True Education and Man and God

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12.

In Bhaja Govindam, Acharya Sankara admonishes us to develop " an

equanimity of mind " . This is the secret of a true education. This

capacity is called " samabuddhi " . A child may be dirty at one moment,

mischievous at another, screaming in the morning, laughing in the

noon, bulying in the evening and wild in the night. Yet, through

them all, the father in him sees but the one and the same son and

therefore he gives his love equally in all these different

manifestation of his own son. This is a loving

father's " samabuddhi " . In the same way a true seeker learns to

recognize the Lord-of-his-heart in the grinning tragedies, in the

smiling comedies, in the violent success, in the sighing sorrows and

in the howling failures of his day-to-day life. Therefore, he

becomes equanimous intellectually. Thus a true education provides us

with an equanimity of mind to rule over our mental life at any given

moment. The advice that Lord Krishna gives in the Geeta also is that

one must learn to keep oneself in equilibrium in all the different

vicissitudes at the different levels of one's own existence.

 

To live in balance and sail safely upon the uncertain waves of the

ocean of life, across both its smiling weather and stormy days, one

must have a constant perception of the Real. Therefore, in order to

find this constant vision of the Lord one needs at least a glimpse

of what all constitutes a true education. Without a drummer, the

dancer's foot-work cannot be rhythmic and keep perfect time.