--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Lately I've been finding myself noticing what I perceive > as the basic nature of Fairfield Life. For most partici- > pants, it seems to be a forum on which they spout off > about things that they "know," more often than not in > an attempt to "prove" that someone they're arguing with > *doesn't* "know," or doesn't "know" as much, or "knows" > less perfectly and admirably than they do. > > I find it kinda boring, and suspect that my days here > are numbered. I just don't fit in, in the sense that I > don't "know" diddleysquat. Nada. Rien. Nichevo. Bupkus. > I just have beliefs, and opinions. And my path through > life and the experiences I've had -- both external and > internal -- have convinced me that *none* of these > beliefs or opinions have anything to do with "knowing." > They're just what they are -- beliefs and opinions. So > there is nothing for me to "prove" one way or another, > or even to care to. > > What I *do* have, in the absence of "knowing" or faith > or whatever those who are so certain about their...uh... > certainty might want to call it, is a sense of Wonder > about the universe I live in. It is as ever-surprising > as it is ever-changing. > > And what I don't understand about those who claim to > "know" is why they sought so diligently to *eradicate* > that sense of Wonder in themselves. They seem to be so > *proud* of "knowing" things, and of no longer exper- > iencing Wonder when they interact with life. They have > Experience A, and for them it fits neatly into the > little box they have labeled "This is how we 'explain' > things like Experience A," and they smile, because they > "know" what's going on, and what made it go on. Some > feel they even "know" WHY it's going on. > > All this certainty makes me feel kinda sad for them. > How *boring* life must be for them, to never be sur- > prised by events, and only to see them as "proof" of > the things they already "know." How sad it must be to > be reduced to debating others about the nitpicky details > of the things they "know," versus the things that these > other "knowers" "know." > > When I run into people more like myself, who "know" > only that we don't know shit, there is never any need > or desire to debate, or to argue. We wind up talking > about the things we love and find Wonder in. We enjoy > our time together, and then part even more full of > our normal sense of Wonder, more often than not > laughing as we go. > > What do those who "know" feel after debating someone > who "knows" something different than they do? Do they > exit from the discussion happy and uplifted at having > "proved" how much they "know," or are they just look- > ing compulsively for the next person on which to > wield their "knowledge" like a battleaxe? I wonder. >
Not sure of I'm included in that, hope not! But I agree with the idea that "knowing" destroys the sense of wonder. I remeber a conversation with a purusha buddy, we were looking at the stars and I was pointing out things of interest like parts of nebulae where stars are known to be forming, mind blowing concpets like that. And he looked at me with and said "just think, it's all consciousness" with a secret inner smile as though he had some knowledge that no-one else did. I worried me and I've been waging war inside myself to find out what is known as apart from what is believed. This seems like the perfect place to find out how the other side see it!
