“Learn from life” is a popular and valuable saying. We all can learn by thoughtfully observing our own life, the lives of those around us, and the world at large.

But not everyone seems able to learn from life. For many, life appears to be just a random, even chaotic, sequence of events that they can barely cope with, leave alone learn anything from. This naturally raises a critical question: Is there something actually there to learn in life’s events? Or are those events in themselves disorderly, but some people are creative enough to extract lessons from them?

The universe is a university with Krishna as the concerned, compassionate and committed teacher who stays round-the-clock in our heart to aid us in our learning.

Gita wisdom indicates that learning from life is a feature of universal reality. The Bhagavad-gita (18.61) indicates that the Supreme Lord, Krishna, residing in the heart of all of us directs our wanderings through material existence. He orchestrates events externally and provides guidance internally to further our spiritual evolution. The world is designed to stimulate that evolution by helping us to realize that Krishna alone can satisfy our heart’s longing for lasting love and enduring happiness. Thus, the universe is a university with Krishna as the concerned, compassionate and committed teacher who stays round-the-clock in our heart to aid us in our learning.

When we choose to love him by practicing bhakti-yoga, the resulting purification enables us to hear his illuminating inner voice and learn the lessons he is teaching through life. Some of us may be by nature more observant and contemplative, and so be more adept at learning from life. But all of us can increase our native capacity to learn by practicing bhakti-yoga. And most importantly we can all learn the supreme lesson of keeping our love directed towards Krishna in all situations, and thereby attain life eternal.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Text 61

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