Today our discussion was about how we gain knowledge. It was Ahaz who began the discussion.
Ahaz: Rabbi, I have closely followed the discussions we have had here. There is something that surprises me. I haven't had a chance to meet anybody else who can answer such questions with such ease and clarity. Could you tell us the secret of how you have gained such deep knowledge? I have read the creation story and the story of Adam and Eve several times. But I have never realized that they are such large treasures of precious wisdom. I think that you have some extraordinary power to understand hidden knowledge. Am I right?
Rabbi: Really there is nothing extraordinary in my knowledge or power of understanding. It is an ability anybody can develop with a little effort.
Let us think of a newborn child. He/she knows almost nothing except certain inborn instincts, but slowly begins to understand the world around using a knowledge acquisition mechanism consisting of the five senses and the mind. What is perceived by the senses is analyzed, compared and kept in memory by the mind. Suppose a child observes a cat, she receives an impression of the cat in her mind--its color, shape, size, sound etc. Afterwards when the child sees a dog, the process is repeated, and the new impression is compared to the first one. Certain similarities and differences are noticed.
This is the basic knowledge acquisition mechanism we use from birth to death. When I perceive something new, I understand it by comparing it to what I already know. Therefore, the same thing is understood in different ways by different people. Let us consider an example: Two children observe a dog at the same time, which is the second animal both of them see. One has already seen a horse, and the other, a rat. They understand the dog by comparing it to what they have already seen. Thus, the first child will think of the dog as small, though the other will think of it as large.
Thus, our knowledge is limited and relative, and so, nobody can gain all knowledge. But it is always possible to improve our knowledge by sharing it with one another. This is an advantage we human beings have over animals and plants--we can share our knowledge using language. By being open to others, we can enrich our knowledge and life. If we think that we have the monopoly of all knowledge, we are making ourselves fools. Our ancestors were always willing to learn from others such as Egyptians, Greeks, Canaanites, Persians and Babylonians.
Our community has inherited the knowledge acquired by the past generations in easy-to-remember forms of language such as songs, stories, and proverbs. Some of them were put to written form, and it is here before us--the Holy Scriptures.
We learn primarily from our own experiences in life. We improve our knowledge by comparing it with that of others, which includes that of our ancestors as recorded in the scriptures. We should not make the mistake of depending solely on either of them as the absolute source of knowledge. We need both--our own experiences and those of others.
It is true that our Holy Scriptures are as deep and wide as an ocean with a great wealth of knowledge acquired by the past generations of our community. Still, it is limited. Our community will continue to exist acquiring more and more knowledge, and making it a part of the scriptures as time goes on. Moreover, there are other communities with their own inherited wealth of knowledge, perhaps, even in written form. Hence, we should not be so foolish as to think that our Holy Scriptures are the absolute and final authority of all truth.
I am often surprised at why many grown-up people understand the scriptures just as children do. For example, children understand the Hymn of creation and the story of Adam and Eve literally. But grown-ups should be wise enough to distinguish between literal and metaphorical. In the story of Adam and Eve, a snake talks, though we know that in reality no animal or plant has the ability to use such a complex thing as a human language. In the same story, God walks in the garden, and Adam and Eve hear the sound of the footsteps. But we are sure that God is not like a man to walk with an audible sound. These stories are certainly not historical events, but products of imagination. But they present in a condensed and easy-to-remember form the wisdom of our past generations.
Ahaz: Rabbi, what can we do to gain understanding? Can you give us some specific guidelines?
Rabbi: We understand with our mind. It is a natural function of our mind. If I let my mind free, it gains understanding naturally without much effort. All we have to do is to keep our mind open and free, which of course demands some effort from us. Let me explain this more elaborately.
If I keep my mind open, I will be willing to learn from every situation. In spite of all that I know, I will still be willing to learn humbly even from a child. I will be willing to see a teacher in everyone I meet. I will never see myself as a wise person; I will only see myself as a lover of wisdom. I will never claim that I know the absolute truth; I will always be a seeker after truth.
It is not enough for our mind to be open; it should also be free. A new understanding is like a seed. It falls in an open mind. Once it falls in a mind, it will sprout and grow only if the mind is free from everything that hinders the growth of the seed. If a mind is full of fears and anxieties, and if it pursues worthless things, no new understanding can grow in there. I do a daily exercise of meditation and prayer to keep my mind open and free.
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