Real life is not static. Its only rule is change; so, it should be clear: either we agree to participate in the process of this eternal renewal, or we will feel punished by it. This means it’s impossible to be someone who knows how things “should be”—and share in life’s ceaseless newness at the same time. Yes, we may be able to devise a formula for a prescription drug, or create a delicious recipe for vegetable soup—but no system of thought that can stand up to the ever-shifting changes of real life, let alone meet those same changes fearlessly. Regardless how sophisticated its knowledge, the Self that knows itself only through its own conditioned thinking can never develop beyond the content of itself, any more than a math equation can suddenly outgrow the line of symbols responsible for its form.