The 38 Ways to Happiness :- Artfulness in Application (1)

Blessing Eight:
Artfulness in Application

 

A. INTRODUCTION
Since Blessing Seven, we have already discovered the value of being artful in knowledge — but it is not good enough — it is also necessary to be artful in the application of what we know — the subject of this Blessing.

A.1 People confuse knowledge with ability
Many people confuse knowledge with ability. Artfulness in the application of knowledge means that if you have learned an occupational subject, if you have learned all the necessary theory, you have to transform that theory into practice allowing you to earn your living. If you have learned Dhamma theory, you have to transform that knowledge into Dhamma practice.

It is like someone who reads a manual of swimming who can memorize every page of the manual. He knows how many types of swimming styles exist and what all the differences are. When he has read the book, he puts it at the side of the swimming pool and jumps in — sinking without a trace!

A.2 Why no-one wants fresh graduates
This is one reason why many graduates are unemployed — they have only knowledge from examinations or from copying their friends. They have no practical knowledge. They expect to get a prestigious job in keeping with their prestigious degree and look down on almost every type of work. When they have only academic knowledge, no practical knowledge and they expect to choose where they want to work, who can they expect to want to take them on? If you don’t want to be an unemployed graduate, you should take on any work you can find, to get the practical experience ever since you have not yet graduated. If you can transform your academic knowledge into practical skills even before you graduate, you will make a very attractive prospect for employers. There will be employers asking after you even before you graduate.

Some people get themselves a prestigious degree in accounting. They take a job as a lecturer in university and because they can teach accounting in a way that allows their students to become successful accountants, they think that they are also a capable accountant. The lecturer sees that his students are richer than he is, so he gives up his job to start a business himself. Before long, his business is bankrupt and he has to go back to teaching! Only then would such a person find out the reality that knowledge and application of knowledge are completely different attributes.


 

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