Does being open-minded mean learning from everyone but not following anyone?

Hare Krishna. So, those who say that learn from everyone but don't follow anyone because if you don't commit it to someone then you will end up, that will narrow your thinking. If you can broaden your thinking by following, by being open to everyone.

This is, this is, it can seem like an open minded approach but there is a saying in English, don't be so open minded that your brain falls out. What that means is that, if we are learning anything, if we are serious about learning a subject, we have to commit to one thing. If I want to learn engineering, you say don't go to any college, just learn from all colleges.

No, yes, I have to go to one college, I commit myself to that college and get a degree from that college. Now, if there is something taught better in some other college, I might hear those lectures also extra or I may do a post graduation over there or I can read some other books. Just because I am learning from one college doesn't mean that I close myself to other sources of knowledge.

But, for us to get systematic grounding in a subject, we have to commit ourselves to one thing, one part, one process. It's like with respect to treatment. I can try to improve my health by getting some tips from Ayurveda, I may take something from I may take something from Ayurveda, that is all for my overall health improvement.

But, if I have a specific sickness, then I will have to commit to one treatment. Go to one doctor and do. If it is a serious sickness, it requires a serious commitment.

At that time, I cannot have a pick and choose approach. No, I have to follow a treatment properly. So, coming back now, with respect to spiritual life, it's a more inner growth of wisdom.

We want to learn, we want to grow internally, in our wisdom, in our understanding, we want to expand our consciousness. So, for that purpose, it is not just a matter of acquiring knowledge, it's a matter of consciousness, our consciousness expands just by getting knowledge. So, knowledge is one part of it, but even with knowledge, our conditioning remains, and we still keep acting according to default patterns.

So, for the changing of conditioning, a process of purification needs to be followed, and the process of purification requires commitment. So, it is, we can learn from various sources. Say, for example, sometimes if I'm preaching in the West, if I go to some Christian college, I might quote something from the Bible also, and before that I might read some section from the Bible, it's parallel to what I'm going to speak on.

That's fine, it's not that because we are studying Bhagavad Gita, so we consider all other books as bad, and we're not going to read any other books, it's not like that. This is the primary basis for our understanding, but then we are also open to other things. So, when we become, when open-mindedness leads to aversion to commitment, aversion to commitment, then the result is that we don't get deep learning.

We get learning, but it is superficial. It is like somebody saying that you want to get water, just dig at hundred places. Ok, it's good to dig at hundred places, but ultimately I have to dig at one place deeper, that's when I'll get the water.

So, initially we explore, first of all like which path do I want to follow, and then I commit to the path. So, that's like I explore where there is actually water. So, I need to explore, I cannot just start randomly digging at any place.

I have to explore to find out where I can get water. After I find that, I start digging over there, then I move on and then I decide how best can I, so that's where I'll get the water, but while doing that, while digging the water at one place, that's like, I want to follow a process and achieve a particular result. While doing that, if we can learn something more about how to better day or other things, we can always do that.

So, if we think of spiritual growth only in terms of knowledge, then it may appear as if sticking to one path will limit us, but if we talk about spiritual growth in terms of transformation, of purification, then we need commitment because that commitment is what is going to purify and transform us. So, we are spiritual seekers, not spiritual shoppers. Spiritual shopping means, that means that we, you know, when you go to shopping, I go to this shop, I go to that shop, okay, if I am going for shopping, then that's fine, I go for that, but if I am going to hospital, I am not a shopper still, in hospital I am going for treatment, for transformation basically.

So, spiritual path is not like a shopping spree, where I go and take whatever I like, but here in spiritual path, I am going to transform myself, I am going to treat myself, that's why as a spiritual seeker, I may be a shopper initially in the sense that I explore which path to follow, which hospital to go to, which treatment to take, but then I have to become a spiritual seeker, that means I have to become committed to the path, then I will be able to make progress.