Gyan....
Well this word means a lot in everybody's life. Be it the ultimate knowledge or just a piece of advice or Ghanaian soccer player Asamoah Gyan. Well, He won't mean much to many and some might even 'google' or 'wiki' him to get the context, but actually no context exists. Just mentioned his name as it came to 'RAM' of my brain as I thought of this word 'Gyan'.
There are many universal theories, sayings, teachings about 'gyan' given by people of all varities from common man to the almighty. I will take liberty of giving some of my own. (Or explaining my understanding if the theory is already given by some other Gyani.)
1. Whether one acknowledges or not, everybody presumes themselves as the most knowledgeable person. That is the basic reason why everybody has so much to tell but hardly any time and patience to listen to somebody else's point of view. Sometimes during discussions (or even high profile meetings) just after you have finished your point, some other speaker starts speaking something which has altogether no relevance to your point. This leaves you wondering whether he was at all listening to you? No, Sir. He was just waiting for his turn to speak. And don't lose your heart too much as the outcome of such discussions or meetings is more or less pre-decided.
2. 'Yahan Gyan mat dijiye, yahan sab gyani hain': meaning don't express your knowledge here as already everybody is knowledgeable. Then, my dear friend who took pains to write this beautiful inscription, why are you encumbering us with some of your own gyan. And anyhow if vessel is filled more than the brim, it is anyways going to spead some of the excess stuff in nearby surroundings.
3. Many wise sayings are already present in the world and they come to us in many forms like books, articles, conversations with peers, parents or friends or maybe a stranger. But most of this passes through our mind without registering it's true sense. Even if it registers we fail to follow the wisdom enshrined in that particular saying. On top of that if someone repeats the same thing we just ignore it and ask the speaker to stop giving 'gyan' or 'lecture' to us.
But when we are troubled by something and at that time we read or listen to this 'gyan' we immediately connect to it and we are able to relate it to our problems. This is indeed a feeling of enlightenment.
Great thinkers and Gurus of our times are making use of this psychology in popularizing their books with 'Nice spiritual' names. Often these books will contain parables of different kinds and these Gurus asks their followers to simply open any page of the book and read the story given there and it will give them answer to their problems.
As I earlier explained how our rational mind relates our problems to the 'pravachans' or 'speaking tree' stuff, whenever we open the book we have belief in, we find the story and teachings in front of us related to our issues and questions in life and this in turn further increases our belief in that. Yeah we may call it self fulfilling prophecy or 'Catch-22' phenomena.
Well I respect these Gurus for the fact that they have at least created belief in minds of many of us who don't have time or willingness to read and understand original and conventional sources of knowledge.
Well here ends my ramblings for now.
PS: Somebody remember 'Major Major Major Major'?
Well this word means a lot in everybody's life. Be it the ultimate knowledge or just a piece of advice or Ghanaian soccer player Asamoah Gyan. Well, He won't mean much to many and some might even 'google' or 'wiki' him to get the context, but actually no context exists. Just mentioned his name as it came to 'RAM' of my brain as I thought of this word 'Gyan'.
There are many universal theories, sayings, teachings about 'gyan' given by people of all varities from common man to the almighty. I will take liberty of giving some of my own. (Or explaining my understanding if the theory is already given by some other Gyani.)
1. Whether one acknowledges or not, everybody presumes themselves as the most knowledgeable person. That is the basic reason why everybody has so much to tell but hardly any time and patience to listen to somebody else's point of view. Sometimes during discussions (or even high profile meetings) just after you have finished your point, some other speaker starts speaking something which has altogether no relevance to your point. This leaves you wondering whether he was at all listening to you? No, Sir. He was just waiting for his turn to speak. And don't lose your heart too much as the outcome of such discussions or meetings is more or less pre-decided.
2. 'Yahan Gyan mat dijiye, yahan sab gyani hain': meaning don't express your knowledge here as already everybody is knowledgeable. Then, my dear friend who took pains to write this beautiful inscription, why are you encumbering us with some of your own gyan. And anyhow if vessel is filled more than the brim, it is anyways going to spead some of the excess stuff in nearby surroundings.
3. Many wise sayings are already present in the world and they come to us in many forms like books, articles, conversations with peers, parents or friends or maybe a stranger. But most of this passes through our mind without registering it's true sense. Even if it registers we fail to follow the wisdom enshrined in that particular saying. On top of that if someone repeats the same thing we just ignore it and ask the speaker to stop giving 'gyan' or 'lecture' to us.
But when we are troubled by something and at that time we read or listen to this 'gyan' we immediately connect to it and we are able to relate it to our problems. This is indeed a feeling of enlightenment.
Great thinkers and Gurus of our times are making use of this psychology in popularizing their books with 'Nice spiritual' names. Often these books will contain parables of different kinds and these Gurus asks their followers to simply open any page of the book and read the story given there and it will give them answer to their problems.
As I earlier explained how our rational mind relates our problems to the 'pravachans' or 'speaking tree' stuff, whenever we open the book we have belief in, we find the story and teachings in front of us related to our issues and questions in life and this in turn further increases our belief in that. Yeah we may call it self fulfilling prophecy or 'Catch-22' phenomena.
Well I respect these Gurus for the fact that they have at least created belief in minds of many of us who don't have time or willingness to read and understand original and conventional sources of knowledge.
Well here ends my ramblings for now.
PS: Somebody remember 'Major Major Major Major'?
