The Truth

It’s been a while, have you missed me? Well, I’ve been pretty busy over the last little while and haven’t had much down time – oh, that’s too bad, you really should take some time for yourself. Not really, you see, every minute of every day is for myself. My work and training is a great source of satisfaction for me. For me, understanding that each day, each activity is my own personal choice, leaves me both responsible for, and happy with, every choice that I make.

Three Rs:

• Respect for self
• Respect for others
• Responsibility for all my thoughts and actions

Anyhow, it’s been a pretty satisfying period so far over the last few weeks. Quite busy and a few times I had to buckle down. Kind of interesting to see my response when I was challenged to raise my game. I had wondered if high productivity would ever be possible again – turns out that my productivity remains. Even better, my effectiveness has been enhanced with the passage of time.

Read an interesting book recently, J. Krishnamurti, Think of These Things. JK comes up with some very interesting insights into human nature and the fundamental nature of things. If you read the book then you might see that I have been scratching the surface of many of JK’s insights – he’s an amazing guy.

Anyhow, it was neat to read about another example about how one man’s view of the truth matches the stories experienced by so many others. The main difference in Krishnanurti’s experience is that he doesn’t espouse any particular path, belief system or other dogma. I found his thoughts on truth particularly interesting. His view is that there is a universal truth within us all – we simply need to quiet our mind for this truth to become apparent. He also talks quite a bit about the only real truth being what we experience for ourselves and that it is not possible to follow anything, anyone, any creed to a truth… truth is a pathless land… get it?

From time to time I receive advice from folks encouraging me to follow their path, their dogma, their truth, their God - these folks encourage me to look into their path as it is the one true path. These notes make me smile… how can you know the right path for me if you don’t even know me. Do you think that I would be a better person if I followed your path? Most the people I see following any path (money, God, sex, athletics, alcohol, whatever) don’t strike me as particularly radiant in truth, happiness and love. I’m feeling pretty good these days, will your path make me feel even better? Will it make me a “better” person? Will it make you feel like a better person (having straightened me out)? Are you sure that I need to be straightened? Who says so?

Perhaps you were prompted to drop me a line because my writing touched something inside you – perhaps your feelings were driven by the Truth inside you?

Can any belief system that is based on a truth outside of one’s self, one’s actual experience be truly strong. If your Truth/God/Path is so strong then why aren’t you happier? Why aren’t you filled with love and happiness?

What is it that creates conflict in our lives, in our societies? Some might blame it on external influences – JK has an interesting observation that the conflict evident in our societies is merely a reflection of the internal conflict within us. By resolving our internal conflicts, we will be able to better face, and eventually change, the external conflicts in our world.

I’ve certainly found that as I have made progress calming the noise inside my own mind:

• many conflicts cease as they were creations of my mind;
• I am able to see beyond words, I can understand what you mean (rather than what you say);
• the clarity of my thoughts has increased markedly.

However, to get these improvements, I needed to free up some space inside my head. It’s a ongoing tough project of mind to do my best to free up space.

So many of my friends believe passionately that their God will deliver them to happiness. So they buckle down and work devoutly towards their God. But what is your God? Is it a book? Is it a guru? Is it a prophet, long since departed? Is it a race, a fictional promised land of heat and lava? Is it competition, money, acquiring goods? What is your belief system? What is your truth? Do you follow the laws, ideals, dogma of another? How can you be sure of their truth? Has it brought you stability, happiness, goodness, satisfaction? If you are deeply satisfied with your life then perhaps the answers to the questions are beside the point. If you are looking for some increased satisfaction then a good place to start would be your current beliefs.

Perhaps there is something deeper beyond the experience that you have been conditioned to believe? Beyond the patterns that your parents, teachers and society have brought you to believe? Something that might give you the tranquility that you long to experience? That you may have known in a moment of grace, of beauty or quiet reflection?

You keep believing and believing but the more you believe, the more you try to be devout/fast/acceptable/good/right/honest… does it get you anywhere? Does it bring you lasting peace?

Think about the people that you have met in your life that are truly happy, deeply happy – what common characteristics do they have? Think about the moments of your own life when you have experienced calm, experienced peace? What do these moments have in common? For me, these moments give me insights into my own peace, my own truth.

I had a good buddy tell me the other day… “look dude, it’s great that you have found your inner peace, the meaning in your life but what the hell does that do for me?!” My first thought was “I don’t know what it does for you, but that’s one of the nicest things that anyone has said to me in a while. You really are a good friend”. Of course that didn’t do much for my pal. Or maybe it did. I’m not sure. I’m not sure of a whole lot these days – but the few things that I am sure about… I am increasingly sure of.

When we quiet our minds, we are able to see beyond mere words and into the heart of the people that are talking to us. Truth lies in the heart, not in words. When you know that a person has love in their heart, when you really know it – can anything that they say hurt you? Can anything they say be anything other than an expression of their love or a reflection of the fear that their loves brings to their ego? I always hope people forgive me when my mind gets out of control – for the people I meet, I also try to forgive them for the problems of their mind.

Have you ever experienced the fear (that uncontrolled sensation) that our minds create when we start to head towards the Truth?

Have you ever found that your mind feels most secure when it has power over, or dependence from, another?

Have you explored or considered why the above happens?

The ego feeds on the energy of others. I wonder if it is possible for us to generate energy from within ourselves? Of course it is – when people find their truth, their vocation – the energy always appears. Think about it in your own life – think about a situation where you really wanted something. When you have something that you truly want to do, truly want to learn, you are alive, you are full of the energy required for the task. It’s a shame that so many of us find the source of our energy in gods that eventually prove to be false. But at least we have energy, without energy we are dead.

Most of our minds are not set-up for dealing with a situation when we find ourselves drawn towards an individual or a concept that wants nothing from us except the pleasure that comes from being with us (or even simply the pleasure of being, period). The ego tries to find an angle, a hook to make that person dependant on us (employment, marriage, commitment, sexual gratification, money). But ALL of these things are pointless – all we really want is merely to experience the energy, the truth, the love that comes from being with that person. All the hooks in the world can’t create that energy – it comes from within that person. Create restrictions, blockages, entrapment and you stifle the very energy that you crave so much.

Does your mind like it when the object of your love reflects your love on to others? Or does your mind try to possess that love, lock it up, grab it just for itself. Does your mind feel cheated when another absorbs your love, magnifies it and passes it along to the world? Love, like information, has the most value when it is shared.

“But you don’t need me. What will I do it you leave/fire/foresake me?”

If your happiness depends on the approval/love/respect/admiration of another then is it strong? Is it solid? Because the other will change/leave/die. Maybe not today but eventually and what will you do then? True strength can only arise within. If we love others merely so that they love us in return, then aren’t we really engaged in a form of psychological barter? Shopping at the market for love? But it isn’t love, it’s ego food.

“What will happen if I lose my partner/money/job/house/speed?”

Does your sense of self depend on these externals? You’ve been worrying about that for years, perhaps this is just the opportunity you need to find some truth beyond the gods that have yet to deliver you to happiness and fullfilment.

“What if I get old/slow/ugly?”

You will – get over it. Fear and denial make the most beautiful creature ugly before it’s time. Love and happiness can make anyone radiant for their entire life.

You don’t need ownership, you need love and the easiest way to get love is to give it.

Do you really understand the motivations of your mind, the sources of the beliefs that we take for granted? Have you challenged “why” you hold onto your beliefs so tightly? Are they a source of joy for you?

Do people with honesty, love and integrity in their hearts need laws, dogma, rituals and the advice of others to find truth and happiness? Will these rituals that you propose for me, make me a better person? Will they increase my ability to love you? For it is really love that drives us all.

So many questions to consider... all leading back to your one truth and I hope that all of you find it soon and may your lives be better because of it.

The truth is out there,

Yuen