When I was 20 years old I had the opportunity to sit with a very skilled meditation teacher. In one of our final sessions he put a handbell on the mat in front of him. He asked our small group, “What is this?”
“A bell,” one person said.
“No,” said the teacher sternly.
I looked at the other students and most of them shared my confused smile.
Someone timidly described what they saw. “It’s an object made of brass and wood that makes a ringing sound.” We got the same answer, “No.”
There were several more failed attempts.
After a long pause, one of his longtime students walked up to the bell and rang it.
“Ah,” said the teacher with a smile as he turned his ear towards the sound. “Yes.”
I didn’t really understand the lesson at the time, but it made an impression on me. Now ten years later, I believe I’m much closer to understanding.
Calling something a bell, describing it, or visualizing it is merely knowledge. A concept. Theory.
Picking up the bell and ringing it is truly knowing what a bell is. It is raw sensation that can be experienced directly without language or even thought.
What are the implications of understanding this?
At its core it’s the difference between thinking vs. being in the present moment. Intellectualizing vs. doing. Distraction vs. flow.
Knowledge is an interpretation of reality. It is necessary and often useful, but we spend too much of our time captivated by interpretation, at least one step removed from the true nature of experience.
Knowing, on the other hand, is living. Just living. This is where I’m trying to spend more of my time.