knowlegde vs. awareness

[D69]

During my trip to work today , I started to think about it all (as usual :) ).
Point is that i wanted to find the difference between knowledge and awareness.
At first look, there is no difference but...
There is at least one little, important difference actually
In fact like C`s say , knowledge protects and what is wrong with awareness then ?
awareness also protects but it raises fear factor - it makes you think about things you are aware of , with lower or higher , but still ... fear.

Knowledge , on the other hand , helps you solve problems that will (or not) come - there is no negative/positive feeling in it -its simply knowledge how to react on some kind of action/problem.
My favorite example when i talk with friends about "The Wave" and rest of stuff , is knowledge of eskimo ,who knows how to build igloo to protect himself from extreme weather conditions. - so basicly , knowledge protects him

We , as 3rd density creatures cant live in fear , C`s say , because its feeding 4th density dudes.
Also personally i think its destructive.

I would like to hear your comments on this thoughts.
Do you think I concluded all above correctly ? or maybe i missed something and if i did , then what i missed ?

 

[Appollynon]

Hello drygol, I thought I’d try and help you resolve the question you have about knowledge and awareness:)

Point is that i wanted to find the difference between knowledge and awareness

There is quite a large difference between the definition of knowledge and the definition of awareness, so below you’ll find some examples of the definitions taken from the Cassiopeaen glossary and Cassiopedia site in case you haven’t come across these before. The Cassiopedia site is a very useful and valuable site for looking into more esoteric terms and meanings behind words or phrases and I often check back there to see if there’s any more I can learn about something.

In general usage:
1. The state or fact of knowing.
2. Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study.
3. The sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned.
4. Learning; erudition: teachers of great knowledge.
5. Specific information about something.
6. Carnal knowledge.

In an esoteric context, knowledge as opposed to information means that what is known is known in context and in an applicable form. Knowledge implies having assimilated the information and having made it a part of oneself. Having knowledge does not automatically imply that the knowledge in question correspond to reality. One may believe and act on false information which one has mistaken for knowledge.
Knowledge is tied to being. A certain level of being, or cohesion of parts of self will be required before information on a particular subject becomes knowledge. Knowledge strongly suggests an element of skill or know-how, of capacity of application. Information may turn to knowledge by being applied.

Knowledge often suggests a meaning of first hand knowledge, acquired by experience. Not all knowledge requires direct experience of the object of knowledge, for example one does not have to be persecuted in order to know about the possibility of being persecuted. There the criterion of knowledge is applying the knowledge of the danger for avoiding directly experiencing this same danger.

Gurdjieff tells us that esoteric knowledge is like a material substance. There is only a certain amount of this substance allotted to the world at each time. If this stuff of knowledge is spread too thin, it does nobody any good. In great condensations, when a large amount is shared between relatively few, knowledge can produce great change and benefit.

For more on knowledge look here:

http://glossary.cassiopaea.com/glossary.php?id=429&lsel=K
http://www.cassiopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Knowledge

Here is what cassiopedia says about awareness.

Awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. Awareness does not necessarily imply understanding, just an ability to be conscious of, feel or perceive. Awareness is a relative concept. An animal may be partially aware, may be subconsciously aware, or may be acutely aware of an event. Awareness may be focused on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception. Awareness provides the raw material from which animals develop qualia, or subjective ideas about their experience.
Researchers have debated what minimal components are necessary for animals to be aware of environmental stimuli, though all animals have some capacity for acute reactive behavior that implies a faculty for awareness.

Popular ideas about consciousness suggest the phenomenon describes a condition of being aware of one's awareness. Efforts to describe consciousness in neurological terms have focused on describing networks in the brain that develop awareness of the qualia developed by other networks.

Neural systems that regulate attention serve to attenuate awareness among complex animals whose central and peripheral nervous system provides more information than cognitive areas of the brain can assimilate. Within an attenuated system of awareness, a mind might be aware of much more than is being contemplated in a focused extended consciousness.

When a patient goes for a surgical operation, it is desirable to temporarily make the patient unaware. Anaesthesiologists specialise in this and a major responsibility is to prevent awareness during the operation. This is achieved by giving anesthetic drugs through the veins and through the lungs,

This following link to the cassiopedia definition of self awareness is also well worth a read if your thinking deep thoughts about awareness.

http://www.cassiopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Self-awareness

In fact like C`s say , knowledge protects and what is wrong with awareness then ?
awareness also protects but it raises fear factor - it makes you think about things you are aware of , with lower or higher , but still ... fear.

I would have to both agree and disagree with you here somewhat, when you say that awareness helps lower or higher the fear factor. I believe that it is a conscious choice that we as individuals make to fear something as we can choose not to fear something equally, but that it takes work and knowing yourself and your many I’s to discern the reason behind your fears. I completely understand what you are trying to say, as I have one or two friends who sometimes tell me they wish they had not woken up to the terror of the situation were in. This is often a passing programme for them (which they know about and try to work through) which seems designed to hold them back from doing anything positive for themselves and fill them with apathy about doing anything more than just sitting on the fence. So in one sense I agree that if you let it, awareness can cause fear.

Awareness of the “terror of history” and the situation we find ourselves in on the BBM at the moment can also create a positive feeling too. For example I am now aware of the general law, and of the many, of the myriad (tho obviously not all) of reasons why/how we have come to this point in the human cycle, and instead of filling me with any fear, this awareness fills me with hope. This is because I can now see things happening in my world and my life (and my past) that I was blind to before, manipulations, energy feeding, programming etc. Because of this I have hope that I may be able to not only become a better person through work and utilisation of knowledge with awareness, but also to help others better by knowing myself and this world better so that if I’m asked for help, I will be more ready and able to give it. So for me being more aware, is being filled with more hope and positivity than any fear, but that may be just me ;)

I think your right that when people live in fear it can be very destructive to both themselves and those whom they are in relationships of any kind with, and that any type of feeding of STS is not good. However again, sometimes a little fear, coupled with knowledge and awareness, such as that which would scare us away from a possible predator, can be useful if utilised for a positive outcome, such as evading attack or being consumed.

I’m not in any position to tell you whether what you posted or concluded was right or wrong, as for me that would suggest I was judging what you said, and I wish not to be judgemental. I think that having a clearer understanding of the differences between knowledge and awareness would help you if you have been thinking about them deeply.

 

[D69]

@Appollynon

First of all i would like to thank you for your informative post.
To be honest , i dont know what to write in response , because you already put it all in your post in a proper way:)

I just threw "awareness" to a bag with bad feelings and didnt actually look at it as something positive.
Instead i glorified "knowledge" to much.
Well , good understanding of words and its meanings is critical i guess. However , beside all those words , in the end I totally agree with you , I just needed to meet other point of view to compare it with mine.
Again , thank you for your post and links

 

[ark]

It seems to me that both are connected. To be aware of something one needs to know something. Now, knowledge can be on different level. We are born with certain instinctive knowledge, much like animals. Animals know how to walk and how to breath from the very first seconds. They are endowed with their senses so that they can be aware of their immediate environment.
Yet both knowledge and awareness can be developed further. Once we learn about our bodies, our minds, our centers, once we know about our programming since early childhood, then we may become aware of ourselves, observe our reactions and our thoughts, our heartbeat, our breathing and relate all of that to our knowledge about ourselves and about the world around us. This is a higher knowledge and a higher awareness.
Once we are equipped with these higher functions then the question arises: what are we going to do with them? How are we going to use them and for which purpose? All that can be used for serving selves or for serving others. Moreover, the very term "serve" is not clear. For instance we can decide to serve those others who are "like us". This often happens. It is, again, the result of insufficient knowledge. Serving only those who are "like us" is a cheap choice. So, whom to serve? And how?
This apparent dilemma can be resolved if we abandon the question whom to serve and replace it with another question: which fundamental principles we want to serve? Truth or falsehood? Knowledge or ignorance? Once this is decided, then we may choose to align with those who respect the same fundamental principles as we do. We help those who are colinear, they help us. We may serve others by creating structures that will help them in making their choices, by making the knowledge available to all who may need it.

Of course this is how I see it today. Tomorrow, perhaps, I will understand it better. We are never sure how far on the path we are. We may think we know something, while what we know is next to nothing. But there is no other way, I think.

The path is not an easy one. In fact it is a dangerous path. For instance: there is the Law and there is the moral law. There are thing that are formally within the law but morally despicable. With knowledge and with awareness we are able to notice these things and the mechanisms behind. Then what to do? Keep silent? But the morally despicable part is not being silent. It grows like the hydra and devours more and more innocent and naive people. So, doing nothing would be morally wrong. Doing something puts us in danger, because the hydra has the ability to burn us.

Few days ago I was quoting from the Greek philosopher and teacher of the Rhetorics, Gorgias. I was writing about Kairos - the right time, I was writing about Rosa Parks and her civil disobedience that exercised at "the right time" helped to change the uncivilized law and its execution into the more civil one, when black and whites are bot treated as respectable human beings - this reshape has made a history. Rosa Parks was taking the risk. She was not directed, in this case, by pure rational thinking, rather she was directed by the awareness of injustice and the deeply felt necessity of doing something about it, by the Knowledge and by the Providence.

 

[dant]

Excellent posts!

Thanks Ark, for the clarity of your thoughts!

 

[D69]

Indeed , excellent post !

Of course this is how I see it today. Tomorrow, perhaps, I will understand it better. We are never sure how far on the path we are. We may think we know something, while what we know is next to nothing. But there is no other way, I think.

I totally agree with you , there is no other way. I was going through similar wood. I was thinking "hmm , I have quite big knowledge in <example here>". And this kind of thinking is quite tricky. It provokes to use that particular knowledge in a wrong way.( i know i do thinking-shortcuts) Few months later , when I grasped more knowledge , i started to realize how little actually I know. And it was like action - reaction stuff. When I learned more , then instantly I was getting more aware of how far it is to hypothetical end of learning.
Today I know that I know nothing , and at the same time I am trying to fill that "nothingness" with new knowledge. Road of learning never ends ( personally i think it could be boring :P:P ) - that is my todays awareness , and it also may change when i will know more.

But all above is about lesser knowledge - and in my case , I think it has only one purpose - serve to self , because It is me who tries to fill that "nothingness" I mentioned . However , higher knowledge (how to help yourself by helping others - fast example ) , like you wrote , is much more important. And this is what i am learning now , with eyes wide open.
This is interesting experience when I have to fight with myself to do something but at the same time this "something" was totally different for past 10 years. Funny thing is how it all started , but thats a story for another thread ;)
Anyways , Ark , thx for your post , it threw some new light.

ps. About 'kairos' - I still read s24 , i just dont write there anymore. I guess i will need more time to recover ;)

 

[Appollynon]

I also agree with what Ark has said about the connection between knowledge and awareness and that we are born with a purely instinctual knowledge, which begets a purely instinctual awareness. However if we seek and find higher knowledge then our awareness also becomes a heightened awareness, and (I may be wrong here) I believe that having a heightened knowledge and awareness leads to a clearer and heightened sense of intuition, or at least a better understanding of the intuition we have always had. As Ark has said it is the choice of deciding how to use this higher knowledge and awareness that decides what which route we take, either moving towards a more STO or STS path.

Thanks for the great post Ark, I have been mulling over something you have said for a couple of days now, and wanted to formulate what I wanted to say more clearly.

When you said:

Moreover, the very term "serve" is not clear. For instance we can decide to serve those others who are "like us". This often happens. It is, again, the result of insufficient knowledge. Serving only those who are "like us" is a cheap choice. So, whom to serve? And how?

This apparent dilemma can be resolved if we abandon the question whom to serve and replace it with another question: which fundamental principles we want to serve? Truth or falsehood? Knowledge or ignorance? Once this is decided, then we may choose to align with those who respect the same fundamental principles as we do. We help those who are collinear, they help us. We may serve others by creating structures that will help them in making their choices, by making the knowledge available to all who may need it.

This made me realise I still have a problem with whom I serve in my daily life. My instinctual reaction to most situations involving other people is to always put others wants and needs before myself, even if at times that means to my own detriment. This is something that I have been instinctually doing for a long time (although not as much when growing up as a hormonal and immature child of early age). When I first came across the Cassiopaean site and read the wave material in my early twenties, I think I then decided that I would try my hardest to always serve others (as this is the choice between STS VS STO that, for me makes the most sense to aim towards, and suits my natural instincts more) and put the needs of others before myself. However this has led me into many inter-personal relationships in which I have been hurt, used, lied to and (in hindsight) fed upon by people who have a far more self serving nature.

I thought that I had learnt the lessons I needed to learn that it is not always good way to live and aim towards being, to serve everyone and put everyone's needs before my own. But after a recent strongly worded critique of who I am, from a close friend of mine who said, "You put other people first to much and let people walk all over you", and with your words here, I have come to realise I still need to learn to be more aware of exactly who I'm serving and why.

I think in hindsight my instinct to want to help everyone, or to put everyone first is actually a rather Narcissistic instinct, as I realise it is not my place to help or serve everyone all of the time. I think acting as I have may just be a way of self calming and thinking that if I serve everyone, then I must be doing some good or STO work, even if just in a small way. I have no desire to be seen as a hero or any kind of savior, my instinct is simply to serve/help if I can in any way I can, but I now see that I need to learn more about who I am, and who I am truly serving or helping. I also realise that the need I feel to serve everyone is actually a rather selfish need, almost like I have tried to serve others as simply a validation of my purpose and being here on the BBM. I now see that sometimes not serving everyone, or occasionally acting in favor of my own destiny, could also be a learning experience for me and for others.