No Idea

We are what our ideas are. We form a variety of ideas through our studies and interactions with others in the society. Ideas are like the lens through which we see the entire world. Indeed, we perpetually live through our ideas. When these ideas are in line with the ‘truth’, we experience ‘happiness’. When they are opposed to the truth, we experience ‘stress’. But, can they help us see the truth or, more precisely, experience the truth?

When you come across a thing or a situation which is completely unknown, you become dumbfounded. You have no idea about it. Hence, you examine it from all angles up to a point where you feel oneness with it. This is the state of experiencing the truth. However, someone comes along and explains you about it or your mind starts correlating with the past experiences. No sooner an idea is formed; you lose the intimate proximity with that object or situation. Now you do not see the object ‘as it is’.

Truth can never be captured by any idea. Even the most brilliant idea can only describe some aspects of the truth, but not the truth itself in its entirety. When you start believing your idea to be the truth, you deny yourself the chance of experiencing the truth. Idea, thus, becomes a barrier to the truth.

If we wish to live a life full of truthful experiences, then we must approach every moment with a fresh mind, devoid of any idea. We must not carry any mental baggage. We must die every moment to the past. Every moment carries immense possibilities that can only be seen when we are fully present in that moment. This does not mean all ideas are useless. We need appropriate ideas to conduct ourselves in the world with each other. However, we must not believe them to be cast in stone. Otherwise, we run the risk of turning ourselves into fanatics. We must remain open to all new possibilities in every moment.

The best idea for living a blissful life is to have No Idea or Is it so???

Education is the Key

Recently, Paul Salem delivered a potent message through an article, “War against Extremism” in a local newspaper.  His concluding sentence says it all, “The struggle for the future of the Arab and Muslim worlds that is being fought now will be won or lost not on the battlefield, but in the classroom.” To know that “Taleban” means “students” was yet another revelation for me. The question is: students of what? Love or hatred? Also, why only young men (or boys) are recruited by these extremist organisations?

Indeed, family and school are the nurseries for young minds. What they learn and imbibe in these places would shape their’s and that of world’s destiny as they grow. Utmost care and caution is needed in bringing up children and making them true inheritors of our progress. In this context, it is counter-productive to lower guards in educating and employing young ones. Knife gains its sharpness only when rubbed against rough surface. Gold becomes more valuable only after burning in intense fire. Similarly, youngsters would shine only against appropriate benchmarks both in schools and at work. Messing with high benchmarks of learning and working is, indeed, spoiling their future and increasing ‘educational poverty’.