I will admit up front that I can’t tell you what “The Truth” is, and as far as I am aware, which to be honest is also very limited, no one else can either. “The Truth” is ineffable in that it cannot be described using the severe limitations of human language. In the limit it can be “known”, but never understood.
“And you shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free” – John 8:32
This bible verse, like most, has deep metaphysical meaning that connects our felt sense of existence with the recently observed quantum nature of Reality (and “recently” only applies in the context of our current materialistic / observational approach to science that appears to be catching up to what Yogi’s understood 4000 years ago). Our latest consensus understanding of Reality is that everything, our perceived existence, is the spontaneous and continuous manifestation of a single quantum field. I am going to make this relevant in a second so bear with me. To put this into digestible terms there is only one connected field of energy that takes form. Everything is completely connected to everything else, and all perceived separation is an illusion. The form it takes is based on consciousness. You and I are nodes of awareness of a single consciousness in this field. We “exist” in different perceived places in time and space for the sole purpose of observing ourselves so we can know “The Truth” of what we are. That is our purpose here and that is why it will set us free.
Everything we perceive is a mirror for us to understand what we are. But this mirror is limited as it only reflects from the place that we “exist” in the context of an infinite and eternal universe. In other words, our view is incredibly limited. The more deeply we accept this, the more likely we are to drop our attachments to what we think we know and understand that we know nothing. This is where wisdom begins.
“The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the animal's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the animal based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other. In some versions, they come to suspect that the other person is dishonest and they come to blows. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people's limited, subjective experiences which may be equally true” - Wikipedia
The elephant parable seems more relevant today than ever. The slogans and jingoism of “I stand with xxx”, “I am pro-xxx”, “you are anti-xxx”, “I identify as xxx”, “you are xxx-phobic”, etc. are getting louder and angrier. These statements and mindsets come from a place of “knowing” and lead to separation and division that cuts us off completely from our true nature. If we “know” then we are cutting ourselves off from new learning, knowledge, and experience.
If we want to know “The Truth” we need to stop talking and start listening. The great Reality is I am only one tiny point of observation and the view of what I am looking at is almost entirely blocked. If I am earnestly interested in knowing what I am looking at then I must have extreme curiosity and willingness to understand (through compassion) how everyone else perceives it. This is “The Truth” and it is not a thing but a process. And it shall make you free.
The Way
