The Gap is the Key to Learning

Change & Transformation Happen in the Gap

One session of a 10-day training I once attended was focused on the “gap.” The teacher of this session, Alia, informed us that all change and transformation occur in the gap and not as a result of reading, studying, meditating, chanting or anything else.

The gap is an elusive rascal. When you search for it directly it is difficult to find. The gap is not so much a space between not-knowing and knowing as it is a “not-space.” This not-space is a particular openness in the mind and soul that allows us to be directly informed by consciousness – the medium of knowing underlying all manifestation.

Alia worked with us in subtle ways to help us nurture a sense of the gap, so we might observe our relationship with it. Today, you can find the gap being referred to as disjuncture.

The optimal zone in which adults learn is referred to as disjuncture – when time seems to stop… when our biographical repertoire is no longer sufficient to cope automatically with our situation… where we have a tension with our environment (Adult Learning in the Social Context – Peter Jarvis) Without entering this zone, we are simply stacking up our experience on top of things to which we can relate. This action often leads to an unnecessary compromise, where we settle for what is readily available to us, rather than what is actually the best fit. With disjuncture, we are forced to build a completely new structure of learning. While in the disjuncture zone, though we usually will experience discomfort, we are ultimately able to establish a strong foundation for real learning.

In the gap, or the disjuncture zone, time stops because we are free from the linear mind and residing more in our nature that underlies the normal mind. In this “space,” our association with the past changes radically – our identity is freed from history – our knowing is not by association but through direct perception.

Exploring the gap can be challenging as it requires us to be very comfortable with the unknown, not knowing and a willingness and capacity to let go of who and what we know ourselves to be.

The question here is ultimately – Who or what knows?

Items of Interest

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