The University of Life
Living on this planet is like going to a university. Everyone is both a student and a teacher, and all Earth's natural resources are the supporting staff.
We are learning that we are all unique and beautiful faces of the same One, and each of us is playing an important role in the drama of Creation. Every event is part of the learning process and every person in our lives has something to teach us.
This book is your orientation manual, study guide, and student advisor.
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Table of Contents |
1. Introduction
2. A Few Experiences
3. The Usefulness of Hypotheses
4. The Concept of the University of Life
5. What Are the Lessons?
6. Looking at Events in Light of the University of Life
7. How to Study in This University
8. My Study Kit in This University
9. I Am a Multiple Entity in This University
10. I Am a Droplet of Water in the Ocean
11. I Have Always Been with Him
12. The Reason for Establishing the University of Life
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Excerpt |
Following is my perception of the life on Earth and the metaphor of the University of Life. This University has its similarities as well as differences with the conventional universities. The University of Life has a campus, a student body, an administration headed by its Master, the supporting staff, programs of study and lessons for all of its students, teaching and research scholarships, academic years and the resting periods, or summer vacation, in between. It also has visiting scholars and lecturers.
Unlike the conventional universities, the University of Life offers only one degree. When a student has completed all the requirements and has sufficiently progressed toward his goal, he will then graduate from this University and will not need to come back to it as a student any more. However, he may come back as an alumni to help special students, in any form that the University Master decides.
Let us now discuss these features briefly. In so doing, I will make an item by item comparison of the University of Life with conventional universities.
THE CAMPUS This University (that is, the University of Life) has a campus: it is the whole planet Earth.
THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION This University has a Master, and it is God. He, She, or It has maintained a delicate and highly effective administration. He has appointed some of His friends and the alumni of the University of Life to look after various details for operating this University as efficiently as possible. They do so with total love of the Master, the students, and the campus. Furthermore, they understand the students' capabilities and limitations for performing their tasks, and are generally very compassionate in dealing with everything.
THE STUDENT BODY All the five billion inhabitants on Earth (or this campus) constitute the student body in this University. They are here to learn their lessons and move up to a higher grade or level. It is indeed a large campus with a still large student enrollment. While the size of the campus has remained basically the same, the student enrollment has been increasing constantly.
THE FACULTY As in the conventional universities, the faculty in this University is also of great significance. If it were not for the dedication of our teachers to teach us what we need to learn, the students (either in the conventional universities or this University) would not be learning our lessons.
The University of Life does not have a separate body called "faculty." This is one difference between the conventional universities and the University of Life. Every student in this University, regardless of age, sex, color, and any other distinction, performs the role of teacher or faculty for one or more of the students. (There are, of course, special or visiting teachers who are appointed for a specific mission. I will refer to them later.) In a sense the University of Life is like a large tutorial institution, where everybody is teaching somebody something, while he himself is learning his lessons from them or someone else.
Also by Mehdi Bahadori: Love to Be Happy