I Knew That

Most of us learn facts, gather information or knowledge, but the mind never learns how to be quiet, how to be free from all the turmoil in life, from the soil in which problems take root.

Krishnamurti

Imagine the following exchange between a parent and child.

Parent: Once upon a time, there was a magic fairy. . .
Child: (Interrupting) No way, there are no such things as magic fairies.
Parent: (Undaunted) This magic fairy lived in a magic palace. . .
Child: (Indignantly) There are no such things as magic palaces!
Parent: (Slightly annoyed) One day the magic fairy met a goblin in the dark woods . . .
Child: (Almost hysterically) Goblins are not real, there is no way a magic fairy could meet a goblin because neither exist!
Parent (Laying the book down and brushing back a lock of hair from the child’s eyes.) Goblins do exist honey, and they eat little children who don’t believe in them. Sweet dreams.

Now imagine the following exchange, only on a more adult level.

Master: You need only enter the present moment to find the peace you seek. . .
Student: (Interrupting) No way I can stay in the present moment, the present moment sucks that’s why it needs to change.
Master: (Still in a state of peace) The present moment is changeless, it is the forms that come and go in the field of now that change.
Student: (Sarcastically) Please, everything changes and usually it changes for the worse. You want me to suffer all my life?
Master: (With loving-kindness) Your suffering results from the false beliefs you have about yourself. You are the now; you are that in which all happens.
Student: (Near narcissistic rage) I’ll tell you what happens, shit happens and that’s all she wrote.
Master: (In a state of total surrender) Tell me, what is the sound of my one hand slapping you on the back of the head?

From the moment in childhood when the thinking mind takes over, we have a very hard time hearing stories that do not conform to our preconceived notions of how things are. The closing of the mind occurs through the gradual build up of information, until we find ourselves surrounded by knowledge. It is this very knowing that keeps us from discovering new wonders.

This is why the essential ingredient in many ancient teachings is moving beyond our minds. It is not about becoming mindless, but becoming fully mindful; turning the light of our awareness on the world, minus the idea that we already know what is going on. In this open state, we become receptive to the world as it is and are no longer troubled by the world as we think it should be.

The liberation that comes from uttering the phrase “I don’t know” is profound. It helps to clear the slate and allows us to experience the depth of life. As Meister Eckhart put it so perfectly, “Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.” This helps to shake off the “been there, done that” syndrome that so many of us suffer from. The truth is that when we live in our heads we are never really “there” and whatever was “done” had to pass through the mind filter. When we enter into mindfulness, we begin to experience the true magic of a universe beyond our wildest imaginings.