#1437 - losing the known
One is afraid not of the unknown but of losing the known. You are afraid of losing your family, of being left alone without companions; you are afraid of the pain of loneliness, of being without the experiences and possessions that you have gathered. It is the known that we are afraid to let go of. The known is memory, and to that memory the mind clings. But memory is only a mechanical thing, which computers are demonstrating beautifully. —Krishnamurti, From Public Talk 8, Saanen, 28 July 1964
I thought the unknown was scary to face; that's why we often prefer to stay in the comfort of what we know. Then this morning, I read this quote from Krishnamurti. These words come from a speech about death, which is the quintessence of stepping into the unknown.
According to Krishnamurti, it's not the unknown we are afraid of. We are scared of losing what we know.
And if I look back to all those times when I refrained from exploring more and going beyond, what I was truly afraid of was discovering something that could challenge what I already knew.
What if I discover that I am not who I think I am?
How often has this question held me back from further understanding myself?
That is why subtraction is such a challenging practice. It requires us to let go of knowledge and beliefs we have acquired so far in life. It's about challenging everything that we believe about ourselves and reality. And what if we discover that they are untrue or don't serve us anymore? Will we be able to let them go?
It's not the open sea before us that scares us the most. It is leaving the safety of the harbour on which we stand.