out of the VEDAS. But it will come from some source outside yourself; it will not be your discovery. And that which is not your discovery is not yours.

Truth brings freedom because it is your discovery. It makes you fully into man; otherwise you remain on the level of the animals: you are but you don’t know who you are. The search for truth is really the search for the reality of your being.

Once you have entered your being, you have entered into the being of the whole, because we are different on the periphery but at the center we meet — we are one. You can draw many lines from the periphery of a circle towards the center; those lines on the periphery have a certain distance from each other. But as they come closer to the center the distance goes on becoming less. And when they reach to the center the distance disappears.

At the center we are one. At the periphery of existence we appear to be separate. And to know the truth of your being is to know the truth of the whole. There is just one quality, one courage: not to be afraid of being ignorant. On that point there can be no compromise, no cheap borrowed knowledge to decorate yourself with as a wise man. That’s enough! Just be pure and natural, and out of that purity, naturalness, ignorance, innocence, the quest is bound to be born.

Every human being would be a seeker of truth if the society were not interfering with children. The class of children is the most harmed, oppressed, exploited, distorted class of all classes — and the most helpless. And you are taking advantage of the helplessness of small children. But you are also not responsible. The same has been done to you. It is difficult to find out who was responsible in the beginning. But as long as we can look back, this has been the situation: every generation corrupts the new generation, and anybody who wants to prevent this corruption is condemned as corrupting the youth.

Socrates was condemned for corrupting the youth, and all that he was doing was the simple process of removing borrowed knowledge and helping his disciples to be themselves and then “to know thyself.” If anybody has served truth the most sincerely it was Socrates. But he was condemned by the court, by the law, by the people who were in power, for corruption, for corrupting young minds.

Strangely, in the land of Socrates I was also condemned as corrupting people’s minds. It seems the technology of corrupting the youth has evolved immensely in two thousand years, because it took Socrates his whole life to corrupt, and I was only there for two weeks! And the archbishop was already threatening to burn my house, to stone me to death.

Why are they afraid? They know perfectly well that they have no foundations. So if anybody shows the young people that their knowledge is unfounded, that all their answers are bogus because they don’t even have questions, that they are only repeating things parrot-like but they don’t have any understanding of what they are saying… then anybody who has a little intelligence will be able to understand it immediately. Is this corruption of the youth?

To bring people to the quest of the truth — is this corruption?
It seems it is the greatest crime in the world in which — unfortunately — we are living.

Source:

http://spiritualsoul.net/group/osho/forum/topics/osho-qualities-of-seeker-of