The Difference Between Thinking and Knowing

As Quaker Isaac Penington put it: "There is a great difference between comprehending the knowledge of things and tasting the hidden life of them."

My dad was a doctor of Osteopathy back in the days when there were only two of them in Canada. One of the basic teachings of Osteopathy is wholeness and thus treating the whole person. Looking back, he was a healer of people because he knew their essence. He did not just think his way through treating his patients, and he knew in his heart what treatment to apply at the moment.

He taught me the difference between looking at the parts of a problem and considering the wholeness of the situation and the broader context. 

However, my university training focused on thinking through and solving problems. The way I was taught how to think had me looking at the situation and designing a fix, and the analysis would include the steps needed to make the system work.

The challenge was that I was in the people business. My work was about how corporations could integrate the talent pool into engaging and excelling in their work.

The years of training and practicing taught me to be analytical when making things work, always aiming for certainty in an uncertain world.

Thinking is a valuable skill. We need to be able to make our way in the world by putting one step ahead of the other to get to a destination.

Knowing is a different skill, and I learned about knowing when I discovered meditation and the sense of quietness that comes with it when I have a quiet space in my heart.

There is always a space available to know when we sit quietly. Your knowing is with you with a feeling of wholeness.

Namaste