Knight's Journey

"Imagination is more important than knowledge". - Albert Einstein
Are there indirect means by which we know something? We have all heard of intuition. Do you believe that we know or can know through forms of learning other than those means discussed thus far? Many cultures, religions, and spiritually based programs make reference to asking a higher power for guidance. If you have ever thought that this was possible, you have some frame-of-reference in a form of knowing that pre-dates the printed word and some forms of contemporary learning. Some individuals believe in a collective consciousness that is timeless. Perhaps this is one concept that leads many college students to reading the works of Carl Jung. When Einstein stated that imagination is more important than knowledge, he addressed the fact that knowledge can tell us about what has been, but imagination can tell us about what will be.

There is a paradox in knowing from experience and knowing from outside of our experience.  One point of the last page (Epistemology) was that we should know how we know what we know. However, spiritual people know that they know a great deal by listening to God or a higher power of their understanding.  For example, people pray and/or meditate so that they can listen to God.  After one has done this for a period of time and relies on this type of knowing, he or she will state that this is knowing from experience and not from outside one's experience. 

Spiritual people know that they cannot know and understand God through their intellect.  This can best be accomplished through experience with God - the divine internal presence of God.  Thus, this type of knowing would be beyond the experience of the non-spiritual person and within the realm of experience among those who live a spiritual life.   

The type of knowing that one develops as they learn to ask and then to listen to God, may be a goal for those who only rely upon their knowledge and the knowledge of others.  Prayer and meditation are much more about listening than about talking.  Excessive talking, introspection, and reliance on the knowledge of others can serve as a hindrance to being one with the divine and to sharing in divine knowledge and wisdom.  There are many advantages to spiritual development - both within and outside the context of organized religion. 

During this time of threats from terrorism and of war, fear creeps into the lives of those who are not normally fearful.  On the "Friends Talk" page of this site, I recognize that many people live fear-based lives.  The spiritual person knows and feels very deeply that fear and God cannot share the same space.  They are aware that love is the antithesis of fear, hate, resentment, and being unforgiving - many of the feelings and thoughts that rob us of serenity and the realization of the abundance in life. 

Does Experience Determine Reality?

The following story is one that I have frequently told during lectures.  Although not true, it makes a few interesting points.

During the 1950’s, a middle-aged man was released from a state mental hospital.  He was there due to symptoms of schizophrenia.  However, a wealthy cousin had worked for the man’s release and had promised to allow him to live in his large home with he and his wife.  Shortly after the man came to live with his cousin, he found a large trunk full of worthless Confederate money in the attic.  Being somewhat delusional, he thought that this was real money and that it could be spent as regular currency.  Upon trying to spend some of the money at a local store, the shopkeeper allowed him to purchase a few toiletry items.   Being a small town, the shopkeeper knew of the man’s story and knew that his wealthy cousin would compensate him with real money. 

The wealthy cousin and his wife went to all of the local businesses and told the merchants that they would make good on any debts incurred by the man’s use of the Confederate money.  Thus, the man was able to go anywhere in the town and use the Confederate money as if it was real. 

I developed this story to make a number of points.  First of all, our reality is largely based on what works. If someone had been able to convince the former mental patient that the money was not real, but he continued to be able to spend it, would it not have been real money?   If you can purchase goods and services with Confederate money, is it not real?  As long as the man did not travel outside the small town, his money served as real currency. 

However, what if the cousin and his wife were killed in an accident?  What if the man had to, for whatever reason, move to another town?  If he suddenly went into a store to spend his Confederate money and the merchant berated him for trying to use useless money, what would he do?    This type of incident occurs frequently all around us.  Give some thought to the next time that you see people dealing in wolf tickets, but they work as if they are real. 

 There are a number of ethical issues here on both a micro and macro level.  In the story, was it ethical for the merchants to reinforce the man’s belief system?   Should someone have told the wealthy cousin that it would have been best to give the man real money so that he would know the reality of commerce?  If we enable an individual, group or organization to continue down a delusional or unrealistic path, are we ethical.  Like most questions of ethics, the answer often depends on who you ask.