What is to be understood in teaching/ learning?

I am often reminded of the question that why should students (and by extension – we or the society) be concerned about what they see around and exactly WHAT is it that they need to be concerned about? Clarity regarding “what” will give you an approach to “how” (process) of achieving the outcome. If you are very lucky, you may be able to come to terms with “why” of the phenomenon.

We see things as “objects”. The problem with the object is that we don’t see it as being related to us – it is different (because of the belief that you are different). Believing that things are different indicates that they are distinct from you, or you are separate, they can be consumed or they can be judged and can be used or abused and can be thrown away at will. This is an attitude – a way of perceiving things around us. What it creates or fuels is a sense of fear and the craze of hoarding things.

Thus, our mind has to be trained continuously to decode the phenomenon of object and see it as a “pattern” of relationships. This means to understand that the object and you are interrelated, thus your decision to do anything to the object is going to affect you as well. Secondly, to perceive object as a set of interrelationships (as an ecosystem) – or a system of dependence on many things. Thirdly, to see or realize that the object (in a moment of Space-Time) is a continuum of many ideas/ processes/ intentions from the Past and which will appear in new ways in the Future – a cyclic/ spiral behavior of Time.

In each of above imaginations of phenomenon, our level of awareness grows to an extent that we do not just think only for a moment, we do not just think only for us, but include the entire universe. In other words, we move beyond limitations or compulsions of thoughts imposed by our body and mind. The sense of separateness diminishes substantially and that is the way we develop empathy for Creation. Ethics is an integral part of this realization.

This also changes our intentions behind our actions. It is easy to see that as long as we think only as per what our body or mind demands, we operate in gross intentions – we hoard things, we fight, we become jealous, we get entangled in the web of desires and we keep running.  If we realize existence as a “pattern” of things – interconnected in the moment and with Past-Present-Future (as a whole), ‘we’ gain access to that Force which is not bounded by Time. Our intentions cover the welfare of the Cosmos – not just you and me. This is what evolving our mind to achieve greatness and this is what should be expected out of education. In other words, can we realize that our body and mind are “channels” or mechanisms or conduits to realize the Unknown? Or the body and mind are “extensions” or “expressions” of the Unknown? The Unknown is always there. At the core of our experience of existence, is this dimension that lies beyond everything else.

At an existential level, ‘we’ generally define our selves through mind-body. That is – we treat the mechanism as the final reality of life. Hence, we make short sighted decisions, we defend, we judge – all in the compulsion of ‘protecting’ ourselves; protecting our ‘body’ and protecting our ‘constructed identity’. Somewhere in life, if we keep questioning this tendency of ourselves to behave in this way, we are represented by the dilemma of choice/ decision making process. For whom are we taking a decision? What is the motive behind our decisions? What do you call benefitting us or others? Are ‘we’ different from ‘them’?

For some people, extraordinarily challenging circumstances forces such questions on them. My mum has Parkinson. I have stayed in extreme cold and lonely environments that others in India won’t be able to comprehend at all. I receive scanty empathy from people around me or my relatives or my immediate sibling. I have faced severe criticism concerning my behavior in the first marriage – although I haven’t done anything violent or created any crime. I have suffered in silence and had an excruciating time coming to terms with the constructed guilt and regret.

‘Pain’, frustration, anger, helplessness, loneliness – are the feelings that I had to encounter. The question is for what, for whom and why? How is Parkinson related to my wellbeing? What have prior mistakes got to do with others perception of me? Who is a ‘mother’? What is her relation to me? Why should I be so pained by her condition of health? Why am I identifying with the pain in the first place? Am I the pain?

Grueling and horrible and restless questions. I can write about them is itself an indication that I have managed to see and accept some dimensions of the notion of ‘Fear’ that makes our mind and body. And by extension, accept the potential of the Unknown which gives birth to Time, gives birth to ‘Us’ as phenomena, and the ‘compulsions’ that follow. The compulsions lead to desires, fear, control, temptations, jealousy and many other things in the mind. The mind is the reservoir of all that is good and bad. Everything is in the mind and it is the basis of making appropriate decisions and creating the right kind of imagination for ‘us’ as individuals.

Having understood this, the next concerns that get generated are concerning the behavior of the mind itself and how it generates ‘Time’ and how it generates a pattern of relationships and by extension – feelings of harmony/disharmony. It will be realized in due course of time, that we need to gain the confidence to train the mind the way it becomes appropriate for the nature of existence. The training of the mind is firstly for our benefit and by extension – for the benefit of existence. Thus, it needs to be done.

With this idea, there are suggestions, methods, which have been implemented, articulated, experienced and endorsed in the ancient literatures of Indian origin and their successive interpretations in modern times too.

Upanishads mention the nature of ‘I’ – in pure abstract manner.

Mahabharat is about engaging oneself in selfless action and transcending the dilemma of choice/ decision. If ‘Arjun’ expresses the fundamental dilemma of waging the war, then ‘Krishna’ expresses the nature of reality and the nature of decision to be aimed for.

These ideas have immediate bearing on our day to day living. There are several ways to remind oneself of the transcendental nature of existence and our constructs formed out of mind-body.

Training of the mind by meditation is one technique. Refer “Rajyog” by Swami Vivekananda.

Focusing on one’s action without expectations (or attachments) is another way of disciplining the mind and being only a witness to the disturbances that the mind generates. One of the challenges is NOT to get carried away by disturbances and maintaining tranquility. Over a period of time, the mind calms down. Refer “Karmayog” by Swami Vivekananda. The crux of this book, roughly seems to be about the nature of action and the intentions behind it. It also makes us understand what is ‘right’ action and how is morality or ethical behavior tied to it. When we talk of moral or ethical behavior – we are indicating the decision to act beyond the constraints and compulsions imposed by the mind-body; thus, those decisions that go beyond time.

Our routine can also be seen as a method to discipline oneself. What is a routine anyway? It a framework we have created (a set of actions) that are linked to our values. Repetition of those conscious actions, starts to discipline the mind in a particular way – we create the imagination. Certain actions are required to be done – they are beyond benefit or intentions, they are beyond time constraints or compulsions, they are beyond you and me. They ought to be done. This is ethical behavior. Helping others, giving time for others, staying calm, decoding the phenomena, being non judgemental, being honest, being methodical, thinking good, having a larger concern/aim beyond oneself – all are efforts to calm the mind and making it expand to a cosmic level.

Another way to calm the mind is to operate in constraints. Mind always aims for unlimited freedom. Constraint is not bondage. Constraint compels one to see the essential of the phenomena. What is necessary, what is fundamental – these are the things we are concerned about. Doing with less, removing clutter, (and architecturally, creating neat, clean, simple spaces) are all efforts to realize the fundamental nature of existence. ‘Less’ is a philosophy – it does not mean poor. Cribbing is an attitude of being poor, simple is an attitude of being philosophical. Reuse, recycle, also promote this philosophical approach. Being mindful and slowing down are also the consequences of such an approach.