The Practice of Not-Knowing

My notes from “The Practice of Not-Knowing: Relief, Intimacy, and Ground for Effective Action” on Zen Studies Podcast.

• Honour the Absolute and the Relative.
• “Not-knowing” as in “Not clinging to a position on a topic”, not as in “not seeing or not recognizing”.
  • Including not being attached to knowing or not-knowing!
• Use not-knowing as a tool or medicine when you’re too deep in the Relative.
• Not-knowing takes courage: you become intimate with your fears, sorrows, sense of being overwhelmed.
  • Let the difficult feelings flow through you, inform you, open you up, humble you, connect you, and motivate you.
• Recognise what leads to suffering, what leads to liberation, and act accordingly.
  • Be fresh, open, unbiased, so that you can respond more responsibly, compassionately, and effectively.

Intro

• The Zen practice of “not-knowing,” or “don’t-know mind,” is one way of honoring the absolute dimension of our lives – even as we engage in “knowing,” as necessary, in the relative dimension.
• All “knowing” is ultimately an abstraction and not reality itself.
• Not-knowing isn’t a cop-out; it’s a tool or medicine we apply when we’re getting attached to our own opinions, caught in judgment or hatred, stressed, or overwhelmed.

The Zen Practice of Not-Knowing

• Stepping back from what we think we know about ourselves and the world around us, centering ourselves in the here-and-now, and opening up to the vast realm of possibilities.
• The practice of “not-knowing” appropriately, and at the right time, can actually help you respond to the world more responsibly, compassionately, and effectively.

The Origins of Not-Knowing in Original Buddhism

• The Zen teaching of “not-knowing” is a Zen take on the original Buddhist teaching of “freedom from views.”
• (Any position on a topic leads to suffering, not liberation)
• The Buddha teaches a practice: recognise what leads to suffering, and what leads to liberation. Abandon what leads to suffering and practice what leads to liberation.

Some Ancient Chan Teachings on Not-Knowing

Emperor Wu of Ryo asked the great master Bodhidharma, ‘What is the ultimate meaning of the holy truth of Buddhism?’
Bodhidharma replied, ‘Vast emptiness. No holiness.’
The Emperor asked, ‘Who stands here before me?’
Bodhidharma replied, ‘I don’t know.’
The Emperor was baffled.

Master Jizo asked Hogen, ‘Where have you come from?’
‘I pilgrimage aimlessly,’ replied Hogen.
‘What is the matter of your pilgrimage?’ asked Jizo.
‘I don’t know,” replied Hogen.
‘Not knowing is the most intimate,’ remarked Jizo.
At that, Hogen experienced great enlightenment.

• Without conception, definition, description, or “knowing” of any kind.
• As soon as we think about it – knowing creeps in again, creating a sense of separation.

Not-Knowing Reflects the Reality of Here-and-Now

• Not-knowing isn’t clinging to a state of indecision or ignorance. It’s not a fixed position you take. Instead, it’s a way you engage the next moment: fresh, open, unbiased.
• It’s grounded in reality, because in reality, you don’t know what’s going to happen next, you don’t know for sure what’s going to work, you don’t know the person standing in front of you, you don’t even know who you are.
• As soon as you make not-knowing into a position, it’s not actually “not-knowing” anymore, it’s refusing to know or decide.

Recognizing Versus Knowing

• Language is by nature limited, but I think it might help to use a different term for this kind of “knowing” – such seeing or recognizing. We recognize sadness, pain, empathy, grief, or frustration.
• Even though an awakened person doesn’t cling to a position, they “see” or “recognize” from their direct experience what leads to suffering and what doesn’t.
• We attach to knowing because it helps us predict and plan.

Relieving Stress with Not-Knowing

• Some of this thinking and knowing is good and necessary, of course.
• Not-knowing takes courage. We have to be willing to become intimate with our fears, our sorrows, and our sense of overwhelm – exactly the kinds of feelings we try to keep at bay with our knowing.
• For a time, we let go of the stress of having to figure everything out, of maintaining our positions and opinions, of identifying everything we encounter as right or wrong.

Moving Fluidly from Knowing to Not-Knowing, and Back

• The point is not to be attached to anything – neither knowing, nor not-knowing.
• Real Buddhist practice is never a fixed position or a canned response, it’s constantly adapting to what we encounter.
• To skillfully live our lives, we have to be familiar with, and honor, both the absolute and relative dimensions of our reality. They’re both true, simultaneously and without conflict. It’s really quite remarkable.

An Exercise in Not-Knowing and Greater Intimacy

• As we let go of our knowing, … difficult feelings … flow through us, they inform us, open us up, humble us, connect us, and motivate us.

The Near Enemy of Not-Knowing: Refusing to Know

• Don’t-know mind can be easily twisted into a near-enemy – refusing to take a stand even when the situation calls for it.
• A bodhisattva moves toward suffering with her sleeves rolled up, ready to dive in and help.
• When we cling to not knowing, our world becomes self-centered and small.

The Ground of Not-Knowing

• We have to decide and act within the relative dimension of our lives, but the absolute is always also there.

Added 2024-04-26.