Truth: A Choice or a Fact

The relevance of truth,,, let that marinate,,, think about it.  What is an absolute truth that you know?  Are you certain of it?


In this life we value the currency of truth and base our journeys and judgments from it. Our societies teach us to hold truth above all else, we have been indoctrinated since childhood that truth is our guiding light.  Also from truth do we get our views on right and wrong. But what is the truth?




The dictionary defines truth as :being in accordance with the actual state of conditions; conforming to reality or fact and not false; a fact or a belief accepted as true.


Do we experience the truth all the time? When do we know that it is truth?  If it is written in an important book by an equally important person, is it truth?  If it is widely believed by all, universal let's say, is it the truth?  If it is regarded as law, would that be the truth?  So if it was voted on and the majority decides on it, in a democracy, that should be the truth right?


In history, it was believed that the Earth was in the center of everything, until Copernicus proved otherwise, further research shows that it was Yajnavalkya who first spoke about this, and he was part of the Vedic tradition.  So it means that truth changes?  We have all experienced this, yes things we know as true changes.


What is the truth? To me it is something that does not change no matter how long it has been -- it stands the test of time. It is consistent, self evident and logical,,, truth is simple, unencumbered.


Ideally, the truth should be a result of experience - we cannot know the outcome of experiments if we do not do them.  Merely reading or listening to someone about something does not constitute learning -- it is information to be sure, but it is not your experience.  So at the back of your mind, this has skepticism attached to it.


But something is saying that truth too is subjective, as experiences are subjective.  We somehow curve the truth to make it applicable to us, to suit our current needs.  Does the truth really matter? And is there a real truth? Without a doubt there is a real truth and it is that You are unchanging, that is the real truth.  But the concept of knowing the truth to differentiate right from wrong is for the mind alone, see how cultural truths change from generation to generation.  But the Self has no need for it, right and wrong, truth of false are just ideas and therefore are just things, objects that come and go -- that makes them experiences, and we have had trillions of these experiences, and give or take a few years, we forget.


Instead of searching for truth in things, which is a tall order and is in fact an oxymoron, for things change all the time, instead find the truth in yourself -- this is the most important truth.  When we know who we are, all things fall into place and we find serenity in it.  The most important truth that I've known is that I witness all, and things happen all the time, the experiencer and the experience.


In a world where truth is twisted in all directions, where we ourselves use it for our personal gains, who are we to say then that our truth is the absolute from someone else's?