Blessing Eight:
Artfulness in Application
Artfulness in Application
D. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
D.1 Proverb: He who knows but a single skill. . .
He who knows but a single skill can eke out his livelihood with ease.
D.2 Metaphor: Just as twigs . . .
If you plant a mango tree, the benefit you get from it depends entirely on the amount of fruit. Even though the tree might grow a trunk, branches and leaves — these are no more than precursors for any benefit which may come later. In the same way, even though a person may be learned, this knowledge is no more than a precursor for the benefit that can accrue if the knowledge is applied.
D.3 Ex. Swimology (traditional)
Once a young professor was making a sea voyage. He was a highly educated man with a long tail of letters after his name, but he had little experience of life. In the crew of the ship on which he was traveling was an illiterate old sailor. Every evening the sailor would visit the cabin of the young professor to listen to him hold forth on many different subjects. He was very impressed with the learning of the young man.
One evening as the sailor was about to leave the cabin after several hours of conversation, the professor asked,”Old man, have you studied geology?”
“What is that, sir?”
“The science of the earth.”
“No sir, I have never been to any school or college. I have never studied anything.”
“Old man, you have wasted a quarter of your life.”
With a long face the old sailor went away. “If such a learned person says so, certainly it must be true,” he thought. “I have wasted a quarter of my life.”
Next evening again, as the sailor was about to leave the cabin, the professor asked him, “Old man, have you studied oceanography?”
“What is that, sir?”
“The science of the sea.”
“No, sir, I have never studied anything.”
“Old man, you have wasted half your life.”
With a still longer face the sailor went away: “I have wasted half my life; this learned man says so.”
Next evening again as the sailor was about to leave the cabin, “Old man, have you studied meteorology?”
“What is that, sir? I have never heard of it.”
“The science of the wind, the rain, the weather.”
“No sir. As I told you, I have never been to any school. I have never studied anything.”
“You have not studied the science of the earth on which you live; you have not studied the science of the sea on which you earn your livelihood; you have not studied the science of the weather which you encounter every day? Old man, you have wasted three-quarters of your life.”
The old sailor was very unhappy: “This learned man says that I have wasted three-quarters of my life! Certainly I must have wasted three-quarters of my life.
The next day it was the turn of the old sailor. He came running to the cabin of the young man and cried, “Professor! Have you studied swimology?”
“Swimology? What do you mean?”
“Can you swim, sir?”
“No, I don’t know how to swim.”
“Professor! You have wasted the whole of your life! The ship has struck a rock and is sinking. Those who can swim may reach the nearby shore, but those who cannot swim will drown. I am sorry, professor sir, you have surely lost your life.”
You may study all the “-ologies” of the world, but if you don’t learn swimology, all your studies are useless. You may read and write books on swimming, you may debate on its subtle theoretical aspects, but how will that help if you refuse to enter the water yourself? You must learn how to swim.
D.4 Ex. Sālittaka Jātaka(J.107)
In ancient times, there was a child with polio. His legs were so weak that he couldn’t walk anywhere unaided. He had to stay wherever his friends put him. He couldn’t even get up. Although his body was deformed, his intelligence was bright. He didn’t look down on any subject. The child would practice flicking sand until he could flick sand a long distance very precisely. The boy used his skills to earn favours from others. The boy could flick sand so accurately that he could shoot holes in the leaves of trees above. Not only holes — but he could shoot holes in the shapes of anything he wanted — whether they be the shape of rabbits or tigers or deer. The boy would shoot holes in leaves to the order of the other children in return for sweets. The boy with polio had never studied in school, but through his skill, he had more sweets to eat than the other children every day.
One day the boy was flicking sand on the sand heap for the other children when the king passed by. All the other children ran away, and the boy with polio was left alone. The king came to rest in the shade of the tree by the sand heap and when he looked up, he was surprised to see that almost every leaf of the tree had been perforated in the shape of different animals. The king asked how the tree had come to be that way, and found out that it was due to the skills of the boy with polio. The king thought, “the skills of such a boy should not be wasted at the sandpit.” The king happened to have a something on his mind — every time he had a meeting of his counsellors, there was a particular counsellor who would interrupt and dominate the discussion regularly wasting the time of everyone in the meeting. The king asked the boy, “if someone were to open their mouth, would you be able to shoot goat dung into their mouth in the same way you shoot sand through leaves?”
The boy said, “It would be a piece of cake.” The king had the boy taken into the palace. Those with all health and strength never got the chance to go to the palace, but this poor crippled boy did. Every time there was a meeting, the boy was put behind a curtain in the room. Every time the counsellor in question opened his mouth to speak, the boy flicked goat dung into his mouth. The boy was so fast, that the counsellor didn’t even know where the taste in his mouth had come from. The counsellor would
want to speak but change his mind as a result every time, because he would have to swallow what was in his mouth. One day, the counsellor had opened his mouth so many times that the boy had used up a whole litre of goat dung. The king felt sorry for the counsellor and was afraid he would get dysentery. He ordered the counsellor to go and wash his mouth out immediately and told him to reduce the amount he said or else in future he would get two litres of goat dung in his mouth! On future occasions, the counsellor had to consider carefully before saying anything in case he fell prey to flying goat dung. As the result of having more effective meetings, the economics of the kingdom improved considerably. The king rewarded the crippled boy by allocated all the money earned in taxes from a certain province to him as pin-money. The cripple became a rich man as the result of a single skill — because he put his mind to perfecting his skill.
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