# Identify with your Ignorance to grow

*Define yourself with what you do not know instead of what you have accumulated.*

By [Clarity & Flow](https://paragraph.com/@vinvin) · 2024-04-02

spiritual, spiritual seeking

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### Who am I?

Ramana Maharshi, a great Indian sage, had said in order to realise one’s true nature, there is only one question to ask, _yourself_: “Who am I?”

When someone asks you ‘Tell me about yourself?’, you talk about the attributes that identify you or distinguish you. “I am a designer at this company who is interested in \_\_\_” This is how we define ourselves, even when we ask the question to ourselves. Definition is a boundary. **_And a boundary is not good for our growth._**

Sadhguru, a spiritual guru, often mentions that a critical aspect required to grow on the spiritual path is to drop the definitions/identifications that one associates themselves with — Identifying with the body, the mind, our material possessions, the knowledge one accumulates over time. What should one identify with, instead?

#### **“If you really want to grow,** [**Identify with your ignorance**](https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/video/becoming-utterly-ignorant)**”**, he said.

I did not understand.. This wasn’t intuitive at all! I tried to grasp this in many ways but with no effect. Recently, a light bulb went off. ![](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/emoji-datasource-apple/img/apple/64/1f4a1.png)

### A powerful exercise for growth

Coming back to the question, “Who am I?”. This can be answered in two ways. It is easy to define using a few attributes to define you. But, at the same time —  we can also define ourselves based on the attributes of what we are not. (**A** vs **A'** in set theory)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/47211d80c887b07b4b172866d1313c42.png)

What we know is minuscule in comparison with what we do not know

**Try to describe yourself with what you do not know, in a notepad.**  
**Start each line with “I do not know \_\_\_\_”**. Do not reflect about the nuances of what you do not know. Just dump your thoughts. See how many lines you can write like this. (If it helps, put a timer of a minute and speed-write.)

The logical mind begins to say: “Well there are so many things that I do not know. What is the point of this?” You will see that you are at the mercy of your own vocabulary to do this. And, it seems impossible to keep going on because you can only write about what you think you do not know.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/98c6438fda232ad51c08e51e50096e46.png)

When you cannot find any words or it becomes uncomfortable for you to keep going, stop. 

**_Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Be with yourself.  
See where this leads you._** 🧘🏼‍♂️

I’ve been doing this exercise for a few days and it has been profound in my experience. My meditations are deeper. I had been doing some kind of mental circus to invariably not let my thoughts disturb my meditation till now. But, it never really worked until now.

This exercise uses logic (what you know vs. the universe of all the things you do not know) to go beyond the chattering mind. I’m grateful to have had this insight and wanted to share this with all the seekers on the path. 

> Ignorance is a borderless thing. A constant admittance of that you do not know so much about this existence is what makes you into an active & open intelligence.  —  Sadhguru

This exercise is not just for spiritual growth but also is very potent for cultivating empathy and dealing with Impostor Syndrome (counter-intuitive, I know) -- you realise that there is so much you do not know, you become humbled and are always seeking.

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*Originally published on [Clarity & Flow](https://paragraph.com/@vinvin/identify-with-ignorance)*