The beauty of ‘I don’t know’

Many of us have the tendency to answer or respond to any question that may be asked, even if we don’t fully know the answer. When we talk about scientific knowledge or even questions related to one’s formal education and profession, it comes in handy if we know what we are talking about. However, if we are talking about self-knowledge, that is a totally different realm.

First, our knowledge about our selves is not ours. We were told who we are. We have accumulated ideas and stories, and since those became so engrained in our memory, we rarely question this knowledge.

Second, spiritual knowledge is also told to us. We either listen to some spiritual teacher, or read books, or discuss in groups, some form of knowledge sharing or another. However, even this is not true to the person who is listening or reading. Having majority of the people, or a group of people you favour, agreeing to some idea, concept, belief, or notion, does not mean that that is reality or truth. 

Reality, as commonly perceived, is based on a group of people accepting a certain idea, usually label it or use language to describe it, and then everyone would agree that the concept is real.

Let’s take a short detour here, with fun scientific explanations:

A simple example of this is colours. We, collectively, agreed to call the colour of the ocean blue. However, individually, our perception of the colour blue is dependent on our previous experiences and memories. This is how the brain works. The light is perceived through the light-sensitive cells behind the eyes, they will transmit signals to the visual cortex in the back of the brain, then will run back to the front of the brain, to the prefrontal cortex, to recognize the meaning of what was visually perceived. In order to do that, the brain will run through its stored memory and find a meaning, in this case the colour will be labelled blue. 

Interestingly, in some regions, people can perceive more or less variations of colours. For example, in Papa New Guinea, speakers of Dani language, the colours blue and black are both called dark, as their language only has light and dark colour categories. A native Greek speaker differentiates two colours of blue one is light and one is dark. However, research suggests that if they stay for a long period in the UK, an English-speaking country, then they will simply refer to the two colours under one colour category which is blue, since in English language the colours are referred to as light blue and dark blue.

So back to the point, what we perceive as reality may differ from one person to the other depending on their own experiences and knowledge. The question then would be what is reality? If this is all a perception that can be manipulated through memories, experiences, influence of what the group says is real, or even language, what then is absolute reality?!

That gets us back to the humble response of ‘I don’t know’ for our inquiry of self-knowledge. ‘I don’t know’ is an opportunity to be open to the inquiry, and to be receptive to what is the ultimate reality, the ultimate truth. The moment we have an answer, the truth is hidden. It is so paradoxical! Any concept, any idea, any notion, any thought will be coming from the past knowledge. However, what is true is only revealed by direct experience in the here and now, no rushing for explanations, ideas, theories, and descriptions. It is your direct experience, a discovery, and not what you were told or read to be true. 

So, enjoy the discovery of what is new and fresh, every moment!