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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Self-knowledge gives peace of mind

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 10. ``Why do we crave for more and more knowledge

without paying attention to what we already know?'' is a profound

question raised in an anecdote about a student who approached his

teacher with an indecipherable inscription on a tablet curious to

know what was inscribed on it. The question made him think. This

is true of the human situation today as the trend is to seek more

and more information by way of gaining knowledge and

entertainment without pausing to think what a luxurious pastime

it has become. Rare is the one who probes deeper into what he

knows to get an insight into the truth.

 

When one sees through the telescope to gain knowledge of the

skies there is a sense of wonder and mystery of perceiving what

was earlier not seen. The telescope and the eye which perceives

this breathtaking scene do not feel this sense of wonder. It is

only the ``I'' which can feel this profound sense of mystery.

Only one person in a million developed this insight, a feel for

the mystery hidden in the heart of our everyday perceptions,

while the majority went about accumulating knowledge

mechanically, said Swami Suddhananda in his lecture.

 

Human beings are endowed with the faculty of insight, the

discrimination to differentiate between the ephemeral and the

eternal, but it is a rare person who actualises this potential

and makes an effort to understand himself and challenges his

individuality and comes to terms with himself. Generally a person

shifts the blame for his predicament on others - his family and

society. When he challenges his individuality he realises that it

is the ``I'' which is responsible for his predicament. This

insight enables the person to discover that it is the sense of

``I'' which is the root cause of all his problems.

 

Unfortunately the majority of people turn to this quest late in

life without realising that this is the preparation necessary to

lead a life of fulfilment in the world. We assume that education

will give us happiness; once educated then we think that a secure

career will make us happy; after getting a job then we live with

the notion that wealth will give us happiness.

 

Like a mirage we keep pursuing one object after another endlessly

little realising that the locus of our happiness is within

ourselves and it has to be discovered. Education, career and

position can only provide comforts in the world but not peace of

mind and happiness. Just as hunger can be satiated only by food

and not by thought of food, likewise the subtle hunger, the

feeling of unhappiness, cannot be fulfilled by gross objects.

Happiness can be found only by realising the Self.

 

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