Why does the unknown unnerve and frighten us?
Just witness the way people are struggling with the uncertain future created by the pandemic, coupled now by the racial unrest raging in our cities. The disruption of everything we usually relied on – our schedules, our plans, our work, our children’s activities, our travels — virtually every one of our otherwise dependable routines, is shaking us all up.
So much about life is unknown. Indeed, whatever we know is just a fraction of what is unknown. The more we learn about the universe and about our own bodies, the more we recognize how much more there is to learn and discover. Scientific breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and neuroscience (to name just two examples) have shown us that when we peer into the building blocks of existence, we discover that we have barely pierced the surface. As we have discovered molecules, and beneath that atoms, made up of subatomic particles, we wonder how many further layers lay beneath? How far down does the “rabbit hole” go? How many sub-sub-sub-sub… dimensions are there? The same with DNA and other microscopic forces. The deeper we dig, the deeper are the depths that emerge. The higher we climb, the broader the horizons.
True knowledge includes knowing the unknown. As the sages teach us,”The ultimate knowledge is knowing that you don’t know,” which means knowing that there is much more to know, to the point that you come to know the unknowable.
So then why is it so difficult and unsettling to deal with an unknown and uncertain future?
Is it possible that we have become so accustomed and attached — even addicted — to our knowable and predictable comfort zones, that now, when they are disrupted, we cannot easily embrace the unknown? Has our prosperity and high standard of living distracted and caused us to forget the awe of the unknown? Is our need for control a result of deeper insecurities — relying on impermanent things for safety?
Do you know how to let go and celebrate your vulnerability?
Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on an extraordinary journey into the deeper mysteries of life, and learn how to embrace the mystique and grandeur of the unknown. Discover how we gain true control when we let go of control. How the unknowable works hand-in-hand with the knowable, as the unconscious works hand-in-hand with the conscious — weaving together an exquisite and exhilarating picture of true reality.
