the truth
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I like to ask people what they want in their life. And I get a lot of different answers: some people want more money, some people want more love, some people want more fun. But I have never heard anyone say, “I want more truth.”
When I say truth, I mean truth about all things – truth about the reality of the world, truth about what really happened yesterday on the news, and truth about all the secrets people keep inside their hearts. But mostly, I mean truth about life – your life, my life, and what life is about.
Truth means knowing the difference between what appears on the surface, and what is actually below the surface – between what is real, and what only seems to be real. Maybe you want money, but perhaps the truth is you really need peace. Maybe you think your boss needs to change his personality or management style, but perhaps the truth is you need to change your job. Maybe you study business, but perhaps what you really need to study is art. Maybe you blame another for something wrong in your life, when you should blame yourself. Maybe you blame yourself, when you should blame no one. Maybe you want to love a certain person, but perhaps you need to be with a different person. Perhaps you see a friend, when in truth he is your enemy. Or perhaps you see an enemy, when in truth he can be your friend. So perhaps when you see a problem, in truth it is an opportunity. If you don’t value the truth, you will end up not knowing the right answers to any of these situations in life. Many opportunities and joys may be missed, many people misunderstood, many things of value passed by, many gifts and powers inside yourself unrealized.
What are the better choices to make in your life? Only love of truth can take you to the better answers. For truth is not just knowing the way things really are, but also the way things can be. The more truth you possess, the clearer your path is – and the clearer the world is, and the clearer you are. As the truth is seen, so you see. And as you see more truth, you will see how all truths everywhere are connected with each other. For as the universe is everywhere, so the truth is everywhere also.
But if we do not see, then we will believe all the things that people around us say: “This will make you happy,” “This will make you money,” “This will bring love into your life,” “This will make you attractive and popular,” or “This will make your life better.” But human beings are often wrong. And these people, who include parents, friends, teachers, bosses, politicians, and businesspeople, will consistently tell you what they think is right and true for you – just as I am doing now to you. And we all say these things because that’s what we believe – or want you to believe. But none of these other people are you. So listen to the truth, and not the person. And the person who does the listening must be you. You alone must decide what you think is true or not. If what I say is true or not true, your heart hears and knows the answer.
I believe that love of truth is one of the most necessary loves there is. Because the truth is the only way to reality, and reality must be the foundation from which your real happiness is built. So much of the world is filled with false love and false happiness – which is why most love often produces suffering, and most happiness is temporary. So I believe truth must be valued before most other things, including love and happiness. If you do not love the truth, the way you see the world will be false, and you will live falsely. If the way you see yourself is false, you will not know who you are, and who you can be. And you will experience the world as half-truths, untruths, fictions, and lies. Perhaps much of what you believe now to be true, is actually not. But of course, you will not think so – since almost everybody thinks that what they believe is true.
The truth is what you most need, yet it often appears as what you least desire. For the truth at first may make you uncomfortable. It may be painful and upsetting. It may be shocking or disgusting. And the truths about yourself may make you feel bad, and look bad to others. And the truth may go against everything you have ever heard, learned, did, thought, and lived before. So at first it may be difficult to look at it and face it. It may even be more difficult to accept it and embrace it - much less love it.
Maybe you are thinking, “But I have no time to search for truth. It looks hard, and it will take a long time. Maybe I won’t even find the truth. And even if I do find it, what reward do I have?” Yes, the rewards look invisible to the person who does not possess truth, because the truth is intangible. You cannot touch it, or go to a store and buy it. But unlike a house or a car, which can be destroyed, the truth cannot be destroyed, for the truth always IS, and so in many ways, the truth is more real than a house or car. A house or car may be real now, but once it was not, and in the future it will also cease to be. So a man who possesses many truths is far richer than a man who possesses many houses. For the truth always was, is, and shall always be. And so it was said by one wiser than me, ‘The truth shall set you free.’
Those who possess more truth, to that person more riches will be - even though I believe that as you possess more truth, you will have less need of other things. For the truth shall eventually lead you to true love, true happiness, and true freedom. The truth shall give you all these things - because those who possess the truth are in accord with the way things truly are. They see through the lies that surround us, and the illusions that people create for themselves. So I believe in protecting the truth. Pursuing the truth. And most of all, loving the truth - for the truth is the foundation of all life as it truly is. The more you love the truth, the more you shall possess the truth and live in the truth. The less false you shall be, and the more real and true you shall become. For the truth and you shall slowly become one.
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