The Sayings of Chen Jen
Number Thirteen
Know nothing.
Knowing nothing,
the heart is open.
Believe nothing.
Believing nothing,
trust is realized.
Affirm nothing.
Affirming nothing,
everything is affirmed.
This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.
Number Thirteen
Know nothing.
Knowing nothing,
the heart is open.
Believe nothing.
Believing nothing,
trust is realized.
Affirm nothing.
Affirming nothing,
everything is affirmed.
This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.
Though belief is powerful, the suspension of disbelief--the same mental magic that lets us enjoy novels, movies, plays--is in a way more powerful. When you commit yourself to the position "I believe X", you have also committed yourself to "I refuse to believe not-X". A positive affirmation of one thing removes that thing's opposite from your vision of reality.
ReplyDeleteHuman knowledge is not only finite but miniscule, inexpressably smaller than the world. My personal knowledge and wisdom are just as insignificant compared to the sum of the knowledge and wisdom of my species. So I don't like to arrogate to myself the authority to say, "this is - and that is not; this is absolutely true - and that is false."
Which does of course let in all the nasty gremlins of moral relativism. People say: "If I can't be 100% SURE that beauty and goodness are beautiful and good, how can I justify pursuing them? How can I justify condemning those who would pursue things I would call ugly and evil?"
I say, I use my best judgment. I can't be 100%, totally, absolutely sure. Yet holding to a thing in spite of doubt, following a path though you're not certain where it leads, loving a person you can't be completely certain loves you back--these are exercises of faith, trust, hope, love. The best things I know of in all the world.
Suspending disbelief, holding up hope when it weighs heavy, makes for a stronger soul and a lighter heart. It takes the burden of justification off your mind, where it only rankles and sours, and draws it out into your actions. Where, I suspect, that burden truly belongs.
As Gareth Knight, one of my favorite writers, put it: "the proof of any pudding is in the eating of it and not in any catalogue of previous illustrious partakers of it, nor a treatise on the source of the various ingredients."