Knowledge, Ignorance Ego, Compassion and Globalization of world Peace

Knowledge, Ignorance Ego, Compassion and Globalization of world Peace 

Rahul Ramya

29.10.23 Patna

When knowledge comes, ignorance, the enemy of knowledge, also comes along. Ignorance does not go away with knowledge, but rather the possibility of the effects of ignorance increases with the arrival of knowledge. How can these two mutually contradictory things happen? This is what needs to be understood. With every aspect of knowledge, ego is also attached. Knowledge gives the knower the opportunity to be proud of his knowledge. This happens because the one who acquires knowledge is attached to his knowledge, he feels that the knowledge he has acquired is his own, so the feeling of ownership towards knowledge gives him the illusion of being a master, that is, the false reality of lordship. So he has a connection with his acquired knowledge with the feeling of "my" knowledge. This "my" is the ego that is the fire of arrogance.

But this arrogance is ignorance. Why is it ignorance? The knowledge acquired by one's own efforts is essentially the wealth of society. The one who acquires knowledge is only a holder and protector of this wealth, whose responsibility is to increase the knowledge further, keep it from being corrupted, and try to make as many people as possible acquire that knowledge. As these three things increase, the ignorance associated with knowledge gradually disappears and the greatest knower is the one who becomes fully proficient in these three things and becomes completely free from ignorance in the form of arrogance.

This kind of ability comes only when compassion is the driving force for using knowledge. A person endowed with compassion presents himself for the welfare of everyone, so his knowledge becomes not his own but for the benefit of society. The power to remove ignorance from knowledge and its arrogance lies in the person's compassion. This is why a person who has a right over knowledge but does not have compassion in his mind uses his knowledge for destruction and contrary to that a compassionate knower distributes knowledge in society and strengthens society.

        Now we should try to delve deep into the complex relationship among knowledge, ignorance, arrogance and ego and their fallout for our socio-cultural life. Here we will see one such fallout, though there are several others which I am leaving for my dear friends to explore.

          We live in a society that has many people of different characteristics and traditions. Every community is a repository of knowledge and information in itself. When we are compassionate to them, we grow a culture of respecting them. Mutual respect for each other's traditions and knowledge creates space for exchange of ideas, knowledge and traditions. This exchange humbles us as we acknowledge the fact that there are many things of which we have been unaware and have been living in the world of a well's frog. In fact, no community in isolation has all knowledge, but when such communities start exchanging, they become mutually benefitted. But the pre-condition is that we must be respectful towards each other. Compassion has the capability to douse arrogance and to kindle respect, which in turn facilitates cooperation. Cooperation is the generator of knowledge. Synthesis leads us to new things. During all these steps, the biggest beneficiary is the human species, which comes closer on a common platform of pursuit of knowledge. This is the greatest enabler of globalization of peace.