When we were in our childhood, we were taught by our parents, to TAKE the GOOD and LEAVE the BAD. Of course, that’s just an oversimplification of the culture our parents gifted us.
But now, people have completely forgotten that lesson, or to be accurate, they don’t give themselves the chance to decide what’s good and bad. Instead, they choose to follow the crowd. They choose to not think. They choose not to question their existing beliefs.
The biggest problem for humanity is ignorance! And the starting point of ignorance is, not thinking. Not thinking enough.
GATE vs GOAL
Most people do not think enough. Students decide to pursue engineering, medical, or whatever. But they do not think of what they’ll be doing or what they intend to do after they’ve got their degree. Because only if they think will they realize that a degree is just a GATE and not a GOAL. They decide to become a teacher, but they do not think about what they’ll be teaching for years together, they won’t think about whether what they’re teaching is practical, relevant, and meaningful to the students. They won’t think of whether they truly have the eligibility to teach. In other words, people won’t think about “Walk the Talk, Preach what you DO”.
WALK the TALK
That’s why we have Physics professors who are not working on physics anymore, Computer science professors who do not program/code anymore. That’s why we have history teachers who consider Epics such as Ramayana as Mythology, Mathematics professors who cannot think of making the subject relevant and interesting to the students, and of course, they aren’t working on anything new either.
I’ve already mentioned this in my blog: Burn your certificates, but I’ll say it again. In simple words, most teachers/professors are not working on their subjects after their PhDs. Physicists stop being physicists, mathematicians stop being mathematicians, and so on.
CHOOSE the GOOD
Forget about what they do, they don’t even think about any of their acts. That’s why some citizens of Bharath say “Hi” when greeted by Namasthe. That’s why people choose fame and money over true creativity and self-expression, in other words, they choose to be ‘Hacks’ rather than an Artist. That’s why people choose newspapers over books filled with great wisdom. People forget to choose GOOD.
Be HAPPY & INNOVATE
We might think, listening to Sadhguru, that if someone is not thinking he must be happy. It is true that people are in great trouble by overthinking or in other words not knowing how to think. When I say people are not thinking, the thinking I’m referring to is not just deep but it’s ‘lateral’. It’s only with great levels of practice of that right blend of deep and lateral thinking, can we start learning from every situation, everyone, and everything around us. It is productive thinking. It is thinking that provides a solution to problems, not creates one. And that same kind of thinking is what makes any kind of innovation possible.
GROW!
And when I say “THINK”, Reflection, self-interrogation, wondering, pondering, visualizing, whatever you may call it, I mean all of it.
And we can see that, to even have awareness of our knowledge, we need to think. That means, practicing virtues like humility and even curiosity requires us to THINK. And without those wonder couples (Humility & Curiosity), there’s no awareness. And that, in other words, means, no growth. As I explain the concept of awareness timeline in my book, to become aware is to grow.
THINK AGAIN!
I had to mention this title, as I recently read the book that addresses the concept of reminding ourselves to re-think our existing beliefs, assumptions, daily actions, and routines. “THINK!” is just Part one. How deep and how wide you think is the other. And you can choose how far you go in trying to master the art of thinking. And once you learn to think, how often you RETHINK is also a critical aspect to be remembered.
I would like to end this blog by reminding you again that the biggest problem for humanity is ignorance. And the starting point of ignorance is the choice every individual makes on a daily basis, to not think and not think enough. Hence I urge you to:
- Think!
- Think enough ( Both Deep & Lateral ) and
- Think Again ( Examine, destroy and rebuild your assumptions & beliefs )
Thank You,
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