LOVE TO LEARN

“He who knows nothing, loves nothing. He who does not know, cannot do. He who understands nothing, is worthless. But he who understands, loves, observes, sees… The greater the knowledge, the greater is the love.“
THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS

“My desire is to understand.”
JOSÉ LUÍS SAMPEDRO

There is a powerful bond between consciousness and love. Off that bond, life, evolution and meaning are born. Because love arouses our curiosity, our desire to understand, our desire to know.

He who loves wishes to delve into the reality of the beloved object. It is also true that the more we know what we love, the more it tends to grow our love for it. The gardener with flowers, trees and land, the craftsman in their workshop with materials and tools, the musician with their instruments, sheet music and melodies, the teacher with their knowledge and methods as they desire to accompany their students in their process of growing up. I recall now good friends, all leading experts in their fields and good people, who express a common factor: the passion for their work and its results; for their service to others. This dialectic between knowledge and love so well defined by Paracelsus, is the engine of change, of evolution, the development of sciences and arts, of that transformation that brings up utility, goodness and beauty. Yes, passion for knowledge –and in turn the knowledge applied with passion to what we do– changes the world.

The braided rigor along with our contribution give us tremendous results. Beauty, creativity and innovation are born in the encounter between the restless mind and the beating heart. Out of that it also arises our persistently be pushing to conquer new knowledge, and of course, the search for meaning in life when it seems absent through adversity. Because, as stated by Dr. Viktor Frankl from his observations in extreme circumstances, what sustains the human being is the will to love someone or something, that is what gives meaning to our lives, helping us to understand what life is asking us and allows us to move forward in spite of everything, it is the longing to love and create.

Joy is also one of the fruits of discovery that is born from a passion for understanding. Joy opens the door to that generosity you want to share with others for the value of the find. Because, how good are the fruits of consciousness if they are not given to others who can also grow with them?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was right on target when he said “If we want a world of peace and justice, we must put intelligence in the service of love.” So, love and understanding come together to serve, out of empathy, out of the will to build a common good. Because if culture and truth makes us free, love and will make us strong, and the union of all of them makes this life we ​​live worthy and meaningful.

And what is best of all is that we are surrounded by opportunities to cultivate this passion for learning: good books provided by public libraries, bookstores or the same network, or spaces like this one, or meeting with friends, friendly conversations, or just listening to our inner dictation. It happens when reading, studying, analyzing, in observation, contemplation, meditation, also in the peace of silence. In them all it lies all the wonder of discovery. Let us learn to know ourselves, to know this world and life that we have been given away, give ourselves to this exercise with excitement and the curiosity of the child who wants to learn. Because he who has the passion to learn is given the infinite book of life to read and write in it.

Then let us dive into this adventure, and perhaps right here, and why not now.

I wish you a happy learning.

Álex