05-14-2011, 12:00 AM
This same subject came up on another forum I belong to, and in a private conversation with a good friend. So it seems relevant to add what was gleaned this morning...
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When engaging the path, it is important to understand the difference between information, belief and knowledge. Put simply, it is simply this:
Information cosists of the data one encounters in the course of living - what you have read in books, on the internet, heard through the media, friends, family or any other source. Information is all around us... but not all information is truth. In fact, most of it isn't.
Belief might be defined as what occurs when the mind processes information and reaches certain conclusions. For example, you're told as a chid that fire will burn you, but until you stick your hand into the flame, you cannot really know for certain. What you believe may seem to be true, but if you are honest with yourself, if you live by the tenet of "Question everything!", you will be continuously asking yourself why you believe certain things, and again if you are honest, you will come to *see* that much of what you believe is only regurgitated information. You have not experienced it for yourself, so you can only believe it. Example: many people claim to believe in reincarnation, or an extant deity, but unless one has full-on memory of the alleged past life, or some type of quantifiable proof of the existence of their deity, it is only a belief - information which has been processed, bt which is not necessarily "true" in the bigger picture. There can be a useful application for belief - "fake it till you make it" - but most times, you will find that your beliefs hold you back from Knowledge, rather than moving you toward it. It is only when the seeker is fully aware of her beliefs that she might be able to access the power required to process those beliefs into actual Knowledge - a trait of only the most diligent seekers, because ultimately most human beings do not want to release their existing comfort zones (beliefs, faith, information).
Knowledge is really very simple. It is what you have experienced for yourself and therefore know to be true. In its pure state, Knowledge exists without conclusions. Example: if you have been told that fire is hot (information), and you then proceed to hold your hand in the flame, you then Know that fire is indeed hot. However, what is important to also know is that this is not necessarily the highest truth - for even Knowledge is always evolving. Consider the firewalkers who may walk through an actual furnace at 1300 degrees, and suffer no physical harm. Fire is still hot. But fire does not always burn. Therefore, the advanced seeker observes and experiences her Knowledge, but without limiting it through the assignation of conclusions. Example: if you were to conclude that fire ALWAYS consumes, you would never be able to be a firewalker yourself, and would most likely *believe* firewalking to be a hoax or some manner of anomaly. So, put simply, knowledge is what you experience and ONLY what you experience.
It is vitally important for any seeker to fully understand that what she believes is not necessarily truth. What she has been told is not knowledge. Only what she herself has experienced directly may be classified as Knowledge.
Knowledge may be shared, but not transferred. My knowledge can only be given to you as information.
Do with it as you Will.
(Orlando - 2011)
"The destruction of faith is the beginning of evolution."
________________________
When engaging the path, it is important to understand the difference between information, belief and knowledge. Put simply, it is simply this:
Information cosists of the data one encounters in the course of living - what you have read in books, on the internet, heard through the media, friends, family or any other source. Information is all around us... but not all information is truth. In fact, most of it isn't.
Belief might be defined as what occurs when the mind processes information and reaches certain conclusions. For example, you're told as a chid that fire will burn you, but until you stick your hand into the flame, you cannot really know for certain. What you believe may seem to be true, but if you are honest with yourself, if you live by the tenet of "Question everything!", you will be continuously asking yourself why you believe certain things, and again if you are honest, you will come to *see* that much of what you believe is only regurgitated information. You have not experienced it for yourself, so you can only believe it. Example: many people claim to believe in reincarnation, or an extant deity, but unless one has full-on memory of the alleged past life, or some type of quantifiable proof of the existence of their deity, it is only a belief - information which has been processed, bt which is not necessarily "true" in the bigger picture. There can be a useful application for belief - "fake it till you make it" - but most times, you will find that your beliefs hold you back from Knowledge, rather than moving you toward it. It is only when the seeker is fully aware of her beliefs that she might be able to access the power required to process those beliefs into actual Knowledge - a trait of only the most diligent seekers, because ultimately most human beings do not want to release their existing comfort zones (beliefs, faith, information).
Knowledge is really very simple. It is what you have experienced for yourself and therefore know to be true. In its pure state, Knowledge exists without conclusions. Example: if you have been told that fire is hot (information), and you then proceed to hold your hand in the flame, you then Know that fire is indeed hot. However, what is important to also know is that this is not necessarily the highest truth - for even Knowledge is always evolving. Consider the firewalkers who may walk through an actual furnace at 1300 degrees, and suffer no physical harm. Fire is still hot. But fire does not always burn. Therefore, the advanced seeker observes and experiences her Knowledge, but without limiting it through the assignation of conclusions. Example: if you were to conclude that fire ALWAYS consumes, you would never be able to be a firewalker yourself, and would most likely *believe* firewalking to be a hoax or some manner of anomaly. So, put simply, knowledge is what you experience and ONLY what you experience.
It is vitally important for any seeker to fully understand that what she believes is not necessarily truth. What she has been told is not knowledge. Only what she herself has experienced directly may be classified as Knowledge.
Knowledge may be shared, but not transferred. My knowledge can only be given to you as information.
Do with it as you Will.
(Orlando - 2011)
"The destruction of faith is the beginning of evolution."