The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but the fire to be kindled
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Mind is not a vessel to be filled, But a Fire to be Kindled.
The topic means that our heart (and mind along
with it) are not just an utensil in the kitchen, which is just used to store in
it any thing at any time. But it is a fire which is to be triggered to
shine brightly. In short it means that we should put our mind to a better
innovative exciting and productive use, rather than a dull and simple use.
In our house kitchen we have a lot of utensils of all kinds.
We use them to store different type of foods, raw, cooked, and
semi-cooked. Some are kept for a long duration and some are stored for
the duration of cooking. When the use is over, we wash the utensils and
put them back in place for reuse.
We use our brain to remember (store) knowledge, facts,
history, incidents, films, stories, our studies and so on. In this
process of learning we should not use mind just to take in the knowledge of
facts. That is learning by by-hearting and just by remembering is not the
correct use of our mind. We should use our mind to analyze the learnings
and acquire wisdom. We should not learn only, we should educate ourselves
along with the use of learning.
In order to do that, we need to enlighten ourselves with
our heart and mind explicitly. We need to ask ourselves the following
logical questions every time: why, what, how, where, who, whom, and when.
The correct method of inquisitive learning will enlighten our minds about the
subject. Then we are able to learn better. And then our intellect
is used properly and not as a d-umb storage facility.
In our minds, we use memory space. When we store a
number different things, the quick retrieval (remembering) a necessary point on
the occasion becomes difficult. We must give respect to our own mind and
heart while responding to various external events in the world. Use a
wise filter to take in only what is useful and needed. Our heart is a
lovely, tenderly and lively being that is to be handled carefully. Our
mind is a lively energetic ato-functioning entity that is to be lit like a
torch that gives light to us and to others. Then the mind can achieve a
lot of things. Then the enlightened mind does not stop until a great
feat is surely achieved.
Our mind can become fire (light) of knowledge, energy, wisdom and activity and can remain so forever until death. All we need to do is to lit by scientific approach and sincere quest for learning and real life action. We need to inspire ourselves with a goal to attain, decide on the path to reach the goal, acquire tools and resources needed for the path, and finally step on it. We keep up the motivation and dedication. The mind always keeps enlightened and active. We follow a mental and physical discipline. The mind will continue on the path set and reach higher goals as time progresses..
Mind is not a storehouse for facts and lessons. We don't mug up paragraphs and textual matter. If we mug up without understanding completely, then we are using our mind as a vessel. We need to analyse, understand the logic, reason and then objectively memorise properly important points. Thus when we learn to practice this approach, we set our mind on fire. It will continue to burn until the final goal is achieved.
Many great people in the history have achieved successes and great inventions by lighting their minds on fire. I have done too. You can do that too.