What does rethink mean?

Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.

Published on www.acadun.com

The Netherlands

10th October 2013

What does rethink mean?

Man has the capacity to think. Thinking is an inherent characteristic of man. Thinking has arisen because of knowledge that man has come to possess. Thinking assures man that he is knowledgeable and reliable. Knowledge differentiates a primitive man from a modern man. Hence, knowledge is a tool that measures man’s progress from being a primitive man to a modern man.

Modern-day man obviously has more knowledge than his predecessor had, for example, even ten years ago. This indicates that a man living ten years ago is primitive compared to present-day man. Hence, primitive and modern are relative terms and not absolute, as no man has knowledge identical to another’s on any day in any generation. This also means that knowledge too is relative and not absolute.

Man does rethink either to consider or to assess his knowledge. He rethinks to consider whether a better option is possible or to assess whether a decision is right or wrong. Both option and decision are dependent on how much knowledge a man has. This can only mean that option and decision are relative and not absolute. In addition, man understands that duality is relative and not absolute. So, whatever man wishes to rethink, it will only be relative and not absolute.

Man wishes to rethink in terms of right and wrong, true or false, as these are the dualities which man knows. To man everything that is right, wrong, true, false, and every duality is nevertheless real to him. Knowledge, as pointed out, is relative and not absolute. So what could be absolute and not relative is the question? What could give rise to the absolute would be the next question?

The absolute is revealed when man understands that that which he thinks is real is in fact illusory. Understanding is an inherent characteristic of man, and this gives rise to knowledge that made man think that everything is real. This means that understanding will also give rise to wisdom that makes man realise that the real is illusory. If man were able to understand what is absolute, he would no longer need to rethink. Knowledge has happened to man and similarly wisdom too will happen to man. To whom or when knowledge could happen could never have been known or predicted. Similarly, to whom or when wisdom will happen, neither knowledge nor wisdom can ever know or predict.

The sages proclaimed that life is a play of light and sound ages ago, and now science, which is a branch of knowledge, has proved that everything in life is energy, which in simple words means light. Likewise, wisdom reveals that the real can only be light, and knowledge of the real exists only as a reflection of light and not as an actuality.

So what does rethink mean? Rethink means to verify whether the known could be real, meaning actual, or not. The academy of absolute understanding was founded to help man rethink what could be real and absolute.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar.
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2013

Editor’s Note:
Here is the crux of the matter. Is what we know real or not? From our earliest years and, we are told, for generations before that, we have lived in a culture that places knowledge at the highest level of human achievement. Knowledge is still the sine qua non of every school-child to attain, and to demonstrate that he or she has reached their potential in its acquisition. The question is: does their potential stop there? Does this bring contentment or is it the start of an unending search for more and more knowledge?
But do we wish to hear, even from the sages, that knowledge is an illusion? That it is not real? Of course not, for the mind says it is real. The flat-earth believers held that the earth was flat - for them that was real - and they firmly defended that belief. In the 16th century, the Renaissance astronomer Copernicus was denounced as a heretic when his work 'On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres' was made public. Thorough examination of his heresy by his detractors led to a rethink of the entire field of physics. So, our potential is to understand that whatever the 'corrected' view of the known may be, it also remains only a reflection of what is real. Understanding this is the quest of the academy of absolute understanding.
Julian, UK

German Translator’s Note:
Homo sapiens is the name for the animal whom the evolutionary jump has happened from an unknowing animal to a knowing man. Along with knowledge he became able to rethink whether certain knowledge is true or false, right or wrong or for a better option. This kind of rethinking, however, keeps him within the limits of duality and they are all real to man – which is the nature of the mind. Dr.Shankar invites us to the next evolutionary step: To rethink whether all knowledge is real or illusory, and to realise who or what man really is. This step crosses the border of duality and leads man beyond his mind. For a man with absolute understanding duality and knowledge are illusory and not real, life has provided the name “wise man“. It will happen to humanity as an expression of the evolutionary process of life.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany

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