The flow of knowledge

Looking back at some of my earlier articles, it was interesting to see that many of them have a connection to water in its various forms. Maybe this is driven by the very nature of water which lends itself to many analogies.

In today’s article we apply the analogy of rain to that of imbibing knowledge. This concept was buzzing in my head for many days now & was reinforced in the seminar which I attended last weekend.

The flow of knowledge can be equated to the flow of water. The commonest experience of flowing water for all of us is in the form of rain. Rain drops fall everywhere around us in the same way as knowledge is available to all of us. Some of us choose to appreciate the drops of knowledge & try to ensure that we can capture them, whilst others might choose to ignore it. Stand in the rain with your palms facing the sky & create a cup, water starts accumulating there. If you invert your hands with the palms facing the ground, water is only going to touch your hands, but will only drip off. In the same way knowledge is available to all of us, but we need to choose to retain it. The conscious action on your part to capture knowledge is an integral part of the process of gaining knowledge. Therefore we might be seeking knowledge, but sometimes fail to understand that knowledge can be all around us & it only takes a small action from our part to start the process of retaining the same. It is up to us to determine how much we would like to retain & store for subsequent usage. If we use a large surface vessel we can accumulate a lot more of water, which is the same concept as keeping an open mind & being open to ideas. The more openness we achieve, the more of knowledge we will imbibe.

There is another aspect to this analogy too. Water thus available thru rain can be harvested if accumulated in a proper way & therefore it can serve a much bigger purpose. Besides providing water to people around you, it can also be used to cultivate fields, provide livelihood to people as well as contribute to social prosperity. In the same way knowledge if harnessed in the right way can help to enhance the lives of many others around us, help them to be more productive & help them to achieve success in their lives. This is where the concept of “service” or “serving others” comes into perspective. When one is able to tap into this stream of knowledge & use it to benefit others, it would be the most effective contribution which one makes to the larger society. After all helping others to succeed is a much better way to serve society than activities like charity etc.

Have you ever seen the way that water is treasured in areas where it is barely available? Here folks eagerly anticipate the fall of rain & try to harvest it in all the ways possible. The attempt is always to ensure that not a drop of water is wasted. But on the other hand there are places where plentiful rain is available & one does not have this worry. The availability of knowledge is similarly sometimes skewed & people who do not have access to it are obviously thirsty & will put in much more efforts to seek it out. Besides treasuring what is scarcely available locally, they will travel far & wide seeking sources of knowledge & respecting what they gain. On the other hand you can also have a situation where knowledge is accessible & available readily. Many people understand the way they have been blessed with this availability & tap into the never-ending stream with a sense of gratitude. But conversely there will be others who place a limited value on what is so accessible, simply because they see it everywhere around themselves. This is the irony of life & therefore we should always count our blessings if knowledge is readily available to us.

Have you counted your blessings with a sense of gratitude recently?