You don't know what you don't know.
It's like touring a dark art museum. How does the art look? You don't know! It's pitch black in here.
Yet when the light appears: "Ahh, interesting golden retriever. Seems victorian era."
Before the light, it was just blackness. After, you see the detail.
The opposite of dark is not light, it's detail. Light is the process of illumination.
And consciousness is how you find the light. Consciousness is like a flash light in a dark room looking for a light switch.
You point it around the room looking for a switch.
You got nothing, you got nothing, you got nothing, and them you find the switch.
In a moment, you flip it on, and something new makes sense.
You are now in the light!
You look around, and appreciate the room.
And after some time, you get bored. So you find another dark room to explore!
That's the process of learning. Search, find, relax, repeat.
Quote I'm Pondering
"When others listen to someone proudly telling something which he has done, they will feel funny, because they know his recollection is one-sided. They know that what he has told them is not exactly what he did. Moreover, if he is proud of what he did, that pride will create some problem for him. Repeating his recollections in this way, his personality will be twisted more and more, until he becomes quite a disagreeable, stubborn fellow."
– Shunryu Suzuki (in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind)
Appreciate you reading! If you know a friend who would enjoy, please forward to them. If you are that friend, subscribe here.