“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing.”
Samuel Butler
Kabir – The couplet
ग्यानी मूल गवैय्या, आपन भये कर्ता ।
ता ते संसारी भला, मन में रहे डरता||
Transliterated:
Gyaani Mool Gavaiyya, Aapan Bhaye Karta |
Taa Te Sansari Bhala, Man Mein Rahe Darta ||
Translation:
Am man under the illusion of being knowledgeable has lost his roots, presumes he is God |
The householder is better than him, he at least fears God ||
My understanding:
Very often, I have found myself begin to fuel my ride on the pride speed wagon as soon as I acquire some titbit of knowledge that seems special and wondrous to me. I do not stop to inspect its true value to the world outside of me or how it can actually enhance my existence. Possession is enough – the flame of pride is already fanned and roaring!
I have used these little events – the glow of pride; the desire to go rushing out to tell someone, anyone, about this new add to me; the speeding up of breath; the desperate need to find someone to talk to – as indicators that pride/ego/the ephemeral self is awakening into dangerous spaces. That, then, is my cue to actually take a deep breath, sit down, shut out the external world and physical senses, and meditate on my Guru and the Divine Mother. In fact, anything that moves out of a serene, quiet, contemplative, attentive state is reason to go back to the fountain of quietude that Guru and Amma (Mother) and fortify the self.
Once I regain the centered self, I then look back and am able to laugh at the illusion of grandeur that simple vanity so rapidly generates, only to tear down quicker that it takes time to find the pin to prick it.
And the repeat of that review over a few occurrences starts fortifying the mind against repeating the mistake over and over again. As with everything else, it is practice and only practice that can help us become better and hence take us closer to Our True Self – one step at a time.