It is good to be scholarly rather than scholastic. This means dwelling on the insights that the scriptures offer is preferable to reciting them without understanding. The scholar on the other focuses on isolating the insights contained in them and uses them to heighten his understanding. Spiritual seekers need to be aware of this distinction.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was one of the great sages who went on to have a huge global impact, not the least due to one of his greatest disciples Swami Vivekananda who spread his message to the rest of the world. He was the Paramahamsa’s Hanuman who served him with deep love, affection and devotion.
Consider this beautiful saying from Sri Ramakrishna: There is much truth in it. It helps to explain why the sage never speaks the language of outer but uses the wisdom of inner science.
"Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing."
Very similar to other penetrating utterances of Sri Ramakrishna, it is an extraordinary observation. It means that an obsession with learning thoughts derived from others cannot take the seeker on the path of self-revelation.
The other implication is the scholastic who after years of study has realized that he has understood nothing from bookish knowledge is qualified to take the path of self-knowledge. This is why it is said learning can often become an impediment in the spiritual journey.
The question is, how can the seeker attract god’s grace? Ramakrishna said: “God reveals himself to a devotee who feels drawn to him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain him”.