Knower vs Learner

In the Integral Leadership Program we teach about the Knower vs the Learner mindset. For the most part we valorize the Learner and paint the Knower as someone not quite as evolved. From the perspective of wanting to scale a business this is a helpful frame, a useful model. And like nearly all polarities there comes a time to hold the other pole. In the case of deciding what treatment to receive, I find myself relying on the Knower who is my surgeon. He has been dealing with this type of cancer for over 25 years. He is certain what needs to be done and feels some urgency around doing it. I could get a second opinion and maybe that will be possible before the surgery, but I'm not prioritizing it any longer. I have a kind of "knowing" around this too. I'm pretty certain that I don't have a lot of time before this cancer grows into something very nasty.

A question I have asked Zen teachers and others over the past year or so comes to mind again in a new way. My question was: "Is there any one thing of which I can be completely certain." Most people including, I noticed most Zen teachers tried to answer the question from the perspective of something they could be certain of. Death. Taxes. The present moment. Etc. Etc.

And yet the question is really unanswerable from that perspective. It produces only a list of things the person being questioned feels certain of...Knows. All of which are open to question, to some uncertainty no matter how small. A powerful answer to the question is: How could I know what you can be certain of? You can be certain that the moon is made of green cheese if you want.

Certainty then is a choice. We can decide when we have learned enough and choose to act on our current certainty. Of course, like all things, that certainty will change. That's okay. If I am non-attached to the outcome of my choice then I have no problems only decisions. 

Today I am choosing to be certain that my doctor is right in his radical remedy. The bad news is that means that I will spend the rest of my life peeing in a bag. The good news is that I get to spend the rest of my life peeing in a bag :-) 

So today at 4 pm I've got a consult scheduled and will opt for the surgery. As certain as I can be that this is the best option. And okay if some time later I discover that I had another.