Would you like to live with fear, anger, grief, lamentations, despair, anxiety, and depression? Would you like to live with sufferings? If you don’t like sufferings, wouldn’t you want to KNOW the path leading to cessation of sufferings?
If you already have no mental and physical suffering, then it means you already KNOW the TRUTH, i.e. Enlightened. It means you already have perfect virtue, equanimity and wisdom. It means you already abandoned greed, hatred and delusion. You will not be asking this question: “What’s the point of knowing?”
Fear is for the fools; really wise people have no fear. Fools feel fearful due to phenomena they don’t understand or cannot explain. Sciences, Technologies, Engineering, Mathematics, Geography, History, and many other subjects are very useful for the well being of everyone. However, all these will be redundant if one is still unhappy due to lack of EQ or spiritual knowledge and attainment. A world-renowned scientist cannot be regarded as a wise person if he still has fear, anger, grief, lamentations, despair, anxiety, and depression. His knowledge is useful to others but not useful to himself. His knowledge becomes a burden to himself due to ego, pride, or conceit. The more he acquired knowledge, the more he suffered. This is not the case only if he has the wisdom to be unmoved by eight winds: gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain.
The attributes of a wise person include: loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Loving kindness is the opposite of aversion, hatred, ill will and anger. Compassion is forgiving of others for their powerless in controlling their bodies and minds. Joy is the opposite of greed, craving and clinging. Equanimity is the opposite of restlessness, worries, ignorance and doubt.
The greatest knowing is not-knowing. If one keeps wanting to know everything about everything, it is impossible for him to have loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. The greatest knowing is to know the impossibility to know everything, therefore, not striving to know everything. The greatest knowing is to know that one need not know everything. This can be attained when one gains direct and personal knowledge of Anatta or non-self. When one sees reality as it is, instead of wishing reality to be what he wants to see, he will remain at ease under any circumstances. When one sees the reality that he has no self, he knows he has no self to be attached to: gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain.
What-is-the-Buddhist-doctrine-of-Anatta
Here are some verses in Dao De Jing about knowing 知. Do you want to know what they mean?
天下皆知美之为美 恶已 皆知善之为善 斯不善矣
是以圣人之治也 虚其心 实其腹 弱其志 强其骨 恒使民无知无欲也 使夫知不敢弗为而已 则无不治矣
爱民治国 能毋以知乎? 天门启阖 能为雌乎? 明白四达 能毋以知乎?
执今之道 以御今之有 以知古始 是谓道纪
复命 常也 知常 明也 不知常 妄 妄作 凶
知常 容 容乃公 公乃王 王乃天 天乃道 道乃久 殁身不殆
太上 下知有之 其次 亲誉之 其次 畏之 其下 侮之
故大道废 案有仁义 知慧出 案有大伪 六亲不和 案有孝慈 邦家昏乱 案有贞臣
绝圣弃知 民利百倍 绝仁弃义 民复孝慈 绝巧弃利 盗贼无有
不贵其师 不爱其资 虽知乎大迷 是谓眇要
知其雄 守其雌 为天下溪
始制有名 名亦既有 夫亦将知止 知止所以不殆
知人者 知也 自知者 明也 胜人者 有力也 自胜者 强也 知足者 富也
天下之至柔 驰骋于天下之至坚 无有入于无间 吾是以知无为之有益也
名与身孰亲 身与货孰多 得与亡孰病 甚爱必大费 多藏必厚亡 故知足不辱 知止不殆 可以长久
罪莫大于可欲 祸莫大于不知足 咎莫憯于欲得 故知足之足 恒足矣
不出于户 以知天下 不窥于牖 以知天道 其出也弥远 其知也弥少 是以圣人不行而知 不见而明 弗为而成
天下有始 以为天下母 既得其母 以知其子 既知其子 复守其母 没身不殆
使我介然有知也 行于大道 唯施是畏
以身观身 以家观家 以乡观乡 以邦观邦 以天下观天下 吾何以知天下然兹 以此
知和曰常 知常曰明 益生曰祥 心使气曰强 物壮则老 谓之不道 不道蚤已
知者弗言 言者弗知
以正治邦 以奇用兵 以无事取天下 吾何以知其然哉
祸 福之所倚 福 祸之所伏 孰知其极
重积德则无不克 无不克则莫知其极 莫知其极 可以有国 有国之母 可以长久 是谓深根固柢 长生久视之道也
民之难治也 以其知也 故以知知邦 邦之贼也 以不知知邦 邦之德也 恒知此两者亦稽式也
信言不美 美言不信 知者不博 博者不知 善者不多 多者不善
吾言甚易知也 甚易行也 而人莫之能知也 而莫之能行也 言有君 事有宗 其唯无知也 是以不我知 知者希 则我贵矣 是以圣人被褐而怀玉
知不知 尚矣 不知不知 病矣 是以圣人之不病 以其病病也 是以不病
是以圣人自知而不自见也 自爱而不自贵也 故去彼取此
勇于敢者则杀 勇于不敢者则活 此两者 或利或害 天之所恶 孰知其故
水之胜刚也 弱之胜强也 天下莫弗知也 而莫之能行也
何谓贵大患若身 吾所以有大患者 为吾有身 及吾无身 有何患
RESILIENT KID 