The ABCs: K is for (Radical) Knowledge
It's more (or less) than you know (or less)
In many spiritual traditions, there is a practice in which a selected scriptural passage becomes the theme for the week. At Radical Spirituality, we do the same thing, but in a radical way.
Each Sunday, I offer The ABC’s of Radical Spirituality, a single, simple word distilled from the common principles of all the world’s faith and wisdom teachings that serves as the exploration for the week. They are the roots of Radical Spirituality. And because I am that person, the words are in alphabetical order.
It’s a simple practice to get to the roots of what matters on our spiritual path. The best part is that you will get out of it what you put into it. If you just keep the word on a sticky-note on your computer, it will still work it’s magic. But to dig deeper, delve in, dive in, and see what you find.
K is for (Radical) Knowledge
"Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks. Listen to your heart, it knows."
—Ojibwe Prayer
There is a Daoist teaching that says, “Read the book until you understand the meaning. Then throw away the book. Study the meaning until you know the principle, then throw away the meaning. Study the principle until you understand the Fundamental Ground. Then throw away the principle.” This is the root of Radical Knowledge. There is always more to know, yet Knowledge is beyond knowing.
In this Age of Information when “knowledge is power,” we often mistake what’s in books or on the internet for knowledge. We think we “know” because we read it somewhere. I am guilty of it, too. But spiritual Knowledge goes beyond words and facts. It’s the kind of knowing that has no need of ideas or the rational mind. In Ch’an/Zen Buddhism and Daoism, it’s known as the “Teaching without words.” In Greek, it’s called Gnosis.
The definition of Gnosis is a personal spiritual knowledge or insight into the Divine or the nature of reality. Etymologically, it connotes a difference between intellectual knowledge and a non-discursive knowledge. We might call it insight or intuition or inspiration: an inner knowing, a direct experience. This is the Knowledge the Mystics of all traditions experienced and shared with us.
This is not a knowing that comes from an abstract faith, opinion or belief. It comes from inside. We feel this kind of Knowledge; it’s embodied and embedded. When we have this kind of Knowledge, we may not be able to explain it, but we have no doubt about it’s truth. We know it.
There is no way to force this kind of Knowledge. It arises from an openness to that which is mysterious, enigmatic, or not knowable by the discursive or rational mind. Yes, there are practices such as meditation, contemplation, or prayer that will open the space for knowing in this way and the Knowledge that is gained from it, but we must be willing to let go of what we think we know. We must be willing to be surprised, transported and gifted by that which we cannot know by our minds alone.
Ultimately, we cannot have Knowledge until we know that we don’t really know anything. That’s the paradox at the root of Knowledge.
This week, we focus our attention on what we know…and what we don’t know.
Deeper Roots
All the great religions of the world have their root in gnosis, regardless of the way some are practiced today. The Buddha, Moses, The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Zoroaster, Jesus of Nazareth, and the other founders of our world traditions all based their teachings on a direct knowledge of the Divine/Source/Dao/Emptiness and tried to share what they knew with their followers.
An early form of Christianity known as Gnosticism emphasized direct knowledge of the Divine. The Gnostics believed that salvation didn’t come from some external deity or the sacrifices and offerings made to it, but from a personal — unmediated by priests — knowledge of that Divinity. For these radical views, the Gnostics were deemed heretical, but in many ways, their focus on personal, direct knowledge was closest to the teachings of Jesus.
In Islam, the word for Knowledge is ‘ilm and is used frequently in the Qu’ran. Though sometimes meaning revelation, observation of the physical world or scholarship, the Qu’ran states that the most important knowledge is al-ilhām, or the Spiritual Intuition/Knowledge of Allah, His attributes, His names and His acts. Some Muslim scholars believe it’s even more important than obligatory prayer.
In Hebrew, spiritual Knowledge is called da’at. In mystical Kabbalah, da’at is the place in which all the other qualities of the Divine Light are united, and from which our human attributes arise. It is also considered the mystical state of knowledge or consciousness in which one knows oneself as the “I” that is God. From da’at come wisdom (Chokhmah) and understanding (Binah).
For Eastern traditions, this awareness of ultimate unity is Knowledge. In Buddhism, the word prajna means understanding, but it’s not an intellectual one; it comes from the awakened experience of self and non-self. Self-Knowledge, then, is the equivalent of enlightenment, Nirvana, or direct realization of Reality. Buddhist practice is all about letting go of the discursive mind so that such realization - or Knowledge - is possible.
The Hindu Upanishads refer to two types of jñana, or knowledge: the “lower” knowledge, which is the understanding of the phenomenal world, and the “higher” or spiritual knowledge, which is knowledge of the “Supreme Self” (Brahman) beyond duality. Both are necessary, but the higher Knowledge is the goal of spiritual practice.
Whether we call it gnosis, prajna, jñana, da’at or al-ilhām, at its very deepest root, Knowledge and Self-Knowledge are connected. They are actually one and the same. As written in verse 3 of The Gospel of Thomas, a text with Gnostic association, “The kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father.” In other words, Knowledge is the experiential understanding of ultimate unity with inside and outside, self and the Divine, that is at the root of all our traditions.
But we only get to that Knowledge when we know we don’t really know anything. That’s the paradox and it’s a radical thought these days. Who is willing to admit they don’t know? But in our hyper-informed world, it might not be a bad idea to know a little less, if it means we might “Know” a little more.
Reflection Questions
What does Knowledge mean to you?
Where do you experience Knowledge?
What prevents you from experiencing Knowledge?
How can you cultivate Knowledge?
Suggested Practice
Paradoxically, we can only “know” when we let go of “knowing.” We have to enter what the Anonymous Christian writer called “The Cloud of Unknowing” or what Zen Buddhist’s refer to as “Beginner’s Mind,” in which we allow our discursive mind to rest, listening to the knowing that arises in that silence. In whatever way works for you, spend a few moments each day letting go of knowing and being open to what you learn.
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
- Socrates