Knowledge is not everything
responsible for the accumulation of knowledge? This is a difficult subject, so let
us see if we can go into it, let us consider it very carefully.
Human beings accumulate and worship knowledge, not only scientific but socalled spiritual knowledge. They think that knowledge is so important in life—
knowledge of what has happened, and of what is going to happen. This whole
process of accumulating information, worshipping knowledge—does it not arise
from the background of fear? We are afraid that without knowledge we would be
lost, we would not know how to conduct ourselves. So, through reading what the
sages have said, through other people’s beliefs and experiences, and also through
our own experiences, we gradually build up a background of knowledge which
becomes tradition; and behind this tradition we take refuge. We think this
knowledge or tradition is essential, and that without it we would be lost, we
would not know what to do.
Christian Laro phần giáo dục cũng nói khá hay về chủ đề này. 'Mục đích chủ yếu của giáo dục là đào tạo ra những người hiểu đạo lý'. Tức là ưu tiên đầu tiên là hiểu đạo lý xong mới đến kiến thức, rồi chuyên sâu... Thứ tự sắp xếp này là hợp lý vì nếu học sinh không học được các tầng bậc tiếp theo thì trong đời sống họ vẫn có ích và một 'đạo lý' nền tảng. Nếu sắp xếp ngược lại thì kiến thức của mỗi người như dán lên cơ thể anh ta vậy không phát triển nhất thể với họ. Giáo dục đã tạo ra quái vật nhiều hơn bất kỳ tầng lớp nào trong xã hội...
Một điểm quan trọng nữa là nhiều người coi JK teaching chả có gì mới, trong kinh thánh đều đã đề cập. Tôi không đọc kinh thánh nên không rõ. Có một vài thread trên redit tranh luận vấn đề này, có vẻ JK có đóng góp riêng gì đó. Qua một vài đoạn nghe được (không chỉ Bible) mà cả vài đoạn trong Q'ran (Miracle of the brain - Smell and Taste - phim khoa học Turkey làm), hay một số truyền tải phật giáo trong phim ảnh thì thấy kinh thánh, kinh phật ... nhìn chung có nhiều điểm hay về ý nghĩa, cách trình bày rất hay, có lẽ do nhiều môn đồ sau này cẩn thận và rất uyên thâm viết bổ sung... Đa số người VN như tôi kiểu vô thần, nên hay dị ứng với kinh thánh, mặc định xem nó rất khó hiểu, vô vị như những ông sư thi thoảng gặp trên đường tụng kinh cc gì chả hiểu. Có lần đi xe khách mà phải nghe mấy thánh tụng kinh (mở loa) mà chủ xe cũng kệ luôn, không muốn/dám bảo tắt. Tôi nghĩ về căn bản, nguồn gốc kinh Phật cũng hay ho và viết cẩn thận (chí ít lúc nó ra đời), còn sau này là chuyện khác, ngoài việc lỗi thời, mai một, biến thể, dịch thuật...
Now, when we talk about knowledge, what do we mean by that word? What
is it that we know? What do you really know, when you come to consider the
knowledge you have accumulated? At a certain level, in science, engineering,
and so on, knowledge is important; but beyond that, what is it that we know?
Have you ever considered this process of accumulating knowledge? Why is it
that you study, why do you pass examinations? Knowledge is necessary at a
certain level, is it not? Without a knowledge of mathematics and other subjects,
one could not be an engineer or a scientist. Social relationship is built upon such
knowledge, and we would not be able to earn a livelihood without it. But beyond
that kind of knowledge, what do we know? Beyond that, what is the nature of
knowledge?
What do we mean when we say that knowledge is necessary to find God, or
that knowledge is necessary to understand oneself, or that knowledge is essential
to find a way through all the turmoils of life? Here we mean knowledge as
experience; and what is this experience? What is it that we know through
experience? Is not this knowledge used by the ego, by the ‘me’, to strengthen
itself?
Say, for instance, that I have achieved a certain social standing. This
experience, with its feelings of success, of prestige, of power, gives me a certain
sense of assurance, of comfort. So the knowledge of my success, the knowledge
that I am somebody, that I have position, power, strengthens the ‘me’, the ego,
does it not?
Have you not noticed how knowledge-puffed the pundits are, or how
knowledge gives to your father, your mother, your teacher the attitude, ‘I have
experienced more than you have; I know and you do not’? So knowledge, which
is merely information, gradually becomes the sustenance of vanity, the
nourishment of the ego, the ‘me’. For the ego cannot exist without this or some
other form of parasitical dependence.
The scientist uses his knowledge to feed his vanity, to feel that he is
somebody, just as the pundit does. Teachers, parents, gurus—they all want to be
somebody in this world, so they use knowledge as a means to that end, to fulfil
that desire; and when you go behind their words, what is it that they really know?
They know only what the books contain, or what they have experienced; and
their experiences depend on the background of their conditioning. Like them,
most of us are filled with words, with information which we call knowledge, and
without it we are lost; so there is always fear lurking behind this screen of words,
of information.
Where there is fear, there is no love; and knowledge without love destroys us.
That is what is happening in the world at the present time. For example, we now
have sufficient knowledge to feed human beings throughout the world; we know
how to feed, clothe and shelter mankind, but we are not doing it because we are
divided into nationalistic groups, each with its own egotistic pursuits. If we really
had the desire to stop war we could do so; but we have not that desire, and for the
same reason. So knowledge without love becomes a means of destruction. Until
we understand this, merely to pass examinations and achieve positions of
prestige and power inevitably leads to deterioration, to corruption, to the slow
withering away of human dignity.
It is obviously essential to have knowledge at certain levels, but it is even
more important to see how knowledge is used egotistically, for selfish purposes.
Observe yourself and you will see how experience is employed by the mind as a
means of self-expansion, as a means of power and prestige. Watch the grown-ups
and you will see how they hanker after position and cling to their success. They
want to build a nest of safety for themselves, they want power, prestige,
authority—and most of us, in various ways, are after the same thing. We don’t
want to be ourselves, whatever we are; we want to be somebodies. There is a
difference, surely, between being and wanting to be. The desire to be or to
become is continued and strengthened through knowledge, which is used for selfaggrandizement.
It is important for all of us, as we are maturing, to go into these problems and
understand them, so that we do not respect a person merely because he has a title
or a high position, or is supposed to have a great deal of knowledge. Actually, we
know very little. We may have read many books, but very few have direct
experience of anything. It is the direct experiencing of reality, of God, that is of
vital importance; and for that, there must be love.
Xem qua có vẻ JK khá gắt với giới 'học thuật', nói chính xác hơn là những người 'được đi học' :) như Christian Laro từng nói. Có lẽ không nên nâng quan điểm lên tới tận những nhà bác học, giáo sư thực thụ ở Tây Âu... Nhưng đúng là thực tế đa số là vậy, chí ít là ở VN, China, India thì không rõ nhưng thời điểm JK nói chắc cũng rứa.
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