How To Attain Knowledge

Another important topic I want to touch on is the difference between information, experience and knowledge. I have spoken about this many times, but it remains a major misunderstanding. Many people believe that hearing something, reading something, or attending a class automatically means they have become experienced. In reality, they have only collected information.

A simple example is cooking. You can watch a recipe online, read all the ingredients, and understand the steps. But until you cook the dish repeatedly, adjust it to your taste, and learn through experience, you have not truly gained the knowledge. Information only becomes knowledge through experience.

The same applies to spirituality. Listening to talks, reading books, or going on retreats gives us information. Knowledge comes only when we experience. Sometimes retreats and retrievals can give us experience, as there is focused practice, but even then, we must be careful not to delude ourselves into thinking that we have gained spiritual experience and, hence having knowledge. By working on ourselves and gaining experience, we are ultimately striving to gain knowledge.