“What one does not know, one could utilize,
And what one knows one cannot use.”
Goethe, Faust
H. P. Lovecraft (1927) said: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”.
It is considered to be known, something that is generally recognized, a proven fact. We know that the shortest way between two points is a straight line. Therefore, knowledge appears to be of more practical use than true belief, because knowledge is tied down to the experiential truth. Let’s say for now that Knowledge is considered better suited to guide action.
What about sailors exploring uncharted waters, astronauts diving into space, scientists investigating the micro-cosmos? People love the unknown. But why? What is it about not knowing something that makes it interesting, and makes us want to explore or discover? I suspect that there is an evolutionary reason for our interest in what we don’t know. It’s how we become more, bigger, better. Perhaps part of why we are fascinated with the unknown lies in our dissatisfaction with what is. “Going where no man has gone before” also peaks our interests and excites our sense of adventure, certainly. It also satisfies our curiosity, providing our brains with a sense of achievement. In the experiment “The Pandora effect – The Power and Peril of Curiosity”, the scientists demonstrated that humans are willing to research new things, even if they can expect negative consequences. We should be aware and always alert about this… let’s say the perverse side of curiosity. The more we know, the less we fear, even when what we know is terrible.
We are now no longer limited by geography. Our only limits are at the edges of our imagination and perhaps how fast we can learn to manage our fear of the unknown.
There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. Slowly, words lose their meaning.
We may be able to improve our interactions with unknowns by recognizing that unknowns can make us uncomfortable, but we cannot always know and so we should practice coping with not knowing.
From the beginning of time, human beings have tried to break the code of the sky. Like fire, to slide the promise of a secret final answer to our relentless quest for meaning; an answer still unrevealed by all things known to us.
We hope that someday, the flash of an epiphany will unveil valuable information within the most common of objects; things we took for granted because we’ve seen them thousands of times before. We’ll find that we need new eyes, new vision in order for the patterns to be decoded and meanings to be revealed.
We’re hoping there’s someone on the other side, speaking to us.
They might be speaking in Zen riddles: “There is no coming nor going. There is no cognition, nothing to attain. If you attain no-attainment then you attain truth. Your mind is clear and empty like space.”
Consciousness, at some level, is the reflection of nature upon itself. What then is the unknown? It’s something that requires discovery, identification, or clarification. Something in us needs to be clear about where we’re heading next, because we’re out there somewhere between the known and the unknown, trying to reel in both for a closer look.
This time, the wisdom and the new knowing don’t come from striving and analyzing but from waiting, watching, listening, being curious, making space.
When faced with a hard time, just slow down. Slow. Slow dance. Begin again. A slow kiss of life. A slow weaving. A light sparkle into the future and then – a new phenomenal world or worlds. Stay in the Beginner’s Mind, says the Zen master. It’s exactly what it sounds like: the mindset of a true beginner. A blank slate, where you let go of old assumptions that the future will look like the past. There is intelligence unfolding coming through you. Let go of preconceptions of how anything works. Be free of expectations about what could happen. Embrace curiosity to perceive things more deeply. This is how you escape the delusion of total explanations. Fully alive, enjoying your surroundings, the air, the sky, the trees, the flowers, the birds. No longer demanding perfection, you are young again, perceiving all things with the simple appreciation of a child.
We are learning that we can accept happiness if we do not worship at the romantic shrine dedicated to nothing but the pursuit of happiness. We are re-orienting. We become travelers to the unknown.
Simplicity is key. Travel light.
Are you the teacher, are you the student? I hope you are both. As Without so Within. Ask yourself: “Where am I out of integrity? Where am I not feeling what I feel, knowing what I know, saying what I believe and doing what feels most right?”
Once you’ve identified the duplicity, come back into integrity. Speak your truth. Act on it. The more honest you are, the freer you become.
We can’t go back.
A message pops on the screen: Ding! “Hey, what’s new?”
Maybe we get washed out before the New truly begins. Leave it there. Change cycle.
Credit: Reuben Wu 
Credit: Reuben Wu
Who is the one who dances a new galactic dance of raw beginnings? We begin experiencing Oneness. The waves of time are showing us who we are. We are mind-independent beings, both physical and metaphysical, unknowable thus mysterious explanations of reality.
How to safely experience uncertainty
- Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors you didn’t even know were closed.
We can be reborn as childlike creatures, playing and dancing along from moment to moment, with the rhythm of nature and the universe, knowing about its sheer perfection.
- Listen to the heartbeat of the Universe. Dance
Find your earth, light your fire, call your winds and stand still by the water. Watch your inner stream, it’s the only live stream you need to watch for Now. The fog is going to clear and when it does, you want to be ready to navigate the new terrain, ready to make choices that will take you closer to your purpose.
- Be aware, when you find yourself alone and floating
What do you feel? Go back to the beginner’s mind.
The new players know that adventure has little to do with plans. They know that outside themselves there is no guide for a safe passage. Pristine vision is a given. They know that all they have to rely on is their inner higher compass and impulses. They know that it is not about getting somewhere, but more about enjoying the ride.
- Deep Trust (much easier said than done)
We have a deep inner knowing without knowing. The choices of the heart are leaps of faith that sometimes cannot be understood by the linear mind. You are enough. There is beauty in inner freedom.
There is no separation within anything…all is visible, available and possible.
In the unified space of traveling within yourself, move through the Cosmos from your inner cosmos, All One. Let this be a time of returning home to yourself.
“I’m ready, I’m coming, I’m on my way”.
What do you say?
- Say Thank you and feel the sonification of the time structure, for what is called “time” here actually means the “instant”, and gratitude goes a long way.
We’re in a freefall into the future. Make it a flight. The drama of the story so far, will look you in the eye, and fight for survival, one last time, before it goes, before it is burned in the flames of the Central Sun. Be compassionate with yourself.
A split between presence and existence runs through the events and becomes undivided again.
The cosmos inundates the landscape.
- Create fun in your life
Joy permits the atmosphere surrounding you to reach heights in which it changes things, things concerning your well being. Have a good laugh. Stand in your full quality. Come back to your form, in full embodiment of what it means to be here and now. Amazing is the way that you embody your vessel.
- Change your thoughts
Cook a great stew out of your life, because what cooking does it molecularly transforms foods, thoughts and ideas and changes them.
We have to realize it clean and come out about any unsaid words or secret identities in order to enjoy Life’s fresh air again.
- Let go
Come clean, perfectly and soundly now, so that the new vibrations can be placed on top of a good sound base. Examine your thoughts. Change the words. The experience of events is that of an actualization. The result is harmony. Rather than passing from future to past, we encounter events, just like we encounter an unknown thing we stumble upon. It might be magic.
- Recognize how strong you really are
You’ve overcome many adversities and challenges to be who you are now. They acted as building blocks for your foundation upon which you stand now firmly. Have you noticed how much strength you’ve gathered along the way?
Having faith in the unknown and the yet unseen requires trusting the process of your evolution to lead you where you need to be. Sometimes you’re faced with circumstances and scenarios which seem really conflicting to your inner template of desires, wishes and intentions. Logic won’t help much here, for the process is not always linear. How you get from A to B is not something that is known in advance, but something that is discovered along the way. Life is mystery, so let your individual process unfold. Trust the Universe to take you exactly where you need to be.
I hope you can stand it. I hope that you are strong, too.
Andreea Muşat
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