Most people stopped asking questions long ago.
Instead, they collect answers.
Better answers.
Beautiful answers.
Surprising answers.
Deep answers.
Witty answers.
They hope that by collecting enough answers, the question will disappear.
But a real question never dies.
Because a question is alive.
An answer is not.
A living question grows with you. It makes you observe, wonder, search, and change. It accompanies you through life.
An answer does the opposite.
It comforts you.
It tells you the search is over.
It puts inquiry to sleep.
That is why answers never satisfy for long. Every answer eventually gives birth to another question.
A genuine question asks for something different.
Not another explanation.
Not another theory.
Not another expert.
It asks you to look.
To listen.
To pay attention.
The purpose of a question is not to reach an answer.
It is to awaken seeing.
This is why we should be careful when educating children.
We give them answers before they have fully discovered the question.
We teach them what to think before they have learned how to inquire.
Perhaps education should begin differently.
Help a child articulate a genuine question.
Then let life become the teacher.
The important question is not necessarily practical.
It may not help you complete projects or grow a business.
Those questions already have countless answers.
The important question is the one that concerns your own life.
Who am I?
What am I really seeking?
What is love?
What is freedom?
What is God?
At first, your question may seem ordinary.
Stay with it.
If you remain sincere, superficial questions gradually dissolve and deeper ones emerge.
Eventually, one question becomes the thread running through your life.
Don’t rush to answer it.
Live it.
Look at life through it.
Life has a way of revealing itself to those who keep looking.
Ultimately, your way of living itself becomes the answer.
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