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that I knew. As my understanding increased," he said... and his words are worth nothing. He says: "As my understanding increased, my knowledge evaporated. Now that my understanding is complete, I am thoroughly convinced that no man is more ignorant than I am."
The people of Athens were filled with joy, for the wise in Athens knew that Socrates had entered the temple of Truth. When the ignorant questioned: "But he proclaims his ignorance and you say he has realized Truth?" They replied: "Only those can enter the temple of Truth whose illusion of knowledge is broken; those whose nature becomes so guileless that with the innocence of a child they declare they know nothing! For them the doors of Truth are always open."
The one to whom his ignorance becomes evident, starts to look inwards. Relieved of the burden of outside knowledge, man turns his gaze within. No one turns inwards so long as he expects to gain from without; from scriptures etc., for till then the "turning in" does not occur. Hence the second rule demands complete freedom from the tangle of words. This can only be if we are convinced that words are false and Truth is never revealed through them. To be free from words is to travel within. Outside there are words and within there is silence. Words have no room there.
So this is the second rule: TO START ON THE QUEST OF TRUTH, BE RID OF ALL PSEUDO-KNOWLEDGE. Be rid of the knowledge that is cultivated, that is borrowed, so that, that knowledge can be investigated which is never borrowed, never obtained from others and which is ever-present within. That knowledge is true which is written in the self and not in the books; which has not to be begged for, but rises from within and spreads on all life. Such knowledge cannot be snatched away for it comes from the self within. Knowledge attained from others is always uncertain and dubious and can never be relied upon; but the knowledge that arises within is irreproachable and beyond the shadow of doubt.
In the course of his search for truth, Vivekanand once approached Maharishi Devendranath. It was a dark night and the Maharishi stayed in a boat on the Ganges. Vivekanand crossed the river
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