When I was about 10 yrs old, the following was asked in the question-answer round of some international beauty pageant:
"Ignorance is Bliss" but "Knowledge is Power". How do you reconcile the two?
Various answers were put forth by the contestants like -
- They are two sides of the same coin
- In some cases you must be ignorant sometimes knowledge is more useful
- You should be ignorant about the bad/negative things
and so on...
Somehow none of these answers seemed convincing to me. And every now and then I have been perplexed wondering about the conflict between these two proverbs. I began to feel the proverb 'Ignorance is Bliss' is incomplete. Well, recently, I got my answer - the second half of this adage.
I came across the following words by Sri Sri Ravishankar on a forum:
"
Knowledge is a burden if it robs you of innocence
Knowledge is a burden if it makes you feel you are special
Knowledge is a burden if it gives you an idea that you are wise
Knowledge is a burden if it is not integrated into life
Knowledge is a burden if it does not bring you joy
Knowledge is a burden if it does not set you free
"
During my first read I could only appreciate the beauty and veracity of these words. And a second thought gave me my answer.
"Ignorance is Bliss when Knowledge is a Burden"
So simple yet so subtle....
6 comments:
i agree with kaushal atleast the last line.....but a good one seriously.....keep on writing
hey i dont agree with the simple solution u suggest it seems good but its a path against dharam, coz u need knowledge to understant wht r ur karma or path u are following is it towards dharma, by avoiding so called burden u actually wanna escape karma. thats looks easier way of life but over a span of time one might realise its a wrong path.
so simple yet so subtle...excellent thought..
u would have won the pageant had u been a particpant!! hehe
excellent thought really..
m tellin u...this dude, totally rocks. i cant remember life pre-sri sri. i have no idea who i was.
this dude rocks :)
Suhrid you rock. Are wah chote tu to bahot sahi bolta hai. Lage raho. Good i am proud of you.
Thanks so much all of you.. cant express how encouraging your words are :)
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