There are eight kinds of people.
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There are those who know and know that they know. These rare manifestations of the Self (with a capital “S”) are spiritually blessed individuals, and one should seek them out and learn from them through being in their presence. And, for the record, I am not such an individual, but the Sufi path begins at no beginning and works toward no end without the assistance of such an individual.
There are those who know but don’t know that they know. These individuals are asleep and should be woken up. We all have the capacity to wake up but, like seeds sown in the field, not everything comes to fruition.
There are those who don’t know and know that they don’t know. These souls are able to learn and should be taught. Important changes came when this realization arose within me after an opportunity entered into my life to do something constructive about not knowing.
There are those who don’t know and don’t know that they don’t know. These are the ignorant ones, and they should be avoided. The halls of religion, governance, corporations, medicine, entertainment, the media, and education are fraught with such individuals.
There are those who don’t know, but believe that they do know. These people might be referred to as “genuine fakes” in as much as they sincerely believe that they know but are genuinely mistaken about their condition.
There are those who know that they don’t know but who, for a variety of delusional reasons, attempt to induce seekers of truth to believe that the former know when this is not the case. These individuals are charlatans who are masters of seduction and misdirection while going about the dirty business of trying to compromise the spiritual potential of seekers after the truth as well as to attempt to corrupt the character of that search.
There are those people who even when they are shown the truth cannot bear to live with the implications of what has been disclosed and choose to live their lives in various states of denial that become the doorways through which further misadventure may enter into their lives as well as the lives of others.
There are those who through choice, training, and/or inherent disposition are indifferent to truth but, nonetheless, serve a purpose that is both dark and hidden … even to them.
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We each have the potential to be any one of the foregoing kinds of people. The path to becoming any one of the foregoing kinds of individuals gives expression to the journey of life.
In passing, one might keep in mind that being able to discern the difference between, on the one hand, those who know and know that they know, and, on the other hand, those who know that they do not know, but pretend as if they do know, is both crucial and, potentially, quite difficult.