Truth

What is truth? Is what we hear, see, taste, touch, smell, or think the truth?

Do people see things differently? Do people like different music, or food, or colors? Do they like or dislike different people?

If I write or say this or that is truth than it is not the truth. If I point at something and say it is the truth, than it is not the truth.

How can what I write or say or point at be the truth when other people write or say or point at something differently than I do?

Does this mean that there is no truth?

What it means is that truth is everywhere. It is not a single pointed item.

So is truth relative?

If truth were relative, than it would have to be relative to something else.

If truth is everywhere than it cannot be relative to something else unless that something else isn’t anywhere.

So is truth relative to a lie?

A lie is truth also. Everything is truth everywhere. A lie may not be desirable, it may not be moral or right but it is still truth. It is not truth more or less than anything else because everything is truth.

So is truth just a concept?

Only if everything is a concept.

What is a concept? Isn’t a concept an opinion or idea about something just like the idea that people like different colors or TV shows? So where does it end?

Nothing really ends, and also everything ends. That is the paradox. That is the confusion. Truth can only be seen through the eyes of paradox and confusion ~ old zen saying

How does paradox and confusion help anybody?

Knowing is not the truth. Shunru Suzuki quote: In the eyes of the beginner there are many possibilities. In the eyes of the expert there are few.

If we know the truth or even think we know the truth than we cannot hold out the possibility that there is any other way. If we understand that we cannot possibly know, we are free to understand all ways.

How can this help anyone?

Have you ever tried to teach someone, even something simple when they swear that they already know all about it? (the expert) It is almost impossible. On the other hand if the person is in their mind a beginner, than they can learn. A beginner is like an empty sponge that is ready to absorb anything. An expert is a sponge fully saturated and can absorb very little.

So what is true and false, right and wrong, good and bad, etc.?

These are all truths. A truth doesn’t mean that there are no relatives or consequences. Truth is important because it allows for many possibilities. Truth is what allows forgiveness. Truth is what allows compassion and love.

Isn’t hate a truth?

Yes hate is a truth just like love is.

Love is a pointer. Hate is a pointer. Truth is not a pointer. All things point to the truth but are not in themselves the truth. “A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon” ~ author unknown

So what good is truth?

Truth is the possibilities. Truth is what makes all things possible. Love is wonderful. Hate is terrible. Truth is what makes it possible.

So what is the point?

The point is that if a person is not an “expert” or does not “know” than the possibilities are endless. It makes it possible to love in the presence of hate, or have peace when peace is not possible.

Unconditional love is only possible to the beginners mind. It is only possible through the endless possibilities of truth.