19 Nov 2012 —
Question
Q217: Knowledge without values?
Question 217:
Amma says: “Knowledge, if devoid of values, becomes a source of destruction.” How do you understand this?
Please make your answer brief and clear (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
It would seem that we are all addicts. Addiction to service, throwing forth love and forehead-nuzzling prostration leads to the heart and values that warm the soul. The ego goes unfed. Addiction to information, material accumulation and status lead to fractures of the self. These arouse the ego and whip it into a fever-pitch frenzy of destruction.
But NOW it is time. This whole creature-universe stares head on at Mother. This terrible pain was our gift to her, so that she could know how much we love her. We’re ready to come home now.
Its so easy to understand this just by looking at how highly qualified individuals are earning money by corrupt means, making nations and their own countrymen poor. These highly qualified individuals may be brilliant in academics, gold medallists but they want to be successful at any cost. Values like honesty, integrity do not matter to them. So they have knowledge but no values. Then there are highly qualified individuals who may not be corrupt, but are so proud of their knowledge that they look down upon all, thinking they have all the knowledge in the world. This egoistic tendency leads to their destruction as only the humble can gain access to the wisdom of life. Knowledge and wisdom are different. An illiterate person may have wisdom. But a knowledgeable person may not gain wisdom at all, leading to his destruction, destroying his chances of gaining wisdom and escaping this cycle of birth and death. So values are what forms character of a person. We need person of values as a leader and not a person who has the most academic qualifications, but no values. Amma and Mahatmas like Amma are the true leaders.
anything i do, say, think, that does not come from whole body understanding of the ‘Truth’, is the practice of reaction to ‘Life’. In all shapes and forms it comes from the illusion of being an individual. Even with the greatest intentions, my actions from this point of view can only be self motivated and leads to more confusion and disharmony.
May this body follow the ‘MASTER’ out of this darkness.
I can just cite my divine Maa’s saying: By writing on a paper honey it does not taste sweet you have to taste it to know its taste, by reading spitritual bboks you cannot gain knowledge you have to perform in your actions.
As AMMA says, a knife in the hands of a doctor can save many a life. But the same knife becomes a source of destruction in the hands of a murderer. Hence, it is of utmost importance to inculcate proper values in children along with formal education imparted to them. These values stand them in good stead in later life, by helping them use their discrimination in taking decisions. Moral education, unlike the formal methods, is assimilated subtly and underlines all aspects of an individual’s life.
i think:
wisdom likely involves treating everything with love in thought, word, deed – it sees more of the whole knowledge does not always involve treating everything with love in thought, word, deed -it sees less of the whole
A classical example would be: scientific knowledge that led to the creation of nuclear weapon. And also any knowledge minus the proper attitude of simplicity might lead to a bigger ego and therefore to the destruction of its beholder. On the other hand, Self-knowledge leads invariably to purification and to the development of values and divine qualities.
Knowledge is power, and power has a tendency to corrupt anyone, boost one’s ego, and thereby create problems for oneself and others as well. A strong value system, including the ideals of love, trust, tolerance and humility (embedded in Amrita University pledge) and AMMA’s motto of “Love and Serve” helps an individual to overcome this natural tendency.
With prayers to our beloved AMMA, never to let my ego raise its ugly head…
Knowledge is borrowed, knowing is one’s own. Knowledge is verbal, knowing is through living. Knowledge is information gathered from here and there. Knowing is existential: we have lived it, it has come through our very experience; it is an experience. When knowing happens, a man is freed, he is liberated. Through knowledge, man becomes more of a prisoner. Knowledge binds; knowing liberates.
Knowledge with out values creates villians. This can be understood from all epics and history. All those villians were eually konowledgible as the heroes and lacked only values. Hence knowledge with out values is the most dangerous state.
knowledge without values is destructive, because it is totally EGO.
A compound of ideas, intellect, and identity that illusions, and how many balloons at the end disperses everything and returns the ignorance backing on maya.
Without Values, “know” that you are standing on a high “ledge” and
With Values, know that you have “no” “edges”
Everyone thinks they have both knowledge and a set of values that is practical for this world. That is the problem.
Values such as love, compassion, selfless service, renunciation, truthfulness, courage, celibacy are extremely difficult to practise even if one has the knowledge of shad-vedanga, vedas, puranas, shad-darsanas etc … what to speak of one who has just studied commerce, medicine, engineering etc …
Undoubtedly, the Supreme Master like AMMA, can alone lead us with values along with educating the child with much needed knowledge thoroughly discarding the evil ways of destruction.
Exact case of terrorists and oppressors. They have the knowledge to use weapons like machine guns, but do not have any value for human life. What happens? Massive destruction.
The sentence of Amma is very clear. It si very important that the education must be based not only on rational knowledge, but also on the spiritual values
Swami Vivekananda has said that “Knowledge bereft of action is void”If the action culminating from knowledge is withour values it will surely result in negativity and hence destructive,
There is a principle that”the skill without values is dangerous and values without skill is useless.So we have to understand that both knowledge(skill)and values are like two sides of a coin.No seperate existence. An attom in the hands of a scientist is powerfull or usefull or shining to the humanity ,but the same thing is dangreous in the hands of a terrorist.Because the scientist will give values to his knowledge.When a surgen use the knife to save the life of a humnan,a murder use the same thing to take the life of a human.Both are using the same thing but the only defference is the value behind of the action.So when we try to aquire knowlege ,we should aslo imbive values. So we should advice our children about the values along with knowledge
Values are our guidelines. Creator and Creation are one. Our guidelines teach us to respect everyone and everything, love all as one. Everything that exists is God. When we embrace this true knowledge we will love one another as ourselves, gently merge and softly expand. Without values, the knowledge is misread, misused for personal gain. From this point of view, “everything is for my taking,I am superior you are inferior” is the attitude. From this attitude the Earth suffers and we create our own extinction. From this attitude God is disrespected, judged as unclean, forced to do unthinkable things, considered useless after the taking and/or left to suffer unnecessarilly. Knowledge with values lifts and expands the heart and Family, feeds the hungry, the Soul. Knowledge without values shatters the heart, blinds the witness and charges forward towards its extinction.
Trust. Trust takes time. However, with the parent, teacher and doctor trust is given immediately because of the position held. When trust is betrayed it strikes deep within the heart. It creates confusion and a wound not easily healed. Then there is prarabdha and the understanding that today’s experiences result from yesterday’s actions. From this perspective who is the victim and who is the betrayer? Both are experiencing karmic results. Both deserve compassion, but forgiveness takes time. Sadly, in this Kali Yuga, the parent, teacher and doctor, those who are supposed to be good and do good, sometimes fall. Such is the play of karmic results.
Each and everything has its own dharma, which originates from one ultimate dharma. As such, in a sense, it’s not full perception to regard objects or objective knowledge as something inert or something independent of values. When you forget this understanding and treat them separately from dharma, this will cause friction against the divine or the law of nature, and the results will be like what you find on the newspaper everyday.