Learning and Evolving: Mundane and Defying Gravity!

One word that is chasing for quite some time now is ‘Evolve’. Literally it means develop gradually, progress, make progress, advance, move forward, make headway, mature, grow, open out, unfold, unroll, expand, enlarge, spread, extend. They look like common and easy words and we all understand what they mean, but we may not know, how they define a situation which gives true meaning to the word ‘evolution’! Do not confuse it with Darwinism and his theory of evolution. We are not talking about biological growth by way for natural selections and inheritance.

I am approaching evolution from the perspective of learning and development in any sphere of human life, any age, gender, geography or vocation.

I have a firm belief that if we apply ‘evolution’ to learning, it gets expedited and becomes sustainable. It imprints on mind-map and gets built into the grey-cells and almost every cell in the body and body responds to its calls even when asleep. I am not debating if one evolution is someone will be carried through DNA to the next generation. To me, it is limited to one individual as evolution is person-specific moment of truth with self. It happened to Gautama Buddha and him alone in his genre of people. It is not a formula and so cannot be replicated. No copies and no copy rights!

Learning happens on two different planes: Skills building plane and Evolution plane. One does not complement the other but accentuates overall evolution of state or being! While skill building is a matter of conscious choice called discipline, evolution is a stage of arriving subtly and gently and unconsciously. Evolution therefore is not a matter of conscious choice; it is not a matter of discipline. Skill building happens under supervision and an instruction under guided environment, evolution is self-discovery, an art of liberation from the state of freeze! Skill building is acknowledging and obligatory act of responsibility, evolution is self-assuring and non-obligatory, non-demanding. Skill building comes with a price tag in terms of investments made in learning them. Evolution happens at no cost at any special investment of time, it just happens while doing regular work as it uses under current.

Evolution is effortless and non-exhaustive, it happens when it happens. It cannot be planned. Like best ideas do not come when we are prepared for it, it does not come between 9 and 5, it does not come at temple, sea shore, Himalayas or under a banyan tree. They are all symbols and have no role in bringing the evolutionary thoughts.

Mind transcends the boundaries of limits and constraints, when evolution hits, that moment of hit is the eureka moment. It is the same moment when Archimedes ran naked from his bath tub propounding theory of displacement; it was the apple falling on Newton’s head that gave the law of gravitation. This, however, does not mean evolution is the paradigm changing thought; it may even be a thought that brings sustainable change to an individual’s behavior, belief and thought process.
Evolution is a one way track. Once evolved, it never retracts! Evolution is a permanent change!
When we are trying to develop skills in any training or classroom teaching, in the field or under ocean, skill building is only a matter of discipline; defined sets of instructions, manuals, SOPs, rule books,etc.  

Evolution is triggered unconsciously and can be both externally triggered and internally generated. If trigger of evolution is guided, it fails as conscious brain blocks evolution as soon as it realizes it is guided, instructed and disciplining action.

No one has ever got an orgasm, in a disciplined and consciously made attempt, no one ever reaches a stage of nirvana in a conscious effort. Buddha and Mahavira got the stage of evolution one fine day, unconsciously, while they meditated every day!

In everyday life at work or at home, we make conscious effort to build skills and we learn and forget it too quickly. But once we learn cycling or swimming we do not forget it for life. Learning can only sustain by evolution. So to make learning sustain and become part of unconscious change, it must be an evolving exercise.  

Problem starts, when we use both triggers of evolution and discipline of skill building at the same time, water and mercury do not mix! Use only one trigger at a time, disciplining or evolving!

Evolution is not a 6 weeks slimming course! You cannot define time for it. It just happens unconsciously. It works even when one is asleep.