Unlearning - How do you know when it's time?

Episode 05 - Release date: August 5, 2022

I finally understood this concept during my Buddhism phase. I was learning a lot about it and really related. I heard the teacup analogy. If you haven’t heard it, it pretty much is a quick story about serving an already filled cup with tea, with more tea, so it overflows. The teacup is your mind. You can’t fit anything else if you don’t get rid of what is already there. I had that Hallelujah moment. Get rid of previous mentalities.

Learning

As we grow up we learn many things and trust those around us. Over time you may start to question why you do certain things, and realize that it may not serve much of a purpose in your lifestyle, or it may be outdated and doesn’t have the same usefulness it once did.

This also reminds me of the parable of the raft. A man builds a raft to cross a stream/river. After he crosses the question is, do you continue to carry the raft, or leave it. Some say continue to carry it in case you need it again. Some say to leave it as its purpose is done. I am of the type to discard. Once the purpose is done, then there may no need to keep it around. Some argue about emotional attachment. To me the emotional attachment is not dependent on my ownership or possession of the item.

Harder to learn or unlearn?

Think of a new skill you are acquiring. Learning a musical instrument, driving, cooking. You have some successes with it. Somebody else comes along and tells you you’ve been doing it wrong. At this point, if you’ve had some successes, then it’s certainly not wrong if it works, but it may be inefficient. Unlearning your method and learning the new “efficient” method may take more effort than to have learned it efficiently in the first place. So the question is, which is harder/easier, to learn something new, or unlearn something old?

When is Unlearning not necessary?

My personal opinion would be if it is not affecting others in a negative way. But Buddhism teaches interdependence, and we are all more connected than we may realize. So if it affects you, it probably affects others.

What about you? How do you realize it’s time to unlearn? Have you ever realized it? Let us know or comment below.