Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Confucius said: “If you know say you know, if you don’t know say you don’t know, that means you know.” (Tri vi tri, bất tri vi bất tri, thị tri dã).
The problem is, we know that we know, but we don’t know that we don’t know. Many people think they know something while they indeed know nothing about it.
Ignorance exists in two ways:
First, we don’t even know something exists, so we don’t know that we don’t know about that thing.
Second, we think we know about something, but we indeed know nothing about it, or know every little about it.
These cases of not-knowing happen to most people of the world, and they are the basis of Buddhism’s Ignorance in the Three Poisons: Greed, Anger, Ignorance.
So, how to know that we don’t know?
Firstly, don’t assume that you know anything.
Secondly, listen. Listen to people’s talking, preaching, singing, lecturing, praying, conversing, discussing… The more you listen, the more you discover things you don’t know.
And this also means: Talk less and listen more.
Wish you know what you don’t know.
With compassion.
Hoanh
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Trần Đình Hoành
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