MJ07 - 38 Blessings - Learnedness (08 of 39)

Last time you saw me,

We looked at blessing number six,

Setting oneself up properly in life.

In the Dharma talk today,

We will continue our series on enlightened living with blessing number seven,

Artfulness in knowledge.

The seventh blessing marks the start of the third group of blessings of life,

A group that is often referred to as making yourself useful.

This doesn't just refer to making oneself a citizen who can give back something positive to society,

It means being able to be of independent means,

To earn one's own living without having to rely on outsiders for help.

The principle of self-sufficiency is very important for Buddhism,

Not just being a refuge to oneself in spiritual ways,

But also referring to standing on one's own two feet in worldly life as well.

Not being a burden on others in society is seen not only as bolstering self-respect,

But also as the foundation of higher spiritual attainments.

Earning one's living requires both knowledge and skills found in this and the next blessing,

But as usual,

It's not acceptable to earn one's living in an unscrupulous way,

To the detriment of others in other words.

Society-friendly application of our knowledge and skills in action and word is elaborated respectively in blessings nine and ten,

To make sure we don't make ourselves self-sufficient at society's expense.

Freedom from worry concerning our daily bread will serve as a foundation for a harmonious family life and public works that we will find in subsequent groups of blessings.

The third group of blessings starts with alertedness or artfulness in knowledge this session,

And then we'll move on to application of knowledge or craftsmanship,

Practicing self-discipline and being skillful in speech in subsequent blessings.

The blessings we have studied up to this point have concerned protecting our mind from damage and availing ourselves of discretion to tell the difference between right and wrong.

In the previous blessing we've already set our sights on aim in life that we require,

And now in the third grouping we start to move in the direction of the goal we have set for ourselves.

So today's session will be about learning and study skills and how these can be harnessed to constitute a blessing in life.

Most people assume going to school or college to be a positive and necessary part of life,

But in recent years the importance of education has been eroded continuously.

In recent years the social status of the teaching profession both in the UK and the US has taken a nosedive,

And it would appear that in these countries any old Tom,

Dick or Harry in a political position considers themselves better qualified to dictate educational policy than teachers or those with a specialist training in education.

Schools have become like a pipeline to teach people merely to quote a book title by Noah Cicero,

To go to work,

Do their job,

Care for their children,

Pay their bills,

Obey the law and buy products.

In other words,

Schools are only there to provide crowd control for youngsters.

Attacks on the value of any education the schools might actually provide come in the form of seven different myths,

Supposedly backed by research,

But if you scratch away at the veneer of disinformation,

It reveals that they are really cherry-picking by the bereers of fake news.

The first myth is that facts prevent understanding.

So this is the idea that teaching something like history,

By memorising the dates of important historical events,

Somehow gets in the way of pupils understanding the more profound historical trends in play.

It is said to be a myth because higher order conceptual responses to any situation depends on having a foundation of correct information in one's long-term memory.

A second myth is that teacher-led instruction is passive,

As if merely being questioned by a teacher does not stretch the abilities of pupils,

Or as if they were better just to let the students learn about what they are already interested in.

However,

It's unlikely that children would learn alphabetic or numeric systems without guidance.

Although discovery learning has its place,

Even a high-profile personality who was a complete loser at school,

Namely Sir Winston Churchill,

Managed to turn his academic performance around by a high degree of rote learning,

Particularly in grammar,

Which led ultimately to one of his most important life's achievements,

Which was motivating others through powerful speeches.

A third myth is that the 21st century fundamentally changes everything,

Namely that we have technology,

Such as the internet,

For remembering all the petty details of our lives,

So there's no point in going to school to memorize these details anymore.

Others argue that by the time the school curricula have been updated to reflect the latest technological advances,

The curricula themselves are already out of date.

Nonetheless,

Civilization is the accumulation of a capital of experience and knowledge that has gone before,

And an overview of history will show that the newer the idea,

The more likely it is to go out of fashion more quickly.

So a lot of so-called new ideas are in fact just thoroughly discredited old ideas that have been warmed over.

Many of the things that they were thinking of teaching in school,

Like word perfect or programming in basic,

Have already gone obsolete,

Whereas the alphabet and the numerical system remain relatively unchanged.

A fourth myth is that if you don't know something,

You can always just look it up.

Some say that educated people are not those who know everything,

But those who know where to look up information at a moment's notice.

It is true that with the internet,

The type of research that would have taken 15 years before can be undertaken these days in only a few days of trawling through the internet,

But the skills that underlie the ability to research accurately,

Even from data copiously available on the internet,

Are not something you can acquire accidentally,

Which is a reason why memes and misinformation have such a wide uptake in popular opinion these days.

You could say that it is a failure where authentic education should have managed to guard students against their own blind spots.

The fifth myth is that we should teach transferable skills rather than classical or theoretical knowledge.

Unfortunately though,

Knowledge and skills are intertwined.

Some argue that with the electronic calculator there was no need to teach arithmetic anymore,

But what if you press the zero on your calculator one time too many?

If you have no knowledge of arithmetic,

Then you would never notice that your answer is out by an order of magnitude.

The same principle applies to understanding the nuances of complex sentences.

Without theoretical understanding learned in school,

We will be constantly reliant on having the truth dumbed down for us at every turn.

The sixth myth is that projects and activities are the best way to learn.

Many schools aspire to have their pupils think like experts,

But the difference between a novice and an expert is that the experts have a huge body of background knowledge and processes stored in their long-term memory that allows them to make qualitative as well as quantitative judgments.

Copying experts without the background knowledge will just end up producing behaviors like the cargo cults of the south seas who thought that building runways would attract airplanes to come out of the sky and land on their island.

A final myth is that teaching any knowledge is indoctrination by the educator's viewpoint,

So education is perceived as a politically biased act,

As if educators are curating and defining what they consider worth learning.

Why should a pupil need to know anything external to them which they cannot experience for themselves?

The reason is that apart from getting knowledge,

It is hoped that a student needs to develop imagination,

Wider sympathies with other people,

A love of beauty,

And personal qualities like confidence.

Without the school system,

It's hard to know how young people can be taken outside their own comfort zone to learn new perspectives or perspectives of people who are not like them.

Therefore,

You can see that although schools teach only mundane knowledge and not spiritual knowledge,

Becoming learned is a blessing for the individual and society,

And one that we should trivialize only at our peril.

The title used for this blessing in the Pali language is the word Bahusutta,

Which literally means one who has heard much.

It refers to being learned by having heard much both in spiritual and worldly ways.

A Bahusutta is someone who is artful in knowledge,

Choosing to study only the things appropriate for study,

Being a person learned in those subjects,

And observant,

A personal quality that lies at the trailhead of the pathway towards real wisdom.

Such knowledge allows one to be independent in earning one's living,

And will be the key which unlocks the door to worldly success.

If we want to identify the features of learning that will give rise to wisdom,

We have to distinguish wisdom from other sorts of knowledge.

All sorts of knowledge illuminate the mind to a certain extent.

When we don't understand something,

It's as if we are left in the dark about that thing.

When we understand something,

It's as if light has been thrown on that matter.

Knowledge in its most basic form,

Like the ability to do arithmetic or knowing where to catch the bus,

Sometimes will feel as if it creates some illumination in the mind,

But it's just a feeling.

Because such an ability to produce such brightness in the mind is restricted really only to the higher sort of wisdom known as wisdom or insight knowledge.

In all,

We can differentiate three different levels of knowledge,

And I'll describe each in turn.

The first and most basic level of knowledge is called theoretical knowledge or Sutta Mayabhna.

If you are ungenerous,

You might refer to it as parrot learning or learning by rote.

It's referred to as basic knowledge because it arises via the five senses,

That is,

Through the things we can see with our eyes,

Hear with our ears,

Smell with our nose,

Taste with our tongue,

Or feel by our sense of touch.

It is the equivalent of raw data.

It's this sort of knowledge that also includes knowledge we receive by listening to information such as lectures or reading from textbooks.

If you never had the chance to apply the knowledge that you've learned,

Then it might still be of limited use.

Only by touching a fire can we know the real meaning of the word hot.

A parent might tell a child not to touch a fire because it will burn them,

But such knowledge will not manage to quench the child's curiosity and they will still want to touch the flame to learn more,

Because the parent's advice is only theoretical.

The second most basic form of knowledge is known as hands-on knowledge or Jinta Mayabhna.

It is the sort of knowledge that has been reflected on,

Tested and applied.

However,

Even if you are the world's leading authority on a subject,

Your knowledge will not exceed this level.

With this sort of knowledge,

You are like someone standing on the water's edge who sees ripples on the surface of the water.

From knowledge or experience,

You would be able to deduce that the ripples are caused by fish under the water.

Whether they are large or small,

Or whether they are fish or shellfish,

You could probably notice from the size of the ripples.

But because you cannot see the fish directly,

You are only able to make an educated guess.

A third and highest level of knowledge known as insight knowledge or Pavanamanyapanya,

Refers to insight into deeper or more challenging truths.

Insight knowledge allows a meditator to find solutions to problems through the power of illumination by a mind free of thought.

The characteristics of wisdom that distinguish it from mere theoretical or hands-on knowledge are twofold.

Firstly,

Insight knowledge gives rise to brightness in the mind.

Wisdom is the light which dispels the darkness of ignorance.

This is not just a metaphor for the knowledge,

But when we train ourselves in meditation,

We'll see that brightness really is the operant feature of wisdom.

Illumination of advanced insight knowledge is so bright that it's like compressing the brightness of a hundred suns into a single spot.

It is by virtue of such brightness that meditation adepts can identify uproot defilements usually hidden in the mind.

For those who are new to meditation,

The brightness will not yet be continuous and remains dim like a glow worm.

Such brightness is not yet sufficient to identify defilements,

But it is a good start.

The second characteristic of insight knowledge is that it allows the practitioner to transcend defilements.

When wisdom arises,

It allows us to transcend defilements previously active in the mind.

Problems which used to exist will be overcome once and for all.

Unwholesomeness in the mind is uprooted.

It allows us to probe deeper into problems and cut them off at their roots.

It allows us to overcome our own faults and weaknesses and change our bad habits.

Such knowledge allows us to truly overcome suffering since such knowledge can actually kill negativity in the mind once and for all.

Such knowledge no longer comes via the five senses but will come instead directly via the mind that is free from thought.

It is not knowledge that comes from thinking but it is knowledge that arises in a still mind together with brightness.

If we were to revisit the metaphor of the person standing on the water's edge,

Who through conventional knowledge could do no better than make an educated guess about the ripples on the surface of the water,

If insight were used to assess this same situation,

It would be as if the water was rendered clear and the fish could be seen directly without having to make any assumptions.

The ability to harness the knowledge that arises from the still mind is an ability that can only come from training in meditation.

Just as there are differences between academic and meditational knowledge,

There are also differences in the nature of the bearers of the knowledge,

Namely those who are learned versus those who are truly wise.

Where the learned may have much knowledge but not much virtue,

The wise may not actually know that much but they do have a lot of virtue.

Where the learned may remember a lot of knowledge,

They may not apply any of what they know to do good things.

By contrast,

The wise may not have a particularly good memory for knowledge but what they remember they will apply in the pursuit of good deeds.

Although the learned may be highly educated,

It is no guarantee that they will not make a mess of their life.

By contrast,

Although the wise may not be well educated or even literate,

But they would not make mess of their life.

If your only knowledge is academic,

No matter how clever you might be,

There is always a risk of your knowledge being twisted into something dangerous.

For example,

If you have a knowledge of chemistry,

It could produce fertilizers or it could be used to produce chemical weapons.

This is why ethical considerations need to go hand in hand with any academic knowledge,

Like a guiding light to know what is an appropriate application.

Nonetheless,

Although being learned is inferior to being wise,

At this point in our staircase of the blessings we are trying to emphasize that being learned is a major blessing compared with being unlearned.

And this is the main message of the seventh blessing.

So today I would like to tell a scriptural story that illustrates the blessings coming out of a respect for learning.

While the Buddha was pursuing perfections as the Bodhisattva,

He was born as Prince Suttasoma,

Who ruled over the Kuru kingdom of ancient India.

Although at that time in history,

Buddhism was no longer actively practiced,

The prince was so keen to learn any remnants of the teaching of the previous Buddha called Kasapa,

That he would invite anyone who had knowledge of the Dharma to come and teach him at the palace.

It was rare to find anyone with such knowledge and even rewarded with a heap of gold or diamonds.

Sometimes it was impossible to find anyone capable to give a Dharma teaching anymore.

On one occasion,

Prince Suttasoma had managed to track down someone able to give such a Dharma teaching and he was on his way to hear that recitation.

Unfortunately,

On the way he was ambushed by his enemies and was threatened with his life.

Having his life hanging in the balance only highlighted for the prince the preciousness of the opportunity to learn the Dharma.

And he realized it may be the last thing he managed to do before he died.

With the invitation to the Dharma teacher already made,

The prince made a deal with the captors that they could do with him as they wished,

But they should first let him hear the teaching of the Dharma as his final request.

Even though his captors didn't know about the precepts,

They still knew about the importance of keeping their word.

Prince was allowed to return to the palace where the Dharma teacher was waiting.

The teacher didn't even know how to elaborate on the Dharma.

All he could do was recite the scripture from his notes.

But in order to show full respect for the teaching,

The teacher rinsed his hands with perfumed water before handling the scriptures.

He bowed three times to the scriptures and only then did he open them with great care.

The subject matter of the scriptures were the words of Kasapa Buddha.

Although the teacher could recite the words and translate them,

He didn't know the meaning.

The teaching went as follows.

Associating with the noble ones just once,

One can be protected for the rest of one's life.

However,

Associating with fools even many times will fail to protect you.

If you associate with the noble ones,

You should associate with them closely.

Because anyone learning the virtues of a noble will know only prosperity and never know decay.

Even a beautifully decorated royal chariot must eventually deteriorate in decay in the same way this body of ours must eventually age and die.

However,

Virtue never goes out of date because the noble ones know Nirvana.

Just as the earth and sky are far apart,

Far apart are the two sides of the ocean.

But all of these are not so far apart as the behavior of nobles as compared to fools.

Before putting the scriptures away,

The teacher bowed to them again.

Hearing just these teachings,

The prince was so moved that he cried tears of joy.

The prince asked the teacher,

Usually when you read the scripture to other kings,

How much do they pay you for your services?

The teacher replied,

They give me a hundred for each verse.

These verses are not a hundred a verse,

But are a thousand a verse,

Declared the prince and presented the teacher with four thousand.

The prince then remembered the appointment he had made with his captors and thought to himself,

If I were to break my promise,

It would only make my mind dull and guilty.

And I would certainly have an unfortunate afterlife destination.

Better that I go to my death with these guards while my mind is still radiant from having heard the Dharma.

The prince gave himself up to his captors and the captors were surprised that the prince didn't show any fear of death.

They asked him why he was not afraid.

Then the prince told them it's because of the Dharma he had just learned.

The captors asked him to repeat the teaching.

Having heard the teaching,

The captors were so impressed that they asked the prince to accept them as his students and revered him instead of imprisoning him.

So we can see that from this story that the power of learning spiritual knowledge to the degree that one is prepared to lay down one's life has the power to turn around one's destiny into a life of blessings.

So to return to today's subject matter of becoming learned,

How can we acquire knowledge in a way that would ensure blessings in our life?

The Buddha taught in the Sikh Lovada Sutta that successful studies are established on the basis of reciprocal duties that a student practices towards their teacher and a teacher practices towards their student.

The duty is collectively referred to as the duties to the southern quarter.

The teacher should practice the following five duties towards their pupil.

Firstly,

The teacher needs to make sure that the student is well trained.

Secondly,

The teacher needs to make sure that the student is well taught in a way that they understand and remember well.

Thirdly,

The teacher needs to make sure that the student is thoroughly instructed in the law of every art without holding any knowledge back.

Fourthly,

The teacher needs to praise the student in a way that raises their esteem amongst their peers.

And lastly,

The teacher needs to ensure the student's security and safety in every quarter,

Which means in relation to their parents,

Wife,

Children,

Employees,

Friends and spiritual mentors,

While pointing out the loopholes and weaknesses present in any body of knowledge that they're learning.

Meanwhile,

The student should minister to their teacher firstly by making sure that they rise to receive them normally when they enter the classroom.

Secondly,

The pupil should find any opportunity to serve the teacher in any task that might facilitate the teacher's convenience.

Thirdly,

The student should try to be obedient to what is taught to them by their teacher and generally display an eagerness to learn.

Fourthly,

The student should look for ways to be of personal assistance to their teacher when they give the example of helping the teacher when they have to move house,

For example.

And lastly,

The student should be attentive and respectful in the way they learn the arts and sciences.

If the student fails to fulfill their duties,

But the teacher does their part,

The student is unworthy of the teacher.

And it will be no surprise if the student never becomes skilled in knowledge.

If the student keeps their side of the bargain,

But the teacher does not,

Then the teacher is unworthy of the student.

Perhaps the student should look elsewhere for a better teacher.

If neither the student nor the teacher fulfill their duties,

Then neither student nor teacher will gain any benefit from the teaching collaboration,

And their failing will have negative consequences for society at large.

However,

If both student and teacher fulfill their duties to one another,

Both parties will have a bright future and their collaboration will have positive consequences for society at large.

When it comes to learning any new subject,

There is a checklist to ensure a student has covered every dimension of the subject they have chosen.

Whatever the subject,

The student needs to be aware of all four aspects of their specialism.

Only then can they say that they have mastered that knowledge.

Such an assessment of one's knowledge will prevent the student from slipping into the premature overestimation of the amount they know,

And will motivate them to keep listening to people who are bringing their knowledge.

So,

The first thing is that they need to make sure they have knowledge in depth.

They need to make sure that they understand deeply what they have learned.

They need to know the roots and origins of everything they study.

In other words,

The past dimension of the knowledge they're learning.

If they are a doctor and they see a patient,

Then the illness has certain symptoms,

And if they are a good doctor with mastery of medical knowledge,

Then they will immediately be able to tell the prognosis of their illness right from 10 or 20 years in that patient's past.

So,

Don't go believing things simply because they're traditional or customary without understanding the reasons for the origins of such beliefs.

Secondly,

They need to make sure they have knowledge in breadth.

They need to have a broad knowledge,

In other words,

About the subject matter in the present day,

Not only of their own narrow specialism,

But also about all the other things that concern that person in their everyday life.

If they study the arts,

They still need to know how electricity works,

Because they use electricity in their everyday life from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed.

So,

If they have studied science,

By contrast,

Then they still need to know about the arts,

Otherwise they will not be able to understand how to communicate emotions,

Feelings,

And ideas from one person to another in different forms,

Whether it be written or visual.

If a scientist can't communicate with others,

Then they will end up being the engineer who ends up digging holes for the rest of their life all on their own,

Because they can't communicate with anyone else.

The third perspective on knowledge that they need to make sure they have is a thorough knowledge.

Not only does a student need to know about their own narrow subject or specialism,

But they need to know the connections which it has with other issues.

They need to know about everything where that knowledge they have influences other sorts of knowledge,

Right from the mainstream up to the very fringes.

Lastly,

They need to make sure that they have long-sighted knowledge,

Which means that they have to have a knowledge of how things are likely to turn out in the future as a result of what they know.

So,

It's about knowing the consequences of the knowledge that you have.

Taking knowledge beyond superficial understanding also requires overcoming seven possible obstacles,

Which I sometimes refer to as the seven veils of knowledge.

Otherwise,

A lack of authenticity might be the reason that students fail in their studies.

This would definitely be true for students who are always leaving their revision until the last moment.

Reasons why students are unsuccessful include failure to follow through on the full process of learning.

If one is to be authentic in one's learning,

It is necessary to follow through the whole process of learning and not to stop short,

Having completed only some of the stages in the process.

Otherwise,

The depth of usefulness of the knowledge will be curtailed.

So,

The first thing,

Or the first veil of knowledge,

Is that you need to come in contact with someone who is knowledgeable.

One of the hardest things is to find a teacher who will give the necessary encouragement to bring one's studies to fruition.

Secondly,

So the second veil of knowledge,

Is that you need to find the opportunity to hear what that teacher is teaching.

If you are still the sort of person who skips lectures and copies the notes later,

You are unlikely ever to make the success of your career as a student.

Similarly,

Simply having your selfie taken with a famous teacher does not count as listening to what they teach.

This principle applies both to personal contact with the teacher and the way you use textbooks.

It often means using the Socratic method of questioning through dialogue.

The third veil of knowledge is that you need to listen attentively.

If you listen to remember,

Not just sit in the lecture and pick your fingernails and chat to your friends while hoping to earn participation credits.

The fourth thing you need to do is to memorize the appropriate parts of the knowledge that you've learned.

This may include times tables for arithmetic or burp tables for a foreign language.

If you make no effort to memorize what you've learned,

Then you can never become a person who has heard much.

If the knowledge stays in the books,

It's like having money but having lent it all to someone else.

If you want it back instantly,

Even though it is yours,

You cannot get it back immediately.

Even though you know which textbook you can find a piece of information in,

You need to go reaching for the book and one day you might find that that particular page has been eaten by termites.

The fifth veil of knowledge is that you need to reflect on the knowledge you've memorized.

You need to mull over new knowledge in your mind and let it make connections with your previous knowledge.

Meditating is one of the most efficient ways of digesting such new knowledge.

The penultimate veil of knowledge is that you need to apply the knowledge you've learned for your own benefit.

And the last veil is that you need to apply the knowledge you have learned for the benefit both of yourself and of others.

You'll see more about the application of knowledge in the next blessing.

For any student to become truly learned,

They need to make sure there's an ethical strand to what they learn.

Their learnedness needs to go hand in hand with respect for human dignity in themselves,

In others,

And on a social or economic level.

Success in one's studies also relies on choosing only appropriate subjects to study,

Which will not have negative implications for the human dignity of yourself,

Others,

Or society at large.

Furthermore,

A person who is obsessed with personal financial gain will find it hard to make progress in their studies.

Those who see that material rewards are more valuable than wisdom will never get very far in acquiring that knowledge.

Of course,

A student shouldn't overlook the importance of wealth completely,

But the balance is required,

And this will be elaborated further in the 15th blessing.

Furthermore,

You need to dedicate yourself studying your chosen subject to the utmost of your ability,

Always being enthusiastic to learn about new things.

The ethical strand to your learnedness can be ensured by studying spiritual knowledge hand in hand with worldly knowledge.

And of course,

You should always try to commit the important parts of what you've learned to memory,

So that it is always at the top of your mind for your immediate use.

Some final advice is that students should avoid sentimentality about learning.

Those who are not strong-minded in their pursuit of learning will not manage to succeed in becoming learned.

Secondly,

The student should avoid obsession with appearances.

If you want to become learned in the future,

You should model yourself on the stereotype of academics or monastics,

Who emphasize only two things about the way they dress,

Which are modesty and cleanliness.

Lastly,

The student should avoid childish behavior,

Because those who play around and never take responsibility for anything,

And never take anything seriously,

Will never succeed in becoming learned.

And as an illustration of the value even of learning academic knowledge,

I will finish with a story from the Dhammapada commentary.

At the time of the Buddha,

There was an elder monk who was so learned in the Dhamma teachings,

That he had many disciples of his own.

Many of his disciples had become arahants as a result of what he taught them.

But as for himself,

He had not achieved anything in terms of mental attainment.

He had heard a lot of teachings,

But he had never showed any interest in practicing all the theory that he had taught for himself.

All he had was knowledge.

Out of compassion,

The Buddha wanted the elder monk to realize that he must practice for himself.

So he constantly referred to that monk as Mr.

Blank Scripture or Tuttjapotila.

If the elder came to see the Buddha,

The only thing the Buddha would declare was,

Oh,

Blank Scripture,

So you're here again,

And ignore him while giving encouragement to all the other monks.

Buddha ignored the elder completely until everyone else was taking their leave,

At which point the Buddha would dismiss him with the words,

Blank Scripture,

So it's time for you to go.

After some time,

The elder realized that the Buddha intended something special for him and thought to himself,

What the Buddha means must be really true that I am just a Blank Scripture because I know all the scriptures by heart,

But I've never used any of them to practice for my own benefit.

So he thought to himself,

I spent all my life teaching others,

But I've never taught anything to the stubbornest person in the world who is myself.

So the Blank Scripture elder went to the most senior Arahant he knew,

So an enlightened person,

And he asked for his help in learning to practice Buddhism.

The Arahant knew what the elder monk had in mind,

And he also knew that if he made practice too easy for him,

Then he would never give up on all his arrogance.

Consequently,

The Arahant humiliated the elder by sending him to a more junior Arahant saying,

That monk is still young and healthy,

He will have the strength to teach you what you want to know.

So the Blank Scripture elder went to the younger Arahant.

The younger Arahant also discerned the character of the elder.

He knew with his seniority,

The elder would not pay much attention to anything he taught to him,

Because he was only half his age.

Therefore,

The young Arahant sent the elder to study with a novice,

Who was barely a child,

But he was an Arahant.

And the elder was tempted to give up his certain knowledge because of the humiliation of being taught by a very young novice.

However,

The warning of the Buddha still rang in his ears,

And he gritted his teeth and went to see the novice.

The novice knew the arrogant character of the elder,

So he told him that to get a good result from the teaching,

The elder must wade out into a river up to his neck in river water in order to hear the teaching.

The elder thought,

I must really be on my last chance,

So if I don't do what this novice tells me,

I might never have the chance to learn any more.

So when the elder was up to his waist in water,

He felt completely humiliated and let go of his arrogance.

At this point,

The novice relented and told him,

Up to your waist is enough.

And from there,

The novice started to discourse on the Dharma.

Giving the cryptic metaphor,

There was a termite mound with six entrances.

A lizard is inside the termite mound,

And the way to catch the lizard is to block five entrances and to put your hand through the sixth,

And you'll be able to catch the lizard as you wish.

The novice didn't need to say anything more than this,

Because the elder was an experienced teacher,

And he immediately knew that the lizard in the teaching is the mind itself,

Which is constantly thinking of things which are of no benefit,

Losing its energy via the other five sense doors.

If we want to train the mind,

We have to control the five outer senses,

Eyes,

Ears,

Nose,

Tongue,

And body,

And purify the sixth sense,

Which is the object of the mind.

As soon as the elder understood,

He immediately trained himself in sensual restraint and purification of the mind.

And by the end of the novice's teaching,

The elder was an arahant,

Even standing there in the river up to his waist in water.

Because the elder had been artful in knowledge for so long,

To become artful in practice was no difficulty for him.

All he needed was to have a little nudge in the right direction.

Therefore,

We can see that to be artful in knowledge is an essential foundation for one's personal development.

So,

For this session,

I have introduced blessing number seven,

Artfulness in knowledge to you.

For my next session,

I move on to the eighth blessing on the subject of artfulness in usage,

Which explains how to apply the knowledge we have for good in our lives and to be a pathway towards blessings.

Hopefully,

As a result of today's session,

For those of you who are students or lifelong learners,

You will be a little bit more savvy about how to turn your study habits into a blessing in your life.

So,

For today,

This is me,

Pratt Nicholas,

Tynistro,

Signing off for now.

So long,

Folks,

And stay safe.

You