If you don't know what you don't know, how can you become aware of your ignorance as the first step to knowing what you don't know? And if you see someone else who doesn't know what he doesn't know, how can you help him become aware of his ignorance?
It's by sheer divine grace that I woke up from my sleep state about six years ago as a result of hitting the rock bottom in my life. Until then I wasn't aware I had been asleep. The more I woke up slowly but steadily, the more people around me, including my friends, acquaintances, and colleagues, I found who were asleep and unaware of this state of theirs.
Since then I've left academia, where I spent almost 30 years, to take upon myself a professional mission to help others wake up through the teachings of Chabad Chassidus, which I was lucky enough to encounter at the first stage of my spiritual awakening six years ago.
But I've been struggling with the challenge of this ignorance of ignorance by my potential clients, first in Israel, then in a new place I relocated to about four months ago. I haven't found any magical formula yet for breaking this vicious circle.
I've also started experiencing the same problem, mostly in my private life, after each of the two subsequent waves of my awakenings in two other areas. In these areas I've already given up the idea of helping others wake up as this has nothing to do with my income.
When someone who doesn't know what he doesn't know starts accusing me of my view in these areas that is incomprehensible and repulsive to him, I've already learned to simply walk away from him in silence not only figuratively but even physically sometimes without even trying to explain to him but with compassion for them. I also try to remain as humble and non-judgemental as possible.