It’s OK to say,” I Don’t Know” : A transformational journey of knowing the unknown & becoming perfect
Is it humanly possible to know everything and become perfect or is it so difficult to say “ I Don’t Know”?
Human civilization’s entire journey has always been about knowing the unknown and getting better to reach the state of perfection, here is a beautiful story of “Swami Vivekanada” that talks about the transformational journey of knowing the unknown and becoming perfect:
One day, Swami Vivekananda was addressing a group of people about how one could know the unknown and be able to live a life perfectly suddenly in the middle of his discourse a small child stood up and asked a direct question,” Do you know the unknown, Are you perfect?”
Everybody was in ultimate shocking state of mind simply because when intelligent or enlightened people talk one should not think or dare to ask any question even if it is required but that little child asked. Swami ji remained calm and smiled at the child saying straight “I don’t know” but the child continued asking, ”do you know anybody who knows the unknown and is prefect?”
Swami ji again said “I don’t know” but the child again asked, “How can you talk about knowing the unknown and perfection then?”
Swami ji smilingly replied and said, “my child, I know I don’t know the unknown also I’m neither perfect nor I know anybody who is prefect but every day I’m trying to be less imperfect and trying to know the unknown hence that’s what makes me talk about knowing the unknown and perfection”.
We all know for sure that whatever we know today was definitely not known yesterday or before similarly whatever we don’t know now, we may come to know. However, the problem is once we grow up, we tend to take pride in not admitting or realizing what we don’t know as it is also considered personally and professionally bad in certain scenario. Sometimes, we create a cocoon around us of whatever little we already know or known to us and live happily life long as artificially perfected being without consciously realizing or making further effort to know what we don’t know or possibly we may know.
It has been observed that most of the time the thing that surprises the most to most of the people around is the fact that they don’t realize themselves first what they don’t know. Therefore, the best part in the entire process is to know yourself first “what you don’t know” or seek from someone or some situation to make you realize without getting offended as there will always be something that you don’t know.
Knowing is definitely powerful and plays an integral role for reaching perfection, everything we do in life require certain amount of knowing and more you know more, more you will be able to do it better and eventually it will bring more of perfection.
Thus it’s OK to say, “ I don’t know” because this is where it will lead to the transformational journey of knowing the unknown and becoming perfect.
May all know the power of the unknown to make more conscious efforts to know the unknown and ultimately be less imperfect each passing day to become perfect.
