“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
~ Socrates
Today’s article is the second in our Awakened Qualities series. You can find the first one here.
If we drill down to the absolute truth of things, we see that we have no idea what is going to happen. Life just is, and it unfolds as it does.
This is true of the small, mundane moments of our lives as well as the more momentous ones. But don’t take my word for it.
- Do you know the next words that will come out of your mouth?
- Even if you work hard to make something happen and want it with all your heart—do you actually know that it will happen?
- Isn’t it true that your whole life can change in a moment—by a chance meeting, a diagnosis, or any unexpected event?
The nature of reality is completely fresh, shining with timeless brilliance. This means that we, with our human minds and personal desires, can’t possibly know what will happen.
This is the absolute truth no matter what we expect, no matter what has happened in the past, no matter how much we want something to happen.
And if we’re lulled into same old-same old, thinking things are familiar and commonplace, we’ve bought into another of the mind’s illusions. Because without applying mind-made stories, every nanosecond is utterly new.
So we’re faced with two choices.
We can stay entangled in our assumptions, expectations, and desires—then feel frustrated when they’re not met.
Or we can align ourselves with the truth that we know nothing.
The exploration of not knowing reveals how much we resist:
- Assuming things should happen a certain way;
- Thinking we know what is right for other people and the world;
- Worrying about what might or might not happen;
- Fighting against things as they are.
Or maybe we fall asleep to the essential aliveness of everything, living like we’re half-alive, because we take things for granted.
Reflecting on these ways of being, we notice we’re left in an imagined state of lack, with that sneaking feeling that something isn’t right.
This information about our inner workings is so valuable—because it points us to another possibility.
In the moments when we receive and allow—rather than expect and assume—our suffering ceases.We come alive to what is!
And we begin to follow the flow rather than struggle against it.
Feel into that possibility in your own experience…
If your mind is like mine, it cycles in a desire-driven monologue of “I want! I want! I want!” or a fear-driven stream of worries about the future. It judges others and makes you believe you’re damaged and unworthy. Or it shuts down to the freshness—”Oh, this again.”
Try calming your mind down with a full and conscious breath and tuning in with curiosity to what is alive right now. Coach your fearful mind to know that all is okay so you can show up fully to what is.
Move through the dullness of familiarity by starting with, “I don’t know” and not relying on inner programming.
This is how what to do becomes apparent. Without resistance hijacking our attention, there’s less extraneous thinking and the space to clearly recognize the natural flow of things.
We’re simply at ease, trusting the truth of the moment. And it’s beautiful—because it’s right here, totally alive, and palpably real.
Free of limitations, we enter the sacred realm of innocence and wonder. We’re available to infinite possibilities and indescribably intimate with what is.
Brigitte says
I enjoyed reading the article and it inspired me to have hope and reaize there is a great world out there with infinite possibilites.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Brigitte
Ram says
Grail
Is knowing and not knowing of the concious mind?
I was wondering if our discomfort with not knowing is due to our mistaken experiance of taking our concious mind to be be our wholeness and not integrating our unconcious/heart/body with our concious part of our being..what are your reglections on this?
Gail Brenner says
Hi Ram,
Knowing and not knowing are polarities. In the vastness of our true nature, there’s just This, what is, what’s here as it is. Knowing is our true nature.
You could say that our discomfort with not knowing is from taking the mind’s content to be wholeness. This discomfort is the result of personal identification – believing we are limited and separate. Who is it who is uncomfortable?
We can’t “do” the integrating that you speak of. Deep relaxation into pure being (even that is too much doing but it’s the limits of language), ends all questions…. Only this infinite vastness….