Education

"Most education is learning how to solve problems."

"Building desire and developing capacity represent the fundamentals of real education."

Directives: in the Greater Community Way of Knowledge

"You must follow the way as it is given—without altering it, without deleting anything and without adding on things that you learned before. In fact, here you must really begin as a beginner. Forget what you have learned. Leave aside your ideas and your philosophy. Do not try to make this new education the same as something else. Do not try to make it continuous with something else."

Here you must start from the beginning and constantly set aside things you think you understand, things that you believe in, things that you believe have to be in the world and things you hold true about yourself, others and life in general. You must keep opening yourself to something new."

"Here you do not set about to remember facts and figures, equations and details. Here you seek to wed your intellect with your deeper mind, the mind we call Knowledge. Here the emphasis is on developing stillness and the ability to focus on things objectively— two very high functions of the mind."

Thresholds

"As soon as you think you fully understand the curriculum and can define it for yourself and others, your progress will stop."

"Beginning students always think that they are on the verge of accomplishment. Intermediate students think they are on the verge of mastery. Advanced students realize they are on the verge of simply learning the next step."

The Way of Knowledge vs.Wordly Education

In both the Greater Community Way of Knowledge and in the norms of human education on Earth,

You need

a committed, willing attitude

a network of peers

a wise instructor

diligent, consistent, patient and effective practice

immersion in a unified curriculum

the ability to evaluate your progress

It takes time

no shortcuts

no substitutes

"In the world, you always build upon what you have learned in the past, adding new things as you go along. As you advance, you become more selective in what you learn because you want to validate what you have learned already. Thus, the intent of education, which is to learn something new, to experience something new and to be able to do something new, becomes lost because increasingly you will attempt to validate the past. Here you will become more fearful and anxious about the future, less willing to see things as they really are and less open to new ideas, new experiences and new capabilities. Here the mind closes down upon itself. It often does this with the belief that it is open and accessible when in fact it has become such a filtering mechanism that very little new information can come to it, either from within or from without."

"The Way of Knowledge is more difficult because you are not sure what the result will look like. If you go to medical school, you know that if you can pass the examinations, you will come out as a physician. You know that if you undertake preparation to become a musician, if you persist and pass your tests, you will at least be competent at your skill. Following The Way of Knowledge, however, you are not sure what you will look like. Obviously, you will not have a career and be a professional person of Knowledge. Therefore, it is more difficult here because you must proceed with greater uncertainty. Rather than being motivated by wealth, fame, recognition or achievement, you must be motivated by something deeper within you that says that you must do this. And you go forth not knowing what it means, what it will require or what advantages you will have."

See Also

Studenthood

The Way of Knowledge

Mastery