Spirituality-Awareness and Knowledge

Written by Mathew Naismith

One of our biggest mistakes as a species was replacing awareness with knowledge that got us thinking knowledge brings on awareness!!  Knowledge has given us degradation where’s awareness wouldn’t have done this because with awareness comes wisdom. It is obvious knowledge doesn’t always bring on wisdom.

“Knowledge has to be searched out where’s awareness is just remembered!!”

Would it not take awareness to search out knowledge? Yes, we have always done this but the problem is now we think knowledge brings us awareness when it’s awareness in the first place that allows us to search out this knowledge. Awareness, no matter what it is pertaining too, is the forerunner of knowledge. Yes knowledge can bring on further awareness but it’s awareness in the first place that induces us to seek out this knowledge, knowledge doesn’t & can’t induce us to seek out awareness without being aware in the first place.

With thinking that knowledge brings on awareness and wisdom, has given us degradation onto ourselves, each other & the rest of our environment, if knowledge was supposed to bring on awareness and knowledge, why are we so destructive and hurtful still? Is a true spiritually wise and aware person destructive, egotistical and hurtful and what is the difference between the actions of a knowledgeable person to a person who is more aware than knowledgeable?  The answer to the first question is obvious but what about the second question, what does define our actions?  

Conglomerates/corporations rule over everything within this reality, the people in charge are either very knowledgeable &/or have people under them who are knowledgeable.  These same people are not or don’t want to be aware of their destructive ways but a wise & aware person would be aware and take appropriate action to arrest any such problem that is going to hurt others or the environment. There is obviously a huge difference within the reasoning of a knowledgeable person to a wise and aware person, what is the driving force of these different reasoning processes? It comes down once again to ego, one being controlled by the ego & the other not being controlled by the ego.  A controlling ego gives us destructiveness and an ego not in control gives us constructiveness. It is obvious between multinationals and spiritually wise people who is controlled by the ego & who isn’t and who thinks knowledge brings on awareness and who doesn’t.  The reasoning process between these people can be quite massive and either massively destructive or constructive.

It is clear that awareness brings forth knowledge, this has occurred since the dawn of man but what seems to be happening now is  knowledge has overridden awareness and wisdom when awareness and wisdom should have still been an important part of gaining, and most importantly, implementing this knowledge so it won’t impact on us and our environment destructively. Yes, knowledge and awareness/wisdom still go hand in hand with some people today who aren’t spiritually inclined however it is obvious they aren’t the ones who have a say in the way multinationals use knowledge. 

While writing this post, I went on the net to do a little research on the difference between knowledge and awareness, there is no set conclusive agreed perception of the differences between these two, some say they are the same others say they are quite different in the way they make us think and act.  Some knowledgeable people say knowledge induces awareness which brings us wisdom however human history, especially recent human history, doesn’t show this to be true obviously mainly because of our destructive ways.  We also have other people who are knowledgeable who say they enhance each other and that one can’t function properly and efficiently without the other which human history does show. If we are not aware enough, human history is there to show us our short falls and I think history has done that here by showing us the differences between knowledge and awareness. 

I will now leave you with Wikipedia’s interpretation of awareness & knowledge; it’s interesting to note the contrasts & similarities between knowledge & awareness.  To me it seems awareness can be functional when used on it’s own but knowledge needs awareness to know and to know how to implement such knowing constructively.  I should also point out, I feel there is a difference between knowing & knowledge, knowledge is understanding, knowing is being aware of these understandings without needing to actually understand and become knowledgeable of what we are aware of!!

Extracts:

Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects, or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of something. In biological psychology, awareness is defined as a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.

Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning. Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic.[1] In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology; the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as "justified true belief." However, no single agreed upon definition of knowledge exists, though there are numerous theories to explain it.