Two Kinds of Not Knowing: Confusion and Wonder

by | Jul 21, 2016

The ability to simply not know is key to having new thought. I first learned of not knowing from Charlie Badenhop of Seishindo. From him I learned of the importance of engaging with not knowing with an open mind, heart, and body. To not know in this way invites wonder–a very different thing from the style of not-knowing typified by confusion.

When we experience not knowing as confusion, the aperture through which we perceive possibilities shrinks. When we simply don’t know in a state of wonder, it is as if we are expanding the aperture through which we perceive both external and internal, material and metaphysical reality. We have new thoughts. We see new connections.