Knowledge for the sake of knowing isn’t fulfilling. Without the context of reality, knowledge by itself is empty at best, dangerous at worst.
Knowledge alone makes you think you have power. It gives you a sense of control over life, over others who don’t know what you know. You judge them for not knowing as much. Knowledge by itself inflates your sense of self, where you see yourself as the holder of the truth. You think your truth is the only truth, and use it to campaign against the truths of others.
The material world supports you in owning your knowledge. If what you know is particularly exclusive, you get to own it by copyrighting it or getting a patent. In education, you get paid for teaching it to others. Society tends to put a premium on learning. Indeed, it can be exciting to acquire new knowledge, and inspire you to do new things.
Yet, when you’re not being you, knowledge feels empty, stale, dead. A crucial spark is missing when you are asked to learn and know things that have no connection to your realized self. Any class you take is boring. Or you hate your job. Nothing you do in life makes sense if you don’t have context as to why you’re doing it. That context is always you being you.
At a certain level, all knowledge is judgment. When you live according to your intellectual knowledge, your life loses its balance. You spend an increasing amount of energy on maintaining and justifying what you know because your sense of self depends on it. Consequently, you get defensive when someone questions it. Or you get depressed when it fades. And it is sure to fade.
Ultimately, all knowing is a temporary state. Sooner or later, all knowledge gets replaced with new knowledge. You try to keep up and refresh what you know. But sooner or later your expertise becomes dated and others overtake you, rendering you obsolete. Deriving purpose from your sense of expertise is a losing proposition. And the temptation to judge others based on what you know is far too great. Your judging habit loves truths and facts. It uses them to start arguments with other people, and wars with other nations.
It’s important to keep a fresh outlook on life, no matter what you do. But when you pursue an inauthentic version of yourself, it makes your life difficult, or even hell. If you’re not being who you are designed to be, what you know feels cumbersome, useless and becomes a burden.
Everything you do in life feels like a burden unless it enables you to be more of you. Experience the unfiltered reality in front of you. All the knowledge you need comes from there, the ultimate knowledge being yourself.
How much do you know you?
