Do you really know anything? Knowledge gets in the way of knowing who you really are.
by Vic Shayne
author
13 Pillars of Enlightenment: How to realize your true nature and end suffering
Do you really know anything? At first thought, this question may be taken as an insult, especially if you pride yourself on your education, status, or accomplishments. But let’s move beyond this if we can, which means, let’s move beyond the egoic self. Why? Because the egoic self — the person you take yourself to be — is constructed out of knowledge.
What do we know except for what we have been told? It would seem that what we believe we know is the bulk of what occupies our convictions and senses of self. Knowing things is useful for navigating this world, but if we are speaking of knowing your self at the most fundamental level, then knowledge is not at all helpful. In fact, it is the biggest obstacle. You are not what you know, have, or think. You are prior to all of these things.
Very few people are earnestly interested in finding out who they are devoid of the egoic self. While many will insist they want to find their true selves, if it means giving up the ego to do so then they hesitate or bail out. It is often surprising how entrenched and protective the ego is; it does not want to let go. And it is fearful of letting go, changing, discovering something about itself, or facing itself. It clings to knowledge — I am this and I am that.
Millions of people flock to spiritual teachings in the hopes of finding something called enlightenment. This is ironic, because spiritual teachings usually amount to nothing more than learning something from someone sitting on a platform and passing along their wisdom (their knowledge). Some of what they learn are clever ideas, experiences of their leader, and exercises that recondition the mind. But what they do not discover is how not to do any of these things because they do not lead to the true Self. How could they, since the true Self has nothing to do with information or practices?
Spirituality can be the ego’s best friend. It offers a false perception that you are growing, developing, and moving toward awakening. However, it is the “you” that is the problem, because the you is the egoic self. See the problem here? The mind chases itself.
There is no path to enlightenment and there is nothing you have to do to awaken to what you are. All sages agree on this point. Krishnamurti said, “Truth is a pathless land.” How true.
The solution? If you want to be awake, then just let go. Let go of everything you know, want, need, cherish, idealize, think about, and dislike, because all of this stuff is based upon knowledge that conditions the mind to create a sense of self and all that it thinks it possesses. What you know is not what you are. And what you are is not what you know. And you can never really know what you are; you can only know what you are not.
