Absolute Truth
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What
is It Really? Often times, those two words combined evoke myriad feelings
depending upon who says them. Maybe
the definition has become skewed based upon our presuppositions, or emotions or
by a bad experience with someone who claims to have a ‘corner on the market’
of It.
The problem lies in the fact that we live in a society that believes that
“Truth” should be “truths”
and that they should be subjective or dependant upon perspective or opinion.
Basically, this is why most people have an incorrect view of Absolute Truth.
First,
they see that in the real world there can be many ways to accomplish an end
correctly. For example, if the
desired result is A, one person can achieve A by using method A1,
another by A2, which is similar to A1 but slightly altered in
application. Another person may use
Z1 to get A and yet another
Z2.
So what happens here is that people see many different ways to achieve a
desired result. These ways all have
different methods and yet all result in the same thing.
Imagine
taking a survival course and the instructor has just informed you that one of
the things that you must have to survive is fire.
He then proceeds to exemplify the many different methods of fire
building. Is it possible then, if
one wishes to build a fire, that there is only one correct way to do so? No. I can use
many methods to make fire. I can
use any of the following:
1.
matches
2.
lighter
3.
magnifying glass
4.
fire by friction
5.
electricity
6.
flint and steel
7.
chemicals
8.
etc. etc. etc.
All
of these methods are proven over and over to result in a fire.
So the real world example of building a fire using the above methods,
therefore demonstrates there are many ways for people to achieve what is
necessary and the method is solely dependant upon the preference of the
individual or the materials available to them.
Most
people use this kind of logic and then transfer the argument to Truth.
“All roads lead to enlightenment” has
been a popular phrase. The problem with this logic is that they don’t see the real
requirements in fire building and because of this have a flawed view of reality.
All of the above fire building methodologies are indeed different methods
BUT they are all subject to the same criteria.
3 things are necessary to build a fire.
1.
Heat
2.
Fuel
3.
Oxygen
If
you take only one out of the equation, then there will be NO fire. So you see, the real world test for Absolute Truth
can be compared to building a fire.
It is a fact that regardless of our personal preferences or subjective
responses and regardless of our predispositions and the materials available to
us we must conform to the requirements of fire in the proper balance and
proportion in order to achieve the desired result.
The
Truth is something that in order to
be Absolute must not change and
must also be outside of “US”.
It
cannot be achieved by introspection; It
cannot be achieved or realized by ‘looking within’. As human beings, we vacillate so often and over such a broad
spectrum that there can be no constant. Immutability
is a requirement for Absolute
Truth. If It
is Absolute then It
CANNOT change.
If
we all had our “own truth” then It
could change based upon how much sleep we had, what song we just listened to,
what we had to eat last, how long it has been since I last ate, a conversation
with a friend or co-worker, or almost anything else that we encounter or miss
throughout our day. It doesn’t
matter how much we like or dislike Gravity, or whether or not we believe that we
won’t fall if we were to jump off of a cliff.
The moment we step foot into thin air, we will fall.
100% of the time, we will fall. No
amount of wishful thinking will change the Absolute Truth of Gravity.
Why
must It be outside of us? Why can we not search within ourselves for It?
Because we cannot search for It
within something that is in a constant state of flux.
We must search for something that is self-defining and immutable; in
other words, It must not depend upon our understanding or It
becomes limited AND It
must never change. We can then use It's
unchanging characteristics to help us understand reality, to navigate through
the troubled waters of life. It
will act as a reference point by which to steer, to know where we are and how to
return again to this place. Without
It,
we would be wandering lost with no idea of where we are going or where we came
from. Without It,
we would be without purpose, without cause, without reason, and without hope.
Many
Buddhists or Buddhist-like religions believe that the answer is non-attachment.
If they can learn to realize that there is no reality as they
experience it on a day-to-day basis, it is just a figment of their imagination
then they can enter into the Nothingness that is Nirvana, which they so desire.
They ‘know’ that this concept is hard for most to understand, it will
take many lifetimes to come to this understanding and realization, therefore we
are all on a journey of many lives to learn and implement this concept.
A ‘transmigration of souls’ will occur at death and they will come
back and try to grasp this concept again and again until they reach a state of
Buddha-hood and at the end of that life they can enter into the nothingness, the
impersonal void that they so desire. One
way to achieve this understanding of “no-reality as
reality” is to make sacrifices of oneself, to detach oneself from the
materialistic world as much as possible.
Non-attachment
is paramount to all else. This is
believed so strongly that Buddhist adherents are told to be unattached even from
their immediate family. The Buddha
himself left his wife and son (whom he named “Distraction”) as a way to be
non-attached. Many Buddhists teach
this still today though many adherents don’t practice that much
non-attachment. My question for
Buddhists is this: If you aren’t
to be attached to anything, if you are to detach from everything materially,
philosophically, or conceptually, then shouldn’t you give up the idea of being
‘non-attached’ to anything as well? In
fact, shouldn’t you detach yourself from Buddhism altogether?
After all, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
It is obvious that Truth
cannot be found in a system that doesn’t believe that there is a reality at
all. If this were the case, then
the only Truth would be that there
is no Truth!
Which means that the ‘truth about no
truth’ would be a lie
resulting in Truth being real…and
the circular logic goes on for millennia.
“As each thought arises one must be watchful and ask to
whom is this thought occurring. The answer will be 'to me'. If you inquire 'Who
am I?' the mind will return to its source from where it issued from.” -Ramana
If
you really look at the above quote you will see the flawed logic it employs. Ramana is searching for ‘truths’.
If you have a thought, to whom is this thought occurring?
Isn’t it obvious? But this
thought in the mind of the Buddhist is a universal result of karmic
intervention, and the feelings, ideas and pictures that this thought evokes must
be analyzed in the perspective of the person to whom they are occurring in order
to apply the ‘truths’ contained to ‘reality’.
The problem with this is that the ‘truth’ is subjective in the sense
that every person will have a different perspective and therefore will apply it
(or misapply it) in the context of “their reality” or their experience. The acid test of the real world is never verified from an
objective source. By inquiring,
“Who am I?” one is doomed to repeat the cycle of subjectivism, which results
in circular logic. The definition
of insanity is: doing the same
thing over and over while expecting different results.
If
you are lost and searching for Truth,
don’t look inside yourself; you’re the one who is lost.
To really find your way you need a map.
A map is something that doesn’t change, based upon presuppositions or
emotions. Someone else who had been
there before and found a way through made the map, in other words It
has
been verified. For something to be True,
It must
not depend upon anyone’s interpretation of It.
It can stand alone,
regardless of opinion or any other subjective process.
Then, instead of adapting the ‘truths’ contained
within our thoughts to ‘our reality’, we must change ourselves in order to
conform to the Truth.
Once you adapt Truth to a subjective
process it is no longer Truth it
has become something else (i.e. ‘truths’) and by default is no longer
Absolute.
To
some this may seem closed minded and intolerant.
The problem with this thought process is they think that there is no real
way to judge between values. They
presuppose that all value systems are inherently equal and therefore no one’s
system of beliefs can be wrong. To
call back to the fire-building example, there are wrong ways to try to
build a fire. If one persons belief
system doesn’t contain one of the necessary components for building a fire or
it contains one of the components in a disproportionate amount, then their
system will not result in fire, no matter how much they want it to or how
correctly they apply the method of fire building they choose. Not all values are equal and not all belief systems are
equal. We cannot suppose that this
is so, for is so doing we are dooming ourselves to relativism and subjectivism.
The problems of relativism and subjectivism are exemplified in Western
Society and Western Culture today. The
“Culture of Death” is a result; a part of which is eugenics, which is
now on the march. By looking within for the ‘Truth’,
atrocities have been the final outcome because there was no accountability,
which is the very process that inspired Hegel’s Uber Mensch, which
ultimately was the foundation upon which Hitler built his Aryan Empire
and the Master Race, which in turn provided the catalyst for the
Holocaust of the Jews.
Only
by looking outside ourselves and finding something that is constant, immutable,
and self-defining can we realize the Truth…Absolutely.
We are then required to conform to that Absolute
Truth, or we can face the consequences of our choice not to
conform. In my life I have had
different phases of thought, here is the journey I have taken:
Truth
is Power
1.
Knowledge is Power
2.
The Ability to Apply Knowledge is Power
3.
Applied Knowledge is Power
4.
Correctly Applied Knowledge is Power
A
standard is necessary for us to have a consistent philosophy in the real world.
This standard must be a fixed point of reference, outside myself by which
I can find direction in life. The
standard must be True.
All the time, It must be Truth.
So it stands to reason that the following should be how I live:
Truth
is the Standard
1.
Know the Standard
2.
Teach the Standard
3.
Live the Standard
4.
Correct to the Standard
When
combined they look like this:
Truth
is Power—Truth is the Standard
1.
Knowledge is Power— Know the Standard
2.
The Ability to Apply Knowledge is Power— Teach the Standard
3.
Applied Knowledge is Power— Live the Standard
4.
Correctly Applied Knowledge is Power— Correct to the Standard
If
you are really searching for Truth,
then search for something that is True
for all people of all times, in all situations, that is non-contradictory, that
is self-defining and applies itself to the real world.
Then you must learn to correctly apply the knowledge of Truth
and teach it to others. Make sure that you check your activities and methodologies
against the Standard of Truth
constantly, in this way you can conform yourself and your actions to the Truth.
Always remember, you never really know something until you can teach it.
Teaching something requires that you break it down in ‘bite sized
chunks’ so others can understand it easier.
If you can do this, then you probably really understand what it is you
are teaching.
Above
all, never forget that there is right and wrong,
and never be afraid to stand for what is right and against what is wrong. Life hasn’t been laid out for us by Karma, we have choices
and responsibilities and we can choose to make the right choices or the wrong
ones and we can also choose to step up to our responsibilities or we can choose
to shirk them. No one can force
you to do anything. You
are free to choose to do whatever you want to do.
BUT you are not free to avoid the consequences of your choices.
It makes me glad to Know that Jesus
(the Truth made flesh) paid the penalty
for me; because of Him and what He
did, the Truth has set me free.
Mark
Long
(21 May 05)