It’s a tough sell to try to convince a businessperson that he or she might be better off knowing less; an even tougher task to get them to try knowing nothing for an hour or two.

After all they got where they are by acquiring knowledge – knowledge of their industry, the politics, the corporate structure, who to listen to and who to mistrust. Without their knowledge they’re vulnerable. They’re on a foggy moor without any discernible landmarks or up a creek without a paddle – drifting wherever the current takes them.

And that’s kind of the point.

A Buddhist koan reminds us that “not knowing is most intimate.”

What does this mean?

Let’s say you’re on a plane and suddenly the lights go out and the cabin fills with smoke. You realize you don’t know where the exit is. Suddenly, someone grabs your elbow and says “Quick, I know where the emergency exit is.” You’d be an idiot to shrug him off and tell him that you prefer not to know, thank you very much. You’ll just find your own way out. That kind of knowing is useful and practical.

But let’s flash back to when you got on the plane. If you’re nervous about flying you may have sized up the people around you. Maybe you dismissed the skinny kid with the headphones on as being useless in an emergency; you discounted the older guy already asleep with his mouth open. On the other hand, you got a good feeling about the guy in the suit with the briefcase. You formed opinions about all three based on your belief systems. Are you sure, now, that you know which one just grabbed your arm and offered to save your life? It’s this kind of “knowing”, the kind that formed those belief systems and that you mistakenly rely on as Reality, that we’re talking about.

The kind of knowing that his koan refers to is not the kind of knowing where you acquire a learned skill. No-one would suggest that not knowing how to drive a car is a good thing if you’re planning on getting behind the wheel and jumping on the freeway.

On the other hand, if, after passing your driver’s test, you decide that you really know how to drive better than most, that opens the door to judgment and comparison with others. Judgment and comparison are the opposite of intimacy. They also remove you from Reality, so that you’re acting on what’s in your head at any given time, rather than what you see in front of you.

The word “decision” comes from the Latin. It means to cut off at the root. That’s also what we do when we form opinions. We cut off all other options. Our experience and opinions and expectations grow, calcify is actually a better word, into belief systems.

Sometimes this can come in very handy. When we create a belief system we’re actually writing shorthand for our brain. We simply don’t have time to size up every situation and formulate an action plan on the spot so we carry belief systems with us for handy reference so that we can use them as a basis for action.

But belief systems can also be dangerous because they can close us off to possibility and serendipity. We’re not just writing shorthand, we’re also writing code for our computer of a brain. Like a computer, our brain will continue to use the same code over and over, without reference to what else is going on in the world, until we re-write it.

When you believe you know something, you point yourself in a particular direction. If you’re facing in that direction you can’t see behind you and you can’t see to either side of you – unless you turn to take in another perspective. Your reality therefore becomes what’s in front of you.

Why narrow your field of vision?

When you believe you “know” you also miss the present. Knowing is a static state. It’s rooted in the past and is closed – not open. Not knowing is a state of openness. You look around and take in all information without pre- judgment or labeling. You still process it into a plan of action. But you realize that maybe on another day with different circumstances your actions may have been different.

If you’re the expert and you have information and experience to share then, ok, be the expert. But also be aware how that status affects you and others. There is a subject/object relationship between you and the non-expert. There is a distance and a delineation of roles.

Knowing is exclusive. Not knowing is inclusive.

So how could you re-write your code of knowing?

How many times have you gone into a meeting with a preconception of who’s going to contribute fresh ideas and who’s going to sit and nod quietly? What if your expectations were a self-fulfilling prophesy? What if the quiet guy had great ideas but was afraid to speak out? No-one ever gave him an opening to speak because everybody “knew” he was a dud. What if you left your expectations at the door and went into the meeting inviting input from all? You would bring possibility into the room with you; a fine thing to have on hand at any business meeting.

What if you didn’t know the answer to a question; the solution to a problem; the right way to do things? Wouldn’t that invite collaboration and creativity? Wouldn’t it leave room for the unexpected to make an appearance?

What if you took an hour or two out of your day and didn’t know? How about if you dropped your thoughts, biases and agendas and just looked and listened? But don’t think about what you’re seeing and hearing; just see and hear. You might be surprised at what you notice.

See without thinking.

Look without judging.

Know without knowing.

Not knowing is most intimate.

There is a practice in Zen Buddhism known as zazen. It’s commonly misconstrued as a meditation but in fact it isn’t. True, if you came upon someone practicing zazen you’d either think they were meditating or they had a fondness for non-prescription medication.

Whereas meditation is about achieving some kind of a relaxed state and withdrawing temporarily from the world – zazen is about staying in the world. Zazen practitioners face a wall, keep their eyes open and basically just sit still and perfectly attentive for periods of time.

The trick is to stay in the world but not of the world. Hence the open eyes. An attempt is made to still the chattering ego mind – that internal, infernal conversation which goes on inside your head all day, every day!

A famous zen teacher, Taezan Maezumi said that when sitting zazen we should “let the myriad of things settle.” How often have you wanted to do that? And what constitutes your particular myriad of things – work; laundry; kid’s soccer games; your “relationship” ;bills; mortgage re-fi’s; PTA meetings; dentists visits; oil changes etc. etc. Sometimes there seems to be no end to the “stuff” we all have to deal with on a daily basis.

If you work in a corporate environment where you are continually interacting with others you also have your myriad of office things – politics; project deadlines; sales and/or strategy meetings; pay raises; performance evaluations; mergers; diversity trainings etc. There’s always a demand on your time, energy and patience.

When you practice zazen you let your original, or unconscious, mind out for a breath of fresh air. So often it’s suffocated by the sheer weight of demands our busy minds place on it. So, when you sit quietly by yourself and allow your mind to be clear and open you are whole and unconditioned. Gradually, your breath slow,; your eyelids soften, your jaw releases it’s tension ). Bet you didn’t know that your jaw was tight much of the time, did you?

Your thoughts still pop in from time to time. But you watch them come and go like clouds scudding across a clear blue sky.

Someone once said to me – anyone can knock on your door anytime but you don’t have to always invite them in for coffee. Try to think of your urgent, insistent thoughts as pesky visitors knocking on your door at the most inopportune time – like just when you’d like a little time to yourself.

When you let your thoughts settle and you clear your mind during the heat of a workday it’s like taking a siesta, going for a cool walk around the block and connecting with life outside of your workplace or having a neck massage.

It takes you out of the place where you normally live all day every day – between your ears – and connects you to things bigger and infinitely less comprehensible than your everyday problems.

Consider letting the myriad of things settle for even a few minutes today.

Let your conditioned mind drift like a blossom drifting gently from a tree in Spring. You can always pick it up later. But right now you’re just going to watch it fall.