A Learned Life

The greatest joy in life is the joy of learning. If I have any purpose in life at all, it is to learn. To learn is to live (it's probably the title of a blog post, I wrote more than a decade ago).

I measure the success of my day by how much I've learned. And in moments like this, just before bedtime, I reflect back on the day: what did I learn? Only when we learn do we stem the forces of decay that gnaw unceasingly at our souls. If we learn something everyday, it means that we've grown, even though we are a step closer to our graves.

What constitutes learning? Learning is the endless process of classification, assimilation and transformation of thoughts. Every action and reaction in our everyday life stirs our minds and reorganizes the constituents within. Like Tetris blocks falling into its rightful slot on the rising pile of rectangular blocks below.

Every success and setback experienced in life is a self-teaching moment. The material world sculpts us with the chisel of joy and pain--each blow reveals another layer of realization from the inner depths of our souls. We speak of souls, and minds and the world as if they are tangible forms, subject to our manipulations. These are mere illusions, yet still we need them as we need avatars to play virtual games, without which we have no material metaphors to hold on to.

I write, and every word that I materialize on this page is my response to the challenge which the universe poses to me. It kneads me into a certain shape, and I type these words to reassert my form. And in that dialectic between me and the universe, learning occurs. Insight arises.

And that's how we progress everyday. To challenge and be challenged. To participate in that eternal struggle that regenerates life at every moment. And true learning happens when we encounter the world this way. All learning has to be earned. And that is greatest lesson of life.