This is how I explained the situation to a fourth grade science class:
I am going to ask you two kinds of questions. The first kind of question has to do with knowledge ABOUT reality; the second kind of question has to do with the direct experience of reality. If I ask you, "What is this?" (while holding up a glass of water), you can give me a conventional answer. You can say, "It's a glass of water." But if I ask you, "What is this, REALLY?" you will have to answer me in a way that shows me you understand what this IS before words or thoughts.
The first kind of question is conventional and can be answered by thinking and dredging up memorized distinctions. The second kind of question in existential and can only answered through the body using direct perception and the body's innate intelligence.
When we ask "What IS some thing, REALLY?" we are not asking, "How may this thing be distinguished or imagined?" We are asking what it IS? "Is" is a verb, not a noun, so no noun will suffice as an answer. After a bit more explanation, the kids understood the issue even though their teachers did not.
I would ask, "What is gravity?" and the kids would answer something like, "It's a force of attraction between things" or something similar. When I asked, "What is gravity, REALLY?" the room would go wild. Kids would stand up and jump off of their desks onto the floor or lift up books and drop them. Ha ha. They understood the difference between the idea of gravity and what gravity IS. "What is gravity, REALLY?" is an existential question. Other existential questions include:
Is there a God?
Where did I come from and where am I going?
Who (or what) am I?
What is the meaning of life?
What is my role in life?
What is time or space?
At some level everyone knows the answers to these questions, but they often don't know that they know. Thinking is useless for answering existential questions. The answers come from beyond mind, and when the mind becomes sufficiently silent, the answers automagically appear.
I am going to ask you two kinds of questions. The first kind of question has to do with knowledge ABOUT reality; the second kind of question has to do with the direct experience of reality. If I ask you, "What is this?" (while holding up a glass of water), you can give me a conventional answer. You can say, "It's a glass of water." But if I ask you, "What is this, REALLY?" you will have to answer me in a way that shows me you understand what this IS before words or thoughts.
The first kind of question is conventional and can be answered by thinking and dredging up memorized distinctions. The second kind of question in existential and can only answered through the body using direct perception and the body's innate intelligence.
When we ask "What IS some thing, REALLY?" we are not asking, "How may this thing be distinguished or imagined?" We are asking what it IS? "Is" is a verb, not a noun, so no noun will suffice as an answer. After a bit more explanation, the kids understood the issue even though their teachers did not.
I would ask, "What is gravity?" and the kids would answer something like, "It's a force of attraction between things" or something similar. When I asked, "What is gravity, REALLY?" the room would go wild. Kids would stand up and jump off of their desks onto the floor or lift up books and drop them. Ha ha. They understood the difference between the idea of gravity and what gravity IS. "What is gravity, REALLY?" is an existential question. Other existential questions include:
Is there a God?
Where did I come from and where am I going?
Who (or what) am I?
What is the meaning of life?
What is my role in life?
What is time or space?
At some level everyone knows the answers to these questions, but they often don't know that they know. Thinking is useless for answering existential questions. The answers come from beyond mind, and when the mind becomes sufficiently silent, the answers automagically appear.
