Novelty and Certainty
Never underestimate the power of novelty and the limitations of certainty. There is no greater obstacle to learning than certainty and there is nothing more transformative than novelty.
“Although the religious question is primarily a question of life, of living or not living in the higher union which opens itself to us as a gift, yet the spiritual excitement in which the gift appears a real one will often fail to be aroused in an individual until certain particular intellectual beliefs or ideas which, as we say, come home to him are touched. (For instance, there is a case where a person exposed from her birth to Christian ideas had to wait till they came to her clad in spiritistic formulas before the saving experience set in.)” -William James
Sometimes it isn’t novel concepts but novel forms of explanation which bring deeper understanding. And William James goes on to make the point that diversity in religion is absolutely indispensable for this very reason. If we really desire that a maximum number of people be redeemed, then we must embrace and promote diversity in religious beliefs.
“I found that the chief difficulty for most people was to realize that they had really heard ‘new things’: that is, things that they had never heard before. They kept translating what they heard into their habitual language. They had ceased to hope and believe there might be anything new.” -Ouspensky
I have also found this to be a primary difficulty to personal growth for a lot of people. So many are fooled into believing that the big questions have been answered for them. They don’t realize that no one can answer the meaningful questions for another. You must ask them yourself with an open mind and heart. Don’t translate. Approach every moment, every sentence as if it is entirely novel. Then you will be in the state that is readiness to be filled with Grace and joy. The state Jesus spoke about when he said:
“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
To become like a child is to discard certainty and attachment and to see the novelty and beauty in every moment.