"One problem with our current society is that we have an attitude towards education as if it is there to simply make you more clever, make you more ingenious. Sometimes it even seems as if those who are not highly educated, those who are less sophisticated in terms of their educational training, are more innocent and more honest. Even though our society does not emphasize this, the most important use of knowledge and education is to help us understand the importance of engaging in more wholesome actions and bringing about discipline within our minds. The proper utilization of our intelligence and knowledge is to effect changes from within to develop a good heart." Dalai Lama
On the weekend, a friend gave me a copy a book entitled "The Art of Happiness." It's based on conversations between a Psychiatrist (Howard Culter) and the Dalai Lama. I had discussed the book with my friend earlier and knew that it had a profound impact on her thinking and approach to life. When we reuntited on the weekend, she passed the book onto me after she read from it at the Sunday chapel. It was such a wonderful gesture. I started reading it the following day and already I have found that many of the Dalai Lamas' insights have resonated with me.
It's one of those books, though that one should read slowly to allow the learning to take hold. I have this week off from work and other familial responsibilities and had the pleasure to spend the entire afternoon mooching and walking around downtown Toronto. It's a wonderful city, one that I used to call my own years ago. As I was walking, there was one passage that kept surfacing in my thinking, about his interpretation of higher learning. It captured my thoughts perfectly.
We seem to always be grasping for the materialism that comes with the brass ring. You attend university with that in mind. But, the most important component of higher learning, will undoubtedly be to understand the human race. I think I'll continue reading..................
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