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Truth;
Most Dreaded and Useful

There is only one thing which the modern person fears more than death, and that is the idea there is such a thing as truth. Death to most people may be a great and terrible unknown, but it is nothing compared to the awesome and totally threatening implications of TRUTH ITSELF.

All of the world’s problems, every injustice, war, misery, disease, lingering fear and pain, have but one single cause, and that is the widespread denial of Truth.

Every single solution for the world’s ills, for war, corruption, social inequality, religious intolerance and the nature of true progress in general, stems from one single source -the implementation of Truth.

It is not from fear or pain that human beings run away, it is from their cause that they flee. They run as cowards and fools from the truth alone, for there is no greater enemy to society, tradition, consumerism, insanity or self destruction, than the Reality it encompasses. It is from this most dreaded and despised foe, the reality of truth, that people seek to escape. There is no greater source of panic, anxiety and anguish for the modern mind, than what is TRULY SO.

It is for the reasons listed above that the average person will literally DO ANYTHING and SAY ANYTHING, in an attempt to avoid the Truth. They will deny the existence of the most obvious, even if this contradicts not only their daily experience, but the experience of that very moment. People well claim total ignorance while in full and complete knowledge, not necessarily because they enjoy lying, but because they are horrified to admit something that they wished were not so. For the most part they do this not for the sake of avoiding any single aspect of truth or fact, but to utterly avoid TRUTH ITSELF, as the guiding principle of the Universe. To even suggest that it is such a thing as TRUTH which guides reality rather than human whim or desire, is to evoke considerable anger, fear and indignation from a human being. Given this, the human mind has even fashioned God in it’s own image, imagining that only THEIR personal nation, religion, and culture have any real meaning, implying that their wars are righteous, and that all the stars in the night sky exist only for their personal amusement. The human being will even go so far as to say that nothing can, or ever has existed without our say so, and that if a tree falls in a forest unheard, then that must surely mean it did not make a sound. Furthermore, to suggest that reality exists quite apart from the notion of humanity as the center of the universe or universal attentions, (such as the eternal fight between cosmic good and evil, God/Satan played out on an Earthly stage) is to invite condemnation by senator and janitor alike.

The Truth is; That which exists regardless of opinion or viewpoint, Natural Law(s), fact. The truth is composed of facts, and these are collectively known as “reality”.

Even after being given this definition of Truth, the average person will either insist that truth is personal, relative or subjective, or they will claim that although it exists, it can never really be known. The test of our wisdom is not in our ability to acquire knowledge, but what to do with that knowledge after it is acquired. It is here that humanity fails, not because we cannot conceive of the best course of action, but because we are unwilling to accept new conclusions and standards then those which history has already given us. In simple psychological terms, this is known as mass denial. The purpose of the denial of Truth is simple, THE AVOIDANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY. To acknowledge there is such a thing as Truth is to also be forced to acknowledge that the universe, like life, is not random. A non-random universe has direction, and even what may be called “goals” or “purposes”, not the least of which is known as, “evolution”. To acknowledge Truth is to realize that life itself, (and even our own individual lives, now and hereafter) have meaning and purpose of a specific nature.

Since a Universe based on Truth is conditional and specific, that means we as human beings are NOT at liberty to make up whatever we want to about life. With Truth in place, imagination, desire and whim are no longer the center of the Universe, implying that everything society now stands for is utterly false. Society tells us that human beings and their desires, are far more important than the content of a hundred billion galaxies and everything in between. It falsely claims that our own emotional gratification reigns supreme in the cosmic scope of things, while all that matters is whatever we wish to believe. That’s why there is such popularity in the belief that, “there is no Truth”, or that there is only, “my truth” and “your truth” which is basically saying the same thing as “there is no truth“. If truth is relative to each individual person, then how can two people with diametrically opposed view sit in the very same room together, without annihilating one another with their minds? Obviously there something more to truth than whatever we wish to believe upon waking up in the morning. Modern social structures can’t EVER afford to acknowledge that life has inherent meaning, one that does not need human approval or restructuring, without simultaneously admitting that long cherished norms are based upon nothing but arbitrariness. For if it did acknowledge truth then consumerism would become practicality, religious faith would become clarity, tradition would be replaced by innovation, national boundaries would dissolve, patriotism would be seen as misguided loyalty, logic would replace randomness, clear reasoning would transcend gossip and blind following, peace would replace war, and wisdom would arise where there had once been only ignorance.

To the question of, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound”? the answer is simple…yes, of course it still makes a sound. The natural laws of physics do not hang on the thread of human whim in order to find their fruition. The very question reeks of a center-of-the-universe sentimentality, presupposing that nothing at all can occur without our perception or permission. For the vast majority of people who believe this folly, there is a simple way of regaining basic sanity, and that is through HONESTLY answering the following question. Many will probably find they lack the personal power to do so, and yet it MUST be done…

The question is this;

“How did the universe function before there were ever human beings around to have opinions about it?”

Using modern thinking, if a tree needs a humans‘ perception to make a sound when it falls, then surely there were no sounds at all prior to the time when Homo Sapiens walked the Earth. Similarly, there must surely have been no light either, because if there was no one around to see the sun shine, did it still make a light? Of course it did. Furthermore, plants and animals grew, river sediments accumulated, cells divided, rocks were ground to sand on beaches, birds flew, storms dumped snow on mountain peaks and plains alike and water still flowed downhill. In other words all the natural laws which ran the universe did so regardless of being observed, and irrespective of being the subject of human opinion. The very concept of a, “NATURAL LAW“ implies a force or forces which operate at all places and times, without concern for anyone’s approval.

If you want to understand TRUTH and natural law, just contemplate the fact of life and evolution on this world, prior to human perception. Species of plants and animals have come and gone for millions of years prior to humanity. Obviously, reality does not need our observation or permission to run rather effectively.

Then there are those who seek to escape their responsibility for truth, by quoting such sayings as, “the three blind men and the elephant“. The story begins by claiming that truth is relative to perception, as “demonstrated“ by the three holding on to different parts of the same animal. The one touching a tusk says, “elephants are smooth, strong, hard and sometimes brittle“. The second holding a leg replies, “you‘re right about the elephant being strong, but it is not brittle, smooth or hard“. The third fool holding the tail gets irate, saying, “You are both idiots, an elephant is obviously a tall but spindly creature, not brittle but always twisting and agile“. People quote this saying as “evidence“ that there either is no such thing as truth, or that the truth is subject to perception. Yet the example is so completely flawed, so utterly irrational, as to be ludicrous. First of all, the analogy only works if you assume that all people are not only blind, but also incredibly stupid. . Even a blind person should be able to tell that there is more to an elephant than trunk, leg or tail, just by using their ears. Furthermore, we DO have eyes that see, ESPECIALLY when they’re open.

Secondly, the analogy assumes that the elephant is somehow changed just because it was misperceived in three separate ways. But the fact remains that the elephant, in its’ entirety and sophistication, remained the same creature regardless of human views about it. The most logical conclusion here is NOT that each blind man, “had his own truth” or that truth is somehow, “subject to perception”, but that the truth was and is unchanged, regardless of what anyone likes to imagine. It is not that each blind man was, “right in his own way”, but that ALL THREE WERE WRONG. You can no sooner do justice to the reality of an elephant by calling it, “trunk, tusk or leg”, than you can an ocean by calling it a, “drop, wave or wet”. Some will perhaps read this and say, that the three blind men are likened to what we still don’t know about the universe, and that our sciences are still in their infancy. Yes, of course our sciences are. But given this they will further seek to evade responsibility for the truth by concluding that, “truth is still evolving as our understanding of it evolves”, or that, “we will never fully understand truth, therefore we don’t need to take reality seriously, since that concept will change radically with each passing decade”. Truth does not evolve as our understanding of it improves. The truth remains the same regardless of our understanding. Secondly, just because we don’t yet know EVERYTHING about reality, does not mean that we KNOW NOTHING. It is for those known basics THAT WE DO KNOW, for which humanity MUST hold itself accountable. We ALL know certain facts about the truth, such as people need to breathe and sleep, that love is more healthful for the body than fear, we know that the heart beats and the lungs take in oxygen, that apples are better to eat than driveway gravel or arsenic, and that gradations of feeling and intelligence exist. These basics and countless others, are part and parcel of our daily existence. We know that water runs downhill, that the natural laws of resonance, vibration, spectrum, harmonics, dissonance, gravity/attraction, the proofs of geometry, polarity, the principles of circuit and energy flow, and a huge host of other basics, form the basis of repeated experiment and consistent technology. We know that pollution is damaging to life, that the Earth is not flat and that we orbit a stellar body known as a SUN. We ARE accountable for these and many other obvious facts, which compose reality. There are none so blind as those who will not see this.

We see such thinking as the three blind men analogy, applied in every single aspect of the modern world. In international relations, what is assumed to count most is not the truth, (facts) but who can put the most convincing “spin” or “interpretation” on any given incident. In everyday conversation we find that it is not facts that are most often quoted in honest debate, nor logic given to support conclusion made, but rather, who can tell the most convincing lies and project their self image most forcefully. On the religious scene we see that every faith says, “our God is the only God“, and/or that, “our scriptures are the highest among all” while at the same time taking great pains to avoid factual discussion, or logical analysis of their own beliefs. It is not that every nation, person and religion has, “their own truth” (as if all these different and often contradictory “truths” could possibly exist simultaneously). What little truth there is contained in the modern world is only had in small part by each person, nation and belief, and it is this, “thread of truth” as it is called, which forms the only REAL common ground between all beliefs, nations and persons. It is not that each largely erroneous belief system is in turn, “right in it’s own way” but like the three blind men, they are ALL in the vast majority, mostly WRONG. If the human race is to survive all the largely false and arbitrary notions of the modern world, then it MUST begin using truth as the foundation for all debate and wise action. The same may be said of every individual, so that they might actually mature into wise, intelligent and progressive beings.

The truth is the very essence of further human evolution, and spiritual progress of all kinds. Without it we can only flounder in wishful thinking or sheer delusion. With truth as our foremost guide in life however, we then can address reality on its’ own terms. In truth we can create relationships and a society where enlightenment is the rule, rather than the exception.

Further reading; Lessons of the Soul series
The Perpetual Raising
In the Library of….
Matthew Webb