"What is Knowledge?"

[Guest guest]

Dear List,

 

There is always some confusion about what knowledge really is, so I decided

to write this short essay explaining about it. Please don't take this on

"my authority," as I have none, but investigate these words for yourself

and see if they are true.

 

"What is Knowledge?"

 

Most people define knowledge as the accumulation of facts by the mind.

However, that is actually increase of ignorance. Advaita Vedanta sees the

mind as ignorant. The mind can see only duality, not truth. Therefore, we

say "I am not the mind."

 

Certain facts are necessary to know in order to live a daily life. Facts

such as "how to get dressed,how to cook breakfast," etc. are necessary

as long as we are in this world, incarnate in a body, and trying to live

some kind of life. Certain sages have rejected even these facts, and gone

to live alone in caves, but even they must know how to walk, to sit without

falling, etc. Even these things consist of mental knowledge, for did we

know how to walk as young infants, or even how to sit up?

 

The true definition of knowledge is in the loss of conditioning.

Conditioning begins with human beings in infancy, and continues through

most of life. The first conditionings consist of "me" vs. "other" - that

is the first ignorance that appears. The infant makes the distinction

between himself and his mother and father. After that, more ignorance

appears as the infant distinguishes "me" from "the rest of the world" and

begins to notice that things seem to be separate from him. Then the idea

of time arrives, along with other dualities.

 

At the point of adolescence, conditioning really begins to take a strong

hold of most minds, and at that point the mind begins to condition itself,

to develop ideas based on inferences from other known ideas. At that

point, a chain of events is established that immerses the person completely

in ignorance and duality. This chain continues uninterrupted throughout

most of life, unless there is some interceding agent that makes the person

aware of the cycle, and gives them some idea of how to break it. This

interceding agent can be anything; contact with another who has dispelled

some ignorance, reading some books that point in the direction of truth,

contact with a human Guru, etc. Also, some souls are almost ready for

realization, having lived thousands of lifetimes and shedding ignorance

along the way, and such people may realize Truth spontaneously, at the

slightest "drop of a hat."

 

There are many ways to dispel ignorance and connect again with who we

really are. "The truth is One, sages call it by various names." There is

also a natural tendency of the mind to feel that whatever means has been

used by that mind to dispel ignorance, that is the only valid path, and all

other paths are invalid. This tendency needs to be kicked out and seen for

the foolishness it is. There are as many paths to truth as there are human

beings alive on Earth. To quote Vivekananda,

 

"It has been recognized in the most ancient times that there are various

forms of worshiping God. It is also recognized that different natures

require different methods. Your method of coming to God may not be my

method, possibly it might hurt me. Such an idea as that there is but one

way for everyone is injurious, meaningless, and entirely to be avoided.

(...) When this variation in thought is kept up, we must exist; and we

need not quarrel because of that variety. Your way is very good for you,

but not for me. My way is good for me but not for you." (3:131)

 

So, knowledge, in the true sense, is the loss of ideas and conditionings,

not the gain of them. There is nothing to be gained in realizing the Atman

except the realization itself. In fact, we are always the Atman/Brahman,

have always been so eternally, and always will be. How can that fact be

added to? Knowledge can only be the riddance of that which blocks the

knowing of our true nature. Anything else is ignorance, and those who do

not see that fact are themselves ignorant.

 

Other relevant quotes by Swami Vivekananda:

 

"Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no

other way to know. If we have not experienced it in this life, we must

have experienced it in other lives." (2:220)

 

"All search is vain, until we begin to perceive that knowledge is within

ourselves, that no one can help us, that we must help ourselves." (1:258)

 

"Relative knowledge is good, because it leads to absolute knowledge; but

neither the knowledge of the senses, nor of the mind, nor even of the Vedas

is true, since they are all within the realm of relative knowledge. First

get rid of the delusion "I am the body," then only can we want real

knowledge. Man's knowledge is only a higher degree of brute knowledge."

(7:33)

 

"Think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out your own

salvation." (7:86)

 

"Great truths are simple because they are of universal application. Truth

itself is always simple. Complexity is due to man's ignorance." (6:35)

 

"Realization is real religions, all the rest is only preparation -- hearing

lectures, or reading books, or reasoning is merely preparing the ground; it

is not religion. Intellectual assent and intellectual dissent are not

religion. The central idea of the yogis is that just as we come in direct

contact with objects of the senses, so religion even can be directly

perceived in a far more intense sense." (1:232)

 

Hari OM,

 

Tim

 

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