Reading, knowledge and wisdom:
He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men.
– John Aubrey
Kabir Day 43:
The couplet transliterated:
Padha suni seekha sabhi, miti na sanse sool |
Kahe Kabir kaase kahun, yeh sab dukh ka mool ||
Translation:
Reading and listening, we all learn – but it does not dispel doubt |
Says Kabir, doubts are the seeds for sorrow (so work to dispel them soon) ||
My understanding:
All the knowledge handed down to us is still just knowledge – to make it useful, we need to understand, contemplate, and put it in context. Reading and learning are not what make us wise – it is our ability to assimilate our learning and be able to apply it to our current situation that converts it to a valuable resource.
The apple, the wonderful cake or the delectable pie on the table are like the books being read – they look and feel good , but their value as nutrition is not realized till the digestive process is complete and they have been broken down to their essential components, value assimilated and the rest discarded.
Knowledge in a book is similar. If we do not start eating, the rest of digestion cannot happen – similarly, if we do not open the book to read, just looking at it is not enough to make us learn. Once the reading begins, we need to contemplate on the reading, as John Aubrey said, and ‘digest’ the knowledge therein. That is the true process of ‘learning’. We keep what is useful, and discard the parts that do not apply or do not have value in the current context.
Thus, and only thus, can we open ourselves to the vast vista of grandeur all around us!