Sunday, March 3, 2013

Bit by Bit - Chapter 10, Part 13

Trey Smith

In the world everyone knows enough to pursue what he does not know, but no one knows enough to pursue what he already knows. Everyone knows enough to condemn what he takes to be no good, but no one knows enough to condemn what he has already taken to be good. This is how the great confusion comes about, blotting out the brightness of sun and moon above, searing the vigor of hills and streams below, overturning the round of the four seasons in between. There is no insect that creeps and crawls, no creature that flutters and flies that has not lost its inborn nature. So great is the confusion of the world that comes from coveting knowledge!
~ Burton Watson translation ~
What do you know for certain? I don't mean what you think may be true, but what is absolutely 100% true. How can you know the certainty of your certainty? What yardstick can you use to test the absoluteness of your absoluteness? How do you know what you know is knowable? How do you know what you don't know if you don't know what you know?

To view the Index page for this series, go here.

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