Ojai, May 20th, 1984

Please enquire with the speaker. He is asking the friend who is walking along, taking the journey together - he is asking him - what is actually learning? Is it merely memory operating, accumulation of a great deal of information, knowledge about various subjects which have their own discipline, their own way, and gradually the brain follows certain categories, certain grooves, and so those grooves and categories and specialisation's become a means of accumulating knowledge, memory, and operating from that memory. This is what we call learning. But, learning also implies a constant movement, a brain that is not only burdened with knowledge of mathematics, geography, history or computer and so on, but also the brain must be active, enquiring, questioning, doubting. And through this process there is never... (I'm finding the right word) there is never a static state. Knowledge becomes static when you have accumulated a great deal, it becomes repetitive, static, but learning is a movement, and therefore is never static, it is living. One must understand this very carefully because each one of us, the self, the 'me', the persona, whatever name you give to the psyche, is a bundle of memories. We may think we are great spiritual entities - gods or all the rest of that business - but it is still memory; we are a bundle of memories. And to that memory we are adding all the time. But the essence of it is static. But whereas learning, not merely accumulating knowledge, but moving further away from knowledge, constantly is the act of learning. That learning brings its own discipline which is to order. Therefore order is a living thing, not conformative, following a pattern - also it doesn't mean that you change from day to day to day, that's what you are all doing - going after various fads. But learning implies tremendous observation, observation without motive. The moment you have motive that motive is static, because that motive is born out of memory.