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Generally not. Proof requires background or openness in the recipient of proof Two thousand years ago, a Japanese who visited Central Africa might have fond it hard to prove to his friends on his return that there were ultra-short bearded people with black skins. It is on a par with the folk said to have faces on their chest.

If you talk to people who have not been up the stairs, who have not even seen the stairs, you may be able to convince them by who you are that you are a trustworthy person who has seen something., but you cannot prove it. My friend Thomas in the New Testament could not take the others' unsupported word as proof.

But - though you cannot prove it to others - you can yourself know.

I have so many things - about God, about people, about languages - that I am absolutely sure of, but that I cannot prove to others - some of them things I dare not say in public.

And another datum, from my friends the Desert Fathers. need to find a good online compilation for the library.

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’

Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you will, you can become all flame.’

Here is a translation of an ancient Chinese quotation from Lao Tzu-

A new Stephen Mitchell's translation-

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
.....

And Frederic H. Balfour's

The TAO, or Principle of Nature, may be discussed [by all];
it is not the popular or common Tao
Its Name may be named [i.e., the TAO may receive a designation, though of itself it has none]; but it is not an ordinary name, [or name in the usual sense of the word, for it is a presentment or ειδωλον of the Infinite].

here is more translations http://www.duhtao.com/, I am sorry for I have not compared them yet. But I will

Salaam 'alaikum,

meta

I am adding that link to the library - it looks like a worthy site.

There is a way of being which finds a box and says, I will ignore everything that does not fit into this box.

There is a way of being which sees the moon and says, I can never rest until I truly know the moon.

There is a way of being that carefully examines the trees and learns everything about them, but sees the mountain across the valley, and says, I will finish the trees, but soime day I need to learn the mountain.

I am generally the third type. I work on what I can describe - but I cannot ignore the ineffable.

Most of time, I forgot the trees and decided I will come back, and run for the mountain but found that the mountain is too high...

Finally, my time has always wasted between the trees and the mountain.

I have myself a tendency to be drawn away from the grove of ancient oaks to the willows lining the stream, work there a while and before finishing move to the date palms in the oasis.

It can seem like wasting time - if you are the person who starts and starts and somehow never finishes.


But as I frequently have to remind Herself [who has a different version of the same complaint], it is all relative. Art and the world are long, our live is short - and even Art and the world are passing. If we are here for a purpose - and that purpose is to add one line to the Book of the World, put one drawing on the wall of the universe, improve the design of one tool, and grow deeper - then there is no waste in doing what was assigned us.

Have you read "Leaf by Niggle"? A shortish and less well-known story be Tolkien which is in effect a very serious essay - by another 5w4 academic and philologist - of the nature of "wasted" time. If you don't know it, you likely should: http://www.scribd.com/doc/10232245/JRR- ... -by-Niggle