The journey of Life from the aspects of Knowledge and Awareness

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

If we believe in self, there are lots of things we can do but if we don’t, we can’t. The first thing which can help ‘better living; better society’ thought is the awareness of knowledge.  According to me, education and knowledge are two different entities. Not in whole; but somewhere both differs from each other. Education is the culture to provide the knowledge so it is the platform where one can obtain the knowledge and prove the self. But knowledge is not restricted to any kind of boundaries. Knowledge doesn’t always require some platform.

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” –Oscar Wilde

It’s also said that Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. I think, education is the provider of knowledge but actually it should be the real measure of knowledge. One main thing leading towards multiple problems of the society is the unawareness towards life and lack of knowledge. It is said in The Study and Practice of Yoga by Swami Krishnananda: “The root cause of our sufferings is ignorance with which we are perpetually associated, and our constant friend, whom we can never leave even for a moment. This friend, called ‘ignorance’, is with us day in and day out. Inside and outside, this friend is with us and becomes one with our nature so that our very thoughts are based on ignorance. Therefore, any effort even in the so-called right direction may not yield the desired results, because there is the basis of ignorance even before the rectitude which society parade so much.” According to Bhagavad-Gita, human suffering is caused by faulty thinking, perspectives, beliefs and attitudes. It depends upon the way we perceive the things and react to them. The solution to the problem of suffering lies in our understanding of the underlying causes and resolving them effectively through the inner transformation. But for this, the knowledge of the particulars is the essential prerequisite.  Bhagavad-Gita identifies the causes of human suffering, by dealing with which we can effectively contain our suffering. These causes are still relevant in the modern society and they are still effective in making people unhappy in their lives with something or the other. The unawareness leads our problems because the majority of us suffer, not because we are rich or poor but because we are programmed to suffer by our own thoughts, desires and actions. The factors which play a vital role in the suffering are Mistaken Identity, Attachment and involvement and Lack of Knowledge. So, what today’s society needs? Is there a need of colleges, business schools, education institutions etc. which run and run without pausing and make people educated only or rather we choose the knowledge followed by education and which can help the concept of ‘better living; better society’ by enriching the life of individuals?

And at last, it’s said by Helen Keller,

“Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge – broad deep knowledge – is to know true ends from false and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds those have marked man’s progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one just indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.”