And the truth shall set you free… Once you figure out what it is.
Have you ever pondered the word “Truth”? Have you ever considered what truth really is?
Merrian Webster defines it like this:
Truth – the truth : the real facts about something : the things that are true
: the quality or state of being true
: a statement or idea that is true or accepted as true
There was a time when the idea of the world being flat, was accepted as truth. And according to this definition that was not a lie, it was in fact true, because, it was accepted as truth. So truth may not always be… well, true.
At one point in our society we accepted as truth:
Black people should not have equal rights to White people – This is false
Women should not have equal rights to men – This is false
Children should be seen and not heard – I’m not even sure if this is possible, but some days it would be nice…
According to Merrian Webster truth is subjugated to the mob mentality. If something is accepted as true it can then be proffered as truth regardless of it’s lack of factuality. You could argue that truth in fact negates itself, because societies can silently vote on what they believe is true. So lacking complete facts conclusions are based on facts at hand, with incomplete information, facts become truth and truth is founded on a lie. Ergo, truth is falsehood.
So where does that leave us? How can truth set us free? Are we throwing out the baby with the bathwater? When did we start cleaning babies?
Perhaps the best thing in this case is the rephrase and reframe. Perhaps, like all words that become overwhelmed with legal precedent and burdened down with cultural bias, we need to adopt a new way of speaking and thinking. Perhaps we need to create a new language that isn’t overloaded in our minds. Or perhaps we should look to an old language that our minds are unfamiliar with, in order to start fresh and build new constructs.
This is where the liberation of ancient languages has value. Ever since I heard it I have had a fondness for the sanskrit word “Maya“. Maya means illusion. The way I learned it, it pointed to a very specific kind of illusion. The illusion that our mind puts over the world around us. In fact it is the illusion of our truth. Truth is so powerful that our mind’s truth is held up as a shadow over everything we see. Our truth is in fact a filter through which those things that conflict with it cannot pass. Our truth, as described through maya, in fact prevents us from seeing the truth.
What is the truth? In many ways global truth is as subjective as personal truth. The universe allows us to have a personal truth in order to give us a gateway through which to perceive the larger truth. As with any model, there are bound to be flaws and imperfections. As you can imagine the truth you operate out of has taken years of construction. And the instruments of training our truth have been the flawed truths of all of our teachers before us. Our truth is literally standing on the shoulders of all those truths that came before us. Deconstructing the building of truth to it’s foundation is no small task.
It’s also a work that must be pursued. After all, the truth shall set us free. But we have to find it first.
We are born with a powerful set of tools are our disposal, and then rarely taught how to use them. Instincts and intuition, when minded and heeded, enable us to see being the truth of our mind. Paying attention to your gut and seeing past your perception is an act of awareness. It often must be approached in the 3rd person outside of ego. And it is an act of patience and compassion.
The quest for truth is not an afternoon activity and not for the faint of heart. I assume the end result is amazing… But I’m not there yet.
Keep the faith.
Seek for truth.
Love thyself.
Namaste,
Kevin
