8 June 2015 - QA 11

How do I build an affinity and attachment towards knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

This very question indicates that you already have it my dear. Why do you keep looking for it when you already have it?
If you think that you do not have an affinity for knowledge and then you strive to cultivate it, I tell you, it is never going to happen. There are certain things that you should just assume to be present in you. There are some things that we need to know and understand, and there are some things that we just need to believe in totally, and take it for granted.
Of course, you cannot know everything so some things you would need to reason out. For example, if someone tells you, “This is poison, do not drink it”. You should not say, “Oh! How do I know it is poison? Let me try and see if it really is poison”. You would not survive to tell the difference (laughter). Do you get what I am saying? So there are some things you simply need to assume to be true, and there are other things that you need to know and understand.

Embrace everyone with love as you walk ahead in life. Often people say that they will only talk and mingle with people who are like them. I feel that is very foolish. What is the use of sitting with people who think alike and behave the same? It makes more sense to talk to people who are not like you and have a different thought process and beliefs than yours. That enhances your skills as well and it opens up your mind to new things. This rigid fundamentalist approach to sticking to one’s thought systems and principles is a typical sign of backwardness and orthodoxy in our country. A person follows certain principles or ideologies and stays away or aloof from other people who may not be following the same; just like how the Communists do in our country. If a Communist is well-established in his ideology and beliefs, what is so difficult in talking to people from other religions or ideologies? Often they run away from people who do not subscribe to their belief system and ideology. I would say, it is a kind of principles-based untouchability that they practice.

Even people who consider themselves as religious or spiritual behave this way. When they happen to meet an atheist, they keep away from them. This is a sign of weakness of a person rather than being strongly established in one’s beliefs. When we are well-established in our thoughts and beliefs, then we should walk freely with our head held high.