Voice of the Spirit

“Before a man can learn anything, he has to unlearn what he already knows.”  — Old Sufi proverb

In today’s short article, I would like to hopefully expound on this very profound old proverb.    

As adults, we pride ourselves on our knowledge, yet in some ways, spiritually, the knowledge that we’ve accumulated can hold us back and prevent us from growing.  We tend to think that knowledge expands our horizons, but in reality, the things that we know are often our biggest obstacles to our spiritual growth.

To think we know something is to limit it.  That “knowing” limits our understanding of what something actually is, what it could be, its importance to us and its effect on us in the future. Whether we’re a teenager or a senior citizen, we believe that we already know.  “With age comes wisdom,” is a statement that justifies that by merely getting older, we become enlightened.  In reality, age can make us more stubborn, set in our ways, inflexible to new ideas and how we look at things.

Most of us think that knowing indicates with absolute certainly that our perceptions, beliefs, and understandings of reality are indeed right.  But to think we know not only limits ourselves – it prevents us from truly learning.  With each day, our belief that we know only makes us that much more blocked, rigid, and stuck. 

 It stops us from seeing alternate explanations and new possibilities for the situations and problems in our lives.  In order to truly learn, we must unlearn what we already know – and that means our perceptions, beliefs, prejudices and current level of understanding must be let go of. 

We get into patterns that are based on our past experiences and conclusions which we perceive as irrevocable fact.  They may have worked before, but perhaps have outlived their purpose.  When you’re a child and are taught to never get into a car with a stranger, that is appropriate at a certain time.  However, if you were thirty years old and your car broke down, would you refuse to get into a tow truck with a stranger?  Some times the value of something we “know” has outlived its purpose and we need to be open to new knowledge.

“The world is bad,” someone says, because they feel that they’ve been hurt in the past.  But if they want to truly learn that the world can be seen in any number of ways, including that it is wonderful, they have to unlearn the point of view that the world is bad in order to grow.

How do we begin that process?  We start by letting go of subjective attachments, and opening our minds to be willing and able to be led.  Therefore, we truly begin to learn as pre existing assumptions and belief systems must be released.

Think of a gorgeous natural wooden table.  Thirty years ago, it was painted white, then it was painted lime green a few years later, followed by a heavy coat of varnish put on it two years ago, and one more coat of varnish was added this year.  Every layer of paint and varnish smothers and suffocates the beauty of the wood, which is like having a mind that is filled with things that clutter its space and stand in the way. 

So in the way someone would have to remove all the layers of varnish and paint to restore the wood to its natural beauty, it is the same with our ability to truly learn anything. We must always be able to look at a situation from a beginner‘s point of view and restore our mind to its natural state which releases all of the old acquired stuff that’s blocking and restricting our growth.

In Zen Buddhism the concept is taught of the “Beginner’s Mind.”  This is the ability to look at anything as though you are seeing it for the very first time.  This allows us to bypass all of our previous knowledge and experience and see things with a fresh outlook.

In a reading, a client said to me, “Jim, my soul mate is John and I just know that!”  However, in reality, that assumption is spiritually not accurate. When they hear from me that John isn’t the soul mate, if they refuse to let go of what they “know,” their energy can’t open up to allow the real soul mate to enter into their life.  Therefore, what they think they know with rigid certainty is exactly what is in the way of them getting what they want!

It is just like a simple door.  If it’s closed, how can anyone walk through it?  If the door is slammed shut or locked, no one is going to be walking through that doorway.  It is the same with the mind – it must be open for the divine universe to have an open channel to teach us.

Most people claim that they want to learn.  But in that quest, what are they willing to change in order to get there?  Remember, the divine universe needs a mind that is open at all times to be able to enlighten.

What about the arteries in your body?  How could your health function properly if the arteries were closed?  With blocked arteries, the blood couldn’t circulate correctly throughout your body which would lead to serious health issues and potentially, even death.  As our arteries must stay open always, so must our minds, if we really want to learn anything. 

A female client of mine had been through two bad marriages, so she believed that she knew that no one good would ever come into her life.  In her mind, she knew that was true.  But in reality, all she was doing was projecting her emotional reactions from her past experiences as fact.

When I told her that she was preventing anyone from coming into her life that could be good, she defended herself and said, “You don’t know what I’ve been through, and I know the kind of men that are out there and there’s no one good for me.  The good ones are all married already.”  So through her refusal to unlearn what she already knew to be true, the universe could not bring anyone good into her life.

Instead of our minds being as closed as a completely clogged artery in our bodies, we must begin letting go of the layers of our “knowing” that don’t serve us to get to a higher place.  Our minds need to be as open as the universe itself, and with that, we master the ability to unlearn what we already know in order to learn what far transcends all that we once believed to be true.

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