“Making your unknown known is the important thing, and keeping the unknown always beyond you — catching — crystallizing your simpler clearer vision of life… that you must always keep working to grasp.”
– Georgia O’Keefe

ave you ever noticed this most interesting thing? We tend to keep around us that which we agree with and know while we keep away from us that which we disagree with and don’t know. I hear people say they like a certain teaching or an exercise in my retreat and I will remind them that “liking it” isn’t the point. I don’t care if you like it OR dislike it. What will that give you? What I’d rather you share is your experience of it. What arose for you when you heard the teaching or did the exercise? What insights did you have? What resistance, if any, came up? How did you decide you liked it or disliked it? Where do you turn for that information?

Wherever we are right now is illuminated by our understanding. As we gaze out into the distance, our view is naturally less clear, obscured, and even in shadows. We can be lulled into staying put. It can be very comfortable to remain right where we are with what we currently comprehend, like, and agree with. The irony is that what’s out beyond us and what is shrouded in mystery is the most important thing. Why? Because what we don’t know gives us the ability to become free. As the light of awareness falls into the unknown, we can finally see what we never saw before. And when we see that, it no longer confuses us. As we become less confused, our lives become simpler, clearer, focused, and fuller.

This is why I ask people to look beyond what is familiar. To look under every unturned stone deep inside themselves. To allow themselves to become disturbed by what they encounter. To take the steps forward regardless of what they find.

What will always be true is that wherever you step, there will always be another “beyond.” Move invisible views outside of awareness. More you cannot comprehend, agree with, or know. But this is never a problem. In fact, it’s a glorious opportunity to be welcomed and sought after.

This mystery is always calling you out of your shell to participate in more of what you don’t currently know.

The result of cultivating this practice is called wisdom.