05/05/2026
Hey Everyone,
As I was preparing class notes for the Heart Sutra course recently, I was reminded of this Chinese proverb that Thich Nhat Hanh quotes in his book of commentary on the Heart Sutra, The Heart of Understanding: “To say you don’t know is the beginning of knowing.”
It can be hard for us to admit we don’t know. Our sense of who we are is staked on knowing. Knowing what? Well, what have you got? Because self and knowing are interdependent—and what, really, isn’t?—admitting that we don’t know is essentially to lose whom we imagine ourself to be. That constitutes an existential threat when we cling to the idea of who or what self is. Rene Descartes’ adage, “I think therefore I am” is truer than he or his critics ever knew!
And if it’s hard for us to admit to ourselves that we don’t know, allowing that truth to truly pe*****te to our heart, it can be even harder to admit it to others, who also play such an important role in who we think we are. To not admit our not knowing to others, to not say it, is to remain attached to knowing no matter how much we tell ourselves that we no longer are.
To say it, then, is like reciting the Formless Admission at the beginning of the Precept Recitation; it opens the door for the Dharma to be allowed in. And Dharma can never be known in our conventional understanding of the word. So, it is the beginning of true knowing.
Take care and be well,
—Steve Matuszak, Dharma Field head teacher
