Why do we reason?
To find out what is true.
What we usually refer to as reasoning is the use of logical deduction by thinking until we arrive at some sort of final conclusion or resolution. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but who said we have to use logic in the first place to know whether something is true? Isn’t there a tacit assumption in there somewhere in all the logical reasoning we do, that says that the use of logic is.. well.. “logical”, or the right thing to do? How did we get there in there first place? Do you see how this is kind of suspicious?
It already points to the fact that there is something outside of logic. And there is, of course, because logic is a tool we use. That which knows logic is outside of, meaning greater than, logic. And we are going to identify just what that is.
So what is this new form of reasoning?
It is seeing. Seeing is a form of reasoning, because it enables you to determine what is true. I am not talking about the seeing that is initiated by your eyes, with which you see the external world. I am talking about the seeing that sees logic, that sees thoughts, that sees emotions, that sees all that. You might say it is knowing without thinking. So the two types of reasoning we have established thus far are logic and seeing, or thinking and knowing.
What is the difference between the two forms of reasoning?
The difference lies in the areas the two types of reasoning are concerned with. Logical reasoning is concerned with reaching some sort of final conclusion in the mind. Some key concept to hold on to, that remains fixed or true. This is necessary to establish a reality. If nothing remains fixed or true, all notions and concepts will be ultimately based on each other or themselves, because they have to be based on something. Otherwise all notions and concepts will be floating around in the endlessly deep space of the mind like some giant construct floating around in the endlessly deep space of the universe with nothing around it, with no point to hold on to (see title image).
No final conclusion can ever be reached this way, no place of ultimate rest can ever be found. It is all based on each other, going around in circles, slicing up the infinitely deep space of the mind into ever finer pieces of memorable knowledge, trying to escape the reality of the situation. The truth is, there is no absolute loop.
But that is what logical reasoning is concerned with, to establish a reality in the mind. The dreadfulness of it would become apparently clear by now, if you did not have to hold on to it — going around in circles until you finally realized the truth of what is being said right here. Because, you see, the crux of it is, your physical body is going to die, and your mind and all your memories are going to disappear. Nothing will remain fixed or true, which is, as I have just demonstrated, necessary for establishing a reality. The attempt to establish a reality in the mind is therefore utterly futile.
You cannot have truth without the absolute.
Escaping the dreadful circle of unreality
This is the value of this new form of reasoning, the seeing or knowing without thinking, as I have called it. It is the way out of this endless circle of fundamentally unreal knowledge. Because seeing sees the circle. It sees that which is going around the circle, and it is not caught up in it. It sees everything.
But is what I’m saying true? If you can listen and check your own experience at this very moment, you will see that it is the truth and has to be truth. You cannot use your mind, your logical reasoning, to answer this question, which is what we have been conditioned to do. You cannot use your mind, because that means you will necessarily end up in the circle again, going around in circles, and reality will go right past you. You must use your seeing to answer this question, and you will find yourself out. This is what the seeing is for — to discover the truth of it once and for all.
But you can’t do it in 5 minutes, it takes time. You have to practice, and you have to be moved to practice. You have to cultivate your seeing capabilities, just like you had to develop your thinking capabilities. And you have to do it every day, until you don’t forget anymore. Then you will see the circle, without ever being caught in it again, and reality won’t escape you anymore.
How can we cultivate the seeing in ourselves?
How can you actually do it, so that it will be in your experience?
You do it by being honest. Being honest means being honest to yourself. Yourself is the only one you can really be honest to. Being honest means not to escape the reality of the present moment, but to face up to it. Whenever you engage in thinking and enter your memory you are not facing up to the present moment, the Now, so you are not being honest.
By thinking we leave the Now and enter the construct of asserted past and projected future, which is what most of humanity finds itself continuously trapped in. It is this construct that is fundamentally unreal, since it is a product of thought and imagination. The Now, the present moment, is the only real moment in existence.
To be in the Now, we have to shed ourselves of our attachments to what we think we know. Thinking is not knowing, thinking itself is known. If you knew, you wouldn’t be thinking, would you? Don’t think about that. Knowing is always going on. It is a continuous state. But as long as we are attached to thinking we can’t see that. When we give up thinking, we are left with knowing. It is this state of knowing without thinking that makes us no longer feel discontented. But first we must be honest to ourselves.
Thank you for reading.
In what is to come in the following series of Truth and Knowledge here on medium and on inner reality, I am going to lay out the truth in ever finer detail, so that I leave the mind little area in which to be partial and ask its questions. And you will understand that thinking is quite possibly the most unintelligent behavior a human being can engage in, as I reveal this knowledge that comes straight from my consciousness that has not a single thought in it whatever.
It prevails, and it is your consciousness.
