Page 33 - The Irony Board
P. 33
Into the Mind
The educated guess
And are left in distress;
But they only know this
In their ignorant bliss.
The last word in this section is Gluckman’s commentary on an
ironic proverb, “ignorance is bliss.” Opposing it to the syntactically
shuffled “educated guess” sets up a criticism of the intellectual
approach to attaining inner peace. Relaxation depends upon
eliminating the muscular tensions of sub-vocal speech (as thought
functions physiologically). The knowledge thus gained of “bliss
consciousness” is of two types: the immediate asymbolic awareness
of pleasurable sensations and the unstated realization that
speculative descriptions of that experience are no substitute for it.
The philosopher will not concede that peace surpasses
understanding until he has had a taste of both.
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