The process of learning may be defined as a choice and change, either consciously or unconsciously, in personal behavior as a direct result of an acquired experience. In other words, a person’s manner of perceiving and thinking about him or herself, as well as the person’s method of dealing with life, changes as a result of successful or erroneous actions. But, the act of learning may be accomplished vicariously, through the act of observing, reading or listening to the experiences of another being.

Every person has the innate ability to learn, to greater or lesser degrees. As a race, this is one of our most outstanding shared characteristics. Each person, however, will see any given set of circumstances from a uniquely individual point-of-view. Knowledge is a direct result of one’s own experiences, and no two people have ever had the same, identical experiences. Even when witnessing the same event, for instance, no two people will see it or react to it in exactly the same way. They will each learn something entirely different from the experience, according to the manner in which it affects their own personal beliefs, needs or goals. Thus, one person’s experiences condition him or her to respond to some things in one way, to others in another way, and to ignore some things all together.

Learning begins with experiential perceptions, which are transmitted to the brain via one or more of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste). Understanding of the perception occurs more rapidly when such information is received through more than two senses at the same time. Perception, however, involves far more than just the mechanical reception of relevant information. It is the result of the conscious human mind giving meaning to these sensations in accordance to consciously or unconsciously held beliefs, theories, ideals and philosophies. People generally base their actions upon these meanings, which form their conception of reality.

Fear adversely affects a person’s perceptions of a situation by narrowing the scope of his or her sensory field. When threatened with a knife or a gun, for example, the area of a person’s vision is drastically reduced and his or her entire attention is focused upon the weapon, the object which caused the fear. And, fear of the unknown is the greatest of all human fears. A person should, therefore, attempt to evoke a more meaningful and positive perception of all knowledge acquired, controlling (rather than stifling) his or her fear and widening the field of perception to take in all necessary information.

Perceptions are utilized in the process of learning at any of several levels. Rote memorization, the first and lowest step of the educational ladder, is the mechanical ability to repeat what has been taught, without necessarily understanding or being able to apply the material. When the second level, comprehension, is achieved, the student can see how the information relates to specific situations and can, then, develop the mental and physical skills to apply the knowledge appropriately. The third, and final, step up the ladder is the level at which the student becomes able to correlate present material with that of previous lessons, combining and juxta-positioning the information to create new applications. This final step is absolutely necessary to the success of any type of personal growth or spiritual enlightenment. Without it, the student will be little more than an automaton, a puppet that only responds when the instructor pulls the strings.

When a person forgets something, usually due to the information simply not being used for a prolonged period of time, the material is not actually lost forever. Rather, it has become unavailable for recall. The mind has lost all motivation to locate the information, which it has moved to a deeper region of the memory. The objective, therefore, is to make certain that the information is kept ready for recall. Material most recently acquired is most easily remembered. Lessons learned with meaning and personal significance are also highly resistant to loss. Such learning builds strong patterns of relationship and association in the student’s consciousness.

That is why one must approach learning in a practical and systematic manner. It cannot be accomplished through non-action and blind faith, nor can it be achieved by frantic experimentation and scientific fact-gathering. Instead, it requires a conscious blend of these two approaches, and that is the solitary path of the Mystic.