Dear J
I attended ‘Unified Wisdom’ events. The philosophy class was a profound experience for me. The truth is that I never learned anything by myself until I was 35 years old. I read everything out of necessity. Even now, I am studying something for my job purposes only. While reading something, I always have the notion that it must have utility, which means that it must be useful to write an examination. Even if I read stories every now and then, I get the feeling that I am wasting my time.
The hindering factor of reading today is that when I read to learn something, it seems to me like a study without purpose. The idea of what could be asked in the exam keeps coming to mind. It is impossible for me to study without that thought. But if you study for exams, you cannot study anything completely. Selection is the only thing that matters in that study. Everything studied becomes irrelevant after the exam. Also, exams are giving us anxiety. You can study only when the exam is near. How do I overcome this state of mind?
G
Dear G
Most people here are in your mindset. Read something on a train, ‘Exam?’ people will ask. If it is an essay book, they will not believe you even if you say, ‘No, I am reading to learn something’.
There is only one right way to read. Reading for our personal quest. Personal search becomes our taste. For example, my questions are related to philosophy and South Indian history. So books related to them are what I like to read. Our passion is focused on what our hearts engage in. Our passion is hunger. Hunger is the basis of taste.
Reading should be like a cow grazing. First, the cow grazes the tasty and nutrient-dense tender shoots. The next round, it will graze the slightly less flavorful, tougher grass. That is the ideal method of reading.
Is an exam required? Yes, but let that be a exam you design for yourself. It will show you how much you understand and what is growing within you. No competition is needed. The result of competition is nervousness, and at some point, learning becomes mere torture.
I make my own exams. One of my options is to write the entire essay from memory. Prepare a questionnaire for yourself and answer the questions in the books you read. Talk about it for half an hour and record it. Write ten pages from memory and compare them with the original.
There is no joy in studying for exams; there is only a simple joy in success. In good reading, the act of reading itself becomes pleasurable.
