Learning how to learn

"Learning how to learn" is actually the title of a pivotal book by Idries Shah, that I have read a couple times. If you ever get the chance, check this book out. It will throw you for some loops.

People take learning for granted. They assume that anyone can learn anything, at any time. I'm talking about all learning, spiritual, academic, anything.

Not true.

In order to learn something, conditions must be right. The conditions are Time, Place, Teacher, People. Memorize those!

Time
A lot of teachings are time-specific. They must be given in a certain time period (hour, day, month, year, decade, century...etc) , and even while the learner is doing a certain activity during that time. Sometimes, sitting alone in a dark room reading a book is not the best way to learn the specific concept you are looking at right then. Who knows? A given teaching might have been designed, for example, for maximum effect while riding horseback on an armored Clydesdale that's charging a line of spearmen in the 14th Century. If you meet those conditions, great! You'll learn a lot. If you happen to experience the teaching outside of those conditions, you may not get squat.

Place
I sort of touched on this above. Time is not the only important thing. So is location. Some teachings are best given in a school. Some are best at home. Some are best in other places, like mountaintops, or roller skating rinks.

Teacher
Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner, BUT most of the time, learning under those circumstances is "accidental", i.e. driven by the universe itself beating you about the head. For concentrated and deliberate transmission of a teaching, there must be a competent teacher that knows what he or she is doing. These kinds of Teachers (capital "T") are specific types of people, tailored to teach the things they know best. Whether they know it or not, these people are able to transmit something called "baraka" or "bracha", depending on whether you want to use the arabic or hebrew spelling of the word.

Baraka is an abstract concept. Picture it like a liquid that a teacher posseses in a certain subject. Because that person knows how, they are able to give you some of that liquid. When you get baraka, you learn the subject more fully and innately. Here's an example:

It's common knowledge to those who know me, that I am not very handy. I can barely screw in a lightbulb. One summer, when I was living and training with Draja, he decided that we were going to work on remodelling his house. Naturally, I was not thrilled about that because it would mean I would have to actually use a hammer and other tools to break down and put up walls, install electrical fixtures, and other things.

It didn't take long, for Draja to realize my ineptitude while watching me trying to hammer in a simple nail, and missing half the time. I was a brown belt in karate at the time, but still a noob when it came to being able to hit a nail on the head. I wound up bending the crap out of half a box of them.... not getting a single one in.

Draja graciously tried to explain to me how to do it, but with no success. Then, as our subject of conversation switched to the topic of baraka, he came over to me and made me stop swinging. He picked up the hammer, and without speaking, he hammered in a nail with one swipe. Then another one with two swipes. Then another.

After that he handed me the hammer and a nail, and told me to do what he did. Apprehensively, I set the nail to the board and swung. The nail went all the way in on the first shot. Baraka.

People
The people in your presence at the time of learning matter. Ever have a nice conversation going on, and then someone walks in that totally destroys the atmosphere? The same thing goes with learning. Each person that is present during a teaching contributes to whether or not that teaching can be transmitted. Every person in a room contributes to the vibe in that room. Think about this and you may feel it intuitively. If the wrong people are there, you will not learn. Maybe, at times you must be alone to learn. That can happen too.

Overall, from this, you should realize something else. Not every teaching is for anyone. Something that benefits your friend may not benefit you, and in fact may harm you. If we train a kindergarden teacher to have hair trigger reflexes that snap the neck of anyone who touches him, there's going to be a problem. If we teach a marine how to recite poetry for the entire 16 weeks of boot camp, and he never gets to learn how to be a soldier, there's going to be problems.

Also, teachings can outlive their usefullness. If I know how to knit, weave, tend sheep, and tan hides, but I live in modern day New York City and I don't know how to take the subway, use an ATM, and hail a taxi, I am not going to have an easy time living in New York in 2008.