you already know | David M Masters

We all want to feel like we know. It gives us a sense of safety, security, and control. But in this ever-evolving life, in a world layered with complexities, belief systems, manipulation, and infinite unknowns, declaring certainty can be the most dangerous gamble you’ll ever take with your credibility.

There’s an old saying that goes, “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” And if you’ve been awake for more than a few decades, that statement rings truer every year. Every time you dig a little deeper into any topic, health, politics, religion, science, even love, you find that what you thought was true starts to wobble, sometimes even crumbles. Because the truth, my friend, is not solid concrete. It’s more like water. Fluid. Shifting. Reflecting light differently depending on your angle of view.

The Seduction of “Knowing”

It feels good to have “the answer.” To say, “This is the way.” Especially when something worked for you. But asserting that your experience equals universal truth? That’s a trap. That’s the foundation of cults, not consciousness.

You see this especially in the healing world. People who overcome illness using a particular method, say, juicing, ozone therapy, fasting, or parasite cleansing, suddenly become evangelists. And while there’s immense value in testimony and personal experience, saying this is the only way, or this is the best way for everyone? That crosses a line.

“When you focus on any one, you do a disservice to creation, which has provided you with everything that you need for optimal health.”
– David M. Masters

There are at least 250 methods that people have used to reverse cancer. That’s right—if you search (even using filtered platforms like Google), you’ll find everything from dandelion root to hyperbaric chambers, frequency therapy to emotional healing. Which one is the way? The answer: it depends.

Why “Knowing” Can Be a Lie

Every system, every field, every “fact” you were taught in school… it all comes with a slant. A context. A limitation. And sometimes, an agenda.

Just because something is widely accepted, repeated, or taught by experts doesn’t make it true. And just because something worked for you doesn’t mean it will work for everyone else.

The truth, if we dare to even call it that, is that your reality is built on layers of experiences, beliefs, interpretations, and half-truths. And the deeper you go, the more you find that everything you know… is only part of a much larger picture.

“The main thing is that there is a good chance that everything you know is a lie, or at least, only a sliver of the truth.”
– David M. Masters

And even if someone could show you “the truth,” chances are…

“You couldn’t handle the truth anyway.”

So What Can You Do?

You stay curious.
You stay humble.
You keep learning, and you keep evolving.
You listen to others with an open heart.
You share your truth without needing it to be the truth.
You choose what works for you—yes!—but never assume it’s the only way.

You embrace critical thinking. You test. You observe. You accept that the map is not the territory, and that everyone’s journey will look a little different.

You stop making declarations and start making discoveries.

Evolve or Expire

Inflexibility is the death of wisdom. Life is not meant to be mastered through doctrine. It’s meant to be danced with. And your best dance partner is not certainty—it’s wonder.

It is far more empowering to say, “This is what I’ve found so far,” than to say, “This is it, case closed.” Because the moment you stop growing, you stop living.

Truth is not a destination. It’s a process.
And the wisest among us… are always in motion.

So next time you find yourself about to declare that you know something for sure—pause. Take a breath. Leave room for possibility. Because all things are possible.

And that, my friend, is about as close to truth as we may ever get.

When I am working with a client, sometimes I find myself in the presence of a know-it-all. You really cannot help someone who has no room for coaching. If this is the default natural state of the client, I am likely to refer him or her to another coach, counselor or consultant, someone who “specializes” in whatever the client is seeking. When you say, “I know that” you already know all there is to know, you’re disconnected, shut down and unable to receive.

I prefer to work with individuals who are movers and shakers in the process of taking massive action, who are open and eager to look at things from another perspective, available to receive new ideas, and have the wherewithal to execute what we have learned. (I intentionally said, “we have learned,” because in most cases through this process we both attain new perspectives and knowledge.)

When you have an opportunity to attain a different perspective, grow, expand or learn something new and you say to the person you are working with, “I know that” alternatively, “I knew that already,” or any variation of, “I already knew that,” you have shut the door on attaining something valuable or have stated that your cup is already full and there is no room for you to grow.

It’s like the Asian tale of the student who seeks out the master, who upon making his acquaintance, insists on telling the master how great he is, how full of knowledge he is, in an effort to impress the master. Waiting to get a word in edgewise, while the student pauses, the master asks if the student might like some tea. The master hands the student a cup and begins pouring tea into the cup, but does not stop when the cup is full. The student protests, “Hey, old man, what’s wrong with you? You’re spilling tea everywhere!” Still pouring the tea, the master says, “You are like this cup. You are already full and there is no room for more.”

This is what you’re saying, when you say, “I know.”

The best students are the ones who come into any potential learning situation having first created a sacred space for new information. The best way to discover something new, or to see something from a different perspective, is to approach any opportunity as if you know nothing, as if you were a blank slate.

Yes, you may sit through a seminar, or an entire course, and you may have already studied the subject intensely (may even know more about the subject than the teacher) but you are open, looking at this opportunity with new eyes, as if you knew nothing previously.

Why? Because, who knows? If you are open and there is room in your cup, there may be that one drop of precious tea that is the game changer. You may take away something priceless, even if it’s only a drop, the drop that makes all the difference in your quest for knowledge. And, if you are open and have space set aside, you are likely to get so much more than a drop, maybe more, possibly an entire cup.

Whenever I meet someone who is proficient or an expert in my field, I am more likely to play down my part, to be humble and respectful, honoring the other person. I am more likely to ask them questions about their practice or expertise, listening to every word… for that one priceless drop of sacred tea.

Let’s face it, you can’t know everything, but if you do, more power to you.

If I’ve learned anything throughout my life’s journey, it’s that,

I may know a lot.

More than everything I know,

I know that I know nothing.

So, I am always open.

How about you?

Tag: you already know

Beware: Declaring You Know the Truth Can Cost You Everything