An Experience Of Not-knowing

[How to be wise]

I know that an experience of not-knowing is necessary for an enlightenment experience. 

How can I have an experience of not-knowing?

[Joseph Maynor]

When you take the mental filters off, then you can freely know and act.   The Mind is a great tool, and it should be used as such.  The problem is that the Ego promotes conceptual knowledge too highly, to the point where we forget what it's like to know in more natural ways -- like when you are in a state of flow: knowing without knowing and doing without doing.  In flow you know without knowing and do without doing,  You can also express it like this which reveals the illusory mental dualities: not-knowing knowing; not-doing doing.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Naturalist]

Just freeze and observe....

[AlwaysBeNice]

What is it you think you know now? You don't know what you are, who you are, what this is etc.

But I like thinking: 'thoughts thoughts thoughts thoughts' to see my mind/thoughts in the proper context.

[How to be wise]

13 minutes ago, Naturalist said:

Just freeze and observe....

According to Leo that's fake not-knowing.

I'm talking about real not-knowing.

[Naturalist]

What's fake or otherwise is all in your mind.  The real not-knowing would arise when you begin to cease from experiencing i.e. when you're able to stay beyond mind, beyond perceptions, beyond concepts and words.  Just take one step at a time.  More importantly, you need to sustain equanimity along your practices.

[Vitamine Water]

1 hour ago, How to be wise said:

I know that an experience of not-knowing is necessary for an enlightenment experience. 

How can I have an experience of not-knowing?

Self honesty. Brute self honesty. 

Do you really know what you are, who you are, what the universe is, what life is, what excistence is, what will happen after you die, what a cow looks like from the inside?

Propably not. Neither do I. Question all your beliefs. I mean, do you really know experientially that the earth is a globe? Look into your direct experience now. Is it round? No bullshit. Be really honest with yourself. 

 

[AleksM]

@How to be wise  Try to be aware of the breath, take a slow breath in and a slow breath out. You can't think and at the same time be aware of the breathing mechanism. Do this for a few days, the whole day, breath by breath without stoping. After a while you Will come to the realization that things just happen without you thinking anything and that's not knowing.

Practice this exercise the whole day.

 

[How to be wise]

7 hours ago, Vitamine Water said:

Self honesty. Brute self honesty. 

Do you really know what you are, who you are, what the universe is, what life is, what excistence is, what will happen after you die, what a cow looks like from the inside?

Propably not. Neither do I. Question all your beliefs. I mean, do you really know experientially that the earth is a globe? Look into your direct experience now. Is it round? No bullshit. Be really honest with yourself. 

 

I don't think that would produce an experience of not-knowing that is deep enough.

The experience of not-knowing that I'm talking about is the one that always precedes an enlightenment experience. I don't think it can be created that easily. 

 

[Space]

@How to be wise As i'm sure you understand, true not knowing is rare and not easy to become conscious of. It simply just takes a lot of deep, very honest contemplation and inquiry. Not much else to it. 
 

Edited September 13, 2017 by Space

[cetus]

@How to be wise

My definition of the 'experience' (if you can call it an experience) of not knowing is when the mind comes to a full stop and there is nothing there. Zero movement of mind. A mind without content. Only awareness remains. Totally empty awareness. How do you do it?  It happens on it's own at first through practice. Then once you've hit on it enough times you can return to it at will. You shut off knowing by shutting off your identity.

[Vitamine Water]

1 hour ago, How to be wise said:

I don't think that would produce an experience of not-knowing that is deep enough.

The experience of not-knowing that I'm talking about is the one that always precedes an enlightenment experience. I don't think it can be created that easily. 

 

I almost literally quoted Peter Ralston there, but okay

Of course a small exercise doesn't give a full blown not-knowing enlightenment experience. It takes so much more effort than that. You need to really inquire, contemplate and question very very deeply to experience it. And yes, this takes openness and brute (self) honesty, just as @Space mentioned. And as described in the book, it is a very hard and time consuming thing to do. You have to really invest your time in it. No bullshit stories

I highly recommend this book if you are serious. Maybe Ralston can convince you. 

"'The book of not knowing'' by Peter Ralston

 

Edited September 13, 2017 by Vitamine Water

[How to be wise]

1 hour ago, cetus56 said:

@How to be wise

My definition of the 'experience' (if you can call it an experience) of not knowing is when the mind comes to a full stop and there is nothing there. Zero movement of mind. A mind without content. Only awareness remains. Totally empty awareness. How do you do it?  It happens on it's own at first through practice. Then once you've hit on it enough times you can return to it at will. You shut off knowing by shutting off your identity.

Are there things you can do in self-inquiry to increase the chances of getting that experience? 

[cetus]

16 hours ago, How to be wise said:

Are there things you can do in self-inquiry to increase the chances of getting that experience? 

@How to be wise Like I said, by shutting off your identity. Just as a suggestion you could try 'I never existed'. Look at everything in your life up till this moment, put it all in one pile in front of you, see it all very clearly, than turn it all around by saying to yourself, none of this ever existed.  And really mean it. Welcome it to happen. Let go and just trust. Sooner or later your bound to hit on it.

  Than there is no 'you' to know anything. Just pure awareness.

None of it exists except in the mind, which doesn't exist either.

No you=No knowing.

[Leo Gura]

@How to be wise See my Practice Guide To Enlightenment. That is the way.

You have to start deeply wondering about what you are, what reality is. You have to start to doubt everything you've ever been told by science or culture, and questioning all your most basic assumptions. As you do that, you will slowly start to realize that you don't know. And then eventually that will blossom into full not-knowing.

It is a fact that don't know what you are, or what reality is. How can that? Can you start to see which assumptions you hold might be wrong? Start doubting EVERYTHING you know. Sit down and make a list of the most certain things you know. And then doubt all of them out of existence.

How do you know you're not in a virtual reality matrix right now?

How do you know you were born?

How do you know your mother is actually your mother? How do you know she's even human? Maybe she's an android.

How do you know what you were taught in school wasn't indoctrination?

How do you know science is valid?

How do you know the Earth is round?

How do you know you exist?

How do you know reality exists?

How do you know you will die?

How do you know that logic is valid?

How do you know your country isn't as deluded as North Korea?

How do you know religion isn't right? Maybe it is, and maybe you're going straight to hell.

How do you know that every thought you have isn't a lie?

How do you know anything I say is true?

You can't take anything of these questions for granted. You must take out all the stops. Doubt EVERYTHING. Then see what remains. As you do that, not-knowing will slowly dawn.

[WelcometoReality]

19 hours ago, How to be wise said:

I know that an experience of not-knowing is necessary for an enlightenment experience. 

How can I have an experience of not-knowing?

Do you really know that?

It's not as much something you do, it's more a giving up the knowing. You see it's futility. You can't know anything and you can't do anything and you surrender to that. Or more accurately surrender happens when the gift of not knowing is presented to you.

[SOUL]

Often what gets lost in the search for the 'not knowing' experience is the yearning for knowing that the mind has, this craving that is hard wired into the very nature of our consciousness. The 'not knowing' experience is less about whether we know something or anything or not, it's more about ceasing the mind's desire for knowing, the primal impulse that is the impetus for the mind to conceptualize through identification.

How can we possibly eliminate something that is an involuntary function of our biological existence, the monkey mechanics of our brain? By finding the pure awareness of our consciousness. This is the part, for a lack of a better word, of our consciousness that isn't enslaved to the manifest mind and in exercising this part of our consciousness we can experience, again for a lack of a better word, not just 'not knowing' but also the absence of this craving to know.

With this experience comes the inner peace that infinitely satisfies in a way that no amount of knowledge could fill the mind.

Edited September 14, 2017 by SOUL