Knowledge & values (From ignorance to knowledge series 3)
Value knowledge: It’s easy to value property, possessions or other visible forms of wealth. It’s easy also to value other tangible things such as signs [...]
Contextualizing absolute-sounding scriptural statements doesn’t minimize those statements; not contextualizing minimizes them
How do we make sense of absolute-sounding statements in wisdom-texts such as the Bhagavad-gita? Consider its declaration at the end of a list of twenty [...]
Education is meant to remove ignorance and restore innocence, not remove innocence and reinforce ignorance
Education is a central part of human society. We get educated for several decades early on in our life when we have the most energy. [...]
Thinking that thinking is troublesome, is troublesome
Some people avoid thinking about life’s big questions such as: “What is life meant for? What happens after death? What really counts?” They deem such [...]
Education centers not on building our resume, but on broadening our reality
Today’s academic culture often makes students obsessed with building their resume. When they have to decide which course to take or which co-curricular or extracurricular [...]
Education is meant for not just literacy or numeracy or prosperity; it is meant essentially for spirituality
Education is highly sought nowadays, with people paying millions to get prestigious degrees. But what is education meant for? Some common answers are: literacy, numeracy [...]
Life is not just a problem-solving exercise – it is essentially a consciousness-raising expedition
When we face problems repeatedly and feel disheartened, we may try to see problems as challenges. Thus, we may, knowingly or unknowingly, conceive of life [...]
To make sense of things by not thinking of the things that don’t make sense is self delusion
We humans innately need to make sense of things. Science, art and religion all are various means by which we try to find meaning in [...]
The obligation to endure gives us the right to know
Death is the most covered-up reality in our contemporary world. Of course, what is covered up is not the fact of death per se, but [...]
Activity, productivity and connectivity are no substitute for spirituality
We are all, by nature, active – we want the joy of doing worthwhile things. But not all activity is equally worthwhile. So we strive [...]
Study not to be seen by the world as learned, but to see the world with learned eyes
When we acquire knowledge, the ego frequently gets intoxicated, “I know so much.” If others respect us for our learning, then getting more respect often [...]
Is education changing the teacher within?
All of us have an inner teacher: our value system, our set of guiding principles that shape our decisions and determine our actions. For children, [...]
Don’t let lifestyle get in the way of living
“You are your watch!” So says a billboard. It implies that our watch makes a statement about who we are, what our status is and [...]