Knowledge is a Start, not a Finish

Knowledge is a Start, not a Finish

Knowledge is essential for any human endeavor. There might be exceptions, but based on my experience, I am not aware of any. Similarly, I cannot proceed in the Work without acquiring new knowledge and new perspectives on our old knowledge. So, as a “devotee” to a new way of life, I explore new territory and revisit old territory with a new lens.

Knowledge by itself is not enough, however. Without changing my level of being, that is, becoming something else, I cannot advance in the Work with any certainty. Being acquired by applying new knowledge and by experiencing life firsthand allows a change in my level of being.

Knowledge by itself is hollow. Even knowing the right thing to do at the right time, for instance, is not necessarily the best thing to do. In addition, I live in an anti-intellectual period with cynicism snakes at every turn. And I have learned time and time again that being right is only a part. As a college teacher, former manager, and as a student in the School, I have seen over and over again that there are limits to knowledge, and this quixotic quest for “being right” is an example of the hollowness of knowledge.

When we know something with all of our being it is something quite different. The Teacher has said many times that if all of my being wanted to awaken, I would awaken. When I can act from knowledge and being that is from the part of myself that has brought all of this together, I can behave in a way that is quite extraordinary.

For example, compassion and empathy are only borne out of applied knowledge, out of becoming somebody different. I was not born with the ability to empathize with someone. Being kind is a start, but not if I am merely satisfied with feeling good about myself. I need to learn about compassion and empathy through experience and by applying psychological knowledge, then I can develop such emotional intelligence.

If my goal was only to become a highly emotionally intelligent creature, however, then being right and the growth of empathy, etc., would be more than enough. In contrast, I am trying to achieve the nearly impossible: I am trying to become something more than a machine, more than an emotional center. Better said, I am trying to learn to reveal my higher parts, my Higher Centers. By increasing my knowledge and being, I am reorienting my life and pursuing the higher as much as possible.

That level of understanding comes with time and effort, and only after making lots of mistakes. Without mistake-making, without many missteps, I can never learn what I need to learn about the limits of my lower centers. Lifting the veil from my natural knowledge and being reveals another realm of possibilities. The Teacher tells us that “Time is a factor.”

But to loop back, the journey starts with efforts to increase knowledge and being. Filling our centers, intentionally, with knowledge that is devoted to awakening and consciousness is a necessary first step. Over time, what I achieve is surprisingly not worldly. What I find is an understanding that everything is possible, that through my apparent nothingness, I find everything. This might sound like gibberish to my intellectual center, but therein lies the limits of my intellectual capabilities. States of consciousness are not for the lower centers; states of consciousness are for our Higher Centers.

So take the first steps of learning the new knowledge and relearning the old knowledge by applying it in ways that grow your being. As your understanding grows, you become more whole, and you will see even more possibilities. The first step is learning new information and learning it in a way with your eyes wide open and your heart open as well. From many holes you become whole.

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Devotee Statue, Mirpur Khas, Sindh, early 5th century CE, Mumbai Museum