Against The Stream ~ TRUTH
WE OFTEN HEAR TALK
about Truth. Most religions claim that they—each
of them, exclusively—possess Truth (otherwise
how could they justify their existence, and get and
keep devotees?) But who can demonstrate It? When questioned
about It, they insist that we must believe before
we can see It.
The myriad sects of Christianity are in
conflict not only with non-Christians, but even among
themselves about their ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
ways. The Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Methodists,
etc., etc., all claim that they alone are right and
have Truth (else why would there be so many sects?),
while others do not. But who is right? Are they all
right, or are they all wrong? Are they partly right
or partly wrong? How can we know? Perhaps we can know
by trying to find out what is right, instead of who
is right.
First of all, Truth must be universal, otherwise
it wouldn’t be Truth, would it? For example,
fire is hot and water is wet; they were so before,
they are so now, and they will be so; no-one can dispute
this. Secondly, being all-pervasive and vast, it cannot
be grasped and monopolized by any grubby little hands;
nor can extremely-limited minds—like frogs in
a well—claim it, like a material possession.
It is far beyond anything we can refer to by the possessive
‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’
terms. No boxes, barriers, walls or names can hold
it. The word ‘Truth’, likewise, is not
Truth.
What did the Buddha say about Truth? He
explained how all things, from a pebble to the greatest
star in this incomprehensible Universe, are subject
to laws. The greatest and all-inclusive of these laws
is that of Cause-and-Effect. There is nothing—animate
or inanimate—outside this Law. It follows that—as
modern science has demonstrated—everything is
in a state of flux, of becoming other than it is.
There are no accidents—things that
happen by themselves—in the Universe; everything
is the result of causes—innumerable causes.
Think of a grain of sand and what is involved in its
being: one thing leads to another in a chain-like
connection; it’s not simply a sand-grain. If
you try to trace its origins, you will find the whole
Universe involved in it, and still not get to its
beginning. Buddhism says that the Universe can be
found in a grain of sand—and in everything else,
too!
This means everything is interconnected,
and that, somehow, everything depends upon everything
else, though we usually do not see this, as it requires
deep insight, penetrating and clear. We may compare
the Universe to a fishing-net: pick up a single knot,
and you pick up the whole net. Everything is a part—great
or small—of the Whole, being composed of atoms
which, in turn, are composed of even smaller particles—electrons,
protons, neutrons—that are in constant motion.
Therefore, what we call ‘solid matter’
is not solid at all, but merely energy; nothing exists
in and by itself, and therefore, everything is devoid
of self.
This, however, is something that most people
do not want at all; what they want is something they
can hold onto, possess, and claim as ‘mine,
not yours’; they wish to be able to exclude
others from their Truth; hence the existence of so
many theories about Truth.
Whether we know it or not, like it or not,
believe it or not, is immaterial; we are all subject
to the laws, being swept inexorably onwards, becoming
something else. Moreover, these laws are not holy
or sacred; prayer to them for mercy or forgiveness
will change nothing; there will be no answer. When
we understand about these laws and learn how to use
them, to work with them instead of against them, we
will know how to bring some direction into our lives;
we will have our hands on the steering-wheel.
To see the working of these laws does not
require belief at all, because it is always going
on in and around us, non-stop. If we choose to ignore
it—as most of us do—and pretend it is
otherwise, that is not the fault of what is there,
but of our own immaturity.
About the numerous people who claim to have
found Truth (or who talk about God), the Buddha gave
an illustration; He said: "Suppose there is a
man who says he loves the most beautiful woman in
the world, but who, when asked her name, says he doesn’t
know. When further questioned as to where she lives,
who her parents are, her age, the color of her hair
and skin, etc., he also says he doesn’t know.
From such questions and answers, therefore, it is
revealed that the man who says he loves he most beautiful
woman in the world, without as much as having seen
her, or knowing anything about her, is just talking
nonsense".
People suppose much, but have little, if
any, knowledge of the things they suppose about. What
is written in a book, or in books as high as a mountain,
can never be conclusive evidence about Truth, as Truth
must be experienced directly, by the individual himself.
Zen, the apex of Buddhism, teaches: "No reliance
upon scriptures or external authority, but a direct
seeing into the heart of man!" Anyone can write
a book—just look at this one!—but does
that mean its contents are true?
This is the way Buddhism approaches life:
by observation of the way things are, not by belief
or supposition. It makes no attempt to explain the
origin of things, and smiles at those who do, for
no-one knows, nor ever can know. Moreover, it regards
attempts to find out as useless and a waste of time,
as a first beginning of things is not to be seen.
The end of something is always the beginning of something
else, one thing changes into another, and therefore
there really is no beginning or end of anything. Since
the past has gone, and the only time there ever is
NOW, emphasis is laid on LIVING—not just existing—in
the Present.
The search for Truth is funny and paradoxical.
It is like taking a candle to search for the Sun.
Is it necessary to search for the Sun? Does not the
Sun shine whether we search for it or not? Why do
we make mysteries out of everything? Truth is not
an idea; ideas about Truth are not Truth. Everyone
has ideas about Truth—crude or sophisticated—but
they are usually subjective, self-centered imaginings.
Truth must be omnipresent, in everything,
but we do not see it because we look for it in the
wrong way—because, in fact, we are absent. Our
minds are usually somewhere else than in the present,
dreaming about the past or the future, worrying about
Truth or Enlightenment, Heaven or Hell. And perhaps
we do not want to see Truth, as it might not conform
to our ideas about It. So we turn away, and look for
other truths, and others, and others, and we never
find the Real.
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