Reflection 122 (truth)

Truth

To understand truth, we have to understand lies
There are several types of lies. Reading from number 1 to 4 you will notice an increase in severity.

1. There are the lies of the little fellow. Already very early in life we tend to learn that lies can save us from a punishment. Thus the little fellow's mind is cheated into believing that it is a wise thing to do. He may not be capable of reasoning enough to see that the parents get upset over mischief and things he is not supposed to do because mischief and things we are not supposed to do, harm us more often than benefit us. So instead of gaining values and getting to be a better person, he learns to cheat and finds an easy way to some harmful short lasting pleasures.

2. There are the lies of the merchant. The lies of the merchant seem again clever to the merchant. Blinded by the short term gains, being unaware that upon being found out (which almost always happens) he will lose the trust of the clients which is so necessary to perform any business. Even if not found out, the lies do not give anyone true peace of mind. The anguish of the possibility to be found out and the mere non-congruence of cheating a fellow human being with a peaceful conscience will prevent true peace of mind.  Material wealth without peace of mind is very difficult to be classified as success even though in the eyes of many people success is measured as material wealth.

3. There are the lies told by parents to their children. As we move on from number 1 to 3 and higher the severity of the lies get worse. Even though as parents we are capable of reasoning and realizing that there are no long term gains in telling lies to anyone, many parents choose the easy way out of any difficult question or situation they face within their family and resort to an easy lie. In the moment they feel proud to have solved the problem in an easy way but losing the trust of a child in the process is huge cost to pay for your perceived clever cheat. If we are lying to loved ones, it may be high time to look back into ourselves and ask ourselves whether we really love our loved ones. We may just be lying to ourselves by calling them still our loved ones.

4. Maybe ranking among the worst of lies, are the lies that we live and undergo without being aware of them. To live the lies of others. Generally these are the lies that are the result from a lack of hunger for the Truth with a big T. These include the lies we swallow from unscrupulous people advertising that smoking is cool and fun, while in reality it is stinking stupid. These include the lies imposed on us by fanatic religious leaders as talibans claiming that it is more religious to have beards than not. The prophets had beards, so it must be a good thing. In the ancient times when prophets lived it was not easy to shave. No electric shavers, no supermarkets selling gilette or any other brand of manual shavers. If these things were available at that time quite a number of them may have preferred to have no beard. I think the beard thing is so easy to see. We have to hunger for Truth. We can not rely on Taliban like fanatics to dictate us what is true for our own value system. Culturally and society imposed norms on how to dress and how to perform rituals are often among the hidden lies that create a distance between us and the true nature of our world and about our God. Whatever is told us, we have to critically consider.
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It is a pleasure to perceive the light
It is a pleasure to stand on the shore and look at the wonderful colours of the sea.
We have our senses and perceiving the beauty of the light, of the birds songs of the cool winds, the smells and taste of nice food are true pleasure.
But we were also given the spiritual light, the light to the mind, the light to the soul, the light of reason and conscience. We have to hunger for the truth with big T. It requires a continuous quest and questioning. It requires to consider for a short while on and off: what if I was wrong. As spiritual people we have to try and understand atheists; atheists alike should try to understand spirituality.  This requires an open mind and full respect for fellow human beings. If we start by looking down on others in our false feeling of superiority, we will never make progress. Humility and hunger for Truth are key.

We do not want to tell lies because if think a thing or two beyond the immediate it is easy to see they never truly benefit us.
We do not want to live the lies of others. For this we need to use our own reason, our own spirit. Our own mind, our own soul to think and feel what is right and what is not. What is true and what is not.

It is a continuous quest that may be different for all of humankind but true values of honesty, kindness, respect,patience, enthusiasm, love, charity, compassion, empathy, and so many more will never elude us if we consistently search for truth. One cannot deny that spirituality exists in our world and it is my sincere belief (which  in the past, I have dared to question and doubt sincerely) that people choosing  a life without spirituality are choosing to miss out on an extremely rich source of peace of mind and happiness.







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