On Instinct and Knowledge

Today, some children have come to me, speaking animatedly among themselves. I could sense a curious fusion of imagination and intellect in their speech. They are small in years, yet they consider themselves great in wisdom. And yet, the spontaneity of this intelligence seems to have been lost somewhere along the way.

I asked them a simple question: “What gives a person strength? What gives energy?”

One by one, they answered from memory and instruction: “Eating food gives strength.”

I then asked, “Who told you this?” They replied, “We were taught this in class a few days ago.”

When I remarked that eating only fills the stomach, they all replied together, “Yes, yes, yes! First the stomach must be filled.”

Knowledge spoke loudly, yet instinct quietly suggested something else.

I was reminded of a story about two friends walking in the mountains. It grew dark, so they decided to spend the night there and set up a tent. In the middle of the night, one friend woke up and asked, “What do you see above us?”

The other replied, “I see countless stars.”

“What does that tell you?” the first asked.

The second began explaining, “The sky is clear, so tomorrow's weather will be good. According to astrology, the sun is in Leo. According to Hora Shastra, it is four in the morning.”

Hearing this long, bookish explanation, the first friend became irritated and finally said, “Fool! It simply means someone has stolen our tent.”

Books, scriptures, and teachings are valuable. They guide us and give structure to our understanding. Yet they can also distance us from instinct, from direct experience, from life as it is happening.

Meditation brings us back—to the senses, to the present moment. Meditation is not learning from others, but learning from oneself. It is watching, experiencing, and understanding what is happening now.

When the experience of others—books, scriptures, teachings—comes before the experience of oneself, we drift into imagination and abstraction, away from the living reality of life. Meditation returns us to that reality, where awareness, the senses, and the self meet.