Ian Writes: So what is this "only don't know" stuff? Lol! Is that a clever joke? I think you've written a good koan:
The student asks, "what is this only-don't-know stuff?" The master replies, "you have written me a letter, asking where you can learn to write. In your next letter describe to me the taste of an orange. Call your failed attempt an "Ode to the misuse of Knolwedge". Its funny that for me, I was in a panic about knowing which stuff I needed to know, given the huge body of knowledge in human history. It seemed a puzzle of, given limited life, selecting which pieces to use and hoping my intellect was sufficiently trained to mesh the pieces together and grasp the Ultimate Truth. I walked around knowing the odds were stacked against me -- but I knew I couldn't give up knowledge because it seemed the only ticket out of this sometimes unhappy place. However, once I recognized my first don't-know (for me it was over-thinking how to breathe and fucking it up even worse) and I realized a new side of existence. I had created a monologue of knoweldge describing everything I encountered, via prediction, psychology, entropy, physiological knowledge of thinking, etc -- and of course I knew I hadn't grasped the ultimate truth because this narration was a pathetic attempt at descrbing a taste of an orange. Now the don't-knows far outweight the knows, dwarfing my collection of smart things to think into a small pathetic pile. I know knowledge (having experienced it) and I know I've eaten an orange. I don't-know what an orange tastes like. If im interested I will eat one for a reminder. I thought when I reached the boundary of knowledge I would find an Ultimate Truth, or at least have a lot of people kiss my ass for taking the human endeavor a step further. Once I realized I'd been stomping all over the 'boundary' inside and out, and claiming I couldn't see any of my foot prints in the don't-knows, I then got a whole chunk of life given back to me from myself. My horizone expanded to have both knoweldge and lack-of-knowledge. I can't even quite remember what made me think knowledge was more important then everything else in living... I suppose I was pretty unahppy then, and the knoweldge did work quite a bit. I just forgot to put it down after the storm passed. (obviously I like talking about my little discoveries... It takes my mind off the fact that my hairs on fire :) Rod Scholl ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Would you Help a Child in need? It is easier than you think. Click Here to meet a Child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/0Z9NuA/I_qJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
