Trap Of The Known

Trap Of The Known

By Reza Ganjavi

I was talking to a friend who's going to a camp. She is feeling anxious about what it will be like. That anxiety comes from thinking about a future event beyond the basic practical aspects. The practical side is taken care of. Her flight is booked, etc., etc. -- the problem, she said, is anticipating how it will be with these ten people for 2 weeks...

But you don't need to think about it. Any thought of that those relationships in the future is a projection of the past, the known, which is limited. The future is completely unknown. Of course, the practical side of it is known and predictable, but relationships, quality of contacts, chemistry, etc., are all unknown. So you can sit there projecting how it will be, and get anxious over it -- or be inwardly quiet about it -- be in the present -- not think about it -- and meet it when it's an actuality. And that quality of being full there, in the present, kicks in the magic of the moment, which is love, and the solution to many problems...

She smiled, complementing the speaker about the insight, and seemed lighter from having stepped out of the trap of the known.

The inner quietness comes naturally when thought learns about its own limits... through awareness, seeing, its own movements. That's a core aspect of what some call "self-knowledge". But it's more about learning than accumulated knowledge. Learning brings its own change, naturally, in all aspects of life.