Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands

9th July 2016

Memory

“Letters and words” 

Man believes that his past as well as his memory is very essential, because he believes that without memory or his past man would not know who he or others are and would neither be able to recognise his surroundings nor understand an experience. But could this belief be the truth?

Man is convinced that he learns from and because of his past and from and because of his memory. Now, the past and memory is made up of words and a word in turn is made up of letters. It is important to understand that it was not because of memory that primitive man came to know either a letter or a word, because primitive man did not have memory to begin with.

Man is also convinced that he learns from and because of his past. It is important to understand that it was not because of his past that primitive man came to know either a letter or a word, because the first primitive man on earth did not have a past to begin with. So it is vital to understand whether man could learn from and because of  his past or from and because of his memory. 

Though primitive man had neither a past nor memory, he nevertheless did come to know a letter and a word. It is obvious that primitive man did come to know a letter and a word , because modern man is learned. If primitive man did not know a letter or a word, then modern man would not be learned, because he would not be able to have either a letter or a word in his past or in his memory.

So, it is obvious that primitive man did not make or know a letter from and because of his past or from and because of his memory. This implies that life evolved a letter and that knowing the letter happened to primitive man in the here and now. As the first letter evolved in primitive man, it gave way to the second letter to evolve, while the first letter became memory - and so on and so forth for all the letters in the alphabet of a particular language.

Similarly, life evolved a word too in the here and now. This implies that primitive man did not recall a letter or letters from memory to make or know a word. It only implies that primitive man did not learn a word from or because of his past or from and because of his memory. As the first word evolved in primitive man in the here and now,  it gave way to the second word to evolve, while the first word became memory - and so on and so forth for all the words of a particular language to form knowledge. 

It is important to understand that life makes man learn and understand the letter or a word that evolves in the moment here and now of the mind in life. The individual, however, believes that he or she has recalled the letter or the word from memory or the past to understand it, while that is not the case. Therefore, the belief that the individual learns from and because of his or her past and from and because of his or her memory is not the truth.

The enlightened have proclaimed that life makes man know what he is meant to know. This implies that knowing happens in the here and now and not from or because of his past or memory as man believes.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2016

Editor’s Note:
From an early age a human being is advised of the importance of a good memory. Regular tests are carried out to help its development as the child grows up and rewards are given to stimulate the process. Thus memory has come to play a pivotal part in life. Man's reliance on memory and the past has effectively disconnected him from the flow of life – his own birthright. In his understanding of man’s predicament, Dr Shankar gifts us with the wisdom of the wise in this article.
Julian Capper, U,K.

German Translator`s Note:
How often do we blame us or others for having forgotten something important? To recall memory is regarded as an act of willpower, as a question of effort. But is this true? How could it be? These questions are not asked by the average man. Only as soon as evolution sophisticates, man asks himself questions whose answers could lead to wisdom. This article by Dr. Shankar contains all the questions as well as answers which accompany man on his evolution to wisdom.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany. 

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