The Art of Knowledge

Once upon a time there was an Artist who could draw other artists into his pictures, some to draw some things for him and even some who drew some for themselves too. So he drew an apprentice in his own image.

His new student asked him about a piece of art that he was working on, "What is it going to be?"

"It’s a picture about good and evil, right and wrong."

"How can you draw a picture about wrong that is right?"

"Whatever I draw is right, even that which I let look wrong to those I draw to observe it so. It's something in the lighting and my drawing, you see. I will not explain further until the picture is complete. Come close little one, so that I may ask you a question. Now, why do you suppose I would draw you to ask me annoying questions when I'm trying to work?"

"Well, I suppose...I, uh, eh, I don't know why! But it seems to me that you must know all about your own art. Say, why don't you just draw me to stop it? Huh, huh?"

The Artist turned to look at the little fellow staring up at him from his side, sighed, then said, "What you're drawing me to do is going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

"Uh, wait a minute..." the little fellow looked back at the painting, "I suppose I can wait until the picture is complete."

"Very well, and besides the answer does not exist yet in any language that you can understand. You see, I've not drawn you to understand it yet. But perhaps you can think of it in this way as I work, making a picture about good and evil consists of drawing the line someplace."

As the artist spoke he drew a line, as he did the little beings that he had drawn into his picture murmured among themselves, "Why are things this way, rather than that? I can think of things my way and want them to be so, so why should they not be my way?"

The student commented, "Say, they are a little like me in that way! So I suppose their next question about what will be would be why don't you just take their will away?"

"Only I know, as I know all of my own art. Yet I would think that some of the answers about the will would be rather obvious, if you will."

"It seems an odd decision to me."

"Yes, I knew you would say that."

"Ah, but what if I knew you knew? See how my knowledge increases to approach your own!"

The Master Artist just glanced at the little fellow and kept working on the picture. So his student asked, "Well...can you draw me to have some of your knowledge?" and the Artist answered, "For now you do not even have the symbols, imagery in your head or the language to think many of my type of thoughts, so some of the best truths about my art and this picture must and will remain ineffable and paradoxical to you. That is my will. If you are willing to learn how my will must be done in all of my pictures then I will naturally draw you to have more knowledge of my own nature."

"Naturally....that seems logical to me."

"Yes, of course, I knew it would. After all, I just drew you to think so."

The little fellow just sighed at that, and thought that he might have heard the Artist chuckle as he did.