There is an important distinction between seeing and knowing. Seeing is something more intuitive and knowing is based on data and research and facts. There is sometimes this idea that we can be a scholar of something and from the knowledge we can get to the seeing. But that is actually the reverse order. The natural order of things is that we see first and from this intuition we can create knowing. This is the Zen perspective.

In our tradition we start with leaves in a bowl tea. Put some leaves in a bowl, add hot water and sit with it in quiet. As the intuition develops, knowledge will come later, easily.