The "Don't Know" State of Mind
The teachings on “don’t know mind” are central to Zen Buddhism and can be of great usefulness to all of us. Don’t know mind is different from being confused or unable to make up your mind. These are both effortful states in which I am striving hard to know something but still do not have knowledge. Don’t know mind is not confused —when I am in this state, I’m perfectly clear on the fact that I don’t know and there is no confusion. It’s not a case of being unable to make up my mind because I am not trying to make up my mind about anything—and so there is no struggle. I am simply in a resting and a calm state of not knowing and being open to receiving what is going on around me without agenda. This is foreign territory for most of us. We want to know, we often say we know, we think we're supposed to know. There...
