What Do I Know?

"It is quite usual for us to gather pieces of information from various sources, thinking in this way to increase our knowledge. Actually, following this way we end up not knowing anything at all."--Shunryu Suzuki

It is a strange truth that we can have a doctorate in psychology and not know ourselves. We can be educated and remain ignorant.

Unfortunately, because of our ignorance and our vanity, much of what we need to know will be learned by the painful process of trial and error.

But by Zen practice, by remaining careful, observant and alert in our daily lives, we can avoid making the same mistake over and over again. Instead of just gathering knowledge, we will study ourselves.

To study yourself is to forget yourself. It is to dare to enter the Unknown. That is the purpose of Zen.