People who’ve had any genuine spiritual experience always know that they don’t know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind.
– Richard Rohr
Yes, genuine spiritual openings reveal the mystery inherent in all.
It’s only when thoughts come in to interpret and make a story about it that we may be able to tell ourselves that we know and understand. But we don’t really – at least not at the level of stories. We just tell ourselves we do.
Note: Some would say that if the “spiritual experience” goes a bit further, it’s not an experience anymore. It’s what we are noticing itself. It’s a noticing, not an experience. Although, for me, a noticing is a kind of experience. I understand where they are coming from, and appreciate the distinction, but feel it’s a bit idealized.
I have awakened just enough to begin grasping this concept: we limit the vastness of knowledge when we confine it within our thoughts. In the game of darts, the goal is to aim for the center. But the pursuit of spiritual knowledge asks us to do the opposite. We must widen our focus to see the whole dartboard—every circle, every layer, and every possibility beyond the center. When we see the entire dartboard, we often see only the bullseye—the single point on which our minds have fixed their attention. The bullseye limits our ability to expand our awareness beyond what our mind understands. Know that we don’t know, and so it is.