DID YOU FORGET TO SAY A 'HALLO'?

 

“The only things you learn are the things you tame.”

Antoine de-Saint Exupery

 

Osho would, often, say, “No one can teach you; still, you can learn.”

This statement has a deep meaning. What we call ‘learning’ is a quiet and continuous process of personal growth. It’s seldom confined to the classrooms. Yes, teachers come in our lives to teach. But, then, they are like the farmer in the Parable Jesus told, who went about sowing seeds… Only some seeds fall on the fertile soil, so they grow…

Thus, teachers may teach us… But, do we learn?

My last Blog was titled - ‘Cracked the Toughest Exam, or Soul?’. After reading my Post, Aditi, my friend, wrote this:

“Apt for the times! Two days ago, I was passing our security gate and was distracted with some thought. The security uncle said a ‘Hallo’ and I was oblivious. After ten steps, I realized my folly…walked back and acknowledged him with a ‘Good Evening’!”

My friend, who is in her mid-forties, is a professional Cost Accountant and holds a good position in a corporate.

I replied:

“It’s as simple as that, Aditi. That education does not come with degrees. When you become aware of your slip, you just walk back a few steps to the ‘security uncle’ and say that ‘Hallo’, which can make his day and cleanse your heart… That’s all there to it… The education of the heart!”

The more I think about it, the more it becomes clearer to me, that cracking the toughest exams only means that – cracking the toughest exams. It may get us great positions of power and influence in our lives… But, as I said in my last Post, unless we train our hearts to be kind, just and responsible, such an academic  success means nothing… It can only make our heads bloat… Yes, it’s our head-weight, not an education of our hearts… which is lightweight, soft and gentle.

I am a big  Obama fan. You know, I have never met him, and, by all probability, I will never meet him in my life. Yet, I have learnt so many fine lessons, just by watching (through videos) how he, often, conducted himself while occupying the most powerful position in the world. Here are just two…

 

 

So, when my friend, Aditi, shared her experience, yesterday, I remembered Obama… and, concluded in my mind: “Hey, the seeds, which the farmer sows, will grow only if they fall on a fertile soil.”

Learning doesn’t require teaching, Sir; it requires fertile soil… The willingness to learn. The thirst!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic’s: pixabay

Videos: 1. CNA 2. ABC News