Both Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu spend a good deal of time urging us to abandon knowledge. What in the heck do they mean by that? According to the author of the book cited above, they are urging us to rid ourselves of ignorance. What do you think?To acquire knowledge should not be our first aim, but rather to rid ourselves of ignorance -- false-knowledge.~ from Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon~
The book cited was the first of eight works attributed to the pseudonym, Wei Wu Wei. It later turned out that the author was a British gentleman by the name of Terence James Stannus Gray.
i think what they are ultimately fighting is the idea that the world can be rationalized, that all the secrets of the world lie in mathematics, philosophy, scholarly knowledge. such things lead to practical know-how, etc... but not to true understanding, because they come from the minds of man. taoism urges us to listen to not only man but all of nature. not that man has nothing relevant to say, but that man is not the only voice worth hearing.
ReplyDeletea willfully ignorant person does not learn anything about life, whether practical or spiritual or anything. s/he doesn't listen to anyone... taoism urges us to listen to everyone, with emphasis on the voices everyone else fails to recognize.
Knowledge is 'fashionable' and tends to act as a screen for true seeing of life as it is. Wisdom is revealed when ignorance and 'knowledge' fall away.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge is second-hand.
ReplyDeleteKnowing is first-hand.
What is taught is not as useful as what is learned.
So far, all three responses have been excellent, in my opinion. I especially like sentence #3 of Crow's comment.
ReplyDeleteWei Wu Wei is one of the finest, and certainly the finest recent, writers on Zen and Tao ideas.
ReplyDeleteHe goes on at length in all of his books, sometimes lost in the very language he is saying is a trap, but over and over again makes direct and solid blows.
I just love his work and have made many gestures to point people towards it.
This is a great start point.
Ta-Wan,
ReplyDeleteI should have given you a shout out since you're the bloke who turned me on to Wei Wu Wei!
People are so afraid to give up knowledge, because the majority truly believe that knowledge is 'real', and can be touched and possesed as a house or a car or bla bla and this will give them security. A false sense of security.
ReplyDeleteWhy it is so difficult to abandon knowledge?.
I always say that words are tools, and knowledge is just the same. Tools.
Why get so fanatic of mere tools?.