The opposite of knowledge is knowing, which arises from your being. It's the core of who you are, emerging naturally from your center without conscious thought. It is our instinctual self, our ability to discern right from wrong. This is not the identity we've developed over the years, but rather our inner essence.
When you first learn to drive, you're unsure of yourself and must consciously think about each step. However, after practice, driving becomes automatic. This occurs when you realize you're an experienced driver and find driving easy. At that moment, your self-concept aligns with your experience. You've changed your self-concept, but not the core of who you are. We all have different perspectives, but they aren't always true reflections of our being. Your perspective on driving will differ greatly from mine because you can't know my past experiences and self-knowledge regarding driving.
If you can't see my truth, that doesn't necessarily make my truth less true, because it's subjective. The subjectivity of life is nicely illustrated by the parable of the blind men and the elephant.
Imagine five blind men encountering an elephant for the first time. Each touches a different part of the animal, forming an understanding based on their limited, subjective experience. Men's description of the elephant differs greatly, leading each man to suspect the others are dishonest and that only his version is the absolute truth.
The moral is that all perspectives could be equally valid, and trying to prove one's limited, subjective experience is futile. If you're ready to learn a lesson, you'll understand it clearly; if not, you won't, and this won't violate your free will. You may realize it later in life, or not at all.
The Paradox of Free Will
Free will is a concept that exists only in our three-dimensional reality. It is not absolutely given to each individual because we lack self-awareness. We are dreamers unaware of our own experiences. How much free will does a character have in a dream?
Free will, in a relative sense, can be seen as violated when we interfere with someone else's learning experience. This stems from the belief that our souls undergo life experiences to learn. When we tell that soul something it doesn't already know, we violate its free will. We spoil its learning experience because it was meant to discover that knowledge independently. When we violate someone's free will, we reveal something outside their current self-concept—something they haven't yet realized. In reality, it's simply a difference in our identities and how we perceive ourselves. When you encounter someone with different beliefs and behaviors, you shouldn't judge them or offer unsolicited advice, unless they ask for it. They may not see it as help, but as an attack. Therefore, if you see people complaining about the government, reading gossip, or expressing anger, don't try to teach them what to do simply because you think you know better. Instead, try to understand them from a broader perspective and offer sincere compassion; they will likely appreciate it.
If you disagree with anything above, you're likely upset or judgmental. We protect our past identities and beliefs by clinging to opinions we've held. It's like telling a child Santa Claus doesn't exist; a child would be angry because they strongly believe in Santa. Telling them otherwise attacks their belief system—the core of their identity and past experiences. At this point, I can't and shouldn't try to convince you; you need to realize it yourself.
The problem is that we accumulate a vast amount of misinformation, which prevents us from seeing the truth. You may have already made a decision to follow it in the past, and now it's very difficult to change your opinion because you want to be right. There are two types of people in the world: those who are open-minded and those who judge others because the others don't align with their self-concept. We need to learn to be compassionate toward others.
This parable about the "fish" in the sea encourages us to understand each fish's perspective, rather than judging them, and to compare their differing viewpoints. Are we certain that no other species possesses a higher perspective than humanity?
Imagine a first fish, the smartest in the sea; this fish knows everything from a fish's perspective. Now imagine a second fish who had an extraordinary experience: she was pulled from the sea by an inexplicable force. The first fish doesn't believe in forces outside the sea because it's the only world she knows. Her logic dictates that if other forces existed, there would be proof or evidence. What is real: what we see, or what we feel and experience?
The second fish believes a force exists outside her underwater world; this experience altered her perspective. She cannot see or prove this force, yet her belief remains unshaken, impervious to any amount of knowledge about the sea. The first fish, possessing all the knowledge available within the sea, lacks the transformative experience to understand the truth. Her limited perspective prevents her from perceiving anything beyond her underwater world.
Now, the first fish attempts to convince the second that survival is only possible in the water, denying the possibility of life elsewhere. The first fish gathered all the knowledge about life in the sea, claiming that there is no evidence that would suggest otherwise. Would you adopt her narrow view, or explore the second fish's perspective? The second fish might believe in God pulling her upward. She now believes in God, an extraordinary force outside herself. She believes that God is separate from her that‘s why she believes that he was pulling her towards him. She is now waiting for another moment when God will choose her.
The first fish, instead of believing in God, believes in science; she worships science as her idol rather than God. The first fish attacks the second because her belief in science—her identity—is threatened by the second fish's experience. In this way, the first fish avoids leaving her comfort zone and expanding her horizons.
To become your true self, you can't remain trapped in your old self, its constraints, and the familiar life it represents. You need to step outside the ego, which constantly seeks certainty and protects your false identity. Everyone has a unique perspective on life and different ways of seeing it. We all need to learn and understand the life lessons currently needed.
The Power of Self-inquiry
Who am I? That's the question nobody can fully understand unless they first intentionally seek answers. Most commonly, the journey begins externally, pursuing knowledge and intellectual endeavors, and continues internally through self-inquiry and introspection into our true nature. While there are more than two paths to self-realization, each is unique. Each individual must find their own way, as no single pattern works for everyone. The path is also the destination, because by embodying our true being, we realize we already are that; the change is merely a shift in perspective. That's why it's sometimes called the pathless path. We need only arrive at this conclusion through seeking answers. At some point in life, you must essentially ask yourself, "Who am I supposed to be in this world?"
This process usually begins with a desire for change, because improvement is impossible without first seeking answers. You need to take action to pursue truth; as you delve deeper into intellectual knowledge, you will discover many things that alter your perspective on life. Eventually, you may even begin meditating and seeking inner answers, connecting with something inexplicable yet deeply felt and experienced.
But why do we even need to look for it? Why aren't we already what we seek? Why aren't we already true to ourselves, whole, and complete? We cannot see our true selves, which are already whole and complete, so we have no idea what we should be striving toward. It is an abstract concept we cannot even imagine. So, instead, we identify with our bodies and believe this is who we are.
Sometimes, to realize the truth about ourselves, we need to experience our true, hidden self. Even to perceive our inner qualities and realize this is who we are, we need to clearly see what we are not. At some point in your life, you might find yourself in a critically difficult situation where you feel you can't go on, leading you to give up. However, this seemingly horrible experience can also be viewed as a new beginning. Ultimately, it's merely a label we assign to it. To experience our true nature, we need to transcend labels, time, and space, and see everything from a higher perspective.
Before we can establish a higher perspective, we must first understand the relative world and our place within it. Only then can we arrive at any conclusion. This is why we live in a world of duality. If you are lost in a dark room, unsure of your whereabouts and what to do, you will eventually figure out how to turn on the light. Similarly, self-exploration, or self-inquiry, requires introspection to uncover deeper truths about ourselves.
We introspect on different aspects of ourselves to understand what we are not and how we can influence our reality. We must learn to distinguish between "good" and "bad" to fully comprehend our true nature and achieve self-realization. The problem is that no one is 100% certain what we are supposed to be doing here. Are we here to discover a deeper truth about ourselves and life, or are we here to simply enjoy life and pursue constant happiness?
The Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness can only be found within; this is the true wisdom found in many esoteric books. But is it merely a cliché, or is it something tangibly attainable? Happiness isn't attained through external things, as long-term happiness in such things is impossible; it comes and goes with our experiences. It never stays permanently because we are easily influenced by external forces, people, events, and circumstances. We might say, or even pretend, that our reality is an illusion, but ultimately, whether real or not, we feel it intensely. That's why happiness is fleeting, unless you change your perspective and your self-identity.
Happiness can only be realized from within, regardless of external circumstances. However, believing you are happy while feeling you're not truly yourself is contradictory. You may want to be happy because you dislike your current situation and are trying to escape it through happiness. But happiness is an inner quality that cannot be forced; it's unnatural to force its existence. We often try to change external things and events to feel happy inside, but in our natural, effortless state, we don't need external validation like glory and appreciation because that's not our true essence.
The Inner Qualities of Being
The true inner qualities of being are the core of who you are. It is your inner essence, character, and virtue that are hidden within. It is something of which we are unaware, a subconscious part of ourselves. If you are unaware of something throughout your life that is supposed to be your true essence, you will hardly identify with it as yourself. It's as if you don't know who you are and act only based on what you see and experience through your senses.
Parts of ourselves are leading us astray, causing us to act inauthentically. We have a protective mechanism—our ego, that sense of self-importance—which, while not feeling genuine, is often justified by our reasoning and intellect. Cultural beliefs, societal norms, and social pressures also play a significant role. From early childhood, we are conditioned to act in this way, remaining within the safety boundaries of our comfort zone, which keeps us stuck.
In short, we dislike our current experiences; therefore, we try to escape those feelings and sensations, returning to familiar and comfortable situations. If you're in an unsafe environment, you'll automatically seek certainty because of the uncertainty. You're literally trying to escape the discomfort of the experience and the associated past memories and feelings. When we escape these feelings, we also abandon the parts of ourselves that we tend to push away. To stop escaping these conditioned patterns and stay on our path—in other words, to be true to ourselves—we must first integrate all the parts of ourselves that we push away.
You can't serve two masters. You can't become your new you while resisting your old self. To become new, you must let go of the old. You can't build a new house from old bricks; it will eventually collapse. For most people, it's difficult to recognize the parts of themselves they are still resisting and hiding from the world.