Reflecting on Swamiji's Message

Swami Chidatmanandji visited our Balavihar this weekend and he told a story that has been nagging at me since then. I pay my respects to him for blessing us with his visit and I apologize in advance as I know I must have missed some very important meanings from his message. But in the true sense that a wise person's words become wiser the more you introspect on them, Swamiji's story is taking up more and more space in my mind and I am compelled to share my thoughts.

The story: There was once a young goatherd's son who would often miss school because his father needed him to tend to the goats. One day, his math teacher confronted him and asked, "You are rarely present in my class. How will you learn mathematics?" To this, the boy replied by explaining his family situation and then adding, "But I already know all about math -- addition, shbtraction, multiplication -- from working with the goats." Hearing this, the math teacher decided to test the student: "If you have 100 goats and 35 go in one direction, the rest will follow."

Here, the boy had greater insight than the teacher about goats and he had the "right" answer, but he because of his arrogance and lack of respect, he was still wrong. This logic amazed me.

Imagine the implications of this:
On a spiritual platform, nowadays there are so many young people that have read different books and attended various lectures. They have learned about the theory behind puja, even going so far as to back it up with Western science. Still, it is too difficult to perform puja everyday so instead, they wake up and scroll through Instagram. In comparison, there is an old woman in some tiny village in India. She has never received a formal education but every morning, she she dutifully forages for flowers and fruits to offer the Lord. Here is the difference between knowledge and understanding. The young spiritualist has all the right answers but is still wrong.

I recently completed a course for EMT certification. I was topping the class with the highest grades on every exam. One day, our teachers set-up a simulation of a mass-casualty incident (MCI). I remember walking into the room and seeing the dozens of "patients". All of the words from the textbook flew out of my head. I had the right knowledge, but without proper understanding, I was not able to correctly apply it. How fortunate I was to receive such training within my training itself...

I think for anyone that has grown up in the Internet-age (or perhaps just me, I do not want to unfairly apply this generalization), it is easy to get a head bigger than our body can support. We have all of the information right at our fingertips but it comes in so fast that we never have a chance to apply it. As I go through a critical stage of evolution in my life, I am alerted to the need for sustainable growth and development. I am fortunate to grow up in a community that nurtures my spiritual development but unless I stop to implement these practices into my own life, I will be no closer to fulfillment. I am fortunate to have received support to begin my pre-health career, but until I focus on my own health and wellness, I will never be able to succeed in my profession. I am reminded again and again to cut out hypocrisy from my life. As Swamiji told us on Saturday, in order to find satisfaction, our thoughts, words, and actions must be in harmony. I can carry out robot-like actions; I can regurgitate all of the "right" words. But until my thoughts align and become grounded in the Supreme Brahman, I will continue to be pulled away with all of life's trials and tribulations. I will continue to merely exist throughout all of my days instead of truly living. I must constantly rededicate myself to a higher purpose because although I know this is the right path, until I live it, I will still be wrong.