How to Learn - Process of Learning

How to Learn - Process of Learning

To learn something, you need to do the following:

यः पठति लिखति पश्यति परिपृच्छति पण्डितानुपाश्रयति |

तस्य दिवाकरकिरनैर्नलिनीदलमिव विकास्यते बुद्धिः ||

The mind of a person will evolve who reads, writes, sees, asks and meets scholars/experienced people.

To learn something fast, there are four steps involved:

Read. Read about the topic or concept you wanted to learn. Find resources on that topic on the Internet or in books. This will give an idea of the topic you want to learn.

Write. Prepare notes. Write points on what you've read. Derive your own conclusions. This will increase your memory power and analyzing ability. Writing one time is equivalent to reading 10 times.

See (/Experiment/Execute). Depending on the topic you learn, try to experiment with it or try to see it in the real world. For example, if you are learning a physics phenomenon, try to experiment on your own/try to watch videos that experimented with it on YouTube. If you are learning a computer algorithm, write a code snippet on your own and correct errors.

Meet Scholars/Experienced people. This is not a required step if you are learning something. But if you want to become a master in something, make friends who are working in that field. Nothing beats experience. This will always help in to excel.

The application of this thing may vary. No need to meet someone in person always. Suppose you are writing code for some computer algorithm, go online, search for similar code. If the code is better than yours, learn it.

Importance of Teacher

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः |

गुरुस्साक्षात् परब्रह्मा तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ||

Your teacher is your God. Always be great full to someone who teachers you something.

While learning, it is very much important to find a mentor/teacher. A Teacher need not be a person. It can be anything.

Online video lectures from which you learn a course

A coding website that teaches how to code step by step

A group on Facebook/ a person on Quora that can clarify your doubts

Online forums

Your teacher in your school.

Your coaching institute / experienced senior who guides you

Whichever/whoever it is, find a mentor. Because self-learning always may not possible. Learning how to learn is important foremost. For that, you need to find something or someone to help you. This is the reason why a Teacher is considered to be God.

Every second count.

क्षणशः कणशः चैव विद्यामर्थं च साधयेत् |

क्षणत्यागे कुतो विद्या कण त्यागे कुतो धनम् ||

The process of learning will be second by second as the earning of money is penny by penny. Do not waste a single second in learning as you do not want to let go of a single penny in your income. Each second will help in Learning something as each buck will comprise a big amount.

You cannot have many things at once. Cannot do many things at once. If you want to learn something, focus on it. Learning takes dedication and determination.

Quoting Robin Sharma,

Either you can be distracted or you can be a master. You cannot be both.

Learning is useless unless you have your own mind

यस्य नास्ति स्वयम् प्रज्ञा शास्त्रं तस्य करोति किम् |

लोचनाभ्यां विहीनस्य दर्पणः किं करिष्यति ||

Knowledge cannot help someone who cannot think on his own. The mirror for a person who cannot see is useless.

Do not just mug up things while learning. Have your own mind, think around it. If a multiple-choice question is given in the exam, do not just remember the correct answer. Work on the remaining three answers to why they aren't true. An analysis is the main ability that should be improved. Remembering can be even done by some animals.

My another favourite quote:

Mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work unless you open it up.

Half knowledge is dangerous

कण्ठस्था या भवेद्विद्या या प्रकाश्या सदा बुधैः |

गुरुषु पुस्तकेषु च या विद्या तया मूढः प्रतार्यते ||

The whole thing you learn should be in your mind. Learning is useless if you keep half in your mind and the remaining half in your books or your teacher's brain.

Never gain half knowledge. Learn something completely. Sometimes half-knowledge may become dangerous than knowing nothing. Abhimanyu is the example in Mahabharata who know how to enter Padmavyuha but not how to exit. This half-knowledge because curse for him and taken his life.

Learn as if you were to live forever

अजरामरवत् प्राज्ञो विद्यामर्थं च साधयेत् |

गृहीत इव केशेषु मृत्युना धर्ममाचरेत् ||

A wise person is someone who learns every day and earns money as if he were to live forever. And follows Dharma ( Helping others/doing good/following ethics) as if he were to die today.

There are some things in life one should never stop doing. Learning is one of those things. Remember we are always like students. There will be much more to learn every day. Everything in this world will teach us something. So never stop learning.

I think the same thing is quoted by Mahatma Gandhi:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Finally, if you learn in the right way, you will feel:

The more you know, the more you know that you know nothing.

As learning continues, as you start gaining knowledge, you will feel that there is more to learn. There is an ocean, what you know is a drop.

विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद्याति पात्रताम् |

पात्रत्वात् धनमाप्नोति धनाद्धर्मः ततः सुखम् ||

Learning gives humbleness because by learning you realize that what you know is nothing. Humbleness is the key that helps you learn more, to deserve more. When you attain this stage, you start realizing the importance of ethics(Dharma).

This will help in earning money the right way. Earning money by obeying ethics( Dharma). Then you fulfil your desires which will keep you ultimately happy.

Again, the same thing said by Socrates:

Happy Learning.

Thank you

I hope guys you would have liked it, if yes please give ❤️ to the story and use the tip to keep me motivated.

I'll see you at the next one.

See you, bye!