Sri Annamalai Swami
Q: Does the acquisition of spiritual knowledge make the mind mature?
AS: The acquisition of knowledge belong to the realm of education, not sadhana. Seeing everything as one is the true seeing, and controlling the five senses in the body is the true sadhana. They must be controlled, and success in this endeavour is truly heroic. No traditional education can prepare you for this. Realizing the Self is the true education.
One of Mahatma Gandhi's disciples was educated to a very high level. He was also a pious man and a strict disciplinarian with himself. When he realized that all he wanted in life was Self realization, he tore up all academic certificated and threw them away. He knew that neither his education nor his worldly knowledge would help him. In fact by doing this he implied that his knowledge was a hindrance that had to be rejected.
A proper education does not come from books. It comes from associating with jnanis. They alone guide us and teach us properly. I served Bhagavan for 12 years. Looking back all those years I can now say that just as you cannot get a proper formal academic education without attending school, one cannot get a true spiritual education without satsang, either with a jnani or with one's own Self.
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