Academic knowledge provides information of the world, but spiritual knowledge awards us eternal liberation
One of my friends in college was known for his immense general knowledge. He knew the names of all recent Hollywood and Bollywood movies, the actors, directors, and producers of each movie, and the winners of Oscar and Filmfare awards from every year. In sports, he knew the winners of each Grand Slam tennis tournament from every year as well as similar information about football and cricket. He also knew the capital city and currency of each country, and a lot more.
I was impressed by his memory, and I admired his voracious reading. Here I was struggling to remember basic mathematical and scientific formulae and somehow clear my examinations. I wished I had the ability to retain at least half of what I read daily.
When I came to Krishna consciousness, however, I felt less impressed by my friend’s general knowledge. I learned that knowledge was meant to produce good character and, ultimately, devotion to God. So-called knowledge of this world is incomplete, because information in this world keeps changing continuously; what is true today will no longer remain true tomorrow. The greater your memory, the greater your capacity to retain information, and the greater will be your reputation as a knowledgeable person. But knowledge about this world is simply data loaded into the brain. How can such ever changing information help us attain anything permanent and everlasting? How can such knowledge help us solve the real problems of life, namely, birth, old age, disease, and death?
Real knowledge is to know what matter is, what spirit is, and the controller of both. And such knowledge must transform one’s heart by invoking our divine nature, which is expressed by displaying divine qualities like cleanliness, forgiveness, compassion, and love for all living beings. Although my friend was updated with the latest current affairs and was also good in his academics, he didn’t seem to possess all these divine qualities. Always unclean, he was addicted to many nasty habits, and he doubted the existence of God and questioned His activities.
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