A Mind that is Learning
What do we mean by learning? Is there learning when you are merely
accumulating knowledge, gathering information? That is one kind of
learning, is it not? As a student of engineering, you study
mathematics, and so on; you are learning, informing yourself about
the subject. You are accumulating knowledge in order to use that
knowledge in practical ways. Your learning is accumulative,
additive. Now, when the mind is merely taking on, adding,
acquiring, is it learning? Or is learning something entirely
different? I say the additive process that we now call learning is
not learning at all. It is merely a cultivation of memory, which
becomes mechanical; and a mind that functions mechanically, like a
machine, is not capable of learning. A machine is never capable of
learning, except in the additive sense. Learning is something quite
different, as I shall try to show you. A mind that is learning
never says, 'I know,' because knowledge is always partial, whereas
learning is complete all the time. Learning does not mean starting
with a certain amount of knowledge, and adding to it further
knowledge. That is not learning at all; it is a purely mechanistic
process. To me, learning is something entirely different. I am
learning about myself from moment to moment, and the myself is
extraordinarily vital; it is living, moving; it has no
beginning and no end. When I say, 'I know myself,'
learning has come to an end in accumulated knowledge. Learning is
never cumulative; it is a movement of knowing which has no
beginning and no end.
The Book of Life - September 20
