The four simple words that are absolutely essential for knowing real truth are these: “I don’t know.” It may seem paradoxical that not knowing has anything to do with knowing truth at all. But real truth is often quite paradoxical and confusing when seen from the logical mind. If you’ve worked with Zen koans you’ve experienced this.
It’s important to realize that the mind will never understand real truth. It can only understand its limited interpretation of truth. So these humbling words and the honest direct experience of them “I don’t know.” have a profound effect on us. When we admit that we truly don’t know, the thinking mind is temporarily put aside. There is a greater presence, a greater spaciousness. And real truth has a chance to be directly realized.
Practical Applications In Daily Life
Not only are these simple humble words true in every situation, they also have very practical applications in our daily life. For instance a few days ago the relationship I had with my girlfriend ended. There are moments when some sadness arises. Ahna is an extremely beautiful woman, the embodiment of fun and I had a wonderful time being with her. Some sadness is natural. This sadness has a very specific source – my thoughts. When I admit the truth to myself everything changes. I don’t really know Ahna. The actual truth of her is far more than I can ever conceive with my mind and my past experiences and opinions of her. I don’t know our relationship. The truth of it too is far more than I could ever imagine. I don’t know myself. The truth of what I am is far more than I can ever understand with my mind. I don’t know is always true in every situation. When I use it in this situation, the actual truth emerges. And the actual truth is always beautiful. There is love that is always here and depends on nothing at all. Peace and happiness too. In truth, this is what is here and it is always here. Truth is alive, vibrant and present and can never be captured by a thought, belief or knowledge.
The ego hates this.
It is only my thoughts about truth that prevent me from directly experiencing this. The real truth about everything always begins with these simple words: I don’t know. When we admit this to ourselves and fully embrace and embody it, miracles happen. Truth is revealed. The ego may hate these words. It takes away all imagined control. It takes away the belief that I can figure it out. It takes away the hope that I can know this with my mind if I work hard enough at it, if I read the right books or Facebook posts. But the truth is, this is not so. It has never been so. It never will be so.
The Experts
There are many experts in our world, including in spiritual circles. These people tell us they do know. They’ve got it all figured out. They’ve even written books about it. Many are very popular because we’re attracted to their apparent confidence and charisma. We want to know truth with our minds. We want to figure it out too. And it seems like they can help us.
What the majority of these experts have in common is that their truth is made of thoughts, stories and beliefs, which is the language we speak and feel comfortable with. And these change and evolve over time. Some stick to the ideas and beliefs in a certain book, but these are also just ideas and beliefs written down. In ten thousand years, there will be different thoughts, stories and beliefs. Trust me on this. Real truth doesn’t change.
What they don’t have is the humility, self-awareness and honesty to say I don’t know. What they don’t really have is truth. So we tend to move from one expert to another, hoping that the next one will have the Holy Grail, the doorway to real truth. Or we stick with one and wonder why this truth we believe seems so fragile that it needs to be defended. And why we are still suffering. Why we are not yet awake.
Direct experience is the ONLY way to realize Truth.
This is exactly why the Enlightenment Experience Groups and Guided Self-Inquiry are not about thoughts, stories, beliefs and theories. They are about direct experience, because direct experience is the ONLY way to know truth. And it begins with admitting to ourselves that everything we thought was truth is not. It begins with realizing that truth cannot be confined or limited to any thought no matter how profound or interesting. And in this honest and truthful openness, truth is finally available to us as it really is. It doesn’t mean we can then capture what we experience and present it as a thought. In the beginning we often have a desire to do just that in order to capture and share it. But we soon realize we were just fooling ourselves. We were simply reverting to our conditioned mental habit. This passes after awhile.
The Doorway To Truth
So admit it now. Accept it now. Repeat after me and totally accept that this is true. I don’t know. I really don’t. Truth will always remain a complete mystery to my mind no matter how much I read, how much I explore, how much I experience and perceive. The only thing I can really honestly say is this: “I don’t know.” And that’s enough. That clears the space for real truth to reveal itself. And if you do this honestly, if you truly embody this with your whole being, it does. Truth does reveal itself. And it is absolutely wonderful.
This blog is so beautifully expressed and well-written. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for commenting, Karen.
Link to look up or read around these quotes
http://www.miraclecenter.org/a-course-in-miracles/
I really don’t know, Peter!
I don’t know what is good for me, what is happening, what will happen.
In my higher mind, or ‘Right Mind’, to use A Course in Miracles terminology, that is ok, relaxing, spacious, freeing, interesting, unlimited possibilities, a wonder.
In my lower mind, or ego, that is terrifying.
The Course advises me to remind myself constantly:
“I do not know what anything, including this, means.
And so I do not know how to respond to it.
And I will not use my own past learning,
As the light to guide me now.”
Also:
“There is no statement that the world is more afraid to hear than this:
I do not know the thing I am
And therefore do not know
What I am doing
Where I am
Or how to look upon the world or on myself.
Yet in this learning is salvation born.
And What you are will tell you of Itself.”
Fortunately the choice is available to me every single moment,
How do I choose to see this?
Through the eyes of Love (“How would You have me see this? And what would You have me do?”)
Or through the eyes of fear. (“Aaaagghhhh!!!!)
:o)
The choice is mine, always mine. If I REALLY want it to remember that, above ALL else.
Yes, it is very clear. The four words the ego hates the most are what give us freedom. And the ego hates freedom. To be free, you must be free of the ego. You must simply be. And where is the ego in pure being? You are free. You have always been free. Only the thoughts that make up the ego prevent you from realizing this. Truth is very simple, very clear. Add some thoughts on top of it and believe them and it can seem extremely complex.