When I talk about knowledge, I am thinking about a very specific sort of knowledge. Not so much science, philosophy, sociology, etc. to me, these are information sets that frame, view, and understand the world and experience in various ways. While ways of knowing are diverse and interesting, I do not think that any of them in themselves help us to be better people and this betterment or refinement of ourselves, and the knowledge that will take us there, is what I am interested in. For example, one can be a brilliant scientist or a great sociologist, and be a real jerk at the same time. So, first and foremost, I am looking for a transformational type of knowledge. I will call this knowledge self-knowledge or introspection.
By introspection, I mean taking account of what we see in ourselves at any given moment, without any overlay of what we think we should be feeling or thinking. Just bare honesty of where we are at mentally and emotionally. Then, I think it is important to look for perspectives on why we act in the various, often habitual, ways that we act. At this stage, it is not enough, to me, to just analyze these things mentally because I think it is easy to over intellectualize (and again, one can be a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist and still be a nutter). Furthermore, it is important to me not to get caught in, trapped by, any particular school of thought. Along with the process of analyzing our thought patterns, I think it is also important to learn to experience our emotions deeply. We need to find the blockages in our ability to let certain emotions in and feel them, perhaps because of past experiences that caused us to call this or that emotion unacceptable.
Next, I think a practice like meditation is important because in meditation there is an opportunity to sit back and witness the flow of thoughts and emotions, not just being led away by them but rather seeing them arise and fall away thereby getting a sense of how we are usually attached and identified with our thoughts and emotions which can lead us into a lot of trouble (stubbornness, meanness, etc.) if we don't questions our mental and emotional tendencies. Furthermore, in my experience, during longer stints of meditation there is also the ability to have some non-normal experiences of consciousness which cue us into some of the deeper levels (levels not normally experienced, at least by me) of consciousness.
Next, there is the questions of ethics. How should I live my life? I think this is important because at some point I need to see if my actions in the world correspond to my insights and values, at the moment. Perhaps there is even a certain type of knowledge gained by doing (gardening, feeding the hungry, etc.)
So, in the end, as in the beginning, I am thinking of a knowledge that helps us to understand our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions better, that helps us live in more honest and kind ways. Two of the marks of this type of knowledge and knowing, to me, is that it is relative and impermanent. There are no final conclusions, just a process of continual self-exploration, always remembering that our ability to see ourselves is conditioned by the particular ways in which we think and feel (which are not objective/universal) and that that which we don't yet know about ourselves prevents us from seeing deeper within our relative framework, in that moment.
